Oh...hello! [closed/Angeni]

No parent should ever have to bury their child; it was a sentiment that had existed for as long as anyone could remember. Unfortunately, that was something that both Angeni and Freyleif would experience well before they should have. And for them, the pain was not only emotional, but spiritual as well. Through their own volition they had bound their souls together. Emotions, feelings, soul memories--even Angeni's own powers if she felt it necessary--were intrinsically entwined between the four of them. When the attack had caused Freyleif to go into labor prematurely, the fear and panic from the young Quincy struck at Angeni from across the globe. She had considered going back to her at that moment, but it was at this time that she had just found one of the masters she had sought. She would learn immediately after that she should have followed her first thought.

Not even moments after she had sensed Freyleif's emotions, a sharp pain pierced through her heart, as if she had been run through with a red hot poker with torturous precision and savagery. It felt as if her very soul had been broken, so much so that she had been brought down to her hands and knees at that very moment. Now the panic and fear she felt was her own. She had felt that sharp stab of emptiness once before; it was the same feeling she had when she learned of Chayton's death. She instantly assumed the worst, knowing that only something tantamount to the feelings she had just moments before shared with Freyleif would cause such a pain to grip her. And so she reached out, her spiritual perception tracing back along the unseen threads of the soul links that bound them. The first thread followed, that of the one attached to Freyleif, was erratic and wrought with hysteric frenzy, but it was intact; that knowledge brought a modicum of relief to Angeni. It was immediately dashed, however, when Angeni instead turned her perception towards the paired threads that connected to the twins. The closer that her sensory drew to the end of the threads, the more frayed and broken the threads became, until finally they simply ended in....nothingness. Where she should have felt the life-forces of two healthy and unharmed infants there was only a deep emptiness. The forlorn shriek that escaped her at that moment was enough to echo for miles, the accompanying pulse of spiritual energy that emanated from her disrupting the flow of nature around her for nearly a month after she had well departed.

Half a year had passed since then, but the loss still clung to Angeni not unlike a burr entangled within the fur of an animal. With Chayton, she had been able to retrieve him and bind their souls together. Yet with the twins...nothing remained and their departure was more abrupt than anyone could have imagined---least of all Angeni. In an attempt to distract herself from her pain, she centered her thoughts on continuing her elemental search and training. The training she had undergone back then, training to master the forces of wind, had been completed with satisfying result. The manipulation of wind---and elements in general---had come with ease to her before, but now bending wind to her whim was no different for her than breathing; it was just something that she could do subconsciously. Her next focal point was that of water, the current leg of that search had led her to Chicago; specifically, she pored over countless volumes and articles within the Harold Washington Library. Anything that seemed like it could yield a clue---historical accounts, fables, folklore, mythology, even urban legends---she searched through all of it ceaselessly. For much of her time for this day, she had yet to find anything of true substance. Figuring that perhaps she should allow herself a reprieve to return to her search with a refreshed mind.

To that effect, Angeni sat perched atop one of the many stone gargoyles that rimmed the roof of the library, a halfway unwrapped subway sandwich lain across her lap as she gazed down at the throngs of people passing below. Controlled wisps of wind carried the scattered conversations from below to her ears, though she disregarded them and treated them as background noise for her lunch. For the moment, it seemed that her thoughts were sufficiently turned away from what had happened months before. That changed, however, as she raised her sandwich to her mouth in preparation to take another bite. Just before she could, the sound of her name being spoken in a rather formal capacity gave her pause. The sandwich was lowered away from her mouth and every other conversation was drowned out. Rising to her feet then backpedaling into a portal that sprang open behind her, Angeni emerged on the street below and began to approach the source of the voice that spoke about her. As she got closer, however, she heard mention of Freyleif and all of the anger and pain she had been trying to suppress from her thoughts returned in a rush. Freyleif had suffered enough just by losing her children, if whoever this person was had the intention of bringing even more harm to her daughter, they were in for a rude awakening.

Her middle finger was drawn back and pinned beneath her thumb in a flicking gesture. As she did so, wind began to gather and compress into an orb about the size of a baseball. Each moment that passed condensed the orb further and doubled its power. By the time it had been fully readied, it was no larger than a pea, though the destruction of it would be enough to level a building and allow a person to do their best imitation of tomato paste. She had been prepared to launch it at the man, who she was within arm's reach of, when she picked up on his spiritual presence. It was quite familiar to her; in fact, it was someone she knew and had met on a few prior occasions: Raphael, a former member of Vigilance like herself. Almost immediately the wind orb was dispersed harmlessly and her fingers laced together passively behind her back.

"It's been a while, Raphael, I'm glad to see you are doing well. What, though, did you need to speak to me about regarding Frey?" She questioned as she stepped up beside him and flashed a patient smile. Her eyes, however, held an intent glare that seemed to bore through him.

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The sound of her voice made him jump halfway up into the air and he slowly lowered himself back to the ground. Fuck, of course she would have found him instead of the other way around, of course he would run into her in the middle of all of his thoughts… He had felt the gathering of power behind him, but was too nervous to turn around. Now, on the other hand, he had completely turned around and was staring straight down the barrel of a mother’s anger.

Well here she was, and he was the one that had been searching for her. She’d been prepared for shit like this, hadn’t she? She’d been read to throw down in case shit had ever hit the fan. Her mastery of her abilities had increased substantially and he had the bad feeling that, if she’d wanted, he wouldn’t be standing right now.

Her fingers were laced almost passively behind her back, almost as if she was harmless. But he knew better than that. She was incredibly dangerous and had a mastery over the elements of the planet the likes of which no one could understand. He watched her and felt as the creeping feeling of dread overtook him. He had known, even flying out here, that Angeni would not be happy with what he felt like he had to tell her. Concerned he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Ok, so… I don’t know how long its been since you talked to your, um, daughter but something bad happened and I don’t know if you know about it.” He didn’t want to be the one that had to tell her about what had happened… If she didn’t know already then she needed to talk to Frey. That wasn’t his place. “But…” And he had to take a breath to steady himself. “Ok, so…a few weeks ago Freylief gave me a new place amongst the quincy, despite the fact that I’m just a normal human. Then a week after that… She asked if she could speak with me, and when I went in to speak with her she told me about what had happened. And then…” Once again he paused. He wanted to tell her, but also didn’t want to tell her. “And then… I…” He wrung his hands, worriedly, suddenly wishing that he was back with Frey, or at the very least, back with the quincy. “And I…had sex with your daughter.” Everything was suddenly spinning and he was concerned with how Angeni would take it, doing his best to both look her in the eyes and look away from her at the same time.

Angeni's head craned upward to follow Raphael's movement into the air, a single eyebrow arching in tandem with his---in her opinion---over-exaggerated reaction to her greeting. She had never thought of herself as someone that was exceedingly intimidating, but apparently that had changed over the past year. Still, she had given him no real reason to react the way he did. She remained silent as he descended again and her expression returned to its former passivity. Even without trying, she could practically smell the apprehension and fear that saturated his spirit at present. Whatever it was that he had wanted to tell her regarding Freyleif was apparently of a critical nature. But what else could it be? She could feel that Freyleif was very much alive and healthy considering recent circumstances, and she herself had felt the attack and death of the twins at the time it occurred. So what, then, had Raphael so tightly wound that he would be nervous about her?

"I know about the attack at the hospital already. I felt it. But that's not why you're here looking for me, is it?" A pause, brow creasing and eyes narrowing inquisitively for a fleeting moment.

"No, it's something else. What?" Her inquisition gave way to explanation as Raphael began. Most of what he spoke of initially was of no importance or real interest to her, yet as he neared the conclusion of his statement, his nervousness skyrocketed even further than it already was.

And then he said it. Six words that resonated and echoed repeatedly in her ears. Each word drew out with raucous deliberation, becoming louder each time. Normally she didn't particularly invest thought or attention to Freyleif's love life. Yet somehow, somehow hearing about this caused her irritation and anger to blossom anew. There had been a moment back then when she had felt a fluctuation of Freyleif's emotions and her vitals had become erratic in a way that she was familiar with; but of course Angeni had disregarded it as Freyleif being comforted by her fiancé in a way that only those who shared intimacy could. But here and now, the revelation rang like that slow knell of an ancient bell.

Adultery?

Far be it from Angeni to judge the sexual practices of others. She was well aware of what Vikings' views were in regards to relationships, along with polygamy being a fairly common practice in most monarchies. Neither of those really bothered her. What had elicited such a reaction from her was the timing of it on conjunction with the fact that Freyleif had played the part of devoted partner to Kenbou. It was true that Angeni still didn't have a particularly high opinion of the thief, but Freyleif seemed happy with him and that was all that mattered to her as the girl's surrogate mother. But this...

Any emotional indicators vacated her visage in an instant. Her expression became stoic and unreadable, so much so that it would be nigh impossible to tell that her fury bubbled just beneath the paper thin veneer of indifference that she wore. Green eyes that so often radiated a gentle warmth locked unfalteringly on Raphael. She was silent and unmoving, comparable to the monolithic gargoyles she had so recently perched upon.

In a way that would make horror movie sound technicians envious and leave their writers awestruck, the metropolitan noises around them began to dull with a gradual decline. It was as if someone were turning down the volume button of the world around them. Within moments a complete silence seemingly befell the entire city. That, however, was not the most unnerving part of the situation. What was even more eerie than the silence was the fact that everyone else continued on as if nothing had happened, and that Raphael was still able to hear himself and the immediate space that the two of them occupied. If he were to pay attention to Angeni's demeanor during this occurrence, he would be able to deduce that she was the cause of it. More specifically, she had used her newfound mastery over the element of wind to place the two of them within a soundproof zone.

Her hands hung down to her sides and she took a single step forward, yet her footfall thudded with a deceptively loud echo.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Would you mind repeating that one more time?" Her voice was calm, yet another deception to the tentatively restrained fury bubbling beneath the surface. In truth, she had heard what he said quite clearly---too clearly, in fact---but she wanted to give him at least a small chance to rectify his statement before she made him regret what he had told her. Her decision not to reduce him to human paste was under serious reconsideration right now.

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Immediately her countenance dropped and slowly he began to become aware of a deafening of the world around them. Her eyes locked purely onto him, unmoving, unswerving and unflinching. He gulped, and was aware of the fact that he could hear it. It was incredibly audible. He watched her, fear only slightly increasing. And that was when he realized it. This was HER doing. She was the one that was making the world completely inaudible, except for to the two of them.

She asked him to repeat himself, despite the fact that he was quite certain that she’d heard him. She was too calm. He could see it in her eyes, suddenly. Fury.

Yet his fists tightened. No. She would suddenly see a fire in his eyes that had never been there before and as he opened his mouth to speak in the void his own abilities acted as an amplifier.

“YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID, ANGENI!” he said, his voice resounding in the soundproofing like a clap of thunder. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

He watched her, as she took a step towards him and his glare only increased. “I was trying to be her friend. I was trying to comfort her and perhaps I took it too far in your mind. I don’t regret it.” He paused for a moment watching her. “You’re going to say that I don’t understand it, I know, but I am in love with your daughter. We’ve been searching the world for months since the attack at the hospital, and we haven’t found anything. I’ve been trying to keep Frey’s spirits up and what happened wasn’t anticipated. And yes, you could kill me here, I’m nowhere near as powerful as you, spiritually.”

Then his voice boomed out into the world around them. “But tell me, how do you think that Frey will look at you when she realizes that it was not the shinigami, nor the hollow, but her own mother that took the life of her friend? How will she talk to you?”

There was a long moment of silence from him before he once again spoke. “I don’t regret what I did. And I’m in love with your daughter. I came here to talk to you as an adult. If you kill me, you’ll destroy one of the last pillars that your daughter has.” Tears started coming from his eyes. “Please… Don’t do this…”

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"So your way of comforting someone is to fuck them, is that what you're saying?" Her words were venomous, yet her expression remained chiseled from feigned indifference. When he spoke about being in love with Freyleif, derision chirped from her lips in a mocking laugh. It was a quick moment, barely a triplicate of notes before her visage vacated once more. She had to give him credit for returning her ferocity with his own, but it did little to change her perception of the new information that had been provided.

"You wouldn't be the first of her "friends" that I've gotten violent with, very little would change. If you truly did love her as you say you do, then you would've kept your dick in your pants and instead just given her a listening ear and a shoulder for support. But I suppose that might've been too deep of a thought to consider." This was so far the most hostility she had shown towards anyone since she had began her personal journey. Excluding, of course, the training she had undergone with the wind seer months ago. She actually found herself adopting a look of profound disapproval when Raphael's eyes glazed over with tears. There was a moment where she wondered just when it was that seeing such emotional weakness elicited such a reaction from her. More than likely, it was just in this particular instance since Freyleif was directly involved.

Like every other time I've been annoyed or stressed out since taking her in.

The thought was both amusing and maybe a little dismaying.

"I could have made your blood boil you from the inside out. I could have opened a sinkhole under you and let you continue to fall until you reached the Earth's core. Or, piggybacking off of the sinkhole idea, I could have pancaked you between metric tons of earth and stone. I could have pulled the air from your lungs and suffocated you. I could have closed this bubble in around you and turned it into a blender. I could have turned you into mulch with compressed wind before you even knew I was here. Hell, I could have even turned your own reiryoku against you and let it tear you apart. But I didn't." There was a quick flick of her index finger as the sequestered dome was harmlessly dispersed.

"The point is, if I wanted to kill you, there were several ways and opportunities including the ones I mentioned where I could have done it. So man up and wipe your face, you can stay among the living for the time being. I'll decide if that's going to change after we've finished talking." She retrieved the second half of her sandwich from the bag that hung from her arm, partially unwrapping it and taking a bite. Angeni afforded him a sidelong glance and a brief nod of her head for him to follow as she continued forward.

"So why don't you tell me more about how in love with Frey you are. I assume you know she's engaged?" She glanced at him again as she passed by him and continued forward, not waiting for whether he would actually follow or not but wholly confident that he would.

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Her words, her vitriol; it didn’t surprise him, and really he’d been expecting it. He wiped away his tears. In reality, he’d been expecting far harsher. He’d been expecting her to slam him into the wall, he’d been expecting her to throw him against a wall and smash his bones. What surprised him was when she told him that he wouldn’t be the first of Frey’s friends she’d gotten violent with. That was disappointing. He’d hoped she would have more restraint than that, more forethought. She was just another to jump the gun.

‘I’m surprised you didn’t.’ But then again so many things surprised him nowadays, there was very little that didn’t keep him on his toes nowadays. ‘Your power is already far more impressive than my own. You don’t need to remind me. I’m weak. I know that…’

That was when she said to talk more about how he felt about Frey, walking past him with a sandwhich. Hands going into his pockets he followed behind her, watching her carefully. He didn’t trust her. Not by a longshot; though he trusted few to be completely honest.

He nodded. “I know that she is engaged.” He didn’t mention anything about was. He still hadn’t given up hope. “I’ve been leading an effort to try and find him. I’ve sent every Quincy available out looking, put out feelers from some friends here in Chicago…and even some old favors from my days in Vigilance all of them trying to find this guy.” He sighed, following behind her. “But I haven’t found, heard or seen anything about him… Many people at the castle said that he was a thief and practically a ghost… I’ve never heard of anything to this point.”

He thought for a few minutes watching her warily. “Otherwise, I’ve taken up to supporting her in her cause: I’ve taken up a position within the quincy hierarchy and have been taking up clerical duties. I have done my best to take as much pressure off of her and her higher command. I’ve been doing requisition orders, double checking instructors and students, making sure that everything is ready for training…” He smiled weakly knowing that she wouldn’t care. “At least I don’t have to deal with camera crews.” The silence slowly crept back in. “If I may ask, what are you doing? Why were you all the way out here in Chicago?”

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Angeni shot him another sidelong glance.

"If it'll make you feel better, I still can. Hell, maybe it'll help me blow off some steam, too." The offer was only partially made in jest, though given the interaction prior to this, it wouldn't be completely unexpected if she had assaulted him. Frankly speaking, she had considered doing just that to begin with. But for whatever reason---likely because of their shared past in Vigilance---she had stayed her hand from bringing him harm.

"It wasn't a reminder so much as a warning to pick your words carefully from now on. Recent events haven't exactly left me in the most forgiving mindset." This time she didn't look at him before she spoke, instead keeping her gaze forward and taking another bite from her sandwich. As she had expected, Raphael had elected to follow her, though of course he didn't trust her. Why would he? She had exhibited the bare minimum of cordiality with him since he had informed her of his tryst with Freyleif. Which, according to him, had become much more than that.

An unseen eyebrow quirked when he confirmed that he knew of Freyleif's engagement, but it was what he said afterwards that caused her to regard him evenly. He had actually been putting in the effort to search for Kenbou. She hadn't expected that from him, it was rather surprising to her. Very rarely did the "prospect" put so much thought into assisting the "current" interest. Usually, they tended to wait for the breakup to occur on its own or even expedite the process. To his credit, Raphael seemed to genuinely care for Freyleif and have real affection for her.

Maybe there's more to him than I thought.

"So you're a glorified secretary. I suppose that can be helpful in its own way." It was a small step, but it was the first complimentary statement she had made towards him during their entire meeting thus far. She still wasn't at the point of being kind just yet, not by a long shot. Raphael would have to just accept what he was given for the time being. She took another bite from her sandwich and grunted passively.

"You're not going to find someone with a name like "Wraith" searching that way, you need a tracker. You need a hunter, one who's as gifted spiritually as they are talent-wise." Her suggestion was partially muddled due to the mouthful of food, but was still audible enough that her message was received. Offhandedly it was a boast of her own abilities, though it was unclear whether or not Raphael would be able to determine that from what she had said. But whether Angeni would outright offer her assistance was another matter entirely. She still hadn't fully mastered her own abilities, she was not yet in a place where she felt comfortable assisting others.

As if he had perhaps known what she was thinking, Raphael questioned why she was in Chicago. Angeni let out another grunt as she tossed the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth and slowed her pace, now walking alongside him as opposed to leading him as before.

"I'm looking for someone. Or I guess it might be something." She licked her fingertips clean and shoved her hands into her pockets before continuing.

"The reason I left Japan, left Freyleif, left my friends and family was because I wanted to better myself. Not just as a person, but my spiritual abilities as well. I may have been good with my powers before, but I knew I hadn't completely mastered them yet. Not only that, I've spent literally my entire life helping other people, but I've never really taken the time to help myself. That's what this whole thing was about with me leaving off on my own; I wanted to focus on me for a change." Angeni paused, giving a low sigh and shaking her head before continuing.

"But of course things aren't really working out that way. I didn't even manage to complete one part of my journey before I felt the attack on Frey and the twins. We were all connected, so when they died, it felt like part of my soul was destroyed. In truth, that's exactly what happened." Angeni's hands clenched into fists and her jaw tightened. Just why was she telling all of this to him? Perhaps it was just the fact that she was telling someone, anyone.

"My power lets me interact and control spirit energies, even reiryoku, which I'm sure you know composes the soul. I can weaponize it, augment it, manipulate it, even awaken it in people. Back then...before I left America, Freyleif asked me to teach her how to spiritually bond with them. So I did just that. I took pieces of my soul and implanted them into theirs. Since Freyleif was already carrying them, there was no need for me to merge their souls as well. Parents and their children, even in some cases siblings, already carry a bonded soul. I just helped her improve her spiritual perception." Angeni gritted her teeth and scowled, a hand raising up to absently clutch at her chest. Even now, those feelings of pain and emptiness lingered with her. Her hand fell away and she stopped walking, her intent gaze focused on Raphael.

"Whoever did this...I'm going to kill them. It won't be quick, and it won't be merciful. Freyleif suffered, her children never even got the chance to live. They lost any chance for mercy from me when they got the idea to attack my family." A silence descended as she stared at him with an intensity and resolution that hadn't been present since her altercation with Freyleif during the Invasion. Wordlessly she proceeded forward, certain that she had conveyed her intent adequately. Just from her demeanor, Raphael would know that she meant every word she had said.

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"Not right now, thanks," he said rolling his right shoulder. "My clavicle still hasn't set right and I'm having a bitch of a time getting it to pop back into place." He wondered to himself why she hadn't though shared history seemed the most likely culprit. Still, Angeni walked ahead of him, more likely to prove something or to simply distance herself from someone that she didn’t like.

He frowned a bit, in annoyance, when she mentioned about choosing words carefully. “I agree, but there aren’t any words in any language that could’ve softened that blow.”

Plus she had her sandwich and man...it looked good. His stomach rumbled, as he realized that he hadn’t eaten since before he’d gotten on the plane… Darn, he really wished that he had time for a bite to eat…
He chuckled when she called him a glorified secretary. “Trying to run an organization like the quincy isn’t easy. Orders need passed down, instructors need assigned.” He shrugged. “I try to do what I can to take the burden off Freylief.” Noting the compliment, though he knew that there was still a great deal of rage behind her words.

Worse when she mentioned that he needed a hunter, or spiritual tracker, his mind began running through the people that he’d met. And Angeni was the only one that came to his mind, but he wouldn’t ask her. This wasn’t his place to ask something like this of her. He would find a way to find this man, whatever he had to do. He hoped… He had to bring peace to Frey. But when he found that man he was going to slap the everloving shit out of him for not coming back.

She was walking beside him now, speaking of why she was there. He nodded, listening intently as she described the reason for her leaving, her wanting to master her own abilities and Raphael looked down at his hand. He was still angry with himself for everything that he’d done to his own abilities. They were nowhere near where they’d been, He used to be so good, so in tune with them…

Then she hit that area… Touched on what had happened to Frey’s children… His fist tightened, his teeth clenched, but he kept his own abilities in check before looking at her in surprise when she said that a part of her had practically died. Why the hell was she telling him all of this? She didn’t owe him anything; in fact he owed her so much more. Maybe she just needed an ear….someone to talk to about this…

But it was worse. She said that she’d linked Frey and her’s souls...before talking about the thing that he never had and he laughed bitterly as she walked past him.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t… I don’t have any familial bonds… And so as much as I want to understand where you’re coming from… I’m sorry I don’t. Though I do share the same sentiments,” he said. “Whoever hurt Frey they will die a slow, sad and LONELY death.”

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