“”Perhaps. At least it could do a bit of damage.” He let himself be humored by the thought of her whacking one of those things upside the head, but that conversation passed by in favor of something more personal. “Sounds like a metaphor or something”, spoke Mordecai, unsure fully of what she was saying. It wasn’t like he could share in similar thoughts- he had always been about the hunt and working nonstop. Love was hardly a thing he’d give a second thought about- he didn’t really even like himself before of whose blood ran through his veins. He listened to her tale of her father, or simply the man that was anything but. Seems like they had something in common.

“A bastard he is, from the sounds of it. Don’t really care much for my old man. He’s one of those “Gods” right now, but you can only trust him as far as you can throw him. He uses his children for his own benefit and he and I share a particularly volatile relationship. He’s the reason why I became a hunter.” As sad as that sounded, Mordecai didn’t wish for powerful demons like him to be let loose, free to do with their own devices and cause suffering for the sake of self-amusement. That was what Xunatar stood for, at least back when they were still on speaking terms.

Still, there had been a time where he did claim him, if only for his own reasons. With Calanthe, her father simply wanted a cash cow. It made him frown deeply but there was little that could be done with that situation.

They spoke until she gave way to sleep and then he would follow sometime after that. He hadn’t wanted to wake up and enjoy the slumber as it caused him to forget the reality of the situation. Mordecai hadn’t wanted to wake up himself, but they would need the early morning sun to guide them before the bugs woke up. He cocked an eye her direction when the rosenite refused to wake up.

Things got even more awkward from there and he held up his hands and tried to reassure the girl. “Calm down, there’s no reason to freak out. Things happen and…” He held onto his head and sighed- this wasn’t a situation that he was experienced in from the start. His other hand reached out to fall onto her shoulder and patted it a few times. “There, there. No need to apologize, Calanthe. It wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry about it.” It had been something he wasn’t prepared for; how could he have been? Stuck in the middle of the forest with a woman he barely knew and fell asleep with, so that he would escort her back to her mother, who he knew even less of.

He still thought about how she fell onto him before she woke up and realized their situation. Was it that she was thinking of Brynn? He certainly wasn’t the sort of man he had been, from what he gathered and he wasn’t trying to be either. Gathering his stuff along with her, Mordecai followed her lead and exited the trunk as calmly and carefully as possible. Dawn was coming and by midday, they should be home free. Now that he got some more light, he looked at Calanthe. It was hard to tell what she looked like beneath all that dirt, grime and plant matter she used to mask herself from the bugs. Obviously, she was going to need a bath or something; maybe even her own mother would have problems recognizing her own kid. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you cleaned up in no time. Now let’s move.” He walked alongside her, generally being careful and cautious as they stumbled about the woods, the hunter retracing his steps as best as he could. Whenever something that resembled the sound of buzzing drew close, he would pause and take her by the hand to hide with him using their surroundings. It was a long and winding journey before they finally reached the settlement. A happy sigh slipped through his lips as they ventured inside and soon that good feeling ceased when a certain someone immediately came over to him.

“Oh no, not another Eldora situation!”

“What?”, he asked Dante, whose eyes couldn’t keep to themselves.

“Steele fell for a dirty little Rosenite as well. It’s deja vu all over again dear brother.”

Mordecai simply pushed himself aside and lead Calanthe away from him. “Ignore him, he’s usually harmless but he’s a pervert.” Dante could be heard taking offense to that remake as he followed them, making his older brother’s eyes roll as they searched for Angela.

Calanthe nodded to him before they slowly made their way back to the camp. There were several times when he had grabbed her so they could hide from the bugs. It didn’t appear like they had to worry about much as they traveled. Avoiding the bugs was easy and with Mordecai, he could protect her if need be.

Once they were back in the fort she immediately hid behind Mordecai. Her gold eyes were looking Dante over. He was such an odd character. Matter of fact… He was yelling about Eldora of all people. Granted she hadn’t seen Eldora in a very long time.

“Dante,” it was Eldora who had her hands on her hips. “Hello, Cousin Calanthe.” Calanthe was shy as she bowed her head a bit. “Oh… Dante… This is from Steele.” Eldora gut punched him and put her hands on her hips. “And I wasn’t dirty when I met Steele.”

When Mordecai pulled her away Calanthe stopped bowed to the hurting Dante and finally followed the man who saved her. “What an odd group of people…” That man was Mordecai’s brother? She supposed it was possible considering how different all of her siblings were.

“CALA!” It was Angela who was running dead sprint now at her daughter. There was a look of shock on the younger Rosenite’s face. Angela was hugging her and kissing her.

“MY LADY!” A smaller woman was running behind her. She had long brown hair to her hips and was quite small. Her violet eyes were following the goddess. “PLEASE MY LADY! You are getting all dirty! What will the clergy think?!”

Angela made a face before continuing to rub her face against Calanthe’s “Fuck the clergy right now. I’m so glad you’re safe!” Calanthe felt hot as her eyes drifted to Mordecai. “Let’s get you both baths…” Angela snapped and her own clothes cleaned and the dirt came off her. She was sure that both of them would like a hot bath though.

Ang was overbearing at worst it appeared. After a nice hot bath, Calanthe dressed in a plain lilac colored dress that her mother had provided. Her long red hair was brushed but still wet from being bathed. She made her way out and saw Mordecai chastising Dante of all people once more. That man really didn’t learn. “Um…” Calanthe had a blush across her face as she approached. “Thank you against for coming and getting me Mordecai.” She bowed once more and when she came up she looked skeptical at Dante.

It was clear that Cala had gained not only her mother’s body type but also her vibrant red hair.

Dante nearly clapped his hand onto his face when he heard his midget-in-laws’ voice. Slowly the half-elf turned around to see that it was indeed her. Meanwhile, Mordecai looked on until she delivered Steele’s “message” which made him kneel over. “Already saw that coming”, he sighed before they left her and the oaf. Of course, the pup and the toad were constantly harassing each other still, even though he knew that it was usually the latter’s fault.

“How the hell was I suppose to know?”, Dante spilled out, his voice was barely heard by his older brother the further they went until Angela came over and damn near collided with her daughter. He backed up enough so that he didn’t get caught in the crossfire while her barrage of kisses and hugs went unchecked. Calanthe, for her credit, was taking all of this rather well. His eyes met with hers for brief moments before Angela had suggested that they take baths to get cleaned up from their journey. While he would have gone to protest, it didn’t really seem like he had much of a choice. With a simple shrug, Mordecai went along with this plan and headed off for one. The water felt good; what didn’t was the fact that mosquito of a brother trailed him down to the tent where he was bathing and persistently kept trying to warn him of “joining the family” while shifting the one-sided conversation over to questioning what he had done in those woods with her.

“Come on now, I keep seeing her face turn red back there. What sort of devilish things do you with her, dear brother?”

“You can’t ignore me forever…I can tell you that you don’t wanna get caught up in this web…but you can tell me if you had fun…”

The whole time he got cleaned up and dress…the fool wouldn’t shut up but Mordecai kept silent though he’d be sure to punch him in the face when he was done. Absolutely nothing happened- he wasn’t one that kept thinking with his lower head like Dante. He had to simply escort and protect Calanthe back to the camp, which he did. When he came out from the tent, he threw a right hook, connecting with his little brother’s cheek and knocking him down on his ass. “Ow! I told you, anywhere but the face!”

“Nothing happened. I found her, or rather she found me and we hid and talked throughout the night…”

“Wasn’t too loud, were ya?”, Dante winked before Mordecai’s hand wrapped around the collar of his shirt and yanked him up. “Geesh, why are you one of Father’s favorites…” When Calanthe came over, both men turned at the sound of her voice and while he looked a bit surprised to see how she looked compared to her previous state, Dante’s jaw dropped and immediately pushed his brother away. “Calanthe, was it not? My you are a radiant one…“

Mordecai barely registered his brother’s actions as he kept his own eyes on her before letting out a slow nod. “No need to thank me- I was just doing my job. I’m glad we were able to make it back here.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s a bore.” Dante circled slowly around her and fetched his brightest smile. But the older brother had other things in mind and literally kicked him away a good few meters. “Don’t mind him, he’s both harmless and is smarter than he appears. He likes to play dumb because then he won’t have to be relied on for things. Anyway, if anyone should…be thankful, it’s me for taking care of my shoulder.”

Calanthe was a bit taken back by Dante being so forward with her. Bright red flushed across her cheeks and she became rather sheepish. The Rosenite perked up when Mordecai told her it was just his job. “That doesn’t mean I can’t thank you for it… After all, you got hurt.”

Once more Dante managed to make her uncomfortable as he circled her like she was some kind of prey. Once Mordecai kicked him away Calanthe took a deep breath and gave a relieved smile to him. “Oh… It wasn’t a problem. I’m just glad I paid attention when Mother was going over basic healing applications.” She waved her hand at him and shook her head.

“…So he won’t be relied on? EVEN when he is relied on,” the voice angry and it came from a very tall and pretty woman… Who was heavily pregnant. “Dante Norcross… Where the hell are your sons? You told me that you would keep an eye on them while I took a nap.” Her bi-colored eyes were glaring down at the Rabbit of Lust.

“Cousin Lotus!” Calanthe was so shocked to see her state. “I… never thought I would see you so…”

“Plump? Fat? Blame Dante.” Lotus pulled Dante up but seemed to struggle a bit as her hand went on her very big belly. “We’re having our third child… We named her Shiroi but Dante has taken to calling her Shiro.”

There was an echoing pair of screams as two soaked little boys came barreling through. They stopped looked at their father shoved him down and clung to their mother’s legs. “Mama!” they cried.

Eldora was coming with a big smile on her face. Estelle was by her with a bucket. “Caught them peeping on the women bathing…”

“Even you… Eldora?” Calanthe looked at the little girl.

“You haven’t been home in a long time… I suppose for everyone’s sake I’ll do introductions. You sadly know Dante. That’s my sister Lotus, Dante’s mate. I’m Eldora, Steele’s wife. This is our daughter Estelle.” Estelle beamed brightly up at Mordecai. “The two little peepers are Casimir and Corbin. They are Dante and Lotus’s oldest.”

If it could wear a skirt, Dante would chase after it like a dog would a piece of meat. Mordecai was hardly surprised to see him flaunting over Calanthe as he was. As much as he wished, he couldn’t seem to get rid of him. Fortunately, it looked like someone actually could and it came in the form of yet another woman, who looked like she was ready to burst with the child inside her. Was this the woman Dante spoke of? He couldn’t help but give her a cockeyed look- she had to be something to make Dante keep interest enough to remain with her. His brother saw his lover and smiled when he looked at her belly. Cooing a little, he got on his knees and placed an ear onto her, wanting to hear his little girl. “Not my fault I make beautiful babies. Last time I checked, they were going to the bathing grounds.” It didn’t need much explanation after that and he continued to rub at her stomach. “It wasn’t my fault, my brother Mordecai came here and he brought her here.”

While Mordecai didn’t have to deal with this first hand, it was common knowledge that women…didn’t always act rationally when it came to carrying children and Lotus seemed to fit the bill with her little fits at her cousin. “I think the name suits her better”, he whined a little before taking notice of the boys coming and knocking him down to reach their mother. “Little urchins. Didn’t I teach you how to speak effectively? That’s what you get for not listening to me.”

“Of all the things you could have taught them, and you decided that spying on nude women was the best course of action…?” How in the world did he end up with Lotus was a mystery that he didn’t really want to look into much. Mostly because he was afraid of the answer. Eldora returned with a child of her own and with the instrument in her hands, everything was becoming clearer.

Learning that both Steele and Dante found women that would put up with them…that was something he hadn’t thought of believing, much less seeing with his own eyes. But then again, it had been ages since he saw the both of them, as Calanthe had with her cousins. Not since that great fight with their father. He wasn’t the sort to dolt on family, but he couldn’t hate the little ones for being who they were. He still wasn’t a fan of their fathers though.

“Alright, and this here is your grouchy Uncle Mordecai. He’s worse than…” While Dante thought to compare him to Steele, Estelle probably wouldn’t take too keenly to it. Nor would Eldora and he knew what would occur if he mentioned it so for the time being, the half-elf simply smiled and ceased his words. Mordecai didn’t take too kindly towards his own introduction, but he let it be. It wouldn’t be too long before he was like one of those uncles people wouldn’t see for ages, except for it’d be even longer than that unless fate had a say in it. That was the way things went in his book. “So…how did you two meet?”, he questioned Lotus, still unclear on how she was able to tie his brother down.

Lotus could have struck him and perhaps she should have when she knew he had lost their darling boys but instead she had a moment of clarity. Her slender digits came up and ran her fingers through his white hair. “You are so easily distracted outside of sex, my dear Dante.” The half-succubus gave him a tender smile and held him close. “Shiro is a good nickname, unlike the names you’ve given the boys.” There was a sigh that left her lips. The boys were often times worse than Dante. They were damn smart but also played dumb at the right moments. They knew just how to get under Dante’s skin.

There was another sigh as the boys knocked their father over to be with their mother. Both of her hands moved so she could pet their white locks. They stuck their tongue out at Dante but snuggled closer to Lotus once she biffed the back of their heads lightly.

“It’s in their blood to be attracted to such things. Even if he didn’t teach them they would probably learn it themselves… It would be wise to just let Dante teach them the ropes now so they don’t die later.” She pulled at the boys’ ears and they let out a cry. “Stop getting caught. When you get old enough you will understand how dangerous things like that are. If that’s the road you want to walk you have to be smart and quick on your feet. Many incubi have died being stupid.” Their eyes were big but then the twins clung harder to their mother.

At least they appeared to listen to her more intently than Dante. The boys and Estelle paid attention to when Dante introduced Mordecai. Eldora produced a towel and tossed it to Lotus. The younger sister began to dry the twins and looked up to Mordecai curiously. “A long time ago now… There was a golem that came around Revaliir. It was a giant spider. Somehow both Dante and I ended up there together at the same time. We ended up hiding out together. We found out that we share a sibling. Colden is both a son of Xunatar and a son of Cyprus, our mother. Normally for both of us, it would have been a one and done night of fun.” She waved her hand about. “But fate decided to throw us at each other… It became a routine. Until one party Dante suggested we court but we be free to our own vices… And here we are. I tend to think Steele and Eldora are the interesting ones.”

Eldora chuckled a bit. “Lotus is a half-succubus. She keeps Dante pretty busy. When it comes to me and Steele… We were assigned to each other to deal with our mother Cyprus. Steele told me I was surely more than a vessel for spirits and I told him that he was more than just wrath. Sounds dumb but that’s where it came from.” She pat Estelle on the head. “I am… tied to Xunatar.” She frowned a bit. “My life will snuff out if I don’t have his support. Afraid my life has been burning at both ends since I was born. So we live in Discordia with Estelle. Isn’t that right?”

Estelle nodded. “And Papa plays with me! He likes my drawings.” Eldora smiled and pat her head once more. It was clear the children had different thoughts on Xunatar.

“Speaking.. of family…” Calanthe who had been taking in everything finally spoke up. “Mother wants to have a little party to celebrate my safe return in Mordecai’s honor. She said it wasn’t anything big since she has to keep the aura up around the camp.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “She wants me to play alongside Holly. It’s usually a lot of fun.” It was her way of more or less inviting Mordecai but it was probably lost in how nervous she was.

Distracted….the man was a damn fool, or at least he was good at playing such to a degree. Those that seemed to know Fante best knew that it was a complete ruse. Mordecai certainly knew this to be true, in fact, he was one of the first ones to noticed and…informed Father who also knew. One of the brief times when they were on speaking terms. Such a memory was drawn out into his mind and would have made him chuckle a bit. But right now, he continued to hold onto a straight face. The fact that his brother’s children were just as smart and just as willing to play the fools was a scary thought.

Speaking of which, he could overhear Dante jesting his children as they were being punished and lectured and shook his head. Furthermore was when Lotus explained the tale of her and Dante encountering one another. Well, at least it wasn’t some of the scenarios that played out unfortunately in his head. “Another brother…wonderful. See the old man hadn’t changed much… “ His arms folded against his chest as he wondered when Father’s plan would collapse upon him. It had been a ridiculous idea and lead to an even greater ridiculous obsession. His green eyes then reached over to Eldora, “You have my sympathies then. Being tied to him…isn’t the greatest thing in the world, that is for sure.” It wasn’t hard to pick up his resentment towards the Lord. Dante fell quiet and held a serious face on him. “Think he probably knows you are here by now, Mordecai. I told you that it was a bad idea to hang around too long- my connection with him allows him to see and hear what I do.”

“Terrific.”

He rolled his eyes; it wasn’t something he wanted to deal with right now, and certainly neither did his father. So many headaches would be cured by simply avoiding one another, though he did feel sorry for the kids that thought of him as a decent grandfather. Time would only tell, but he sure as hell wouldn’t place complete trust in him that they wouldn’t become pawns down the road.

His eyes moved over to Calanthe and groaned inwardly; parties of any sort weren’t usually his thing at all. But she seemed as nervous as ever and with Dante constantly jabbing at his side with a shoulder and winking at him for some reason, the demon hunter gave in without a fight. “I’ll come, but you”, he proclaimed as he grabbed his brother, “You will behave and not drive me or the others up the wall. Same goes for your little hellspawn.”

“Hey, I’m well behaved, thank you very much.” Dante huffed at his brother before he was put back down. “You should come with me, by the way…” Before Mordecai could argue, he snatched him and gave a wink to the ladies before dragging the hunter around the tent. “You are caught in the web, dear brother. But at least you lucked out.”

“What the hell are you talking about”, he questioned in a low voice.

“Don’t be silly…You saw her mother and I’ve seen some of the other daughters she has…and Calanthe is a beauty herself. You lucky devil.”

“Nothing is going on…”

“Spare me that. Even if you are in denial, it's as plain as rain that our deal Cala is smitten. Whenever she looks at you, she turns bright red and gets nervous. Honestly, as a hunter, you sure do suck at looking at what’s in front of ya.”

Mordecai would have pummeled the fool if something hadn’t clicked in his head. It was a rare moment where it showed that Dante would end up being the smarter of the two. “Trust me, you hunt demons and I hunt women. I know how they operate, well most of them. Eldora and a few others don’t count though. Anyway, my advice is that if you really don’t care, then why didn’t you just refuse? You never had a problem speaking your mind before…I think you lik…”

A gut punch threw his way and Mordecai dragged him right back to where the others were at. “Just had to have a brotherly talk with Dante, right?”

“Ow…sure…ow.”

The girls watched Mordecai and Dante for a bit before letting it go. Cala watched as Mordecai was dragged off by Dante and he was saying god knew what to the poor man. Dante was an interesting one. Lotus gave her a reassuring smile but even the half-succubus knew her lover was probably causing trouble.

Cala perked back up as Mordecai came back with him. “Only a brotherly talk?” Lotus was there waiting for him with open arms. “My poor sweet Dante.” Shiroi would be happy to have her father nearby.

“I’m happy you are coming, Mordecai!” Calanthe seemed a bit more confident now.

Once the party was started, it appeared like it was a small group after all. Eldora was watching her daughter play but she stood up as soon as she foreseen something. “Steele!” She barreled through the small ground and leaped into her husband’s arms. Estelle was right behind her.

“DADDY!” She clung to his leg and Lotus smirked from where she was. It was good to see Eldora happy and Estelle as well. The younger sister knew that Eldora had been worried.

“Looks like almost everyone is here…” Lotus spoke softly.

“Cake table please,” it was a Marin being piggybacked by Hendrix. Her orange eyes looked uninterested in most things as they sought out the one thing she was promised.

“Oh, Marin… You are here!” Calanthe took Mordecai by the hand and brought him over. “Are you okay? You look like you were hurt!” Gold eyes watched Marin with concern and the sister shrugged.

“Just had to have minor surgery and I am not allowed to do anything stupid for two months. Glad to know you got here in one piece.” Marin eyed Mordecai as his scent reached her nose.

“Oh! This is Mordecai, he is a brother of Steele and Dante’s. He came to save me. Mordecai this is my sister Marin.”

“Oh, joy, a regular god honest family reunion.” Marin’s humor was dry as she leaned over and looked Hendrix in the eyes. “Isn’t that right Henny? Cake table.” She pointed once she had finally found it. It showed that while she was talking with her sister she had still been listening.

When the party started, Mordecai was within reach of the small group, merely observing them. Mainly of Dante making an ass out of himself. When he would give up this ruse of being incompetent were unforeseen, especially if he continued this for the sake of being lazy. Such scenery wasn’t suited for him, but he had promised to attend and that he did. Making himself a quick plate of food, he munched on the goodies, being the first thing of substance he had in a few days he reckoned. The more he thought about it, the more it hit them that he hadn’t eaten since arriving onto the island and being sent out to rescue Calanthe and bring her back to camp.

It wasn’t long until Eldora’s calling out that he noticed his brother’s arrival that he watched passively. Tired but strangely sated, Steele had moved ahead of his army in reaching the camp and was bombarded by both his wife and daughter. Dante snickered to himself, a plan was forming in his devious mind but he would wait until he could get the wolf alone.”Had fun, dear brother? It’s been a while since you played your role… “

Steele looked up from his embracing wife, “As glorious as that’s been, I’m just glad that you all are safe and…” He stopped the moment he spotted Mordecai and sighed. His face dropped slightly into a grim frown. “You aren’t here to try and kill Father again, are you?”

“Don’t care to, not that it would help even if I wanted to. The old man went and became a deity. Joyous.” Neither of them held any resentment towards the other; it was just that Steele was one of the more trusted children and Mordecai was the rebellious one that happened to see their father as someone that was going to doom them all one day. That would be the only thing to bring them into odds with each other. Steele patted his daughter on the head before picking her up. “You been a good girl for mama?” He kissed her cheek tenderly; he had missed them both since these battles surfaced. This was surely a side that his older brother had never witnessed and it…did surprise him quite a bit as he watched on.

And then Hendrix showed up.

Carrying Marin on his back wasn’t his idea, but it was a way for her to not use up her energy and rest up. While her appearance was welcomed by her family, he noticed Mordecai who held a strange look on his face. “You broke out?”

“No, Father let me out…”, he stated bluntly.

“Thought the old man would drop dead before letting you all out again…”

“I wasn’t the threat. Sol was, but he’s off causing plenty of trouble again.”

“Well, that was a waste of time. It took me forever to capture him once.” The only reason why he would have worked alongside his father’s favor would be that at least the demon king thought rationally most of the time and didn’t want unjustified chaos and destruction. Sol thought he could strongarm everything to bend to his will and did so in the most unelegant manners.

Steele gritted his teeth as he stared into one of the co-conspirators that went against his father and him when he was younger. True, Hendrix wasn’t completely a threat but he did side with the enemy which made him just as guilty. His eyes sharpened, becoming more feral like as he mentally struggled to keep himself in line. Hendrix noticed the response but ignored it. It couldn’t be helped that there would be divisions in the family over what happened. He didn’t plan of getting forgiveness and from the looks of things, it wouldn’t happen for quite some time.

“Yeah, a charming one from the looks of things”, Hendrix spoke before glaring at Marin. “And I told you not to call me that, Marin.” With a defeated look on his face, he moved over to the refreshments table where the cakes were. “Oh yes, it’s a hell of a party”, Dante said, the humor dripping from his tongue as he snuck up behind Steele. “Need to relax, brother. You just got back and everything, no need to worry. There were others that could have been released that are worse than Hendrix.” The wolf regained himself for the time being and snidely remarked, “Snakes in the garden, no matter how small… “

Mordecai looked to Calanthe speaking so that only she could hear him, “Many families have their problems within, but venom runs so deep in our blood. Can’t say for my part that I’m sorry for trying to off the bastard. His little scheme is why the family is so divided, even to this day.” He cut into a piece of the cake on his plate and devoured it. “There are other reasons but that one is pretty high. Wherever he is at the moment means that at least there will be no bloodshed for the moment.”

Estelle squealed and held onto her father. “Yeah! We threw water all over Casimir and Corbin because they were being peeping-Dantes Daddy.” The little girl kissed her father’s cheek and hugged him close. “You didn’t get hurt did you, Daddy? You won right? You did cause you are here! My daddy is the best!” She was rambling now as she hugged Steele closed to her and stuck her tongue out in the directions of her cousins.

Eldora was chuckling a bit as she kissed her husband quietly. “It’s good to see you back and not hurt.” She rubbed her nose against his and pet Estelle’s black hair.

Marin looked unamused at all the hostility. “We just came here for cake. Hendrix is a puppy.” She announced to her family and to his as well. “If you asked me Sol is the more dangerous one with him running around with Undine of all people.” Her orange eyes laid on Eldora. The oracle stared back at her. “Keep her away from me.”

“I’m sure that Undine feels the same way about you.” Eldora was smooth in her words. “After all… You are the one who decided to shoot an airship cannon off at her when she was in the ocean.”

Marin grumbled a bit. “She wrecked my experiment with her tantrum. She deserved a lot more than one of her sea pets being killed. Stupid sea demons anyways.” Marin appeared a lot more hostile but it was only because she was in pain and Eldora knew that.

“You are straining your wound by being stressed.” Eldora sounded a little bit concerned but Marin was now mocking her as she lightly used the side of her feet to spur Hendrix towards the cake table. “Well… on the bright side at least Hendrix is with Marin… She doesn’t leave her house. Plus if Hendrix hadn’t been there in Mamlak, Marin would have died.” Eldora put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh. Marin was certainly special.

Calanthe looked up at Mordecai and grimaced a bit. “I understand. From the sounds of it, this Sol isn’t the greatest either and being that he is with my cousin Undine… I’ve only heard stories about her. She shaped Arri’s coastline with her rage. My sister Marin has a temper when she is stressed out and crowds make her stressed. I do hope you’ll forgive her for her attitude.”

“Now, now. Let’s all try and get along this is a happy time.” It was Angela who stepped out into the open. “We are celebrating Calanthe’s safe return after all.” She held up a beautiful violin that looked to be made out of the sky. “Would you play for us Calanthe. I’m sure it would soothe lots of people.”

There was a light blush across her face but Calanthe nodded and approached her mother. She took the strange looking violin and dragged the bow across the strings. She was getting a feel for it but before long she began to play something to would bring back nostalgic feelings. Calanthe turned her gold eyes to Mordecai and gave him a little smile. The music evolved into something that felt like a warm summer, a feeling of happiness. Angela closed her eyes as she sat down in a chair and bobbed her head to it.

Calanthe’s skill was on the level of a master bard. She made the crowd feel what she wanted them to feel. The story she told with her song was unique to only her. That was when things got dicey. A smaller brown haired girl came out and lifted up her violin. Calanthe stopped abruptly and met her sister’s eyes. “Holly.”

“Calanthe.” The two bards entered into a duel. It was almost like electric as they danced around each other and began to play notes on such a fast level that for some it was hard to keep up. It was Holly that messed up though as Calanthe brought the music back down to a gentle tone.

“Maybe next time little sister.” There was a smirk on Calanthe’s face. Holly hadn’t quite reached her level yet as she lowered the violin and her siblings applauded.

“I guess I’ll just play for you and Mordecai then.” Holly chuckled as Calanthe gave the violin back to her mother. “Dancing for everyone then… Grab a partner. I do mean everyone.” Calanthe’s eyes met Mordecai’s at Holly’s words.

“My partner is this piece of cake.” Marin pointed down to a chocolate slice with a cherry on top.