This was bloody perfect- his father had released him not out of good behavior, but instead was using him as a bloodhound to sniff out his brother. While he would have preferred to see what this brand new world would have to offer, Hendrix knew that he had to obey. Nevermind that the world had changed over the centuries and things weren’t as they were the last time he laid eyes on it. No, from the time he was able to board the first ship to Abed to reaching the port, it all felt strange and wondrous. Many great things had happened while he stared into nothing but blackness all this time, the most frightening was that his father gained even more power than he would have dreamt of. If his brother was going to be so bold to rechallenge him once more, Hendrix would just sit things out this time.

There was no way in hell he was going to oppose him and make the same mistake twice.

Fortunately aside from a little architecture adventuring Abed had in expanding the city, much of it was still relatively the same. The seeder streets and alleyways were far less guarded, much like it always had. Perhaps they were still under that stupid curse the old gods gave its people. The facade had to drop at some point, though if it had continued this long, coupled with the gods’ waning power here, it probably was going to stick. Much of that didn’t matter to him as he marched about like a man on a mission. Of course, there were some that watched him, but he wasn’t interested in any of them in case things got shady. “Okay, the discreet part won’t help.”, he muttered after some time with his fruitless effort. “Oh, Lord Sol! Please bless me with your presence! Better yet, can someone lead me to the Lord of Raging Fires?!” He felt like an idiot doing this, but if there were some of his brother’s followers around, they would likely take the bait. “His brother is here looking for him!”, he continued to shout around, along with some similar lines down the underbelly.

They had been in Abed for a while now. They were making a home there or more so a nest. Undine found ways of entertaining herself on dry land. Abed was also her home as well though not much had changed since the last time she was awake. It was the yelling that caught her attention as she rounded a corner.

Undine’s long brown hair was done up with shells in it. She wore what looked to be a dancer’s outfit. It was a midnight blue with silver detail. The top was just large enough to cover her breasts while the skirts were elegant and many. A silver sash sat on top of her hips as she made her way over to the man. Her fingers were delicate as she tapped on him. “And… maybe I ask who you are?”

The siren’s arms went around him lightly as she gave the most gentle smile to the stranger. “If Sol is the one you are looking for… I might be able to help. Or I might hinder.” She let go of him as she rounded him to get a good look. “You say you are his brother and yet Sol doesn’t want to speak to any of his relations.” Deep blue eyes bore into Hendrix some more before she came to a stop.

“Maybe that’s why no one else will come to you. He doesn’t want you in his lair.” Undine tilted her head gently. Taking a deep sigh she put her hands on her hips as she thought about it. “I suppose… I could entertain this brother of Sol’s.”

She spun on her heel as she walked away from Hendrix. Taking only a moment to look back at the demon before continuing her way to where they were staying. “I found a puppy out while I was on a walk.” She walked around Sol and put her arms loosely around his shoulders. “It was yelling all kinds of juicy little things about you. Trying to bait someone in desperately. I was bored so I thought I would bite.” Her eyes looked up at Hendrix as she nuzzled Sol’s neck softly. “Should I have not let the puppy in?”

Having seemed that his yelling and elaborated gesture seemed to bear him the same result as when he tried to look for Sol, Hendrix was ready to give up and search elsewhere, or better yet, go tell his father that he wasn’t here after all when some woman came up to him from out of nowhere and seemed to be toying with him. One moment he was ready to think of her as some swindler that was trying to appeal to him and would then try to rob or kill him. But then she did give him something that many people today wouldn’t know about his dislike for his other siblings, primarily those that carried the sins within them.

“You already did help me, but confirming that you know my stubborn brother. Fortunately, I am not among those siblings that are on his list.” He was ready to tell her to knock it off with the games and such, but he didn’t wish to push his luck. She still had the upper hand in knowing where Sol was. “I doubt he knows that I escaped the same hell he had been through, so you merely speak of the seven siblings and our father. Not that I can really blame him so much, but I think he will be interested in hearing me out.” She didn’t take too long to be off on her way, and of course, he followed her to the hideout. It appeared to be abandoned, or it had once been and they were using its state as a guise to mask their presence.

“So who are you supposed to be to him? A devoted follower?”, he asked bluntly before she went and found the fool.

Sol was in an office of sorts when she came in and he felt her behind him. “Puppy? Who would…” His eyes rose up to see Hendrix standing at the door. “Hendrix…how did you get out?” He tiled his head as Hendrix pushed himself off from where he was leaning and moved over to his brother. “Your little friend led me here, and Father made me track you down. I had a feeling you would be trying to repeat history again.”

Sol glared at him, “Of course I wouldn’t give up my pursuit. You KNOW what he did to me.”

“Like you didn’t deserve that punishment now that I thought about it. Father had warned you not to begin a war that you couldn’t win.” Hendrix looked to Undine and shook his head. “Did he tell you the tale as to what happened? You seem pretty attached to him…”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, then. Our father, Xunatar, was a powerful demon that sought to find a way to bring the seven deadliest sins of mortals into flesh and blood. Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, and of course the first and most dangerous of all, Pride.” He pointed squarely at his brother, who just continued to stare at him with frustration. “My big brother over here was the first to be born with the sin, and of course the one that fits him so- Pride. Unfortunately, he took to his essence too much in his youth and thought that he could start a war with the mainland so that he could enslave much of Parvpora. Of course, he lost, even though Father warned him not to do such a thing so soon. Given his disappointment, he ripped the sin’s essence into him and placed into our younger sister. So a part of him is literally missing and he was pissed. So he used it as motivation to rally the other non-sin siblings to go after Father and our young brother and sister, Steele and Carrie. I joined merely to see that this conflict ended but I overestimated Sol’s power and we lost. Rather than to kill us, Father placed us all into tombs from which we slumbered until you broke free. I was let out to see seek you out and report back to him. After that, I don’t care what happens, I rather not be put into this pissing contest anymore.”

“You think he will let you slip out of this? He’ll probably lock you back up…”, Sol retorted as he rose up to his feet. “And you think I will let you go and tell him?”

“Dear brother, this is a formality. I already told him I had my suspicions that you were here, trying to regain your footing.” Hendrix looked at the pair with a dull gaze. “Not to mention that if something happens to me, he’ll likely pin it on you and know that you are here anywho. The cards aren’t in your favor, but then again some things never change, do they?”

“No offense, but you picked the wrong horse to bet on, girlie. My brother’s gonna take you down the road of self-destruction. It was bad enough that he couldn't beat Father then, but now that he's one of those gods over in Canelux, it won't happen.” Sol growled, hoping that he was lying about their father's ascension. Hendrix merely shrugged it off; If she didn’t heed his warning, then that was on her, but at least he offered without having to do so.

“Something I suppose…” Undine mused his question but did not answer it. She was not a follower of Sol’s she was merely using him as much as he was using her. So far they both wanted to see the world rot from the inside out and that was good enough for her for the time being. Undine stayed silent as the two brothers fought back and forth which seemed more like a pissing match to her.

Undine looked at her nails and even set to smoothing the ends of some of them as Hendrix spoke to her. Her blue eyes looked up at Hendrix once he spoke to her and she tilted her head. “I haven’t bet on any horse… You make it sound like I don’t have a choice to be here or that I can’t bail any time that I want. I am merely a prisoner of his imagination.” The siren spoke lightly as she looked back down at her nails. “Two souls trying to burn the whole world down in some fashion or another. If he weighs me down or begins to I’ll just leave and he knows that.” She blew some nail dust off her fingertips from messing with them.

The siren’s eyes flickered back up to Hendrix. “Ah… The puppy that Eldora keeps. Steele. And what was that other one that my sister Lotus keeps about… Dante? I know much of these sins as they’ve entangled themselves about my sisters as if they were honey… You and I also share a sibling. Colden is my half-brother. Small world.” Undine sounded bored for a moment as she looked back at Sol. “So this is what you meant when you said he took something from you.” Her fingers came up and she fingered at the heart stone around her neck. “You know what I did when someone took something of mine away from me.” However, she knew she had the upper hand… How could he possibly win against a god?

Slowly the small woman walked around Sol and looked at Hendrix. “Don’t get the wrong idea. Your brother amuses me. He keeps me around to control my temper and put it to good use. We use each other. A sinking ship is a sinking ship no matter how many times you patch it. I’ll bail before then… Though I do hope you tell my siblings hello for me. The last time I saw Steele and Eldora… I shot Eldora into the wall of our childhood home and Steele wasn’t very happy with me.” There was a smirk on her lips as she thought about it.

“As for the road of self-destruction… I do that enough myself. I’m not too much worried about it. Like I said all it will take is bailing the ship if he gets too far ahead of himself. Loyal as I may be to a friend I am not dumb.” Her eyes were like an angry ocean as she stared into Hendrix’s. “I’m merely bored.” She turned on her heel and looked at Sol. “Which begs the question of… What will you do to get what you want? It’s not like you can just forge a Godslayer that time has come and gone. Your father won’t let you near the child who carries your Pride so you can get it back. You are currently stuck. However, I’ve seen you get out of tight situations and that peaks my curiosity just enough.” Undine wasn’t trying to anger him as she came back over and wrapped herself around Sol. “Sooner or later you would have heard that from me and you know it.” She pressed her lips to Sol’s ear and thought about it some more.

“I’ll play this game long enough like I always have.” She slipped herself up onto the desk to sit as she monitored Hendrix now. There was a tilt of her head as she thought about everything that had been said once more. Tsk tsk tsk. Such big goals for someone with only his own power at the moment. Her eyes slid and squinted in the direction of Sol now. He did entertain her and she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. “The sea is loyal to no one forever, just to those who hold fortune in their favor.” And fortune always ran out eventually.

A reasonable person would have seen that his brother was in on a goose chase and would bail. Some would even watch for a little bit before getting too deep into this. But Undine was a strange one and seemed to match Sol in being just as much full of herself as he was.

The elder brother snarled a bit as she spoke of the family tree that linked them. “So there’s four of them… “ Hendrix shook his head, “Doubt it. In between the time Pride came into the picture and now? I would think he had already completed this long-awaited task. In which case, the worse case scenario is that you don’t stand a chance against the oldest in your state. Carrie would mop the floor with you, Steele would rip you asunder, granted if you hadn’t mentally tortured him enough when he was a child.” He paced around a little, letting Sol marinate in his own anger. “Pretty much with your time out of commission, and them being able to cultivate their own sins and power, I wage you would lose to any of them that had more than three hundred years to train.” Of course, he knew that he wouldn’t be dear to this news but Hendrix only spoke the truth, the cold honest truth. Things looked even more bleak with their Father’s new status, but there was a loophole in that, and both of them knew it.

“I am not worried about Father. You know as well as I do that he will not interfere unless it's directly against him. They are old enough to defend themselves and he won’t raise a hand. I’m not looking to seek their deaths.” Sol looked to Undine, “As I told you before, as long as they stay out of my way, they won’t be bothered, Undine. Only Carrie will be the exception to that- I want that power and I will rip it from her somehow. But she will remain alive, or I will at least give an effort to do so.”

“That magic is lost to most except for a selected few”, Hendrix huffed and glanced to Undine. “I’d be careful messing with the wolf. Prod it too much and he will bite eventually. But I digress, it seems you found someone as jaded as you is, brother. Either way, my conscience is clear- I gave them fair warning to you both.” He was banking on Sol thinking that Xunatar wouldn’t interfere now, which he was sure that was the case as well. But that was just half the battle; the other half was dealing with the siblings should they come to blows. He watched Undine have her way with Sol, odd to see that he would let someone like her, let alone anyone be so…handsy.

“I will get it back, just let me deal with the details.”

“I’m staying out of this once I finish my business. But I hope that you raise your forces soon. If not and he finds you, he’s dead set on locking you up forever. This time there will be no escape for you.”

“Undine, is it? Well, you seem to be getting kicks out of this and I doubt Father knows of your involvement. He’ll likely spare you since its nothing persona and you are siblings with those Rosenites.” Of course, he didn’t trust her, not if she was like Sol.

Undine thought on it and she tilted her head as she listened. “Tortured or not if Steele thought my sister and their child was in danger he would probably bite. Wolves and their pups…” It was just a simple thing really that made the most sense. Even when she paid Eldora a visit Steele had almost jumped her if it wasn’t for the fact that Eldora was fine. “He almost went toe and toe with me when I paid my dearest beloved siblings a visit. I sent his wife crashing into the side of our beloved family home. I’m sure if Eldora hadn’t been alright that he would have lashed out at me.”

The siren shrugged off Sol’s words as she turned her head to Sol. “I don’t know Carrie nor your father. I barely met Dante and Steele… Colden, I’m not familiar with but he is my blood. Eldora scares me the most out of that little group her potential is enormous but she has long since stopped her meditation to raise a child with Steele. She isn’t as strong as she could be.” How things had changed. “But I am dwelling on me and mine… I am sure they won’t be an issue.”

Undine kicked her legs softly as she safe on the desk. Her eyes bore into Hendrix’s. “I won’t mess with the little wolf and his family. Jaded is such an ugly little word. I prefer to think of it as… motivated.” There was a smirk on her lips now as she crossed her legs and sat still once more before she moved to be around Sol.

“I care not if he wants to spare me or not because I doubt any of my siblings will want to spare me. The worst that will happen to me is a deal between him and my father and I’ll be put back into a slumber… Just to wake back up and let the world feel my rage again.” She said it so easily but she did hate being put to sleep.

Her fingers came up and played with her necklace once more before she sighed. “I am getting bored Sol…” The sea witch was restless as she moved about the room now. Being on land did nothing good for her but make her more agitated but at least the sea couldn’t react to her from here. She went past Hendrix and pressed her lips to his cheek. “I won’t drag your brother into the depths of hell… He’s well on his way if he doesn’t get his way…” He had told her as much. “I’m just along for the ride.”

As far as Hendrix was concerned these two nitwits were much of the same, aside from a much more relaxed tone coming from Undine. She spoke so casually of facing her family as well as Steele, much of which made him sigh deeply. At this point, there was no talking either of them out of their ridiculous beliefs and plots. “Knowing Father, I wouldn’t be the only one to be looking for you. To bank everything on my isn’t Father’s style. In fact, if I had to deduce, I would say that the older sin carriers are looking for you as well, and likely a way to stop you before you regroup.”

“So…why are you warning me about this and not dragging me back to him?”, Sol inquired, with a rose eyebrow.

“I told you already, I was just sent to look for you. I found you and that’s that. I’m keeping out of this conflict after this. There’s a new world out there, waiting to be seen by those that have been imprisoned like us. But you’d just want to live in the past, so whatever.” Hendrix was ready to turn heel and walk away from this and see what he could carve from this realm. If Sol wanted to chase down what was nigh impossible for him, then so be it. If this woman wanted to follow said brother down the rabbit hole, then that was alright too. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how all of that was going to play out.

“Wouldn’t be too sure of that; maybe your siblings would reason and deal with your father. Our father, on the other hand, tends to deal with things on his own accord. He doesn’t play too well with others unless he absolutely needs to. Become a thorn on his side, then you may find yourself placed into a tomb right next to Sol- and if that happens I can promise you that you won’t be seeing the sun or moon for a very long time.”

“Then I will just have to succeed then. There’s no going back for me, Hendrix”, Sol replied with folded arms as he watched Undine scout about the place. “What are you in the mood for? Hunting? Being in the sea?”

Hendrix cringed a little when she invaded his personal space. He didn’t know this woman well enough for her to get this close before; for all he knew, she would have struck him down here or there. The kiss on his cheek didn’t ease his worries. “Sol was doomed the moment his power was taken. No, more so, he was doomed at birth. His destiny will only end in his demise- no one can change it but him, and he won’t like the only option that will save him. Have fun watching him burn himself out.” He turned to leave and looked slightly at Sol’s direction, “Brother.”