broken pieces, broken memories

This was meant to be some kind of homecoming; of course, Vidal had heard that things had gone South for the Alstroemeria Coven, but it was hard to imagine that something so old and so proud could be reduced to this. Yurena was so young, maybe a couple of years older than him, but the fact that they spoke the same language was a comfort. A piece of home on the other side of the world, maybe the Coven, was gone, but the roots from where the Alstroemeria bloomed remained strong.

"Let me guess: You also thought I would be taller." There is something very close to amusement in her voice, but her expression softens at his explanation and she sighs. There is something about his expression that makes her thing that she will be getting rid of Vidal no matter how many ominous warnings she gives him, and— Well. She is desperate to get back what she lost, to rebuild the coven back into it's splendor. and if he has the items needed to pass the initiation, she will not stop him. And— And he doesn't have anywhere else to go, just like her. Suddenly tired, she nods and steps to the side.

@yurcna location: Alstroemeria House notes: hello, first meeting can u let me in thx

Of all things to expect when she opened the doors of Alstroemeria House, finding yet another annoyingly tall witch was not one of them. Her first thought goes to wondering if there is something genetic that gives male witches a predisposition to infuriatingly annoying tallness, but then she remembers Marco and guesses they just keep winning the genetic lottery or the gods puts the tallest ones on her path to fuck with her. Considering the number of deities walking across Rome, it wouldn't even be that surprising. Her second, is more of a musing, as she realizes that he must come from far if he does not recognize her or even know that there is only one Alstroemeria witch left. Her last thought is on the intonation of his words, the way his lips drag over the words is achingly familiar.

"Makes for a good souvenir too." Cut off from the necronomicon's power the creation was probably just ornamental now, still, made for a nice trophy and maybe one day when she had a whole coven to pull from it'd be useful again. Somehow Alastor doubted it'd be as quick as the Amaranthus' turnover, war had beget the need for strong witches to come together... It was over now, and the cunning inventors the Alstroemeria were known for were a rarer breed. "True, that was pretty pathetic of you." Alastor agreed wholeheartedly, though his smile matched her own. "what are your plans now?" She was back, fully back, she could do whatever she wanted, go wherever she pleased. The senate had put her at the head of her house, but that didn't mean she had to do anything with it.

“Indeed, it’s quite the charming paperweight,” she deadpans, part of the tension undercutting her frame disappearing at the continued cheer from Alastor. Yurena hadn’t forgotten their last meeting, hadn’t forgotten the cutting words sinking into her skin as she desperately sought solid ground amidst the earthquake that was her life. She had deserved it, that and every sharp and ugly word anyone would want to spit in her direction, but there is certain relief in knowing that perhaps the bridges she had burned on her desperate attempts to grasp at the falling ashes of her family had foundations solid enough to survive the fire of her fanaticism. “Woe me,” she sighs in fake melancholy, chin falling to rest on her hand. “I do solemnly swear to improve my performance next time,” she swears with fake solemnity before snorting and shrugging. “I am staying for now. My gambit might have worked, but I owe it to both my departed coven mates and those who I harmed to do some sort of community service— And I don’t want Alstroemeria to disappear. Not after everything.”

He gets it, he doesn't want to because it would be so much easier to just be angry and annoyed and perhaps heartbroken forever, but he can't bring himself to do that. "I thought you witches were s'posed to be helpin' one another now." It is just her, she is what is left of the Alstromeria and as fidgety as he is about all of this, Ciaran does truly care for her, too. "Doin' this on our own is doable, it's findin' a place to do it that's hard." Some place safe is hard to find even now and idly, he plays with the little gold charm on the chain around his neck, lips pursed. "As for summonin' him in particular, that's the easy part." Kaito wouldn't just come for her, he'd come back to him, too.

“Theoretically, yes,” she agrees with an incline of her head. “In practice, seeds of Asphodel’s touch remain in Rome and I would much prefer not to consult anyone on this. Gossip spreads fast, especially when the sole Alstroemeria witch requests for help, and I would prefer for Kaito’s summoning to be kept quiet.” Avery, Efigenia, Bastien, Nash. They remain free and hidden from the Senate, and she cannot reveal their presence, not bound as she is. Speaking to anyone about her plans is too risky, what with how much of blabbermouths most witches are.  “Alstroemeria House should be sufficient, but I need a few more ingredients to finish the wards I have created.”

"I don't have anything to lie about." Not really, keep information secret to spare other people's feelings maybe, but even that was something he was desperately trying to let go of. Emory turns from the bookcase and looks to her. He dwarfs her but he does that to a lot of people, but it feels particularly wrong here after everything. "I couldn't bring myself to forget." He says and it's open, it's honest, it hurts something in his chest. "Don't really think you're the one who owes me the apology." There's a lot he thinks about when it comes to all of them and how aware they all were of what they were doing and how much was the book. He just knows that wasn't August in there at some point.

“Everyone has secrets they would prefer to keep quiet, but I am not talking about those,” Yurena sighs as she wonders if the other witch truly finds her that intimidating. He had certainly jumped to the defensive awfully fast, even when she had genuinely meant to apologize for her awful behavior during her time on the Asphodel coven. “Me neither.” It’s an equally raw confession, the admission that she couldn’t allow herself to forget August’s final reminder that she was disposable to him, but she brushes off thehurt to send him a darkly amused look. “I might not be the one to owe you the apology, but somehow I doubt Cavaliere will see it in him to apologize if he ever makes it out of his cell, so I will apologize for not stopping him or helping you whether you like it or not.”

Rhiannon shot a grin over her shoulder at the playful swoon as she made her way over to what looked like a living room. Now that the vampire was invited inside, she wouldn't need anymore invitations. So Rhiannon leisurely looked around before she made herself comfortable on a sofa while Yurena flickered the lights on and spoke.

“It majorly blows,” she agrees as she makes it to the sofa Rhiannon has claimed as her own and falls into it with a sigh, head falling to rest on her friend’s shoulder as she considers her words carefully. As much as she has unshakeable faith in Rhiannon's ability to kick ass and take names, she is dangerously aware of how powerful Seth has become now that she has defeated an archfiend. “I am dealing with it,” she says finally, eyes closing as she inhales slowly and so very tiredly. “And it was less him fucking with me, and more me realizing that I fucked up by falling in love too fast and not taking care to ensure the sentiment was reciprocated.” She shrugs. “I am sure he cares somewhat, but I was assuming he cared in a way he hadn’t shown he did.”

"I think the least that I owed you was a thank you," she replied. "If you remember what you did than you know changed the tides of the war and saved many people..." She'd only heard rumours about what had happened to Yurena, how August might have been involved, but the truth could only come from Yurena's lips. "I'm sorry for everything that happened to you; you didn't deserve that." She was regretful for her suspicious attitude during the war but it wasn't something the Vivianne saw necessary to apologize for; no insults were hurled, no injuries were wrought and the former Sovereign could not apologize for a logical assumption made in favor of protecting her coven.

"I remember dying at Augustus Cavaliere's hand, not the result of my efforts, Miss Dahlia," Yurena admits dryly. There is some relief in knowing her sacrifice is not in vain, but she had meant for the horn to change the tides of the war on it's entirety and it had not been achieving. Yet another mark against her work, and one that infuriated her on top of anything. There is nothing like repeated failure to drive in her sense of inadequacy. And she had failed entirely, first to the man she used to call brother, then to her coven and to change the tides of war. "And we must agree to disagree. I deserved everything I got, and I am surprised I did not receive a worse punishment."

where. christmas markets who. @yurcna

For the Dahlia coven had treated her as one of their own while she remained under their care, and she had repaid them by slaughtering one of their marshals. It's not a deed she had ever come to regret, not when she had experienced the man's cruelty first hand, and yet it weights on her, the knowledge that whatever kindness that remains in the coven's heart will likely be gone as soon as the truth comes out. Not that she expects it to ever come out, not when his death could be attributed to the Terror overrun they had suffered last Halloween. Not when she has been forgiven for her crimes in Asphodel. That does not mean she does not worry every time she receives another bout of their kindness. After everything she has burned, she doesn't want to lose this too. "I would be delighted. Did you have a booth in mind?"

For all the two of them had been through together, Kaito was sure he had never seen her like this. The demon had been summoned for her quite young so she had been just a child. A child with the world at her fingertips. Violence ran in his blood from all that time he had spent within the Inferno so his thoughts when he had met that small child had been exactly what any demon's would be. Why did it have to be him stuck with some young witch that didn't know a damn thing about anything yet? She hadn't lived her life yet by then. She had just been looking for someone, he guessed. With all that weight on her shoulders, he half expected to have been lost to the Inferno again.

The grief is overpowering, but so it's the relief. The understanding that comes from being seen and loved still, the reassurance and trust placed on their bond above all else. Part of it, she knows, it's because Kaito is her familiar, but even then, his words are a reassurance that he will choose her in a way no one else has since the destruction of Alstroemeria. It's a relief to know that through everything, he will remain at her side.