"I...Well, no," said Elsidy, though she still smiled. "Father was my entire life. I mean, I had mother too but she...well Brazen is affluent, so usually it was a nanny raising me. Father switched them out semi-frequently so no one would realize what I was, or would be forced to leave when they started to suspect. Mother never really got close to me, either, but Father did in trying to figure out how to, in his words, "remove this curse". But even if I've now lost everything from my past life, I still have new friends and I'm not all by myself. And back when I didn't know about our gods, when I had learned just of the one in the Bible...well, he always said not to fear so I've always tried to smile. I think Father is wrong, I don't think that god could hate us! And maybe he'll realize that. I mean, of course his god would be jealous if there really were other gods to worship, he wouldn't want the humans appealing to gods that didn't even make them. Father's smart, maybe he'll realize that." She paused. "That's...pretty naive, to think maybe he'll change his mind, isn't it? But I'm still going to follow his god's advice. I'm still not going to fear."

"Oh!" she added, pointing at an approaching Martha, "Isn't that...a cadaver?"

((Not sure if I should have Ariel run into you guys on the way or happen to choose the warehouse they’re all headed to and take shelter there.))

Ariel walked through the streets with purpose but no real direction. Perhaps New York was not the best place to try making a new start. It was easier to try for that needle in a haystack approach with so many people and there were lots of resources to tap into, but that same dense population made for some slim pickings too. Drawing up the hood tighter did little to diminish a vague sense of unease. “It was easier to find somewhere discrete to hide in Beijing.” Grumbling, low and somewhat bitter. It had worked out for years and Ariel had even picked up the language a bit. But then, sure as clockwork, hunters caught wind of the conjurer eventually. “Caught wind.” Ariel chuckled at the unintentional pun. New York had seemed an unlikely next jump from Beijing so hopefully that would throw the hunters off for a while. At this point Ariel was headed for the closest warehouse district. When in doubt squat somewhere people were less likely to find you. No paper trail was always a bonus. The only real problem was competition with other hobos. Ariel had misconceptions about their current status. A century and then some year old conjurer might be considered a bit glorified for a hobo but that’s pretty much what Ariel’s current state was. “Shame I can’t grow a beard.”

(Edit: I don't really mind which you do Hopeless. n.n I'm eager to meet Ariel!)

Felix slowed to a stop and stared at Victoria with a rather stubborn look on her face. "No way. There is no way I'm gonna throw away everything I worked so hard to have because of a crazy church freaks. There's no way I'm gonna live out on the streets again hiding out in abandoned buildings or worse. You can keep running and hiding if you want but if they want a fight I'll give them one." Her wings rustled noisily against her back before she began walking again, a bit of a scowl on her face. It had taken Felix years to get where she was now and she wasn't about to let anyone take it away from her.

The woman grew quiet as she listened to Elsidy's story, her green eyes scanning the area constantly. Her story really was a sad one..her father had done one heck of a job keeping her locked up tight it seemed, even from her own mother. "I don't think it's naive to have hope." Felix moved to rub the back of her neck. "He is your father, what he did wasn't exactly ideal but he cared enough to try and protect you and take care of you. So who knows? Just..don't hope too much is all." When the woman pointed at the approaching stranger Felix immediately stiffened and pushed her way forward past the others, her hands already curling into fists. If this girl was dead then that must meant there was another Immortal nearby.

Martha glanced around quickly. The warehouse was located behind some obscure back-alley. She didn't see any one wielding pitchforks, guns and maybe gas canisters. They could be hidden, but the mobs usually had them drawn in paranoia. There was no one except for a handsome but emotional couple and their chaperone, and a pair of approaching girls. Martha thought the groups relatively innocuous, so she returned to report her findings.

Victoria immediately gave a pitiful look at Felix after she stubbornly agreed to go to the warehouse. She could understand her with her years of experience. She looked down at the tattoo on her arm, old and faded but still visible. She knew exactly how Felix felt. Upon hearing Elsidy's story, she gave her a small smile. "Felix is right, Elsidy. It's good to have some hope but careful not to build up so much hope." Upon mention of the cadaver, Victoria perked her head up. In her human form, she couldn't hear much but if she could just shift..

She placed her backpack on the ground and threw off her hoodie. "I'm going to investigate." She said before getting on all fours. Her irises grew and became golden yellow; within moments, she was in her wolf form. She tread carefully, following Martha a few paces behind. She still had a slight limp from the bullet grazing her arm but it only impeded her by a small margin. Her newly superior hearing allowed her to distinguish a breathing pattern different from her groups and she pressed against the building as Martha reared the corner, hoping to listen in on the unknown body.

"...No one except a weird couple, a guy, and two girls," said Martha.

"That's nice," Lydhelle said. She poked a knitting needle into a loop of yarn.

"Do you know how much I hate you after seeing them?" Martha grumble. "I was young! At my prime! Still a beautiful virgin, and you murdered me!" She wailed. "I want boyfriend."

"There, there," Lydhelle petted her head of black hair which was falling in decomposing clumps. Then petted her own head because guilt was gnawing at her like a swarm of locusts, but she didn't have someone else to do it for her. "I forgot you're still trapped at boy-crazy nineteen. And I can't believe you're a virgin. I'd thought otherwise, because, well. They were as crazy about you as you were about them."

Martha huffed. "Thanks. But that doesn't mean I've forgiven you. I'll never. Until the day you die."

"Alright." Lydhelle smiled widely. She resumed her knitting.

Garret gave Elsidy a slightly sad smile after she told her story. It was sad hearing that she wasn't really allowed to have friends, and Garret could relate to having not having an abundance of friends, "Hey, like I said. I- we can help you through all this, no matter what comes up, and like what Felix said, you shouldn't give up hope, not even for your father." Although he sounded sincere, he wasn't so sure about that last part. Some people just couldn't be helped. At that moment Garret acknowledged the 'cadaver' that had appeared. Percy began to growl at the approaching undead, while Garret's eyes narrowed a bit looking for the summoner who raised it, but by the time he could find anything, it simply turned around and walked away. He was about to offer to have him give chase, but Victoria beat him to it. He sighed as he picked up her hoodie and went to pick up her backpack before he hesitated. He blinked twice before coming to a realization. "That walking corpse was heading towards my warehouse..." He quickly grabbed the backpack and said, "No one had better mess with my mini fridge."

"Mmmmm..." Lydhelle gave Martha a thumbs up. She tore another piece of cake with her hands and crammed it into her mouth. "I can't believe you managed to find a fridge! And cake! Crème! Holy sustenance!"

Martha looked vaguely pleased. She preened and tossed her hair. "I do have to keep you alive. Who else can I talk to? Plus, I don't feel like forgiving you anytime soon. You haven't suffered enough."

"Dawwww," Lydhelle cooed and hugged her. Her skin was cold and slimy, but Lydhelle didn't mind. It was nothing compared to the cold and slimy blood of the corpses that night at the graveyard. "My lovely big sister actually has a heart of gold."

Martha scowled, picked up the needle Lydhelle had dropped in her haste to devour the cake, and poked her in the thighs.

Lydhelle winced. She released her. "Okay. I'll just return to my cake..." She trailed off and hurried stuffed in another piece to deflect the awkwardness she felt when faced of Martha's glare.

Ariel stood poised in motionless indecisiveness. There were a few warehouses lined up that seemed like they’d make a nice enough roof for the night. “Eenie meenie miney mo,” they said, index finger bouncing from building to building. Any is as good as the next Ariel decided and headed into the winning structure. The door creaked a bit when opened and the conjurer immediately wished they’d made a stealthier entrance. “Perhaps I was wrong when I though any would do”, Ariel mentally amended as they took in a rather peculiar sight. A girl and a cadaver sat huddled around a mini fridge cake in hand. Ariel knew enough about summoners to guess cake girl was one. Oh boy, how to handle this? “Er, hello there,” hand raised in a wave, all awkward smiles, “Didn’t realize this place was taken.” Best to take off the hood. Ariel had a met a few immortals and most tended to be jumpy. A shadowed face often put people on edge too. The real question was whether this was a potential ally, rival, or neither.

Elsidy's smile widened at the pledges of support. She was going to be okay. She had friends now and they all promised to help her. Her smile dropped slightly at the concern of her new friends. She glanced over at Felix.

"Is it okay?" she asked with a frown.

Lydhelle shoved the piece of cake into her mouth to vacate it, and waved. "Heya! You can't have any cake, but here's a scarf." She unwrapped a white scarf with grey patches of filth from around her neck. She jumped up and politely placed it in the girl's hands. Lydhelle discretely vanished the skeletal warriors still playing Bones in the crate.

"You don't seem like a mobster, so a present for you! I have too many of them anyways," she added.

Beside her, Martha glared.

Ariel politely waited for the odd girl to finish her cake. Waiting in silence was a good chance to listen for others as well. It was Ariel’s understanding that stealth was not a strength of the undead. Not a very thorough or wholly accurate understanding. It was usually best to be on guard anyway. Always on the balls of one’s feet. Listen intently. Pay attention to one’s peripheral vision. Keep arms at the sides to appear nonthreatening but still be unobstructed. Posture’s important though. Don’t look uptight. Loose. Casual. A possible friend. “A mobster?” At that Ariel couldn’t help but laugh. “Certainly not!” Ariel took the strip of fabric somewhat tentatively. “Thanks but uh-“ How to put this delicately? “I’m a bit warm right now actually. I’ve been walking around a while so I’m pretty warmed up already. I appreciate the thought though. That’s awfully nice of you.” Ariel handed the scarf back with a smile. Never was much of one to accept gifts from strangers. The tricky part about making small talk with other immortals that were also presumably on the run, was that there weren’t a whole lot of questions you could ask without prying. “So have you and your, uh, friend been here long? Can’t say I know the area very well yet.”

Felix was confused: it just..walked away. Without a fight or anything. Her arms lowered and when she turned to glance at the others she was met with the sight of Victoria shifting into a wolf. That was just so darn cool. She blinked as Victoria padded off and she frowned a bit, looking back at Garret and Elsidy. "Uh.." Felix rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know, we should follow her in case she needs help though." The female tried hard not to grin at Garret's mini fridge comment and failed. "You think a dead girl will eat your food?" The thought was pretty funny to her. "C'mon." Felix was grinning as she continued forward with them towards the warehouse.

Garret was strangely happy to see Elsidy smile. It was the least he could do to keep her happy, considering she just got disowned not long ago by what seemed like her only family that was left. He nodded a Felix, slipping his other arm through Victoria's backpack's other strap. "Yeah, we should probably follow her. Who knows what could be in my warehouse." After hearing Felix seem to try and reassure him that the corpse wouldn't eat his food, but he simply threw his hands up in exasperation and said, "But what about the summoner?!" He then narrowed his eyes thinking how else the immortal could possibly mess with his things, Percy looking up to his master questioningly.

Elsidy placed a finger to her lips. "If a summoner is in there, all by himself, it's likely that he's been on the run, isn't it? Maybe he hasn't been able to find any food and was starving. Or she...In any case, it would be theft, and that's bad, but you can turn the situation around by thinking that you were able to be kind and generous, even in your absence, to a fellow summoner who really needed something to eat." She offered another bright smile, eyes shimmering. "Come on, then, I'm sure he - or she - would apologize for stealing your things if only she - or he - knew."

Without hesitation, she strode towards the warehouse, steps delicate and lady-like, still wearing a bright smile to greet what she was now certain was a friend. If it wasn't, Victoria had gone on ahead and would warn them in time.

Victoria padded forth after hearing two voices. She didn't growl nor make any noise. She simply appeared in front of them and bowed as a means of introducing herself. She then shifted to her human form and cracked her back. "As much as I love being an animal, it is quite painful once you return to your human form." She stretched out her arms and examined the two girls (hope you don't mind that Ace). "Both of you appear to have extraordinary abilities, yes? I am one of your kin if you couldn't already tell."

"I am Victoria. At least that is the name I've chosen for myself at this present time."

((It’s all good Luka. Ariel is meant to look gender ambiguous so I figured other characters would all reach their own conclusions.))

Ariel visibly stiffened at Victoria’s presence. Somehow they’d failed to even notice the creature enter. ‘Person’, they corrected as she shifted forms. Well this was unexpected. Ariel honestly hadn’t run into many other immortals despite an already relatively long life. Two at once was surprising. “I uh,” Ariel blabbered, trying to form a coherent response to cover their shock, “Well, yes. Hard to miss that you two were a bit unique.” The somewhat formal introduction was unexpected. How was one supposed to keep up when a simple warehouse visit turned into a sudden congregation of immortals? Ariel wasn’t one to give out their name to strangers, immortal or otherwise, though. “You can call me Ash,” Ariel replied with a smile. ‘Using the first other unisex name you can think of. How clever.’ Mental criticism always came in the form of strong sarcasm with Ariel.

Victoria smiled slightly. "Do not be frightened, Ash." She said, stepping forward. "I have companions like us. Different from humans. Though judging by your stance, I gather you already know about what you are, correct?" She examined Ash from head to toe, staring intently at her eyes. "You are a Conjurer, yes? You can control things others can't? A rare lot you are; I have not had the chance to meet one of your kind in almost two centuries." She realized her interrogation seemed odd and bowed her head slightly. "Forgive me. I tend to get a bit..carried away. It comes with my age, I suppose. Perhaps I should get down to business as they say."

She removed her color contacts, she would no longer need them today. Her tri-colored eyes revealed, she could finally be comfortable. "I am what they call an Elder if our kind was still flourishing. I have lived for millenia and have seen many of our kind come and go. I would like to help you, Ash. I would like to help you and many others, including our Summoner friend, to cease our constant running. I can help you harness your powers, teach you about our kind, and most importantly, fight back against those who wish you dead. I assume you've experienced these folk before." She paused and stepped away to give the girl space. "I am not enforcing it however. I am just offering you a chance to survive. If you so desire."

((Sorry for hogging the chat! Thanks Vintage :))

"Martha?" Lydhelle looked to her elder sister.

Still glaring, Martha nodded imperceptibly. Lydhelle beamed at the lady and the boy. "Sure!" Then she turned to the boy and rewrapped the scarf around her neck. "I've only been here since yesterday, so I'm not familiar with the area either."

Bump post to remind you all we still exist!