AlphaBlueWolf
Moonchaser
Mateo's hand passed through Serena's ghostly form, but this time he didn't feel the cold emptiness that had befallen him the moment his hand had slipped through Mika's form. It was strangely... warm. Bright. And less lonely than before. They were.. contracted, was the word Serena used. Her somewhat transparent form shifted and became something more material. Before, he'd been able to see straight through her to the other side. But now, he found it hard to focus on the unruly blades of grass on the ground behind her, because she blocked them from his sights. She looked more like a physical person, rather than a ghost now. Though, no one else seemed to notice the difference, Halazzi and Skyla conversating quietly on Mateo's craziness.
She told him about how the arrangement really didn't benefit him in the short term, as she was but a fragment of her being. Though, Mateo could call upon her for her centuries, decades, millennia, thousands upon thousands of centuries of wisdom and maybe battle assistance here and there. He couldn't help noticing the goddess' display of emotion, the sadness that lit her face briefly before brightening up. She looked like him. Or Skyla or Rai, or Cora when he didn't get his way and sulked. She looked like the humans and elves and spirits of the world, so much so that it was hard to believe she was really a goddess. He wondered about her other emotions. How lonely she'd felt before, and the relief that flooded into her upon hearing Mateo could see and hear her, that she finally had someone to interact with. He recognized that feeling, regarding his curse. Mana had said before that they were similar, but the small child hadn't understood the Cabrera curse fully. No one could understand, which made him feel alone. But now he realized that he wasn't truly alone. Even if his friends didn't understand it fully, even if they could never understand it fully, it had still been a relief to actually have someone to talk to about it besides the cat perched on his shoulder who didn't talk to him besides faint whispers and when they were completely alone. It felt like something he shouldn't relate to with an actual goddess, and yet it furthered to humanize her.
Serena mentioned that he would no longer look strange in front of his friends for talking to himself, and his face grew bright red. The goddess giggled and explained that now they were linked. He could just send thoughts to her, and she would answer, and he could also summon her that way.
She said one last message before disappearing in a black mist, tell the big kitty she said hi. His blush retained, wondering how the deity would react to the goddess calling him a big kitty. Mateo himself would never have the balls to say something like that in front of Halazzi, fearful that he'd fry him and give him a scar like that kid who'd come along with the Luminosa guard. There were a lot of things going on back then, but he had noticed the branching scar that littered down his face on one side of his body. It had been deeply intriguing, but Mateo had no time to gawk over it as the big kitty himself strode up on the scene only a moment after the guard had come along.
Mateo turned back to Halazzi, setting his eyes on the tiger. That distant look was gone from his face, as he was really addressing them now. "The woman, Serena, she says hi." He simply said, something about him seeming to change. He had a goddess backing him now, which put more weight to his words. The warmness the goddess of death had given him made the meeting with Halazzi that much easier.
Aleph read the message as Castro put the book in his lap, the man getting up to go check on the thing he'd asked for. He gave a small smile, the drowsy feeling giving way to excitement as he read that it was done. They were getting that much closer to finishing it. But he had to slow his roll, as it wasn't completely done. Castro used words in correlation to the arm that Aleph didn't fully comprehend, as this was his first time watching such a process. Even if he was excited to watch Castro crack open the mold and see his elder dragon scale arm, it wouldn't be finished and ready to be fit on just yet. He could hardly contain his excitement, his leg bouncing up and down and shaking the book. Castro suggested it wouldn't be a sight to behold, but for the young boy it would be everything.
He put the book on the ground, ready to get up to see the revealing of his arm, but when he looked up, he saw Castro looking at something. Something that really shouldn't be out. Something no one should know about. No one besides him and his father knew about the journal, who had scolded him harshly over such a thing even existing. Now Castro knew about it as well. His mouth gaped open wide; his arm extended in front of his chest to try to signal Castro. Ever since losing his hearing, talking became something Aleph only liked to do when necessary, because it felt wrong for his lips to move without him hearing what he said. He felt self-conscious of his voice, and so he didn't want to speak to Castro to tell him to give it back. Besides, he couldn't make Castro forget about all those drawings in his journal. The damage was already done, the man looking back over to him, a glint in his eyes. Of what? Distaste? Fascination? Aleph couldn't tell while being so scared of the man's reactions. The other man who had glimpsed the journal had not reacted kindly, after all.
The man's lips moved, before he realized once again that Aleph couldn't hear, and took up the other journal once more. Aleph's leg sustained its bounce, though this time out of anxiety instead of excitement. But he looked at the words in surprise as the journal was handed back to him. Castro asked who drew them, saying the detail was impressive which was a high compliment to Aleph, considering something like art wasn't respected back home.
He looked back up to the man, ready to jab a thumb to his chest in an easy way to signal that it had been him who draw them, but Castro's head had snapped to a new direction, his shoulders giving a slight flinch. The man quickly went over, scaled the wall, and opened the grate that Aleph had jumped down from slightly to see what was outside. To Aleph, it was silence. Though, he could make out a slight sound coming to his ears. It edged around it, though too far away to really make a difference to the boy. The hairs on his arms instinctually rose, though he didn't quite understand why. If he was going to hear anything, it needed to be incredibly loud and in his general vicinity. The roar only checked off one of those boxes, so he only slightly perceived it.
Castro came back a second later, snatching up the book. A stray droplet dripped down onto the page, the rain starting up just as Castro had closed the grate, earning him a few droplets of water that clung to his hair as a reward for his investigation. He quickly jott down that someone had walked over the grate, causing him to flinch. Aleph hadn't really realized that the Blue-Eyed Bandit was, in fact, a bandit. He hadn't seen Castro steal anything or act at all like what Aleph perceived of bandits, so the kid had easily looked past that aspect of Castro. But someone walking over his grate would set the bandit off, as it could be some authority figure coming to the hideout. Or something much worse that Aleph wouldn't understand. He simply nodded and then went back to writing.
"I drew them. I've seen many before, and I like to draw them when I do."
Finch nodded as the two others confirmed the same feeling he'd felt. They were all tired, muscles aching, and needed rest. He reviewed the other two, scrapes and cuts, as well as bruises and other marks of battle. They'd done amazing work for people with little experience, and they deserved their rest. Though, it struck him that they might not have places to rest. Serana's shop had been destroyed, and Joker was a vigilante. He felt guilty for the thought, but he didn't think the kid lived lavishly anywhere, what with being on the run from the guy's Finch worked with. It also struck him that maybe offering Joker and Serana, two supposed criminals, a place to stay in the belly of the proverbial beast wasn't the best idea. Yet, he had nothing else to offer them. And besides, he'd protect them.
He opened his mouth to offer, but felt his cape billow to and fro, and looked to see dark flecks litter the ground. The change in the winds had caught him first. He looked up to see the darkened clouds. How strange. He had just looked up a minute ago to see the sun to tell how many hours of sunlight they had left, with not a cloud in sight. Now he couldn't even see the sun. The sky looked dreary now, just making the aching feeling in his bones worse.
But Finch didn't cower from the rain as it pelted his face. He'd been all over, and weather didn't quite affect him the same as it did for others. He'd been in raging storms induced by powerful, evil spirits. This felt somewhat similar somehow. What most affected him was the electrifying roar that ripped through the air. His slightly pointed ears twitched to it, quivered to its might. Joker urgently told him it was a dragon, and Finch didn't think he was lying. Whatever had started the storm, whatever had let loose that roar, was something very powerful. He could feel it in the winds.
"Yeah, I heard it." Finch said, turning his gaze in Serana's direction. His eyes hit her flame hair, wondering if it acted exactly like a flame and would go out under the rainy atmosphere. He realized he was staring, blushed, and then looked away. He became particularly interested in the rain pattering down on the ground, pretending as if that had been what he was watching instead of being curious about Serana's unorthodox appearance. He knew that such a look could be uncomfortable, Serana even saying so the first time they met. He felt something similar every time his stepmother turned her piercing gaze onto him, searching deep within his soul for something. "U-Uh, let's go back to the guard's house to wait out the storm. You guys can rest in my quarters if you like. We can have a sleepover of sorts. And I want to see what the guard's doing about this. I should alert them about the roar anyways, if they didn't hear it."
Finch knew they might be apprehensive, so he wanted to reassure them. "Oh, and don't worry about getting caught. You could say I sort of know who's in charge now personally. I'll explain everything to her if there's a big fuss."
He looked a little bit uncomfortable, knowing who'd be in charge. Natalie Talvik. His stepmother, a high ranking general. For some reason, he didn't like the thought of bringing Serana around her. Despite being his stepmother, the two didn't have much of a relationship. It was strained and awkward and Finch didn't quite feel comfortable around her. He wondered how she'd react to everything he'd done, and if that would invoke pride or indifference within her. He knew how Lark would react, though. The girl would be surprised, not expecting much of Finch. Likely jealous he'd gotten that opportunity and not her. Before he'd been excited to gloat about it to her, now if Serana and Joker came along, he really wished she wouldn't come bug him in front of them. That'd be embarrassing. He wished he had a better relationship with his stepfamily, but it was as rocky as ever, and he didn't want to show that to his new pals.