Sebastian really hated to be the one with experience to know how to do this. He had hated it when it happened before when he was deployed but even more now when people he loved and cared about was involved. He took a deep breath as he walked around the room with a murderous look in his face, "I know everyone wants to just barge in and free them, me included, but in my experience that would only put them more at risk. Our safest bet it's a coordinated attack," he said as he looked at everyone there. If someone had told him he'd be teaming with the supernaturals he was supposed to be hunting, he would've laughed. Now he just knew he had the most powerful team he could've dreamed off. Wolves, sorcerers, an experienced hunter half, a vampire. Even two dragons and an angel. Nothing could go wrong if they did this right.

Andy had no problem at all trusting Sebastian, it was true he was a hunter, but the younger man had a lot more experience than Andy himself, he had come once he heard Sebastian's boyfriend was taken, Andy didn't want a supernatural war in the middle of a busy town, but...he feared it was a little too late for this. "Ya better tell that to wolves," Andy said, looking over shoulder, watching the man had mistaken by Sam's boyfriend, "he about to take off and run..." the hunter paused, leaning closer to the other, "Ya doing a great job," he reassured, him, knowing this was probably a lot of pressure for the younger man.

Jason was very close to just leave and bring Chris back on his own but deep down he knew the hunter was right as much as he hated it. He even snarled at the older man he assumed was Sebastian's friend by their closeness when he pointed that they were prone to act out on instinct. He hated a little how he couldn't say much in wolf form but growl and snarl his opinion. Not that he had much to say anyway. He kept on pacing back and forth. Sometimes getting closer to Axel to offer some comfort even tho he knew there wouldn't be any until Nate was back in his arms.

As soon as they found the place, Axel wanted to walk in, kick as many doors as needed to, until he found Nate, he was inpatient, they were so close! he looked at Jason as he heard the growl, "Yeah, I don't fucking agree either! how long as it been? and now we gotta act like fucking soldiers? fuck that, I wanna come in and find my husband, let the fuckers come at us, I don't mind killing a few," his eyes flashed, if he find the people behind this... God help them, he new he was being loud and annoying and he didn't care. He wanted to find Nate, that's all that matter to him in that moment.

Sebastian had enough. He walked towards Axel and looked at him right in the eyes, "You wanna do that without knowing if they have someone watching over them? Go ahead. The only thing you're gonna get is getting Nate killed because we have no idea how they're keeping them hostage. They could have a bomb. A fucking knife through their necks ready to slice if someone barges in. You wanna take your chances? Go on but if something happens to Chris because of that stupid temperament, I'm gonna have your fucking head," he said not caring if half of the people there were wolves and could end him in a heartbeat.

As the other moved closer, Axel didn't move, maybe he was in fact losing his temper was never like he fully learn to keep it check, especially when this was about Nate, he let Sebastian closer, a low growl escaping at the other's words, "You asshole," Axel spat back, moving closer, his finger pointed at the other as she eyes continued to glow, "I'd never do anything to hurt Nate, don't you even fucking suggest that! don't you even dare!" he warned, another growl, this time louder, "I'm fucking tired if sitting here! Waiting an hoping, if we know were they are we need to start moving now!" he pretty much yelling at this point, "Don't threaten, I'm not fucking scared of you, I care for Chris too, its not just you!" "ENOUGH!" Zeke yelled out to the both of them, "Stop it! both of you!" he placed himself in the middle of both man, "This is not going to help! Axel, try to calm down! you can't storm in like that, you're gonna get yourself and the others killed! I know you're worried but--He knows what he is doing," he turned to Sebastian, "What is your plan? what should we do," he turned back to the wolf, "I will make you sleep again and then you're not going anywhere, so behave!"

Sebastian was about to spit some truths on how Axel's attitude was exactly what could get them all hurt or even killed when Zeke got in the middle and stopped them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "you're right. Fighting each other won't help," he took a step back again, "look Axel, I know exactly how you feel. Trust me. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't sure it's the safest bet to bring everyone home safe," he said softening his tone. "OK if we can get the blue prints of this place I can check the weaker points where we can break in. I'll find a hidden position to take down as many as possible clearing the path for the rest of you to get it. We just need someone who can sense them to figure out which part of the mansion they're in and a way to communicate where they can't hear us. I guess radios are not a go since they probably have enhanced hearing and I can't imagine the wolves wearing an eye," he tried to joke a bit to calm the tension.

Axel sighed, he knew both the men were right, he just wasn't good on the waiting part especially on something like this, if this was up to him, he'd just go and screw it, but they were right, if this mean he was risking Nate and his friends, then he had to try and breath, put his pride aside and work together. "Sorry," he said in a almost whisper as he run a hand trough his hair, "I know. Just... fuck, the waiting Is killing me, I was wanna... have him him back safe," he sighed again moving away to the back of the room standing near Jason and Dan. Zeke nodded as he heard the other, "I think I can help with that, a blue print of the place sounds like a good idea, and there's nothing magic can't fix," he winked , then adding, "Unless, you know, other magic is blocking it..." he pulled a face, shaking his head, "Sense them? I think wolves are good with tracking they can probably pick up a scent right?" he nodded, "How about... mental radio?" he suggested, "Sort of like the angels have... a private signal in each other's minds?"

This was exactly the kind of situation Seth should not be getting involved in. The rules were clear; he was instructed not to interfere in any human conflict. Humans should learn how to fix their own lives. The main loophole here was that this was not a human confrontation. That, and Chris being involved, were the main reason for the Grigori to be there. As everyone else talked and argue, Seth, refrained from speaking. His hand tightly held Erik's until he heard Sebastian's question, "I can sense them," those were the first words he spoke since they got to Suzie's club. Without hesitation, the angel let go of his lover's hand and walked towards Zeke, "if you can connect the blueprints to the actual place with your magic, I can tell you exactly where they are and how many others are in there," his words spoken with confidence. Nothing was holding Seth from doing everything he could to help this group of people even if he was only acquainted with most of them. This was what angels were supposed to do; help others without a second thought.

This was very odd for Erik. In his golden days, he and Eoin would probably be already with a sword on each hand, maniac grins on their faces as they kicked the door down and cut several strangers in half. Plotting wasn't his forte, so instead he stood by in the back of the room, holding Seth in his arms, hand in hand. His eyes were glued to Jason's big wolf form, his goals there were only two: keep Seth out of trouble and not let Jason do something he'd regret later. The dragon was glad he didn't have to work on either yet, but the day was still young. Seth's voice surprised him and he let him go when the angel stepped forward, a proud smile on his face. "That could work" he chimed in, eyes locking with Zeke "We can stay back as a basis to report. Let you all know where to go" He clicked his tongue "Do we know which kind of people we're dealing with yet? Species-wise?"

Sebastian nodded when Axel apologized and explained why he was desperate to just barge in and safe his fiance, " I know. I want the same thing. I promise we'll have them back safe and sound," he knew better than to make any promises but this time he couldn't help it. He looked at Zeke with an arched brow at the idea, "no, I think the wolves would need to get near to track them and we still don't know who we're facing or how many of them are there," he sighed frustrated until Seth spoke up. He smiled and nodded at the other's words, "that would be very helpful, Seth, thanks," he really didn't know how far an angel powers would go but this sounded effective. He turned to Zeke again, "mental radio sounds perfect. That way we could hear them too if they go in as wolves," he nodded toward Axel and the wolf gang, "once we have the blueprints and Seth's instructions we can move to the best positions. I'll take some from afar and with his help let you know where you can get in to get to them as fast as possible."

she stood behind the bar, watching them squabble like children about the correct way to go about things ; as if there would be one. suzie had only agreed to help to support her friend. that energy erik had given her had really given her a new lease on life - even if temporary. the dragoness didn't have any sets of skills other than being a natural with fire ; something that could be useful if used correctly. "if they flee," which, she was sure they would. "i don't mind setting up a perimeter a few metres away. setting the woods alight would drive them back towards the house for you to finish off," though, she'd probably need someone to put out that same fire. maybe that sorcerer; suzie hated the magic users being in her club but, said nothing, as it wasn't the most important thing right now.

Zeke nodded as Seth approached, so far the angel had been silent but it seemed he had a good idea and his powers were for sure going to come in use. "Not only can I do that, i can give you a 3D blue print of the house," he Said, "Just need a frew minutes," Zeke removed his jacket, rolling up his sleeves, "Do we want to start now?" He asked looking at the others. "Okay, so we have that set," he nodded, looking at Suzie, "I mean that doesn't sound like a bad idea but we need to be careful not to set the whole Woods on fire." Axel nodded at Bas, though he wasn't sure he would be in his Wolf form, he hand to hug Nate with his arms. That was first he was going to do, "Yes Brun the fuckers. But the whole fucking place once we get them out."

Erik bit back a grin at Chow's idea, seemed like that spark really went a long way huh. "I can help" he offered "It's a delicate job, but I'm sure we can manage a wall of flames without any forest fires." He smirked "Only calculated casualties."

It was clear when the mood settled. It seemed everyone was finally listening to what they needed to hear to calm down. There was a tiny smile on Seth's lips when Erik said they could sty back and guide them, "Yes, we can tell them where to go and what to expect, and I can also provide information on their species, but I must warn you, I might not get them all right," there was no need for them to know how the Grigori's powers weren't strong anymore. One look at Erik was enough for Seth to let him know what his words meant. His eyes moves from the dragoness to his lover when he heard him speak, "Do you have to be there to do that?" The angel knew that Erik would be of more help down in the field than staying with him, "I am sure Zeke and I can stay here safe. Once you are with them, I will appear us there in case someone needs healing aid." Zeke's idea of a 3D blueprint was fantastic, it would certainly give Seth the chance to be more accurate, "I am ready whenever you all are. Do you think you could add pins to where I sense someone?"

Erik reached for Seth's waist when their eyes met. He didn't want the angel to be using the last of his grace on something like this - on anything really - but he knew better than to try and convince him not to. So instead, he just gave him a comforting squeeze, because whatever happens, the dragon would be there. There was a groan at the idea of leaving, though. He huffed, annoyed, then rolled his eyes. "Fine" he said simply, then leaned to murmur against Seth's ear "I'll be the one looking over you from up there this time."

Zeke frowned a bit at the interaction, knowing that was probably something more going on with Seth, from the way Erik was acting, were his powers not as strong as before? "that's alright, honey," he Said smiling at Seth, "you do what you can, that's why were all here, to do what we can," he Said to his friend offering some comfort, though he was being honest here, of course. "I kinda wanted to Kick some butt, I didn't take ligthly on people talking my right arm," he muttered, he was talking about Nate, it was the first time Zeke had to actually close the club for a while, he'd drown without the vampire's help, not to mention he was of course, worried over his friend, he cared for man"but its needed so I'll stay here," he looked at Erik, "We'll be fine, sweetheart don't worry," Zeke assured the dragon with a smile. Zeke nodded, feeling as if he had channel all the Magic he needed, he lift his hands, gesturing around with them as a blue like fog began to come out of his fingertips, the model of the masion slowly taking form in front of them, "Yes, can even use colors for diferent species."

it was interesting, watching erik hold onto that little angel like everything depended on it. if suzie hadn't been convinced that the great dragon had changed - this was the final confirmation. the dragoness glanced over at the sorcerer who'd addressed her idea; zeke, or something. "woods grow back. people don't," she was perhaps too eager to show off her new and improved powers. speaking of powers...."i don't mean to be...we have an angel on side. surely grace is more powerful than anything we can put together?" suzie suggested, not understanding the other more private situation going on. "you know...poof in and out?"

Erik wasn't paying much attention to what people were saying, instead he was trying or line the perimeter in his head, figuring out how long he'd have to stay away. His mind was brought back when Chow spoke of grace, eyes burning menacingly right away as they met hers. "Grace is a very limited resource" he said, squaring his jaw, shoulders tight. It wasn't up for negotiation "Much better used to save someone from bleeding out instead of as transportation. Don't you think?"

she immediately put her hands up in defence, shrugging her shoulders ; she didn't have as much experience with heavenly bodies as erik did, seeing as he was sleeping with one. suzie came across a fowl tempered one in Rome, that was it. the dragoness felt there was something else behind erik's reaction to but...she wasn't privy to such information. "just a suggestion," suzie said quickly, immediately putting the situation to bed. she didn't fancy going toe to toe in her club, especially when the two of them had been getting along so well lately.

It was not the right time for displays of affection, but Erik's words brought a smile to Seth's lips. It was reassuring and the Angel was not immune to needing that. The only way the Grigori addressed Zeke's words was with a polite nod, focusing on the blue fog forming the image of the mansion where their loved ones were held. It was very rare for Seth to hate anything, but after Suzie spoke, the angel hated the position he was in. With his grace intact, he could have done exactly as the dragoness said, but now, it felt like an impossible feat for him. His hand quickly moved to Erik's arm when the dragon snapped, "I am not supposed to interfere directly to mortal matters," the lie falling smoothly from his lips when he addressed Suzie's comment, "healing others do fall into a loophole I can get away with."

Zeke looked over at the woman, fighting the urge the roll his eyes, "Animals and the rest of the creatures that live in the woods don't grow back either, not to mention someone can get caught and hurt, innocents who have no clue on what going on, there are humans out there too, we need to be careful, let's---put a hold on the wild fires for now," he wasn't trying to be rude, or difficult or anything it was simply how he felt, there had been already too many innocents involved he didn't need more of those. He looked at them as it went on, the little argument, kinda make Zeke wonder a few things, Grace? was this the problem here? he decided not to ask, it was not the time or the moment, yet he couldn't avoid the worried looked to his friends. "Come on children, lets not start arguing, we're all doing our best," Zeke told them as the mansion gained form in front of them, "There we go," Zeke said once he was done with the spell, "The best replica you will find!"

Bas had the feeling he probably should be worried about all the mess this could turn to but in that moment he really didn’t care about anything else than getting everyone back safe. Especially Chris. He didn’t even want to think about anyone’s status so he focused on what he knew. He looked at Suzie with an arched brow cause he didn’t think she would want to get involved like this to help. She had done enough already letting them all use her club as base for this operation but her offering to set a fire perimeter so no one could run away was beyond of what he expected. He looked at her and gave her a nod mouthing a simple ‘Thank you’ before focusing on the rest. Sebastian was about to stop the bickering between the dragons and what Seth could or couldn’t do but Zeke was faster than him and before they could start another argument, the blueprint was in front of them. He moved closer to look at the whole think, observing the doors and windows with an analytical expression, “I have an idea where they have more security but I think Seth will know better,” he gave a small nod so the angel could tell them what he could feel. Once they knew he’ll figure the best position for him to neutralize as many objectives as possible so everyone else could get in faster.

Erik felt it the moment Seth interfered, the hand on his arm instantly cooling off some of the fire running in his veins. He nodded to the angel and then towards the dragoness, as if to silently say they were okay. Not that he was sorry though, because he wasn't. He wondered however if she realized why Erik was so protective, if she realized Seth owned his heart. His mind was brought back when Zeke called him a child, and the dragon chuckled. He easily outlived all of them for at least a couple hundred of years. The dragon stepped closer towards Jason's wolf form as the magical beings worked, sitting on the floor beside him, careful not to touch him because he remembered something about Jayjay being against it when he had his fur out. "Do you think, if we add up the age of everyone in this room apart from me, I still win?" He joked, conversationally, then noticed Jason couldn't reply "Blink once for yes" he murmured before sighing "Have you eaten today?" Erik asked, sure the alpha would be too worried to take care of himself "Did you sleep?" Jason was trying his best to keep it together. He was worried, angry, hungry, and tired but his mind seemed to go in overdrive with just one goal in mind and he was not gonna rest or do anything until he was sure Chris was back safe and sound. He moved to a side of the room with Axel after Zeke called them out but he was still very tense. So much that he almost snarled at Erik when he came closer but relaxed when his friend sat beside him. He huffed at the silly age question. The downside of not being able to talk making him grumpier. He rolled his eyes in a very human move when Erik told him to blink once for yes but he did shake his head at both questions. There was no time to lose eating or sleeping. Not when they were so close. He growled and bumped his muzzle against Erik’s arm as if telling him he was fine.

"You know, for a wolf, you're very expressive" Erik joked with a roll of eyes of his own. The answer didn't surprise him in the least and he sighed. The bump spoke volumes and Erik shook his head with a shrug "Yeah yeah, right. You take care of people, people don't take care of you, whatever. Just be warned, if once this is over you're not taking care of you, I will, and we both know you're gonna hate having me as a nurse" he bumped the wolf with his shoulder, a small playful smile on his face.

Jason wanted to laugh at that cause he wasn’t sure what Erik had imagined h would be like as a wolf. Especially cause he had always been very expressive. He tilted his head towards Aiden when his friend said people didn’t take care of him. Jason had it clear he was not gonna be able to go against both Aiden and Erik so once this was over and he was sure Chris and everyone else was safe, he was gonna eat and take the longest nap ever. When he noticed everyone getting around Zeke and the blueprints, he stood up and walked towards them ready to listen what everyone had to say and how the plan was gonna work.

Axel looked at the other men as all of this went on, if he was he in a better mood he had in fact laughed, thought now, he couldn't even think of laughing, the wolf was exhausted, all he wanted was for this to be over. All he wanted was to have Nate there, and he was trying very hard to keep patient, so they could all decided how to do this, Axel had given his opinion on the matter, if it was up to him, he'd be going kicking doors and everyone in his way to get to Nate. That's all he could think of, get to his fiance. He moved closer as the others did too, looking over his shoulder at Jason, Aiden and Erik as he stopped by Zeke, "So? what now?" Zeke fought the urge to roll his eyes at the wolf, why were they such hot heads? "Now, we have a perfect model of the mansion, we know every entrance ,every room," he pointed out the model, "All we need is to figure out is who's where and what they are, then I guess we can start forming a plan?" he asked looking over at Sebastian.

It did not take long for everyone to gather around Zeke with the floating 3D map right in the middle of the room. The looks of eagerness and desperation to act already clear on everyone's faces, and that was the cue for Seth to step closer and walk around the blueprint, his energy focused on sensing every living being inside the mansion. A soft smell of flowers filled the place. Bright blue eyes scanned the smokey building for a few moments before speaking, "They are here," Seth's finger pointed to one of the rooms in the middle of the mansions. There were windows on that side of the structure, which only confirmed there must be a spell to keep everyone inside. A worried look flashed for a second in the Grigori's eyes as they looked for Erik's. They were injured, but everyone was alive. It would not be wise to mention that if they wanted everyone to stick to the plan. It did not take long to pinpoint all the aggressors scattered around the facility. There were two dozen points sprayed in different places, six of them guarding the room where their friends were captive. "Zeke? Can we please color these points red?" words followed by Seth touching different points, "Those are vampires. If you may, please change the colors of these to green," the following few points the angel touched were closer to the exits, "Those are fae and merpeople. I am struggling to differ them, but their energy is very similar. There are no humans involved," his words reassuring, primarily to himself since the last thing he wanted was any human to be caught in the conflict.

Zeke stood next to his friend, letting him focus on the task ahead, Seth probably needed a lot of energy to be able to sense what the captors were, he did noticed the worried look, its one of those things you learn as an empath, to read people, though that part of him had been shut for a while now. He was glad for it, right now it would be torture to be around all his friends with all the strong emotions they was going trough. He nodded his head, a snap of his fingers and the red pins appeared where Seth had asked him to place them, and repeating the process with the other colors, "Good, there are no humans its good," Zeke offered Seth a smile, "at least we know they aren't getting caught in this, and our friends are strong they have that on their side to defend themselves if need be," Zeke said his eyes going from Axel to Sebastien, knowing they were worried about their loved ones being hurt, at least Chris and Nate would heal fast, so Zeke hope. Poor Chris, he was such a sweet guy! "No humans only 2 halves," Axel muttered, refering to, of course, both Nate and Micah. "Okay, now that we know where they are, and who's keeping them, can se just fucking get the plan going?," He shot Bas a look, "'cause its taking every bit of me not to just Run out the fucking door and go get Nate and my friends," he huffed, closing his eyes for a second a Run a rand trough his hair as he tried to calm down.

Sebastian’s attention was fully focused on Zeke and Seth as they pointed the people inside the mansion. His mind was already running wild with different tactics they could use to make the rescue fast and effective. HE walked around the map when Seth finished but not before reaching to path his shoulder, “Thanks Seth, this is perfect,” he smiled a bit and then smiled at Zeke but he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Axel’s lack of patience, “Alright…” he stood next to Zeke and pointed at the back, “I can take everyone on this side from the hill. It’s like a mile right? From the house to the hill?” he asked mentally calculating the distance, “There’s a lot of windows there and they won’t see it coming. I can easily take down the six watching over them and then these two on the entrances,” he pointed, “That would open the path for you to get to everyone faster,” he looked at Axel and the rest of the wolves, “they won’t be expecting us to come from behind so that’s our surprise factor and while they try to get there, “Suzie and Erik can set the perimeter so no one leave when they see they’re outnumbered. We’re gonna need someone to take an attack from the front tho…” he sighed waiting to see who volunteered. He was sure everyone wanted to just go to the room and free everyone. He wanted the same but he knew he’d be more helpful somewhere else and he hoped everyone else knew that too.

Cyrus was on hand to greet each arrival at the Chateau. As he looked over the room, most of the members of the House of Maine within, he felt a rush of pride. They may be small but they were mighty. Most importantly, they were good people and he only hoped he was worthy of them all. “Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming. I will not stand on ceremony. We are all too practical for that. We have been dealt quite a challenge. Event planning isn’t quite our forte. But I thought first I would ask what cause you believe we should advocate with our event. There are, quite literally, no wrong answers, but I would like it to tie, in some way, to the values and interests of our House.”

Jadon hadn’t been able to make it after all, but Javan had given his solemn promise that he would text regular updates as necessary to make sure the other man’s voice could still be heard. They often had similar enough opinions that it wouldn’t make too big a gap. With a glass in his hand, Javan listened carefully as the Duke began to speak, smiling slightly at the ceremony comment. “If we’re starting to throw out ideas, why not something based in the environment? There’s a lot of unfinished clean up initiatives or green energy tech we could push which would better protect the land long term.”

Henri set down the baby on a blanket spread out over the rug and let Lola attempt to keep herself sitting upright. She was very content to be in the centre of such a group of people, as was he. Frankly, he had been relying heavily on his house since Lola arrived and they had yet to let him down. “I like the idea of environment? Or food related in some way? Given how many farmers, gardeners and chefs we have in the family?” he sort of suggested, not precisely sure how he could help but wanting to try.

Susanna sat with her notebook in her lap, dutifully making notes as her family spoke. She could plan an event, but she wasn’t sure she could do it on this scale for this many people. She considered the question Cyrus posed before biting her lip. “A lot of our family is related to food,” she agreed with Henri. “Whether directly or indirectly. But then, a lot of our business also falls into hospitality and hominess thanks to our presence in the hotel industry?” She shrugged. “It’s difficult but the positive is that we can reach several types of avenues. I know we should stay away from the arts, as Anjou will have that covered.”

Liana looked up from where she sat cross-legged on the ground next to Lola. She didn’t know what she could do to help the House, especially since she was so new, but she would do whatever she could. This was her father’s house and they had been more than welcoming to her, so they had her devotion. “I like the idea of doing something with the environment, too. If not something with recycling or cleaning up the Vannes, maybe we could think about bringing more green space to the city? Or sustainable food growing resources. That could be especially beneficial to the lower-income residents in the area.” She liked the idea of giving back to those in need.

“Perhaps.” Asmata started after hearing the propositions of her house members. “There is a way to combine all of those.” She tapped her lip, thinking. “There is an opportunity here to undertake a project with long term benefits that other Houses would not be able to afford. There are already homeless shelters running entirely on solar energy in Mexico, New York, San Francisco. If our family funds half of such a project and raise the rest of the money it would only further show that House Maine is willing to invest in the future of Breton. Our family has a lot of ties in construction, the building of such shelters provides an opportunity to teach and employ the chronically homeless, and leave them with a skill that would make them employable in the future. 

Cyrus looked over with interest as each spoke. They were all good ideas and he felt a sense of bubbling excitement. They could pull this off. They really could. “I like this. If we could tie in some means of a community garden perhaps and put together sustainability, housing and food security … well I think we’re really onto something that would be good for Vannes and Breton. I would certainly put some of our House funds into such an endeavour that could sustain itself for many years. Once it is going we could have Abel … for anyone new in town.” Cyrus glanced at Liana, “He is our lawyer … put together some sort of foundation that could go far beyond this year. Asa? Can you think of any lot of land we could acquire that might be suitable?”

Rhett looked around as everyone talked, unsure really how he could contribute to the discussion. As everyone talked, his gaze flitted from person to person, silently agreeing with the proposals. It was only when Cyrus mentioned available land that he finally spoke up, not quite realizing it was out of turn. “Your Grace, there’s lots for sale just outside of the city proper, to the South. They were going to build a neighborhood there, but I think the developers overestimated the amount of luxury homes people wanted away from the city center. I got back a deposit we’d put down there about nine months ago - I’m sure they’re still available.”

Asa had been ready to speak when interrupted by the younger member of their family, giving a slightly annoyed look in Rhett's direction before forcing a polite one towards the Duke and remainder of the family. "Regardless of if those developers have overestimated their market or not, I think we should be focusing specifically on options closer to the heart of the city... Not outside of city proper," he countered, giving the submissive a pointed look before turning back towards Cyrus. He may have been drunk at the Gala, but he’d been sober enough still to remember Rhett’s annoyed responses when they’d interacted briefly during the event. The repeated disrespect irked him, intentional or not. "In response to your question, Your Grace, if we're focusing on low income individuals who may not have enough even for proper housing or food, we should be focusing on potential locations where they'd have easy access to things such as public transportation, assistance programs, and other community resources. I can do some research and ask around if you’d like, and get you a list of options sorted by price, location, and square footage by the end of next week."

Liana was especially pleased that the conversation seemed to have lingered on helping those less fortunate. It was an idea that she could latch onto and already feel herself becoming passionate about. After her uncle responded Liana nodded eagerly. “I like the idea of having something closer to the heart of the city. I think the need is all over, but if we focus on the city itself we can offer more resources and do more to support those that would be using what we create. Apart from that, it would also be more in the public eye. I’m sure that would be useful in the coming months.” She spoke quietly, but with determination.

Cyrus nodded thoughtfully. “All right then. I think we have a direction and I for one, am quite pleased with it. It is something that we can sustain, in an area we know well, and something we can continue in other areas around Breton once we have given it a first run through.” Then he let out a big breath, “So what kind of event shall we have? Any ideas?”

“We … could do some sort of fundraising party?” Henri offered up. He couldn’t contribute to land discussions or even how to grow and prepare food but he did know parties. Lots of parties. From high end to those decidedly less so. “We could auction stuff off? Like art  …. Or books ... “ Lola chose that moment to squeal and he paused, “Or like a bachelor auction?”

“Bachelor auction,” Susanna repeated with a wrinkle of her nose. She didn’t love the idea of auctioning off the family members and she could just see it getting dicey considering some of the personalities in House Maine. “I suppose that could work. Or we could do something a little bit more...” How did she say less like waving their Dominants around like pieces of meat? “Directly related to what we’re proposing here. We’re taking care of the homeless. Donations could be monatery, I suppose, or it could be something like donating things for the shelters outside of what we’re doing. In exchange, we could always do things like recognition for those donations. People love to see their names on plaques.”

Rhett faded into the background, his lips pursed into a frown. After getting his idea shot down, he wasn’t sure what else he had to offer to the conversation. He’d thought that maybe having a location on the outside of the town would best serve non-noble families, a cause making the House of Maine worthy of royalty, but conversation quickly deterred to the next topic with his idea gently brushed aside. There was absolutely nothing for him to offer up with this conversation. Instead, Rhett scoffed at the idea of a bachelor auction - if the idea passed, he would absolutely not participate. His relief was palpable that Susanna seemed to agree at least. He did agree with the idea of a donation drive. “I agree with Suze,” Rhett added in, just so it could be noted that he’d participated. “But plaques can get expensive. Do we really want to waste money on something masturbatory for rich donors when that money could be spent on actual people in need?”

“Cyrus could talk to the city officials, as well.” Asmata offered, voice calculated. Nice as helping those less fortunate was, all this was an exercise to prove Cyrus was fit to be King. To better highlight the Duke’s qualities: “Convince them to donate space in the more populated areas in Vannes. Our House can invest in real estate outside the city, as well – the community gardens would fit there quite well, so it’s a win – win for everyone.” As for the rest, she leaned into her chair, a little amused. “Let’s charge them for a plate then. Those are cheap.”

“Why not have multiple parts to it? We could do a donation drive and either before or after do a high end catered event featuring locally grown foods from all the different farmers as part of the family? Sort of showing off the quality and meals that would be provided to the people in this shelter, but it gives us a bracket for the highest donors to have an additional formal event but keeps it accessible to all tax brackets. Do the right kind of advertising, we could even get some of the tourists in on this so we’ve got multiple sources of money,” Javan threw out.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Asa interjected, motioning for one hand for everyone to calm down for a moment. "Bachelor auctions, engravings for donations... Is any of this honestly necessary? I'm pretty sure between everyone in the family, we could raise more than enough funds for at the very least the majority of what's needed. If we accept donations from the public, it should be accessible. Not an event that only appeals to singles or those with enough money to afford their name up on a wall or a plate at some dinner.... I'd rather we encourage the public to volunteer their time than their money, if anything. If donations come along as well, so be it. If we do delve into something with construction as well, perhaps Rhett has connections and could help us cut down the cost of any materials needed? Or assist in leading whatever work needs to be done by volunteers? Provided certain things don’t require professionals, of course.”

“If we’re seriously thinking of opening a place for the homeless or those with less-income, we could have an event where volunteers and donors could tour the place once it’s done. We could show them what we’ve done to make it sustainable and why it will be such an asset to the community.” Liana chewed on her bottom lip as she watched the people around her come up with their ideas. She liked them all, but found herself trying to combine them all together somehow. She looked over at her uncle and gave him a tentative smile, pleased to see how he was contributing.

“Rhett is a laborer at a construction site,” Rhett interjected, looking over at Asa, who’d suggested he had connections. “Duke Cyrus has better connections than I do on that front. Now if you want me to help out building the thing, I’d be glad to donate my time as well as Maeva’s money. This… whatever we’re doing, should be transparent and accessible, as Liana suggested, but you don’t want a hundred people who have no clue what they’re doing trying to work on it. You want cash to fund it with skilled contractors. Sir.”

Oh heaven forbid he try to be nice to the guy and include him, despite his annoyance. “I was referring more to the aspects of ideas like community gardens or I don’t know.. Building bird boxes, Rhett,” Asa replied giving the submissive a rather annoyed look. “Not that you’d know anything of the former. As I said-- certain things of course will require professionals, but I was thinking if we can we should offer opportunities for individuals who maybe don’t have the financial means to contribute, but do have the time and or experience. There are other laborers in this city for instance, who if interested in volunteering their time and effort alongside yours, could be of great use. But perhaps we should just circle back to the bachelor auction idea since you seem so enamored with that.” Not that Asa actually wanted that.. Even remotely.

Henri just looked around as the conversation grew heated. “As awesome as some of these ideas are … can we organize this in less than a year? I mean? Would the ground even be cleared and ready for construction that fast? The plans or whatever? I … I think we could have a concept but we won’t have a thing available for people to do or see that fast, will we?” He looked around the room, “I’m legit asking. I have zero idea.” Reaching over, he picked up Lola, “What I will say is that if I didn’t have money and I was left alone with Lola, I would have been fucked … so I like this idea a lot. I can help with planning a party … kind of? But construction stuff and all that, I have zero idea. I couldn’t hang a shelf. We need to raise money because that’s what the Arbiter said. We could … put together like packages of things … like the hotel does? You know? But this time, they are auctioned off? We could associate them with a person. Like his grace could be a yacht trip along the coast. And he doesn’t actually have to go. He’s just like … the face of the package?” He proposed, with a look around, “Liana could be a garden redo. Javan and Jadon could be like a food and alcohol tour or something? I have no idea what I’d be but we could come up with something?”

“It is doable” Asmata assured him. “Some of the city spaces are abandoned and merely in need of upkeep, equipping them with solar panels would not be much effort. And we don’t even have to be done with the project by the year’s mark, merely have a start, since something like this doesn’t have to end anytime soon. Hopefully, it would be just a step in a direction many other cities in Breton would take.” Asmata nodded, quite liking Henri’s idea. “The package sounds lovely, actually. Of course, I offer the hotel as a venue for the fundraiser.”

Asa nodded in agreement with Asmata's response. "As long as we're not building from scratch, we won't have to deal with a lot of the nitty gritty that would slow this type of process down. There's plenty of properties available out there that just need a facelift. I can pull up a list once I just have a more solid idea of what's needed. I'm not opposed to the idea of individuals offering up their own specialities as well though.

“Okay, let’s go back for a minute to the bird boxes. This is supposed to be a place for the homeless, right? Do we really want amateurs building homes for flying rats to shit everywhere they’re going to be hanging out?” Rhett asked, his brows raising. “I mean, respectfully, sir - I don’t think we’ll be missing the funds of those who can’t contribute financially. We need to meet with a contractor and get a proper budget. I know I can part with a good bit once the sale has gone through on Maeva’s condo, which should be soon.” So much for staying out of this conversation and being quiet. Rhett turned to Henri next. “It’s doable,” he repeated Asmata’s assessment. “But again, why waste money on prizes? The people we’ll be going after have the money to do that on their own time. Whatever money we raise should go to the people and I think we should be transparent about that. That will win the family favor not just with nobles, but with everyone.”

Asa sighed and turned towards Henri, annoyed with the fact that Rhett obviously couldn't take a joke. "Why don't you let Rhett go and babysit for you in the other room while the adults talk?"

“No need - I’m sure all of you very capable adults have this under control. Let me know when you need physical labor taken care of. Would hate for anyone to get a blister,” Rhett huffed, standing up to leave the room. Enough was enough.

“Rhett!” Cyrus called out. “That is quite enough. Take a seat. Now.” He wasn’t known for raising his voice but sometimes a situation called for it. Then he straightened, “We must do something for the other nobles to attend, including the Duke of Vaneti. He is, after all, the Arbiter. I like this project and would be pleased to do it without this challenge hanging over our heads. But we must also recognize that we are trying to cast a cohesive impression of the House of Maine. I will speak frankly, I need you. All of you. If I am to have the slightest chance of succeeding. Asa … I will ask you to look at buildings and locations. Perhaps Liana can assist to see what land would be suitable for sustaining gardens, capable of feeding people. We do need some sort of … thing for people to attend … Asmata, will you look at the hotel’s calendar and select some possibility availabilities for an event.”

Rhett sat back down as told, his expression a mixture between anger and annoyance, but he knew better than to open his mouth any further.

Asa nodded, expression calming in response to the Duke's words. He sent his niece a glance, nodding in agreement. “Of course, your Grace.” 

Asmata nodded, lips tight in a displeased expression. “Of course, your Grace. I will get back to you with dates.”

Liana nodded resolutely, happy to be given a task that could contribute. “I can do that, Your Grace. I’m sure between all of us we can find somewhere suitable that will thrive in Breton.” She then stood from where she had been sitting on the floor next to Lola and folded herself into a seat at the table, meeting the other’s eyes with a hopeful smile. They really had a chance of doing something great and she was eager to be a part of it.

Susanna narrowed her eyes before getting to her feet and moving over to sit beside Rhett, her heels clicking on the floor before she perched and reached out to take his hand so she could squeeze it hard. They would be having words. She sighed before humming a little nonsense tune to perk herself back up. She was too tired for the squabbling over nothing. “I only suggested the plaques because people don’t tend to want to do anything for nothing. That might be cynical, but it’s realistic. If they did, we wouldn’t have any causes to address.” She shook her head. “I think I can probably name on one hand the people who voluntarily check the box on their taxes to make charitable donations. People like credit. But given Cyrus’ charisma, I think that he could possibly demonstrate his way with the people--like Asmata implied--by convincing them. If you really think some kind of reward or recognition is too far.” She shrugged. “As for whether it’s doable… a year is an awfully long time. And as Asa said, we aren’t bad off.” 

She looked to the fellow submissive beside her, biting her lip. “Rhett… with the right hours and monetary incentives, could a construction crew do it? Realistically? Because I think we’ve decided they can, but you would know best of this group.” He could contribute without being a butt, if the right questions were asked.

Rhett sighed - he could expect a dressing down from Susanna for sure later, probably Cyrus too. But he could set that aside for the moment and get through this meeting. “Yes, realistically,” he answered. “But we need to have someone draw up plans and we need a firm budget in place first. The budget will tell us what we need to raise and allow a crew to start work as soon as possible. A year really isn’t that long. It’s already the end of January and it’ll take at least a month to finalize plans and determine a working budget. Assuming we move rapid pace through everything, I doubt ground could be realistically broken until at least April or May, and that’s if there’s an available crew.” There, he’d managed to keep his cool.

Now that it seemed like tempers had cooled off a little, Javan rolled his shoulders and spoke again. “In that case, it sounds like we’ll all need to pull our weight to get the ball rolling in time. I can’t do much on the building side, but since an event like this is going to take series planning, a couple of us can start to also work up the budget needed for our show to the nobles. Nothing says we can’t do a fundraising event at the hotel and also do a Grand Opening if we’ve got the right expertise and luck on our side. Jadon and I can work with Asmata on that part. Maybe Henri join in? I figure Susanna you’ll be running between all of us to make sure we’re on track.”

“That sounds amazing, between the four of us, we can do something great. We can pool the resources from the hotel and the restaurant to figure out the best way to staff and manage the event.” She nodded, looking at Henri. “And Lola can stay with child care services at the hotel while meet up, so she can be near.”

Maya walked through the mansion, still trying to breathe normally. It made her chest ache, but she knew from having cracked ribs before that breathing shallowly might make things worse. Her hair felt strange now, short and singed at the ends. Judging by the light coming in the windows, it was getting late. Of course, she wasn’t sure she should trust the light coming in the windows. She walked into a room with a long wooden table piled high with food. It was enough to make her mouth water. She was starving. She wasn’t sure when she had last eaten, but it was definitely before the fight and getting snacked on. Approaching the table, she licked her lips. With the strangeness of the house and their inability to leave it though, she felt cautious. Although, maybe a house no one could find or leave wasn’t the worst place for her to be right now. Hearing someone behind her, she half turned to ask, “What do you think is the over-under we eat some of this and end up like Persephone?”

Chris didn't know how long he was out. He came to his senses in a sort of main area, hands free, tape off his lips leaving just a cut on the bottom one, and he scooted towards a shadowy corner right away. Everything hurt and he'd much rather not move, so maybe he'd feel better after a nap, he thought. Maya's voice woke him up though and he chuckled "I've watched Pan's Labyrinth, I'm not touching any of that." He said, trying to be playful "And I thought you had standards for your baked goods, Maya."

Maya's gaze went immediately to Chris, heartbeat picking up. She'd twisted her torso just enough to tweak her ribs. A grimace momentarily twisted her features. As she recognized him, her expression smoothed, heartbeat returning to normal. "Yeah, well, beggars can't be choosers and I'm fucking starving," she replied and leaned against the doorframe. Standing up was getting difficult. "So unless the fuckers let you pack some granola bars or something," she said.

"Well, there's no tiny fairies around" Chris shrugged and then winced. Stupid shoulder. He tried to sit up, leaning back against the wall "So I think you're good. Besides" he cleared his throat, breathing slowly, already too tired "If a Pan comes out of nowhere, we can just poke his eyes on his hands and we're good." There was a pause "You shouldn't be here, Maya."

She caught his wince and frowned. "Is it dislocated or just fucked up?" she asked gesturing at his shoulder. Maya had to wonder too if she looked as bad as she felt. She'd yet to see a mirror, but she knew she had a split lip, some road rash probably and then her burnt hair. "Poke his hand eyes out, roger that," she shoved herself off the doorway with her shoulder and entered the room properly. His last statement though pulled a laugh from her. It was followed immediately by a grimace as her ribs protested. "Yeah, no shit," she replied, "Pretty sure you're supposed to be at home with the boyfriend and your dogs. So we're both fucked on that one."

Micah jerked awake, pain shot through his body as he stood up. He leaned the wall heavily, as he took in his surroundings. He was in some kind of room, maybe a dining room of sorts. He moved carefully as he heard voices near by. Micah a took deep breath, pressing his arm to his side as he moves towards the voices. His eyes adjusted to the dim light, as his senses took over before he made out a familiar face. “Chris?” Micah asked as he moved towards the other wolf before he looked over at the blonde. “And person I don’t know.” Micah said, taking another breath before he leaned on the wall. “Are you guys alright?”

Chris clicked his tongue "Dislocated, I think. Hurts like a-" he cut himself off, he was really bad at swearing "a lot." He shook his head at that, eyes threatening to fill up with tears "I was sleeping in my place. He has no idea I'm here. I was busy this week, I- I wonder if he noticed I'm gone." He was startled by Micah's voice, and the wolf took a moment scanning the wide room to find him "Micah?" He called back, sitting up straighter. Chris noticed he had the same collar, though Maya didn't. "Yeah yeah, I- I guess. This is Maya. Are you okay, Micah?"

"Like a motherfucker?" Maya supplied. She then continued, "I can put it back for you if you like, just hurt for a second." She crossed the room towards him, making it nearly halfway. "Of course he no..." she started before another voice grabbed her attention. She whipped around. "Ouch, fuck," she cursed under her breath, hand going to her rib and eyes squeezing tight against the pain. "Yep, Maya present and accounted for," she said, opening her eyes again. She gave the newcomer a once over, deciding that he too had been brought here. "And yeah I'm great, aside from the fucked up hair, the cracked rib and the fact I got kidnapped." She looked between the two men. She noted their collars and could feel that she didn't have one of her own. "What's up with the collars?" she asked, "Are they new?"

Micah crossed the room to reach Chris and Maya. He shrugged slightly. “I’m alright as I can be.” Micah said as he glanced around the room before his eyes fell onto Maya. “I would say nice to meet you, but under these circumstances it’s not how I like to meet people.” Micah said as he shrugged slightly, before he let out a soft groan at the pain in his side. He raised an eyebrow when the collars were mentioned, as he reached up and pulled on the collar. “How do y’all get here? What do you remember?”

Chris closed his eyes when they started talking, taking a momentary break as if the 10 extra seconds of stillness would make his energy come back. He opened them back up when she asked about the collars "It's poison, to keep us weak" he said simply, sighing before looking up to the man. He tried to take his collar off before, but he was never strong enough, so he gave up. "Someone broke into my house, caught me sleeping. Three men, they took more people too. I don't- I don't know why though. They said... They said we were a message."

Maya nodded and managed a crooked smile, "Yeah, no, usually I'm a right fucking delight. So I'd much prefer a different circumstance." She turned back to Chris, frowning. "Keep us weak," she repeated before asking, "What kind of poison?" Her head was swimming. She forced herself to sit at the long dining table. If she didn't sit down, she was going to fall down. "Um..." she cast her mind back, "Got suckerpunched on my way out of a bar. Chased down an alley, hit with some fire and then some bitch blew sleeping powder in my face. I think he just made fun of me for trying to stab him." She picked up a piece of bread near her and considered eating it. If they were a message, they wouldn't want them dead. "Soon as we get out of here I'm going to fucking stab him."

Micah pulled at the collar again before he watches Maya sit down. “I would say for me and Chris, wolfbane.” Micah said with a scoff before he shook his head. “Dumbasses need to find a better way to keep me weak.” Micah said as he followed Maya and sat down at the table. “Yeah, got jumped at the bar as I was locking up for the night, guess they weren’t expect a fight.” Micah said as he looked over at the food before he looked back to Chris. “Well if we are a message, they are picking the wrong people. Someone will be looking us.”

Chris nodded when Micah talked about wolfsbane, an apologetic smile when he looked at Maya. He hadn't told her he was a wolf before, that was not how he wanted to come out. His eyes moved back to Micah soon after though "Wait, yeah, you're half wolf, right? Axel told me, I think" he mused. Still, they collared him, maybe because of his scent? Chris was quiet, watching them move towards the food for a minute. His mind was taking longer than usual to put the pieces together. "Maybe they want us to be found. Maybe this is a trap."

"Well, the good news is I can fix that," Maya said, "Bring your neck over here." She gestured for Micah to come closer so she could undo his collar. She didn't move closer to him. After all, she was a stranger and he had no reason to trust her given the strange circumstances. She gave Chris a nod, not worried that he hadn't told her her was a werewolf. It wasn't as if she had told him that she had magic. She managed to hold her tongue when Micah said that someone would be looking for them. People would look for the two men, sure, but no one would look for her. "I should be able to get yours off too Chris, then pop your shoulder back in," she said, voice a little too tight, expression a little too stiff.

Micah looked at Maya when she suggested that she could take the collars off before he shook his head. “I don’t think it’s gonna be that easy.” Micah said as he looked over at Chris at watched him for a moment before his eyes fell back onto Maya. “I don’t think these collars are meant to come off.” Micah reached out for a bread roll and moved between his hands. “Yeah I’m only half, so unless they did something more to me. The wolfsbane isn’t going to do much.” Micah said as he pulled the bread roll apart before he took a bite, not really think of the consequences of eating it could bring. “It’s a good thought, blondie. But it’s too easy.”

His thought fell on deaf ears, but Chris didn't mind, he kept mulling I over. The good part of being weak was that it was harder for him to spiral into overthinking, what with his head working slowly. He smiled tiredly at Maya when she offered to fix him up "My hero" he said playfully, leaning his head against the wall "I'd much rather you wait for me to pass out to put it back though, so I don't have to feel it. Because I'm pretty sure it hurts, doesn't it?" He said, frowning when Micah said it was too easy. It was true. "You're right. Have any of you noticed the windows?" He asked, eyes moving between them "They're open."

"Not even going to let me try?" Maya teased, "And here I thought we were becoming best friends." She gave Chris a smile and shrug, "Just a bit." She'd dislocated her shoulder before. It hurt to pop it back in, but it was always better than the alternative. Still, she wouldn't force her help on either of them. Instead, when Micah didn't immediately start convulsing, she took a bite of the bread in her hand. It tasted bland, artificial somehow, even as hungry as she was that didn't escape Maya's notice. Still, it felt good to eat. "I don't know about easy," she said with a shrug, "I just know I'm stubborn and cleverer than I look." Or stupider than she looked considering wolfsbane was still toxic to humans. It wasn't as bad as for werewolves, but it should be handled with gloves. Following Chris's words, she looked to the windows. Her brow furrowed again, "That can't be a good sign," she said before adding, "Too easy." If it was as easy to escape as jumping out a window then their kidnappers would've kept them chained up and the windows locked. She had a bad feeling about what open windows and untied hands meant.

Micah growled softly as he looked at Maya. “Sorry, blonde. But I don’t do friends.” Micah said as he looked over at Chris. Did Chris consider him a friend, sure they slept together and made small talk every now and then. But were they friends, if they weren’t it was than likely Micah’s fault. “The wolfsbane is slowing down our healing, so you are going to feel it passed out or not.” Micah said softly before he looked back at his bread roll, as he listened to the two talk. He raised an eyebrow before he looked over to windows as well. Clearly whoever took them, knew that they couldn’t leave. Why else would they let them roam freely for. “Is there anyone else here? Or just us?”

Nate woke up on the cold hard floor, his body felt heavy and there was a burning sensation around his neck, he soon found out it was due to the silver chain and even though he tried taking it off, pulling on the necklace it only caused it to burn more so the half vampire decided not to mess with it, for now at least, he was going to need his hands there was no need to mess them up. He took in his surroundings, it seemed like an abandoned mansion and he could hear voices coming from somewhere inside the house. He decided to ignore them for now, noticing the window in the room he had been left in was open, no locks, not very smart on whoever had captured him. Nate stared outside, he could make the jump easily so he decided to try it only to jump across the room falling back on the floor, cursing due to his injuries. So it wasn't going to be that easy to leave, there was a spell or something preventing him from escaping. Nate stayed on the floor, catching his breath, what he wouldn't give to be back at the apartment, warm under the covers, arms around Axel, the werewolf was sure to be looking for him. He had faith that his partner would find him, he was probably turning the town upside down as soon as he saw that he hadn't made it home. He missed Axel. The half vampire pushed himself from the floor, groaning at the pain. He made his way to where the voices were coming from and was surprised by the dinning table. full of food and what seemed to be water, he was even more taken back by who he saw there, Chris, Micah and a girl that he didn't recall meeting before." I am also here." Nate said, pulling on one of the chairs and sitting down." I wouldn't jump from the windows, I tried and it threw me back in."

Chris winced "Okay, maybe that could be a good idea" he said. He was already in pain, what was a bit more to it, right? The I don't do friends stung a bit, sure, he was probably just a notch on Micah's bedpost, if that even, but Chris didn't want him hurt. He knew people cared. "You should tell that to Axel, he's pretty sure you're both friends" Chris said, slightly bitter as he pushed himself off the floor. His stomach was growling, he should eat something before he passed out. "There's another guy, I saw him before" he said, though he couldn't remember his name, the man who said he could heal Chris last time he woke up, but then he heard Nate's voice and it was like a cold hand squeezed his heart. "No, not Nate too" it was under his breath and came out almost like a whine, but he didn't care. Oh god, Axel must be going crazy by now. He took a couple of shaky steps towards the table, stopping beside Nate and pressing a delicate hand on his shoulder. "Are you hurt?" he asked, noticing the chain. Was that like vampire wolfsbane?

Maya huffed a laugh. It was strange to hear something she would say repeated back to her. "Okay Batman," she replied, "I'll put a hold on the friendship bracelets." She kept eating as someone else walked into the room. She didn't recognize him either. "Fantastic," she said though at the news that they couldn't just leave out a window. Maya wasn't surprised, but she was disappointed anyway. "Has anyone checked if they still have a phone?" she asked.

Micah rolled his eyes as he heard Maya. “Am I meant to know who that is?” Micah asked before he looked over at Chris and frowned a little when he said Axel considered them friends. He shrugged a little. “Give a dog a bone, and they come back to the hand that feeds them.” Micah said as he pushed himself away from the table, he looked down at the bread roll in his hand before he tossed it onto the table. He walked closer to the windows and looked at them closely. It was clear that it was just a false hope for them, teasing them with a way out. “Whoever took us, is smart enough to lure us in a state of false hope.” Micah said as he turned and face the other two. He was about to speak again when another voice joined them. He watched as the new person joined the party. Nate. Micah laughed softly, shaking his head. “Really, they took Nate as well. Do they not realise who they kidnapped. These people are bloody dumbasses.” Micah said as he let out a laugh as he moved back to the table and sat down near Nate. He looked him quickly before his eyes zeroed in on the necklace Nate was wearing. “Are you alright?” Micah asked before he looked over at Chris. “Are they trying to keep us weak for a reason?”

Nate had to laugh at Micah's words." You make it sound like I'm royalty but I do agree with you, they are not very smart." The half vampire reached out for one of the water bottles so that he could have a drink, at least this time he was with friends and not alone like the first time he had been kidnapped. He shook his head at the girls question." No, they took my phone." Nate looked between Chris and Micah, noticing the collars around their neck." Could be worse. Apart from a dislocated arm, a bad headache and some bruises. I would ask if you are both alright but due the circumstances I already have an idea of the answer." He sighed." Probably. I can't take this necklace, it's burning my skin." He turned his attention back to the girl, she had no necklace or collar but she did have something else, two very distinct marks on her neck.

Chris offered him an offended look when Micah didn't recognize Batman, but he was past offended when he said those things about Axel, comparing him to a needy dog. "This already sucks, you don't need to be mean, you know? He's probably looking for you, your fiance is too, eat and redirect that anger. We're on YOUR side" Chris almost barked, glaring daggers at Micah. "No phone either, they took me when I was sleeping" he said, gesturing to his pajama pants and dirty tank top, clearly underdressed for the cold. His eyes moved to the chain around Nate's neck and Chris moved his fingers up "Excuse me" he muttered before he gently touched the chain, trying to see if it was enchanted or something and finding it didn't hurt the wolf. He moved it then, pushing his fingers between the chain and Nate's skin, as to release some pressure then, frowned, trying to find the clasp for it, maybe he could set Nate free, but it was hard to keep himself on his feet, it was even harder to think.

Maya was starting to feel out of place. Ironic that she'd been kidnapped and yet she still managed to feel out of place. She nodded when they all said that their kidnappers had at least been smart enough to take their phones. She was about to offer the newcomer her help when Chris was already up and on his feet. So she kept eating. As did, she pulled her legs up to sit as small as possible on the chair. She couldn't do much until she got some of her strength back. No one was looking for her, she was sure of that, but at least they were looking for the others. Silent, she turned the kidnapping over in her mind. It seemed they all had some connection to Axel. Although Maya thought hers was tenuous at best. They hadn't been killed which meant they were probably supposed to be alive. And whoever had taken them obviously wasn't worried about them escaping or helping each other. With Chris and Micah already close to fighting though, maybe they were hoping they would kill each other. She glanced around, just checking if there were hidden cameras. If there were any, she couldn't see any. "Does Axel have any, like, enemies?" she asked, "Seems like kidnapping all of you would send him a message." She swallowed, pulled her body in a little smaller, "If a message is what we think the point is."

Micah glanced at Chris for a moment. Before he signed as he moved away from the table when Chris moved closer to Nate. “What’s a few broken bones, between whatever we are.” Micah said as he looked back at Chris. For the first time he took in what Chris was wear, and realised he really wasn’t dressed for this. Micah pulled his jacket off, and handed it to Chris. “Here.” Micah said softly as he gave a soft smile. “I run hot, so I won’t need it.” Micah said before he shifted away from the table. He was starting to feel sick, the wolfsbane was having more effect than he was letting, and he was still suffering from the silver poisoning a few weeks ago. “Trust me, if this is to do with Axel. I wouldn’t be here.” Micah said, trying to keep his voice steady and not let on that the pain in his body was stating to get worse. “I’m gonna have a look around, see what I can see.” Micah breathed out as he moved around the group in the dining table

Unlike the others, who were clearly huddled around the food which was likely POISONED, Jett was on the move. He was trying every window and door he could find, hoping that one of them could be the key to getting the hell out of there. He already went through the front door only to come back in at the back one who knew how many times now. The male wiped sweat from his brow as he marched into the room they were in, without a word, to double check the windows and bang against them, before he turned and stalked back out. "Maybe I can tunnel out of here," he muttered to himself, disappearing around the corner as his steps faded. Was he going to go tear up the floor in another room to test this theory? Yes yes he was, as soon as he found something to help pry those old floorboards up!

Chris felt bad the moment he said that, but he wouldn't take it back. Micah was being a meanie, that was the truth. The half wolf probably noticed though, because he offered his jacket and Chris blushed slightly when he accepted it. Maybe it was the wolfsbane, but he was feeling cold. "Thanks" he said simply, taking it as a friendship token. They WERE friends, Micah liked it or not. While the others talked and Micah left, Chris' eyes were caught by that man, trying the windows. Was he human? That would explain the energy and the lack of a collar. He opened his mouth to ask, but then he left and Chris sighed. "Yup, that's... the man I talked about. So we're..." He counted in his head "Five total here? I don't know if he's friends with Axel... Though, let's be real, most of the town is friends with Axel, he's pretty friendly."

Nate allowed Chris to touch the necklace, it provided some relief to his not bruised skin." I think there is no way to take it off, who ever put these on us did it as a sort of punishment, I assume." The half vampire rolled his eyes, deep down he knew that Micah cared why else would he been giving his jacket to Chris, he turned his attention to the other." Thank you Chris but you should rest, sit down and eat." He assured him, gesturing for the seat next to himself. Nate frowned at her question, Axel having enemies? Sure, that was a possibility it would probably be something petty and nothing this elaborate, Nate had dealt with far worse individuals than his boyfriend. If anything he was the one with enemies." I don't think we are here because of him. " Nate closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his head spin again." Chris is right, Axel has made it a point to befriend everyone that he crosses past with, do you know him?"

Maya raised an eyebrow when Micah said if it was about Axel then he wouldn't be there. She didn't say it, but she had no business being there either if it was the case. But they had already established their captors were idiots. "It wouldn't be about if you think your friends, just if he thinks your friends. And that bar seems pretty low for Axel," she paused realizing how that sounded. "I didn't mean that as a bitchy thing, I meant that as a he cares about people and someone is going to take advantage of that someday thing." She almost laughed as Micah laughed, but not before giving away his jacket with practiced nonchalance. It was something she would do. She didn't call him on it. Instead she poured herself a glass of water. She only nodded when the vampire, guessing by the silver giving him trouble, said he didn't think it was about Axel. Mostly, she was spitballing. Feeling a little better, she stood and started searching the table. "Hm?" she half asked, bringing her mind back to the conversation,. She almost said yeah he thinks he's going to save my life. She went with, "Yeah, we met awhile back. Ran into each other when I got here. I wouldn't say we're friends, but it might not be about what I think."

"But" he started when Nate told him to sit down. Using his last few brain cells, Chris reached for a napkin on the table, dripping it on itself a couple of times before tucking it between Nate's skin and the chain. If that was the reason for the skin to be burning, it should help at least a little bit. Once he was done, Chris took a seat beside him, reaching for what looked like a cinnamon roll. He was about to argue about her comment on Axel (what was it with everyone picking on him???) when she added the apology and Chris chuckled. She was bad ass, but she wasn't an ass. "Is he our only link? Do we have anything else in common?" He wondered, chewing around the cinnamon roll, eating the frosting first like a sugar goblin. "Sebastian works with some dangerous people, I don't know if Micah knows him, but you do, right Maya? He told me you met the other day" he smiled at the memory, heart tugging at the thought of Sebastian, eyes getting watery "He said Nyle recognized you"

Nate offered Chris a gentle smile." Thank you, that helps." It came out almost as a whisper, he was feeling more exhausted than he let on." If you met Axel once that is enough for him to consider you a friend, you are probably stuck with him forever now that you crossed paths." He replied to the girl, reaching out to grab a piece of bread for himself." Maybe there is something else, beyond just knowing him. I'm finding it hard to come up with a reason on why they would kidnap us, clearly they don't want us dead, they had an opportunity for that and they are offering us food and drinks... It doesn't make sense." The half vampire took a bit out of the bread." They have only become targets now,"

There was, of course, one person who very much wanted Maya dead. She didn't mention him though because if Shaw had anything to do with this, she'd be dead already. And he wouldn't have mucked about with magic. Not when one cannot suffer a witch to live or whatever the fuck he thought. She didn't say anything in reply to the man, instead casting her gaze back at the table as she kept looking. She knew how things went with people. They met, sometimes they liked her. And then someday, for a host of legitimate reasons they didn't like her anymore. It was, in her mind, as sure as the tides. She was too difficult, too quiet, too slutty, too much, always too something. "Yeah, I know Sebastian," she said. She moved some things around. "But I wouldn't look too much into my connection," Maya added, "We've already established our captors are idiots." "Ha," she exclaimed, "I found a knife." She picked it up. It was a steak knife. She'd much rather a chef's knife, but she would take whatever tools she could get. "Offer to try and get that collar off still stands. Or your necklace," she said, "And you should let me pop your shoulder back in." Now with some food in her stomach, she felt better. At least better enough to pretend she was handling it.

Chris sighed happily to know he offered Nate some comfort. "It's true. The same day he moved in he decided we were friends, it's really weird how easy it is for them." He chuckled when Maya said their captures were idiots "They really are. My boyfriend is a Marine sniper and I just joined Jason's pack officially a couple of days ago, he's-" his smile faded as realization dawned on him "Oh god, he must be worried sick." He groaned, there he went, making it difficult for the people he loved. Chris was ready to go into that maybe it's better if they don't find me spiral when his attention was caught by Maya and her excitement over a knife. He smiled tiredly, shoving the last of the cinnamon roll into his mouth and sitting up straighter, left arm still limp at his side. He opened his arms in offering, eyes closed " 'om ack me" he said around the food, a poor excuse for a much cooler sentence. Come at me.

Maya nodded with a plaster smile. "Suppose I better take care of y'all then, get you returned safely," she joked. It was easier to joke than to admit to the pit in her stomach. A subtle change came to her smile as he agreed to let her help. Good, she could do something. "Collar first or shoulder first?" she asked as she got closer.

Chris noticed her smile and felt a bit better. Swallowing, he took a deep breath "Shoulder" he said "I don't know how bad the- the poisoning is, but if you take the collar off and for some miraculous reason my healing kick in it could- well, my shoulder could heal in the wrong place" he look at her "Right?"

Maya nodded. With werewolf healing, they wouldn't want it to heal into place wrong. She set down the knife. "Alright, so it is going to hurt. But then it'll hurt a hell of a lot less," she explained. Gently, she set her hands on his shoulder. At first, she just felt it, trying to figure out exactly how it was popped out. Feeling confident, she continued, "Okay, I'll pop it in on three alright? One...two..." She popped his shoulder back in. The problem with the counting was that the person tensed on three, which didn't help at all. But the first two numbers helped a bit. "Now, let's fish out some ice," Maya picked up a napkin to wrap ice in, "And then I'll see if I can work out that collar." She stretched to pick up a water pitcher with ice in it. When the movement aggravated her ribs, she couldn't help the grimace that contorted her face.

Chris nodded along, trying to calm down his breathing. He was terrible with pain, he wasn't tough like Sebastian and Maya. He was weak and he knew it. "Okay" he agreed, and before the third could he let out a scream of agony, eyes wide in surprise as his lungs struggled to keep breathing. "YOU SAID ON THREE" he complained, but as if like magic his shoulder was in place, the staggering pain now just a dull ache. "Thanks" he said after a few breaths, catching on her pained face "You're hurt too, aren't you? Where is it?"

Maya shrugged, "Yeah, well, I'm a bitch so." She folded ice into the napkin. She added, "Plus you would've gotten all tense if I actually went on three." Holding out the makeshift icepack to him, she said, "Here put this on your shoulder." She turned her attention to the collar on his neck. She stared intently at it before even trying to touch it. They had to have had some way to put it on him, so there might be an easier way to get it off than trying to saw through it with a steak knife. She shook her head at his question, "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Chris smiled at it, feeling slightly more playful now with sugar in his system "I'm apparently a dog, so we're fine" he gestured to his neck, with no courage to actually tug on the collar just for comedic value. He nodded at her words "Still, low" Chris pouted for a moment, then frowned "Is it your leg? Maybe you should sit down. I'm sure being fed on has taken a toll on you too"

"Good company at least," Maya joked when he mentioned that he was a dog. As far as her misleading him, she only shrugged. He didn't have to like her methods, but she knew they worked. From personal experience, she knew how she had went about it was the least painful option. "Legs are fine," she replied. Although now that she was thinking about it one of her knees did hurt from crashing to the asphalt, but she could ignore it. Still, she did sit next to him. There was a lock on the back of the collar. She'd need the key or a bobby pin to do this the easy way. "Fine," she muttered more to herself and the collar than to Chris, "we can do this the hard way." Then to Chris, she added, "Don't move okay?" She paused, picked up another napkin and said, "Maybe see if you can get this in-between your neck and the collar."

Chris hummed, not believing for a second that she was not hurt. He was glad she sat down though "You really don't let people take care of you, do you" he murmured, so it was just between the two of them. Chris stood still then, grabbing the napkin with his good hand and trying to do the same he did with Nate on his own collar. "What is the hard way? I kinda really like my neck, you know."

Maya shrugged. It was hard to let people take care of her when it was hardly offered. Better to take care of herself and not try to rely on others. "I've been taking care of myself for a long time," she said as if that was an explanation. "Oh, I'm just going to saw through it," she explained, "No neck harming involved." She carefully slipped the steak knife under the collar on the side of his neck. She then took hold of the collar with one hand, and another napkin, before attempting to saw through the offending material.

"They're not mutually exclusive" he said tiredly, eyes closing "People can take care of you even when you're usually the one taking care of people" Chris murmured, then nodded and sat extremely still, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end when the sound of the knife scraping against the collar hit his sensitive ears.

Maya couldn't exactly disagree with that. She didn't say anything for a long moment, instead focusing on the task at hand. It helped. It was useful both in distracting her from the literal pain in her ribs and the metaphorical pain in her shipwreck of a heart. "I learned a long time ago that I only had myself to rely on," she said finally, "And it's just a cracked rib. I know how to handle that."

Micah took another shuddering breath, as he stood up. Walking around the mansion proved pointless. Couldn’t get out through the windows or the doors. There seemed to be some bedrooms, but nothing else. He leaned against the wall, and took a moment. Looking down at himself he saw blood forming on the bottom of his shirt. “Well that’s not good.” Micah muttered as he adjusted himself, ignoring the pain in his side and whatever bones may be broke. He put up a good fight, but unfortunately it wasn’t good enough. Micah made his way back to the group, and sat down on the chair at the far end of the table, watching Maya and Chris.

"Well, you have me?" He offered with blushed cheeks and little to no strength "It's not much, but if there's anything I can do to help, just say the word" he hummed. He didn't push because Chris knew there wasn't much that could be done, he had his fair share of broken ribs back in the day and was pretty sure he had a couple now, all that was advised was just to stay still and rest, and that was mostly what they could do now. He opened his eyes again when he heard movement coming from the door and the wolf found Micah, his eyes going straight to the blood on his shirt "What- Micah, did they attack you again?! What happened?"

Maya didn't say anything. She was making some progress on the collar, although not as much as she would like. There wasn't anything to say. Chris was here now, sure, but she was too cautious to let herself rely on him. Anyway, there wasn't much to do with her ribs. Wrap it maybe, but other than that just rest and try not to breathe shallowly. They were interrupted, perhaps luckily, by Micah returning. Like Chris, Maya's gaze went straight to the blood on his shirt. "Holy shit," she slipped the knife from under Chris' collar. Then in perhaps a show of stunning irony, she asked, "Have you been bleeding this whole time? Why didn't you say anything?" She stood, looking around for something to use as a makeshift bandage. More than human or not, it wasn't good to lose that much blood.

Micah shrugged a little as he watched the two. “No, they didn’t attack me again.” Micah said as he looked down at his shirt before he looked at the two. “They probably just busted my stitches when they jumped me.” Micah may be a half wolf, but he didn’t heal like a full wolf. So sometimes things took longer to heal than others. He leaned his head back and sighed a little. “It’s fine, really. I can go along with the other injuries I received from them.” Micah said as he shifted a little. “What have you two been up too??”

"Stitches?" Chris frowned, leaning onto the table now that Maya let go of the collar, listening to his back crack. Oh god, he was so stiff from standing still so much. His inner wolf, if it had any energy, would be very upset right now, craving a run. "Did you check them?" Chris groaned, he wanted to get up and go to him to check himself, but his legs were too heavy to move "Maya was trying to get rid of the collar for me"

Stitches, Maya could fix that. Well, if she had a needle and thread she could fix it. They just seemed to be short on supplies. Still, they should stop the bleeding. She unzipped her jacket and shrugged it off. Despite the fight before being kidnapped her jacket had protected her shirt from getting dirty. Given its being fire resistance, it had probably saved her from the worst of the fireball too. Stripping off her shirt, she tossed it to Micah. It left her momentarily in a lacey red bra. "See if you can't stop the bleeding with that until we can find something to sew you back up," she said. Her tone brokered no argument. She was pretty sure that was the best she could get him to do for now. Slipping her jacket back on, she turned her attention back to Chris' collar. She had managed to make a sizeable cut into it. It wasn't enough she thought that she could rip it off quite yet. "Give me another fifteen, I think," she said, sitting back down. Glancing back at Micah, she asked, "Find anything interesting out there?"

Micah shrugged a little when Chris questioned the stitches. “Got stabbed a week or so ago. Axel tried to help.” Micah said as he looked back at Chris. “Can’t get them checked if you do them yourself.” Micah said as he watched Maya for a moment before he looked away as she pulled her shirt off. “If it wasn’t a silver blade, it would of healed by now.” Micah caught Maya’s shirt as it was tossed towards him. He rolled his eyes a little at her tone. “Find me a needle and thread, and i can fix myself up.” Micah said watching as Maya went back to Chris’s collar. “Not a lot, some bedrooms. Crossed paths with another person, but we didn’t make small talk.” Micah pushed his shirt up before he pressed mayas shirt to the wound. “No way out.”

Why was he stuck there with the two people who were less likely to accept help? Was Chris in his own personal hell? Was this The Bad Place? He shook his head, trying to shake his thoughts away "You say stabbed as if it was a normal thing to happen on a Tuesday" he said, looking away when he realized Maya was stripping. His cheeks got a deep shade of red when he realized she took her shirt off while Chris was there, wearing the man's jacket, something that was already his and could be stopping the bleeding. Such a nuisance. "We're They looking for you? Is that why they used the silver blade? Doesn't sound like a random bar fight" he mused "Wait, do you think those people are the same that took us?" Chris sat up straight when Maya moved back close to him, offering his neck, yet trying not to look as desperate to get rid of the collar as he was.

Maya shrugged, "Sometimes you get stabbed. Shit happens." She had been stabbed before. It wasn't so bad. She returned to her work, carefully trying to remove the collar from Chris' neck. "Don't be stupid," she said to Micah not bothering to look over at him, "You stitch it up yourself when there's no one else around. I'll stitch it if we find a needle." She listened to Chris' thoughts about perhaps Micah's bar fight and their kidnapping being related. It was plausible. She had no further thoughts though. It seemed like this was related to some deeper town politics that she didn't understand. The best thing she could do for now was get this collar off Chris' neck and then maybe see if Micah would let her get rid of his.

Micah laughed softly as he watched the two. “Would it be funny if it was a Tuesday?” Micah grinned as he ran his eyes over Chris for a moment before he shook his head. “Not the first time I’ve been stabbed, probably won’t be the last.” Micah said before he shook his head slightly. “No, they were just some wannabe hunters that were hassling a vampire.” Micah said as he watched Maya again at the collar. “They ran off as soon as they stabbed me. They didn’t know what they were doing.” Micah said as he looked down at his side before he sighed and placed the shirt on the table. “I can stitch it myself, I don’t need the help.”

Maya bit back a laugh at Micah's question. She listened quietly again as Micah explained he didn't think the two events were related. Without more information she couldn't be sure. He seemed rather confident though. "I didn't say you need help," she replied and glanced back at him. "You're supposed to keep that on until the bleeding stops." She turned back to the task at hand, "I said, I was going to stitch it up for you." The irony did not occur to her. Maya was merely thinking that it would be better if she stitched him up rather than him trying to do it himself. It was simple as that

Micah glared as he watched Maya. “If I bleed out, I bleed out.” Micah shrugged as he stood up, stumbling slightly before he found his footing. “Are you going to let me strap your ribs or set any broken bones you may have?” Micah asked with a raised eyebrow before he shook his head slightly, watching Maya working the collar again. “It’s not going to work, they clearly don’t want us to take them or at full strength”

"Oh, so you're stupid then," Maya replied. She watched him stand out of the corner of her eye as he stood and stumbled towards them. When he pointed out that she wasn't letting anyone help her either, she turned to glare at him. Her green eyes were dark, clearly annoyed with both his stubbornness and with being called out. "Fine, you can strap my ribs and I get to give you stitches," she said after a long moment of mental judgement. She huffed as he said that it wouldn't work. She paused, turning to face him again. "Oh, so I should just make snarky comments and bleed out instead?" she asked.

“Well yeah, everyone knows that.” Micah said with another roll of his eyes as he moved towards Maya and Chris. Micah smiled softly when Maya glared at him, knowing he pushed some kind of button. “It goes both ways, blondie. I don’t have to like you, to help you.” Micah said as folded his arms and leaned on the table, keeping his eyes on the collar around Chris’s neck. He shrugged slightly as he heard Maya. “Why not? It’s working out well enough for me.”

Their arguing was making him disoriented. Chris had closed his eyes and now it was hard to pry them open. Maybe this was his body trying to tell him to rest. So he leaned against the back of the chair, resting his head on the top of it. The angle still allowed Maya to mess with the collar, but it demanded less energy, so with a sigh, Chris let the world fade back to black.

More than actually frustrated with him, Maya was mostly annoyed at the situation. Plus she was tired, hungry and in pain. It was never a good combination. Knowing this, and knowing it would be a long kidnapping if they were at each other's throats, she managed a laugh at his words, that he didn't have to like her to help her. "You're better at that than I am, " she said with no additional information. She let Chris lay down to rest without cutting him in the neck. It was close enough, she decide she should try for ripping it. Especially when she had some excess annoyance to get out. Not bothering with the napkin, Maya gripped the two sides of it and ripped. A burst of pain sparked in her back, an injury she had realized until now but probably from the impact of the fireball. But more important was the satisfying rip of the collar breaking apart. She tore it off and tossed it towards the window. Turning to Micah, she asked, "So ribs first or stitches first?"

Chris was shook awake when he felt the collar snapping, eyes blinking open glowing neon blue, as his wolf was awakening with him, even if still weak. The wolf turned to look at her, a smile on his lips as his hands moved up to scratch the bruised skin of his neck "Maya... thank you" and he truly meant it. He didn't know how to help her, and she seemed like she was going to be entertained with Micah for the next foreseeable future, so Chris pushed himself up from the table, taking a deep breath with a tiny wince "I'm going to check the rest of the place, see if I can find some clean fabric for bandages" he announced "Maybe I can find somewhere we can shower." He looked at Micah "We don't know how long we'll stay here, and if you're getting new stitches we need to make sure they don't get infected" he walked towards the door, stopping when he was beside the wolf to add "Please don't die before I come back, I'd never hear the end of it" Chris offered him a small smile, thinking of his big brother being his dramatic self as he left the room.

Meanwhile Nate had gone off to find a place to rest, his head had been killing him and there was no point in wasting energy, not when he couldn't think straight. The half vampire pulled on the chain around his neck, it was an annoying piece of jewelry and he wanted nothing more than to get rid of it. The burn marks around his neck weren't going to heal, that was a certainty. He cursed under his breath, letting go of the silver. He hated this, not being able to do anything, the stupid spell around the mansion, the collars, what was even the point? He pressed his back agaisnt the wall, staring down at the ring in his fingers, just days before he had been talking to Axel about the wedding and now here the half vampire was. Nate sighed, closing his eyes, it was getting harder to stay awake.

Chris was slowly making his way to the mansion, mentally cataloguing the items he found, when he found Nate. "Are you okay?" He asked softly. Chris knew he wasn't, none of them were, but he didn't know how to ask more accurately. Do you need help this instant? didn't sound as caring as he felt. "Maya got my collar off" he announced pointing to his neck, the angry purple bruise around it made it seem like the wolf had come straight from his own hanging, though he was unaware of it "Which means they're not held on by magic. I can- I can try to take yours off. If you let me?"

Nate opened up his eyes at the sound of Chris voice."* Never better.*" He joked with a small smile, he glanced down at werewolf's neck." That's good. Hopefully it won't take long to heal." The half vampire pushed himself up, nodding at the offer." Please, I think if I keep this necklace any longer it will cut straight threw my skin. "

Chris chuckled miserably, shaking his head and stepping closer "You know, if there was someone that could hurt you" he started, reaching for the necklace, trying got figure out which ring was the weakest "I'd have all my bets on garlic. Not silver. Silver sounds way more like our thing, don't you think?"

Nate shook his head." Clearly whoever took us didn't even do us the courtesy of searching our backgrounds. Garlic would have been the obvious choice." The half vampire stood still so that Chris could take a better look at the necklace." I keep going over, why take us in the first place? There seems to be no point to all of this other than just annoyance." He sighed." How are you holding up Chris?"

Chris was thankful for Nate's try to give him a sense of normalcy and he half shrugged (only with the good shoulder because he was being careful) with a tiny playful smile "I read somewhere that the misconception about vampires having a reflection was due to the fact that most old time mirrors were lined with silver" he said, tugging on a particularly rusty ring. His hands were so uncharacteristically cold that he didn't notice the frostbite on his fingertips. "I'm-" there was a knot on his throat and Chris moved to look around for something else to use. He ended up grabbing a small piece of metal from the floor, coming back to push it in the hole of the ring, trying to delicately make a lever "I'm scared" he breathed out, eyes glued to the chain on his hands "Last time something like this happened, I had Sebastian with me. Now... I don't know if I'll ever see him again."

" Chris." Nate's voice was calm, if there was one thing the half vampire could do in a situation that they were in was keep himself level headed and give some hope to his friend." You are stronger than you might give yourself credit for. This situation we find out selves in , its not favorable but yet here you are helping me. It takes a lot of strength to remain calm." He paused for a moment, glancing down at his ring, he had thought the same thing, if he would see Axel again." Then let's keep each other safe so that you can see him again. I imagine that they are doing everything in their power to find us, I'm surprised that no one has burst into the walls yet."

"Oh, I'm not calm" he said, still conversationally, using all of his focus on the mechanics of a simple lever "I'm just- I couldn't feel my wolf since we arrived, you know, because of the collar. So I'm just a bit out of it. Give me a couple more hours, I'll freak out properly" he tried to joke, but sighed at his words "Sorry, joking about it is... as much as I can offer, I guess" he said simply "I'll be lucky if Sebastian and Jason haven't killed each other by now. I bet they're super serious doing stuff and Axel is driving them crazy talking his mouth off" Chris mused, somehow the thought of their loved ones helped. Placing his hand on one side of the necklace, Chris used the weight of his body to create the lever, effectively snapping the ring and watching as the chain fell to the floor. "There you go!"

Nate laughed at the thought." He probably is, knowing him I'm sure that he would want to jump head first instead of following a plan." As the necklace broke, the chain falling to the ground the half vampire let out a sigh of relief, rubbing his neck to try and make the pain less. Finally free from his restrains. " Thank you Chris, I'm sure that Edward would be proud." It helped to joke, take his mind of their situation." But I do mean it, you are far braver than you realize." With that Nate looked over at the sole of his shoe, poking at the end revealing a hidden compartment with a vial with red liquid. That's one of the things he learned last time he got kidnaped to be prepared. " I'm sure it won't take long until they find us."

Chris chuckled at the mental picture, smiling when Nate thanked him. "Oh no, thank you. I'm pretty sure the first guy who got to me was a vampire, I'm all for Team Jacob now. You're my only exception" he said with an embarassed chuckle. Chris watched him with interest then, eyes wide when he saw the vial. "Wait, is that- is that blood?"

Nate nodded, he pondered for a moment if he should tell Chris about his past, part of it at least." This isn't the first time I've been taken." The half vampire said." Last time my captures did not feed me, sure they gave me food but that was not enough. It did not end well for them." It had been a blood bath really, sometimes he still dreamed of that time, it was then he decided to run away and leave his previous life behind." So I keep it for situations like this, it also helps me heal a bit faster." He opened the vial, taking a small sip before putting back on the hidden compartment.

Chris hummed, grimacing at the mental image "Do you know why they took you before? Maybe they're the same people" he said. He read a lot about captors for hire in his line of work, the dark web was full of them, but he never realized there were actual people on the other side. "Werewolf blood... Is poison for you, right?" He said, then rushed to add "Just- just thinking about it."

" Yes. " Nate stared back at Chris, shaking his head." It is not them. They would have taken you or the others, nor would they have kept me alive this time I'm sure." He tilted his head to the side." Since I'm half human I can drink a small amount of it but it's not recommended. Last time I drank more than I needed, I ended up getting very thirsty I almost went threw all the blood bags I had." the half vampire couldn't help but smile amused." Were you about to offer yourself Chris?"

Chris frowned "What happened? Back then? I mean, why- why would they kidnap you?" He said, listening "I remember. Like Minecraft zombie flesh" he added, then blushed deeply and shrugged "I wanted to know where we stood. If you got hurt or something, I- I wanna know how I can help. I've been... pretty useless since I woke up here."

Nate didn't know how much information he should share." My past line of work it..." He tried to think how to elaborate." I was in business with some dangerous people and I thought I could outsmart them, for a while it was working fine until I could caught. One of my clients wasn't happy and so they decided to teach me a lesson." He sighed." The only ones that know about this are my older brother, Axel, my old crew and now you. I trust that you won't share this information." Nate raised an eyebrow."* Pretty useless?* Chris you just helped me by breaking my chain, I would say that you are pretty useful and might I remember you that my burns could have been worse if you hadn't thought about putting the napkin between my skin and the necklace."

Chris listened looking at his hands. There were small red marks where h gripped the chain, maybe werewolves weren't as resistible to silver as he thought. He looked up when he talked about who knew it, offering Nate a secretive smile. "Well, I won't. I work with some pretty, uh... underground people too. When people ask what I do I just say oh, I code apps but uhm, some of them have kind of... sketchy uses. Like instant transfer for money laundering or generating fake serial numbers for painting dupes." He blushed, then shrugged "And no one knows the specifics. Not even Sebastian. So uhm, a secret for a secret, I guess?" Chris smiled at his words, blushing slightly. He was just so used to being useless in dire situations, he hadn't noticed he did manage to make the half vampire's stay less miserable, even if just a little bit. "Thanks, Nate."

Nate listened to what Chris was saying, he would have never thought that the werewolf would be in the same world as he." Wait-" The half vampire frowned slightly." You generate fake serial numbers for fake paintings?" Now that was a coincidence." I dealt with fake paintings, it was what got me into trouble. Well-" He smiled." I stole the real ones, replaced it with a fake and then sold a fake in case I wanted the real one for my collection." Nate rubbed his neck, the feeling still there." A secret for a secret." He nodded." Thank you, Chris."

Chris laughed at that "Seriously?" He asked "Welp, it might've been me then. It really is a small world." The wolf smiled, shaking his head then nodding towards the corridor "Come on, I was on a mission. We need to find fabric for bandages, Micah is hurt" and just like that they were off.

------------------------------

The only problem with being one of the few humans trapped in this place was that there was nothing to accelerate her healing. Maya just had to deal with her ribs. In this case, that meant trying to figure out how to test all the exits without harming herself further. The front door was easy enough. She simply had to try to walk out of it. It didn't work of course, but she had to try. Now, armed with a piece of charcoal to mark useless exits, she stared out the window in a dusty, disused library, trying to figure out how to open it to start with.

Connor had spent the whole afternoon and evening setting up for his party. The woods made it feel more like Camp Half-Blood, which was comforting. The problem was that he had gotten so sidetracked with other things, that he had only managed to put up one line of bunting and set up a table with a few plastic cups and snacks by the time it was dark. The rest of the table with taken up by unused bunting, untouched balloons, party hats and streamers. He was busy putting up fairy lights and hanging lanterns when he heard footsteps crunch the leaves below them as someone approached. “Hey! Welcome! I know it’s not done yet, but I’m busy with it. Is it 8 already?”

Though skeptical about the soundness of mind that had gone into planning this party, Percy wasn’t about to complain at a chance to have some morale boosted. Things had been pretty depressing since the curse, even before the curse really and he didn’t want to see a repeat of that if he could help it. But despite that he was careful to be on his guard. “You must have lost track of time Connor,” he replied with a smirk, “but yes, it is already eight.” He looked around the forest, impressed that one man could do this in so little time. “We need to remember to be careful, but this should be fun.”

Connor glanced at Percy with a side eye. “Let’s not be the party police Jackson.” He knew that they had to be careful, but it was his birthday and he wasn’t about to not have a party. “The Romans will hear the amazing music and will want to join us, nevermind attacking us. It’s going to be lit.” He now walked up to the table and flipped up two cups and then filled them both with beer from the keg he had supplied. “Cheers Percy.” He said, handing him the other the cup. “To a great week, and to your own birthday at the end of the week!” He rose his cup to clink it with Percy’s. “Thanks for coming, I appreciate it.”

It seemed like a bad idea having a party at night in the middle of the woods. Lina would be surprised if something didn’t happen. She wasn’t exactly a party person, but she did like being in the middle of the woods at night. Plus, she had people to protect, and she was finally feeling completely okay again with her magic. She hoped that no one would start anything, but she was there to help if they did. “I have to agree with Percy. We should be careful. Happy birthday though. We haven’t had a birthday party in quite a while.”

“I’m not saying don’t have any fun,” Percy said as he took the red plastic cup full of beer from Connor and couldn’t help but feel as if he was back in his freshman year of College, “I’m just saying that there is a way to have fun and be sensible at the same time… I know that sounds like a party police thing to say but you know it is the truth.” He didn’t want to lose anyone else because they were too foolish to play things safe. He wasn’t going to allow hubris to be his downfall. “Just as long as we keep everything on the downlow everything will be fine, but anyway, happy birthday man!” He smirked brightly. “Here’s to being one year older.”

“Yeah yeah. I get what you’re saying.” As much as Connor wanted to get sloshed and party all night, he knew that he couldn’t. He had a responsibility as one of the older and more experienced demigods to protect those younger than him and his friends. He couldn’t do that if his whole world was spinning around him. “I’ll drink responsibly and music will be turned down at 10 and all that other bullshit.” He quickly poured a drink for his newest friend, Lina, and passed it to her. “Thanks guys. And yeah, a whole nother year older.” He didn’t sound so enthusiastic, in fact, he didn’t like the fact that we was already 25. He didn’t feel 25, he still felt like a kid, not an adult that is about to settle down and start paying taxes. “I thought that a party would maybe just get everyone in a good mood.” He smiles at Lina. “Now let’s turn on some music and pray that more guests arrive.” There wasn’t anything wrong with his current guests, the only problem was there were only 2 people so far. He hoped the music will attract more people, even people he didn’t know, he just wanted a crowd.

Lina hid a smile at his comment, she felt a little like a worrying mother, but his joke made her feel a little better. The party probably wouldn’t end at 10 pm, but she liked that he was aware of what was going on. She took the drink and sniffed it,“I don’t drink alcohol.” She told Connor softly with a little smile. “I tend to start arguments when I drink,” At least, if the centurion dinner was to go off of, she liked starting friendship ruining arguments about politics. “More people will come, I’m sure. We haven’t had a reason to celebrate for a while. If I had to guess, they’re doing that thing called ‘pregaming.’”

Though Percy was unable to speak to the potential safety or danger of their situation, Percy wasn’t about to take the risk that someone could get hurt. Now more than ever it was of the utmost importance that he set an example to the younger and potentially more vulnerable Greeks. After all they had so much more to lose if they were reckless and dangerous because they saw Percy doing it. “We’ve been here for a total of less than five minutes, take a moment, relax, enjoy your birthday and let the magic of having the coolest person in the city here start to work. Before you know it you’ll have more people than you know what to do with.”

When Wally had heard about a party, he felt more than inclined to come and crash it. Of course, you couldn’t really do that if you had been invited. At least, he assumed he was invited. Mostly, Wally just wanted some cake and soda. When he saw only a few people standing around the decorated area of the forest, he gravitated toward them. “Am I fashionably late or fashionably early?” He smiled at them all, coming up next to Lina. “Happy birthday, Connor. How old are we this year?”

Connor nodded at Percy and Lina’s comments on waiting for more people to arrive. He knew more people would come, nobody arrived on time these days anyways. He would also tend to show up late to parties due to having pre drinks with friends. He let out a sigh, it wasn’t the fact that a lot of people weren’t here yet, it was the fact that Travis wasn’t with them. He tried to push back the thought and put on a grin, “I wouldn’t say you’re fashionable at all.” He joked, “A whole 25 years of surviving wars and monster attacks, that should be something to be proud off.” He then downed his drink in a couple of seconds and then started at the cup that was meant for Lina. “If you don’t drink alcohol, there’s a couple of sodas and things in the cooler box over there.” He suggested and pointed towards a box under a tree. “Help yourselves, drinks are courtesy of me!”

Percy kicked a log over to the center of the clearing where everyone else was hung out, slipping down he perched on it and smiled as he sipped slowly at his beer. He was impressed that Connor had managed to source this many drinks, he’d need to put in an order for goods that he knew he couldn’t live without. “Congratulations on not beefing it, 25 years is really pretty impressive if you think about it, especially considering how much of a moron you can be sometimes.” He laughed and smiled gently. He was of course joking. Connor had always been a good friend. “We’ve all done well to survive this long!” Which begged the question of how long their luck could last, but that wasn’t the sort of thing that Percy wanted to focus on.

Lina happily surrendered her cup to Connor. “Thank you,” She smiled as she went over to the cooler, making herself a safe drink. She didn’t mind parties, they weren’t usually her scene. This one, however, was something she could enjoy. It was only mainly because of the woods. She was always surprised when they mentioned how young they died. It happened here, they were still demigods, but it wasn’t amazing to make it to twenty five if you lived in New Rome. People lived long lives there. She sat by Percy, though she sat on the ground rather than the log, her fingers twisting in the grass. “How did you get this many drink, Connor?”

Connor shouted a hey in protest against being called a moron, but he knew Percy was only joking. And besides, it’s how he acted most of the time anyway, so it was only fair. He watched as everyone made themselves comfortable and then joined them, forming a circle. “I have friends in special places.” He said with a shrug, happy that he had already made connections in this new setting. “Just had to give up the rest of the money I had earned at casinos whilst traveling here, it wasn’t that much anyway.” He sighed and lent back, using his arms to hold himself up. “Let’s play a drinking game, everyone knows how never have I ever works?” He asked with a grin. He always enjoyed playing this game and finding secrets from people he’d never expect to hear them from.

Percy smiled gently at the scene. There wasn’t too many occasions in the last six months that they had been able to really celebrate. As mundane as a birthday could feel, it was important that they were more than surviving. They needed to really live. “A birthday gift from you to us?” he said faking surprise, “I’m touched by your truly generous spirit.” Raising an eyebrow, he lifted his glass which was actually plastic to his lips and swallowed a generous mouthful of beer. It wasn’t great, already going warm, but that’s how it was with plastic cups in the forest. That was part of the charm of the situation. “Never have I ever stolen something from a close personal friend.”

Connor was already taking a sip when Percy asked the question. He almost spat the drink out and gave Percy a look. For some reason, Connor felt that that question was aimed at him. Nevertheless, he took another sip from his drink. “I’ve stolen from Travis and Travis counts.” He shrugged. That wasn’t the only friend he’d stolen from, but he felt it was the most acceptable answer to say right now. “My turn. Never have I ever … been submissive whilst in bed with someone.” He had a feeling that Annabeth was more dominant than Percy, and now the truth would come out.

Lina took a moment, pressing her lips in thought. She didn’t think she had stolen from a friend. She didn’t steal from people in general, but for some reason she felt like she might have stolen something from a friend. “Does stealing a lock of someone’s hair count?” She taken people’s hair for a potion before without them knowing. “Because then yes, I have stolen from a friend.” Magic made her do weird things. Her face flushed a bit, thinking of December and a member of the Karavadra family. She took a sip from her drink as slyly as she could. “Never have I ever… broken a bone.” She paused,“Wait no, I broke a rib once. Never have I ever, broken my nose?”

Wally took a seat on the log, looking up and around, wondering if any sprites or spirits would come to join the fun. Since the war started, many of the fauns had come to reside with the Greeks. He looked around as Percy started a game of Never Have I Ever and then grabbed a beer. He smiled at the first question and nodded. “When we were rooming together in college, I stole a pair of your underwear once,” he told Percy. He then looked over to Connor and blushed. “Nope, forever a top,” he told the son of Hermes. Wally’s changed direction to Lina and smiled. He raised a hand. “Surprisingly no, I haven’t broken my nose either.” After they cleared up any of the other questions, he raised a finger. “Never have I ever . . . fallen off a chariot while it was going at top speed.”

Percy had to admit that he hadn’t been planning on drinking four times in a row, but he had done all of the things that were being said and if you didn’t follow the rules of a game then what was the point? Swallowing the last of the alcohol that he had left in his glass, he set it down and took a moment. “Jeez no wonder the Romans have had enough of us and have decided that now is the time to wipe us off the face of the Earth. Apparently most of us are submissive thief’s who have broken bones, I’ve even fallen off of a speeding chariot…” he laughed gently and looked around the party as more people began to arrive. Connor had drawn a relatively large gathering. “Do we wanna keep playing?” Percy asked curiously as he looked around the clearing as more people seemed keen to join in.

Connor drank for breaking his nose and falling of a chariot. He loved this game, along with many other drinking games. As Percy decided to break the chain of questions, Connor looked around. “No, I should probably mingle and say hello. I mean, after all, I’m the reason they’re here.” He knew that wasn’t true, most had probably just come to see what it was like or because they hadn’t been to a party in so long. He stood up and brushed the grass off of his jeans. “Let’s get wasted!” He cheered to the crowd around them, “but responsibly wasted!” He said with a hushed voice to Kolina and Percy. Having to be responsible was going to be hard, especially since someone brought a bottle of jagermeister with them to the party. As people started chanting about shots, Connor couldn’t help but join in. “It’s going to be a lit night, that’s for sure!”

It wasn’t like Martina was looking for the Greek party she heard a rumor about. She just happened to be wandering through the woods at night. It was her twenty first birthday and she wanted to celebrate by casually being in the woods by herself, one hundred percent not looking for a party. She could have party at home, if she really wanted to. It might have been a little quieter since most of her friends were in their late twenties and no one was really looking to go clubbing in the middle of a war. It wasn’t like she sad that she wasn’t getting the twenty first birthday she imagined. It was more like she was desperate to have fun on her birthday, so maybe she was looking for a stupid greek party. Which was pretty easily found by the loud chanting of shots. Trying to blend in as best she could, she went to the cooler and took a beer. “It’s party, yep.” Acting natural was really hard,“Party in the woods, totally normal.”

Swallowing gently, Percy watched the party continue as more people arrived, the music got turned up and everyone really started to enjoy themselves. They might have been miles away from the city but they had to be careful. Making his way through the crowd, he watched Connor knock back a shot of Jaegermeister, crouching down by the cooler, he rummaged through it until he found a soda that he felt like drinking. The ice cold sugary drink felt like heaven. Percy was going to have to see who Connor had got this all from, he would certainly like to get in on the proverbial action. Spotting someone familiar, he made his way over to Martina’s side. “Have we met before?” he asked with a gentle smile, “You look familiar but I can’t think of your name.”

Aidan was one of the first to hear Roman spies confirm the existence of a Greek party out in the woods. Something he wished desperately he could have gone to since he’d been stuck finishing paperwork for the people that covered him while he was out sick. At least until a small group of centurions summoned him and a few others to infiltrate and disrupt the Greek celebrations. Aidan’s heart sank a bit, but at least for a moment he’d be able to feel like he was having fun. The small group of Romans met up outside the woods, weapons hidden and light padded armor underneath their clothes. They split, one by one heading into the woods, branching out and staggering their times to appear as late arrivals. The closer Aidan got, the louder the music became and the more his stomach twisted. What’s so important about crashing this party? He thought. Should I get a drink? I’m a lightweight, maybe I should go easy… He managed to snag a drink and some pretzels, and hung around the outskirts of the dance floor. It was the first time he’d ever felt awkward at a party. Unsure of what to do with himself. How long would it take until they gave the signal? Would they? Or was this all a prank from higher ranks? He sighed, and leaned against a tree, nursing his drink. At least others looked to be having fun.

Connor had managed to find himself in a predicament. He told himself he was going to go easy, but after the 5th shot and a chugging challenge, he was knee deep in trouble. He already felt the alcohol affecting him, causing him to become a little tipsy, but the worst part was that now he had started drinking, there was probably no stopping. Connor, along with many of the other Hermes kids, often liked challenging the children of Dionysus. Those kids were the life of the party and the Hermes kids were the rest of the party. Not only that, but Connor had probably found himself drinking too much to get over the fact that Travis wasn’t here, and somewhere out there, Travis was having a grand old time, probably not even thinking about Connor. Which was probably not true, but that’s how Connor felt. Then nature called. Of course, with lots of drinking involved, there was a need to empty his bladder. Connor had thus stumbled into the woods, just far enough to get some privacy. After he was finished, he was about to head back to the party, when he heard someone in the bushes. Sure, it could have been anyone, doing the same as what Connor just did, but he had a bad feeling about it. He turned and hurried back to the party to report the mysterious noises to Percy, the only problem was that Connor was no longer sober, and with the crowd that had gathered, it was not going to be easy to find Percy. Once in the crowd, he immediately stumbled into someone. “Shit sorry, sorry, I need to find Percy, sorry, it’s urgent. Shit.” He apologized to the person in a slur.

Martina felt her breath catch when Percy to her. The last time they had spoken, she remembered being very rude to him. They had connected on their mexican heritage, but once she had learned that he was the fabled Percy Jackson, she had been cold to him. She knew that she still didn’t love the greeks, perhaps never would, but she had learned from Blossom that all of them weren’t bad. “Can I be honest with you?” In a rare moment, Martina wanted to tell the truth, she wanted to be out with who she was. “I’m a Roman, Martina Acosta.” She took a sip of her beer, before sighing. “I heard there was a party and it’s my twenty first birthday today.” There was no good reason to be so honest with him, but she knew at some point he would find out. Better to tell him now.

Honestly, Percy wasn’t really sure what to say. He remembered Martina now. It hadn’t been long after the festival of Fides had ended that they had met, or perhaps it was during the festival of Fides. “Well, in exchange for your honesty I think it’s fair that I am just as honest. I’ll pretend I don’t know that you’re a Roman, enjoy yourself and don’t make any trouble and hopefully no one else will notice that you’re here. Just please be good.” He swallowed. He didn’t have it in him to make a big deal about this. Putting everyone else on alert wasn’t going to be helpful. He didn’t want to ruin the night for Connor. “If there is trouble, well, it’ll ruin Connor’s night and we want to avoid that if possible.”

Getting up from the log, Wally went around to meet with the other Greeks that had started to pile into the clearing. It didn’t take long for him to start throwing out some magical party tricks. Wally tried to keep an eye out for anything that looked not normal, but his desire to let loose was getting stronger the more the sun set on the party. He vowed that he would keep it to two beers for at least an hour. It wasn’t even for the fact that Romans could show up. Mixing alcohol and someone with powers like his didn’t always make for a good combination.

Finding himself with a nice buzz and enjoying the music, Aidan had to admit the party was turning out great. He had slowly made his way towards a small group at the edge of the party, who were enjoying the drunk ramblings of a Hermes kid who had tried to outdrink the Dionysus cabin. He couldn’t help but grin, but as the night progressed felt more uncomfortable. He wanted desperately to get this over with, wondering where and when the signal would come. Patience thinning, Aidan contemplated joining the party. It’s not like anyone would notice him having left his post. Say it was to get some important info out of a plastered party goer. He shook the thought out of his head, and sighed. If he was going to wait, he was going to have another drink at least.

After apologizing to the person he had bumped into, Connor continued to make his way through the crowd. He hated how drunk he had gotten, was it possible to have gotten this drunk after the few drinks he had had? Perhaps the lack of drinking recently had made him a lightweight or perhaps he had been spiked. The gods would only know, but here he was, in the now and drunk. He finally found a person who resembled Percy and lent on his shoulder. “Percy. I think -- I think there’s is Romans, outside party, in the wood.” He said, trying his best to mentally sober up. Of course, Connor had no idea if there were Romans outside camp, but it was the only thing he could think of that could have caused the mysterious noises he had heard.

Raising an eyebrow, Percy internally panicked. He was immediately taken by the mention of Romans, concerned that Connor had realised that Martina was here. But his concerns were even greater after Connor had finished talking. “If there are Romans here then we’ve got to evacuate the party as soon as possible, but I don’t want to spook anyone and I don’t want to make a panic.” Swallowing gently, he frowned and looked around. “Come on,” he said quietly, taking a step in the direction that Connor had come from, “we’ve got to check on this and see what is actually happening before we make any decisions.” It was a good thing that he hadn’t been drinking.

Connor thought his will power had managed to sober himself up a little, however, as soon as he began to follow Percy, his world started spinning again. “I could always call it off.” He said, barely able to keep up with Percy. “I could throw up in the middle of the clearing you know? Gross everyone out.” He’d be willing to wreck his social status for something important like saving lives. Connor stopped briefly to grab a bottled water from the cooler and downed it as fast as he could. If anything were to go down, he’d need to sober up to be any help, and if it was just an animal or something, he’d have to be sober enough to talk his way out of causing unnecessary panic in Percy. “It was somewhere around there.” He said, pointing unsteadily in the direction he had heard the noise.

Being a lightweight, it didn’t take much for Aidan to become nearly incapacitated. He lay on the ground in a drunken haze, staring up at the sky. He laughed, catching snippets of conversation between songs. The out of context phrases and bits of gossip seemed a lot funnier than any story attached to them. He heard voices drawing close, and half remembering he was on a mission, sat up. Two blurry figures, little more than silhouettes against the lights from the party. He groaned, and leaned back against a tree. Probably some party goers trying to get freaky in the woods. Aidan thought briefly about pretending to be an animal. Snap a few twigs, rattle some nerves so they would flee back to the safety of the lights and music. Something was familiar about their voices though that he couldn’t shake. Maybe he’d just had too much to drink. He sighed again, beginning to feel a little humiliated for coming out. He’d been at camp for so long and he was still being hazed? Maybe he should join the party out of spite…

Honestly, Percy wasn’t sure that Connor throwing up would be enough to stop everything that was in motion when it came to this party. From his experience people were willing to ignore things when it came to a party that they were enjoying. Besides they all could do with the distraction. “Chill out dude, we need to check this out before we do anything else,” he swallowed nervously and made his way towards the direction that Aidan was pointing. At first he didn’t notice anything, but then he heard the rustling of branches and twigs and leaves. “I can definitely hear something,” Percy said creeping through the undergrowth as he moved towards the noise. “I’m sure it’s an animal or something…”

Brock had arrived, to likely no one’s happy realization. The man had only been doing what he does best. Patrolling the forests weren’t usually an area he did anymore. He usually left that square of New Rome to the newer legionnaires. But he felt like getting some air, and what would you know, he happened upon a little party. Coming in, decked in his armor with a sword on his waist, he strode through the gathering of Greeks. He recognized a few faces, Percy Jackson’s in particular. That’s how he knew right away this was all for the Graceus. “I can’t say I blame any of you for wanting to celebrate,” he chimed in, making himself louder than anyone else. It was his goal after all to gain the attention. “You managed to stop the curses destroying us all and now you celebrate.” He turned to Percy and gave him a plastic smile. “Mr. Jackson, I suggest you take your friends and go back to the lake, or one of your other strongholds. This party, or, whatever it is, is now over.” He looked off to the side, and then noticed Aidan. “What . . . Aidan?!” Brock moved over and knelt beside him. “What in all of Pluto’s frozen fortress are you doing?! Get up!”

Lina had been in the middle of a conversation when she heard Brock’s voice. Bristling, she left her conversation partners and strided up to him. “Brock, leave them alone. Let us have our party, we aren’t even being that loud.” She hoped that her asking him would maybe soften up his decision. She followed him over to the side, grabbing his arm. “We broke the curse that saved you. We should at least get to have a party when we want to. Don’t make this bigger than it really is.”

It wasn’t hard to over hear what Connor said to Percy and now Martina had to find a way out of this whole thing. She followed Percy quickly, telling him as they walked ,“This wasn’t me. I didn’t do this, whatever it is.” She looked around the area trying to see the other Romans around. “I have to go. They can’t see me here,” She said as she moved away from the party and Percy. She couldn’t be caught there, especially after she heard Brock’s voice.

Hearing Brock’s voice was a comfort to Aidan. Finally, at least someone he knew was here. He shushed Brock, and used his shoulder to stand slowly, legs wobbling and head spinning. Aidan felt like he might be sick, but clenched his jaw tight, and tried to swallow the feeling back. “Super secret mission.” He slurred out, giggling. He waved at the small group that had begun to gather. “It’s a cool ass party, y’all.” Aidan belched loudly, face turning red. “Y’all just need s-some glow sticks, and it’s a real rager. Really pop-lock-drop and rave. Really, really-“ Unable to contain it any longer, Aidan bent over and vomited. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and gave a thumbs up when he finished. “It’s all good in this ‘hood.”

“Go the other way,” Percy muttered to Martina, surreptitiously pointing behind him towards the other side of the forest. He didn’t know Martina, but he didn’t want her to get in trouble for being here. The more bridges they built the stronger they were. “I’ll try and keep them busy.” Stepping forward, he cracked his neck and smiled at the Romans. “Welcome to the festivities my friends,” he spotted Aidan who he recognised from earlier and wondered just how many Romans had somehow made it into the party, “unless you’re here for a drink, I’m afraid we won’t be down to do what you’re saying, this party isn’t hurting anyone and there’s no reason for it to. Just move along and leave us alone. We don’t want any trouble.”

Connor had been up close behind Percy. He was trying his hardest to keep his chill, to remain level headed in the situation. “Holy shit! Yes! Glow sticks!” He exclaimed, throwing his chill out the window. He was ranting on about how cool a glow in the dark party would have been with body paint and everything when the kid threw up and made Connor feel queasy. Shutting his mouth and standing still in an attempt to now throw up, he listened to Percy address the Romans. Connor wasn’t ready for a fight, he had no weapons and wouldn’t last two seconds in his current state. He had no idea who this Brock fella was that Lina had addressed, but he wasn’t about to let someone ruin his birthday party. “There’s plenty for everyone if you’d like to stay.” He offered, following Percy’s hospitality move before encouraging violence.

Brock couldn’t say he had expected that kind of rebuttal. Facing Percy, another Greek and Lina head on, Brock let his shoulders relax. He had agreed some of the girls on their side that he should be taking recovery sessions for his body after what happened with the curses. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t in the shape to take on this entire group, even with Aidan. Especially with Aidan, considering his altered state of mind. “It’s also because of you all that the curses began in the first place,” he remarked to Kolina. “I won’t be partaking in this little festival.” Truth be told, he had no reason to shut this down, other than the simple fact that he was Roman, these were Greeks, and he was at war with them. His eyes narrowed at the brunette next to Percy and he was clearly taken back. “Glow sticks? You’re all like children.”

“Because of us? Please explain how a poorly created attack from your side was our fault, Brock. I would have told them that mass curses were a bad idea, if that’s what you’re implying.” Lina scoffed, annoyance bubbling under her skin. He had always been one of the few people who could get strong reactions from her in anyway. Maybe that’s why she married him. Her teeth grit at his comment toward Connor,“Did you come here to try to break up a peaceful birthday party and insult us? Or did you have an actual goal in mind.” She wanted this to be a good night for Connor and she was willing to push Brock for it. Even if he was going to be an ass about things. “You have your hands full with that one anyway,” She said motioning to Aidan.

“Hey, I am not a handful and glow sticks are amazing, you’d see it if we pulled it from your ass.” Aidan said, waving his hand in dismissal at Lina and Brock. “Drunk? Definitely. But I can have- I’m here for the fun. Let’s go.” He slurred. “They’re being nice, you can be nice. We can follow the golden rule. I wanted to be there when they chugged what’s left of the keg. Cause I can definitely, I mean want to be on the receiving end of that dealio, my dude. I can handle it, I freed up a lot of room right now. I’m feeling great.” He said, his smile cracking as his stomach churned again. “I got this.” He was starting to panic, now knowing people he knew were at the party. This made the mission, if there actually was a mission, a little bit tougher to swallow. “Please, Brock?”

Cat had been the one to order the infiltration, gathering some intel before they rounded up the Greeks who thought that getting drunk was a good idea. Especially in the middle of a war. They’d be valuable prizes to say the least. “Aidan?” she asked spotting the son of Venus and frowning gently, “I had expected better of you than to get drunk whilst on duty, we’ll have to speak to your centurion about your actions…” she frowned and looked at the cohort that was fully armoured behind her. They’d arrived as the debate had raged on between both sides. “I’m afraid this is not up for debate, I’d love to leave you to have your fun but orders are orders.” She drawled all of this without a hint of sadness. “Romans, arrest them, do what you must.”

Lina wanted to punch someone in the face. Of course, the moment they make progress, Cat shows up. She looked at Percy and Connor,“Go, go. You two can’t get arrested, you especially,” She motioned at Percy. Squaring her shoulders,”Got out of jail once, probably can get out again.” She would admit that Callum was the reason she got out, but out of the group she was probably the expendable. They couldn’t let Percy get arrested, and it was Connor’s birthday, getting arrested again on his birthday would not be fun.

Although Percy wasn’t one to leave, he knew that Lina was right. Clenching his jaw, he shooks his head at Lina. “I’m sorry but that just isn’t how things work around here,” he smiled morosely and reached into his pocket, fishing Riptide out he pulled the cap off of it and threw it on the ground. His sword leaped out of its housing, the short celestial bronze blade glittering in the dim light. Swallowing he took up a defensive stance and wished that there was more water than the ice boxes around here, but for now they would have to do. “Lina, you and me are going to play stall duty,” Percy summoned as much water as he could around them as the Romans advanced, “everyone else get out of here. Connor that means you.”

Aidan froze, face paling as he turned to see Cat and group of Legionnaires with steeled expressions. While he had a growing distrust for the Centurion, he continued to have a healthy fear of her. He could already feel the dagger between his ribs, one she would probably place herself if he so much as hinted at treason, but he had enough alcohol in him for a little bravery. “Looks like we’re both disappointed then.” He fumbled with the long knife hidden at his side. “Orders are orders.” He slurred mockingly, preparing himself to be butchered by Percy’s bronze sword. He was at a serious disadvantage in this fight already, and especially with his drunken hands unable to hold his knife steady. It’s not like he could run, what with Cat behind him. Legionnaires marched slowly from the woods, weapons drawn and some with faces excited for the battle. The music at the party stopped, and Aidan felt his heart stop with it.

Rolling her eyes at Aidan, Cat shook her head with a serious hint of disdain. “We’re going to have to have a conversation about your actions, but for now you’re obviously way too intoxicated to fight, so try and keep behind the other capable soldiers and we’ll review your performance on a mission soon.” She smiled sweetly at Aidan before barking orders to her Legionnaires. They locked shields and filled into ranks, five wide, five deep. The Greeks across from her seemed to rally around Lina and Percy. Locking eyes with her former centurion colleague, Cat charged her, running head long at Lina with her gladius drawn and shield raised. “For the first!” she cried as she hurtled at the enemy for the thousandth time that year.

Connor hesitated as Percy uncapped riptide. Part of him was like, not this shit again, the other part of him was wondering if he’d be able to salvage what was left of the beverages anytime soon. As the events unfolded and the Roman woman screamed for the first, whatever that was supposed to mean, Connor’s instincts kicked in. Connor was able to pickpocket someone in his sleep, thus, even in his un-sober state, he had no problems moving like lightning and unarming Aidan, snatching the knife from his hands. “Thanks mate, I’ll need this.” He had just escaped from the Roman prison and barely made it out in one piece, the worst part? The recovery afterwards, he couldn’t deal with not being able to do much due to his injuries. Thus, tonight he wanted to make it away without too many scratches. However, due to his drunken state, he wasn’t sure how realistic that idea was. As many Greeks fled in the situation, many stayed as well and formed ranks amounts Lina and Percy. When the Romans charged, a Gladius aimed straight at Lina, Connor ran and pulled one of his football moves, dropping and sliding against the wet grass, trying to get under the shields and swipe at the Roman’s legs.

Brock smiled as Cat arrived with more than enough backup. “Good to see someone with a clear head.” Brock tugged Aidan back as he pulled out his knife, smiling and shaking his head. “You’ve got spirit, McKay, but maybe next time don’t get it from drinking, alright? I’ll watch him, Cat.” Brock helped Aidan to the back of the cohort. This may have been the perfect excuse not to fight. He took another look at Lina as as Cat went against Percy, shaking his head. “What in hell happened to her,” he thought aloud. Brock’s attention to his former wife had caused him to miss the son of Hermes stealing his fellow Roman’s knife.

Wally who had started to mingle with a few of the satyrs that had showed up was already breaking through the other Greeks. “We’ll set up a meeting with Z later on, boys,” he told the horned lads, before they both went their separate ways. Wally’s hands were ignited with a violet glow. When he saw Cat, his mind started to race. “I’ll let Percy take her,” he said to himself. Thankful that he had forgone drinking, Wally used only his magic against the other Romans, launching hexes and charms at the armor-glad group.

Cat was aware that a straight fight with Percy Jackson was not one she could take. She would allow her troops to keep him occupied until she had come up with a solution to her sea demigod problem. Speaking in rapid Latin to her troops, she led from the front, locking eyes with Lina and moving towards her. “This is nothing personal Lina,” she promised as she hurled a javelin handed to her from her before hurling it at the daughter of Trivia completely confident that Lina would be completely capable of deflecting the attack, “it is just orders.” Ca knew if she could keep her busy then she wouldn’t be able to use her magic to disrupt Cat’s operation. “Rally around me and carry out your orders. Round up as many of them as you possibly can.”

With Cat solely attacking her, Lina would have to wait a little before being able to cast much. She certainly couldn’t cast anything big enough to make the Romans fall back. She’d have to make do with her whip, a weapon she rarely went without, but rarely used. Deflecting the attack quickly, Lina unraveled the golden whip attached to her belt. With a startling noise, she cracked it at Cat, the tail snapping towards the other woman. “It’s never is in War, Cat.” She kept her eyes focused on Cat and her crowd of Romans, before calling,“Wally! Push them back!”

Connor had managed to keep the injuries to bare minimum at the moment, which was great. He recovered and regroup with the rest of the Greeks. When Lina asked Wally to push them back, he had an idea. Running over to the clearing and grabbing glasses of vodka and bottles of other alcohol, he had his way back to the front line, dodging any attacks that were aimed at him. “Wally! Over here.” He shook a bottle and threw it into the air, “Light it up my dude.” He called out. Connor’s plan was to try and keep the legionnaires back with fire.

Wally kept his eyes trained on a few specific Romans, pushing his magic out into the ground, making it turn soft underneath their feet, so much so that they began to sink. When he let up, the ground went back to its original state, locking the soldiers halfway into the earth. He heard Lina and Connor shout for him, and when he looked over to see Connor throw bottles up into the air, he acted right away. His fingers made rhythmic motions, his eyes aglow as he put his attention on the bottle of alcohol. For a moment it glowed, then exploded into a fiery blast which Wally was able to manipulate and aim down onto a pile of legionnaires. He didn’t want to risk creating a forest fire though. Right now there wasn’t enough water that Percy could use to put it out.

Percy leaped into action, summoning all of the water that he could and hardening it into a thick block. Sending it barreling through the first row of Romans he immediately summoned it back to his side, Riptide flashing through the dull light as he danced forwards and slashed at anyone who moved close to him. The bright flash of fire exploding into existence and flashing through the lines of the Romans. Percy danced backwards, doing everything that he could to keep the Romans in line. He should’ve known that something like this would happen.

It took Aidan a moment to process the loss of his weapon, and scowled at Connor as he took off. He watched Brock carefully, and slunk into the trees, determined to at least get his knife back. Aidan watched through the trees as the two sides clashed, making his way towards the Greeks as silently as his staggering legs would allow. As he closed in on the group he spotted the son of Hermes and charged, tackling him to the ground, gripping his wrist tightly to hold the knife back as his vision swam. He held back blowing more chunks as best he could. “That doesn’t belong to you!”

Connor had just thrown the last alcohol bottle when an unexpecting force had attacked him from the side and pushed him into the hard ground. He let out an ‘umf’ as he felt some new injuries add to his old ones. “Since you asked so nicely, I would, but that would be aiding the enemy.” He said with a bitter smile before trying to roll over and push the kid off of him. There were other issues to worry about, like the massive horde of Romans. But perhaps he shouldn’t underestimate the chunder child, he was a Roman after all. “Surrender and I’ll give it back.”

Catching a bottle of flaming alcohol with her shield Cat winced as the heat washed over her and paused until the blaze had calmed down somewhat. Pressing forwards she moved towards Lina and the rest of the Greeks. Her pilum darted out and shishkebab-ed someone’s knee and they responded with a high pitched scream collapsing to the floor as the Roman troops spilled into the clearing that the Greeks had been celebrating in previously. “Someone find Aidan,” she ordered, “make sure he doesn’t get himself killed whilst he is drunk.” She would carry out this mission as efficiently as possible. Or she would die trying. Catching sight of Lina, Cat headed towards her nemesis. If they had to fight one another then this was the best way.