Luce had grown tired of waiting, Tortuga, Valhalla, Seracia, Glaciem and every other God damned packed that infested this land with its morals and rules, could rot in the seventh layer of hell for all she cared. Her abdomen was heavy, distended with the pups she carried within her womb. His pups, the male she had not seen in weeks. She had left the comfort of her den and simply vanished, she told no one she was leaving, she told no one where she was going, but God damn it! She was pregnant and if nothing else she deserved to see Neo long enough to tell him... or perhaps just show him. He deserved to know. The journey was killing her, her slim, lithe bodice not used to the excessive amount of weight, her back ached, her legs trembled beneath her, belly swollen and full. Cramps caught her often and many times she had needed to stop, to lie down and catch her lost breath. The journey had taken her several hours longer than it should have and when the border finally graced her vision she could have whimpered in delight, never had she been so excited to see the border of Valhalla. When last she had been here it was to say goodbye, she had not known she was pregnant, she doubted it could have even been detected, but now she arrived in desperation. She needed Neo to know, she loved him, in her own twisted way, these were his pups, his youth that she would give birth too. Leaving a good few yards between the border and herself, having enough respect not to intentionally start something, she would slide to lie down, panting harshly and groaning at the wondrous sensation of the weight pulling off of her spine. She would take a moment to catch her breath. Pausing to suck in air greedily, before a loud call would part from her larynx calling anyone of power. Speech,

The call of a stranger echoed through the Valhallan territory, arresting Epiphron from her aimless wandering. The girl snapped to attention immediately, head tilting towards the heavens above, ears standing erect atop her small cranium. The voice was unfamiliar, brimming with exhaustion and something else, something that she couldn't quite detect. Promptly the girl increased her pace to a steady trot, nostrils flaring wide as her nose nearly skimmed the ground, following the scent.

As the foreign wolf came into view, her shining blue gaze sparkled with interest. Even from a great distance, she could tell the woman was exhausted. A few more steps revealed that the white-furred female was pregnant -- her belly bulged dramatically from her body, weighing down her small frame. Though she looked fatigued, she was beautiful, and Epiphron noted their striking similarities. This wolf had a more dappled coat, while her own was devoid of color. She had slid down, giving her back a break from carrying the children inside her belly.

As she approached her, Epiphron Adravendi's face was devoid of any signs of recognition. Instead, she forced a smile onto her lips, her tail swinging high above her back. Regality would seep from her very being as she approached with long, graceful steps, finally coming to stop at a reasonable distance from the woman. She had been smart to stop before the border, and Epiphron was thankful for the polite gesture.

"What brings you to my home, may I ask? My name is Epiphron Adravendi, Alpha female of Valhalla." Ah, yes, had to show off her importance to the pack, letting the woman know she had power and could answer any questions she might have.

Luce would recline, relaxing to the best of her ability in a pack that had little to no respect for her. This was a long shot, but she needed to see him, she needed him to know. Maybe to give him strength, to give him something to fight for... she wasn't sure what she fought for anymore. The silvery dame was lost, trapped in a void of spinning colors, but she needed this. To ground herself, to keep her mind from going mad. Even if all they let her do was speak to him over the border, she needed to see him. Please just God give her that. Her coat was beautiful, despite her swollen belly, the silver hues glittering in the fading sunlight, disguising her age, making her seem younger than she was. Long, luxurious with a silk like quality, she retained her beauty in spite of the stress these last few months had placed upon her. When a dame she could not recall ever meeting strode forward, Luce would rise, groaning softly at the weight and the way her spine bowed beneath it, but with a grinded of her teeth, ice colored eyes would look to the woman with a lingering hint of desperation. "My name is Luce, I am from Tortuga but I do not come for them, or to represent the pack. I am here of my own violation and I mean Valhalla no harm." Her French accent was thick and heavy stressing her tones. She took a moment to breathe in an attempt to gather her scattered thoughts. Distraught was clear in her countenance. Her crystalline blues would plead taking a tentative step forward before she thought better of the approach and stopped. "Neo is my mate. He loves me, God only knows why. But he doesn't know that I carry his pups." The lines of depression and the weight of what she had been forced to do alone, revealing themselves on her face. "Valhalla took him a week before I found out. I know you won't let me have him, but could I talk to him..." Her voice cracked, tears spilling from sapphire irises. "I don't have the right to ask this favor, but I want him to know, I need him to know... please?" She would beg this stranger, hormones driving her to tears. She was exhausted, mentally, physically. There was nothing she would not give to sleep beside Neo, coiled into his embrace, for just a night, but that was asking too much. She just needed his voice, his touch, if only for a moment. Speech,

Eyes danced over the girl, not bothering to hide the fact that she was scrutinizing her. Slowly she found herself adapting to her new position; when she gazed at the girl, she silently judged whether she could be a valuable member to Valhalla. Yes, even though she was due to give birth within the next few weeks, she surely would make a splendid addition to the pack..

As she opened her mouth to speak, all her hopes were destroyed instantaneously. A slow inhalation of her scent told her that something was familiar about it -- quickly she deduced that she was of Tortuga, the pack to the northeast. Ears swiveled above her skull, taking in the stranger's words as she rose to all fours respectfully. Her eyes glimmered with pain as she explained that she was indeed from Tortuga, though came independently. She had an accent, which intrigued Epiphron slightly. Her next words, though, made her breath catch in her throat. Her brows furrowed a bit. Neo was her mate.. this was the bitch that had helped the boy betray his family? Had she brainwashed him? No, his changes had begun to occur before he'd abandoned Valhalla. And she carried his children. Eyes bore into her own, though were still void of emotion.

"And why you love him, I myself wonder," she cut in abruptly, her tones cool and distanced. But the woman continued on, saying she wanted to see Neo, to tell him. She was not asking, but nearly begging. Slowly Epiphron lowered herself to recline on her haunches, gaze never leaving Luce. "So what's your name? And why should I give Neo the privilege of seeing you?" To Epiphron, Luce's request wasn't something she would normally deny, but the thought of owing Neo such a pleasure didn't settle pleasantly in her mind. "As far as I am concerned, Neo has forfeited his rights to be treated like anything more than a slave in this pack. He not only betrayed his pack, but also his family, the very creatures that rescued him; protected him, raised him, loved him." Her gaze was unwavering, no indication given that she was of this 'family.' Even as the woman began to cry, she stood silently and steadily. She was not heartless; seeing this stranger's tears begin to spill wasn't pleasant, but she too was wracked with emotion, though she held them back expertly. Neo's betrayal was truly painful to her, and it hurt to treat him as nothing better than a slave.

Luce had once bore the banners of Valhalla. In fact she had even, at one point in time, slept with Cairo, although very few were privy to that knowledge she was more of a kiss in private than a kiss-n-tell kind of lass. She would still be housed within Valhalla if not for Cairo's bitch of a sister. Maya. She had been loyal to Valhalla for near two years and had approached her only to be met with tooth and fang, but was the wench punished? No. Instead Luce had been scolded, Cairo had defended the whore, solely because she was of blood. Luce had been wronged far too many times in her life to take such abuses. If Cairo was trapped by his sisters whims, Luce wanted nothing to do with the pack. Her departure had been an easy choice. Of course, back then, Luce had rarely been in her own mind. High off of poppies more oft than not, the dame had writhed in the ecstasy, the rush the drugs had bestowed upon her. No one ever accepted Luce, no one ever cared for her, no one had when she had been a part of Valhalla, no one did in Tortuga. She was a phantom, a creature of mystical beauty who had survived by drowning herself in narcotics and sexual endorphins. She knew damn good and well where she was going once she died and she was trying... trying to be better. She was clean now, had been for almost a year, and the only wolf she had lain with was her Neo. So she would swallow her pride, or what little remained of it, and would offer this stranger her heart, because despite how selfish it sounded. She needed just one person to care that she was still breathing, that she was swollen with life, and the only person that would was now beyond her reach. She blinked at the sudden harshness in the woman's tone but in all honesty she should have expected it. She hadn't expected them to agree, she wasn't really sure what she was expecting now that she was here. A hint of confusion settled in her gaze as the woman demanded her name... hadn't she already given it? Regardless she would answer again, as respectfully as she was able. "Luce. My name is Luce." She would murmur softly into the air. "I'm the one that Valhalla should have dragged home, Valhalla, if anyone should have punished me. Neo found me, he came careening from the woods so fast, crying so terribly hard, I thought the boy had lost everything he once loved. He grieved into my fur, crying, whimpering, pleading. I held him, cooing whatever flitted across my mind to the boy. Valhalla he blamed for everything and I offered him a home, he could come with me and he whispered that he loved me." She remembered the day with a fondness she did not usually have for her memories. She would grind her teeth, bite her tongue and tell the story not even Neo himself knew. "I never had a family or friends, my parents were slaver wolves, to humans. I can't remember my mother, my father I never knew, I was abused, hit, broken, beaten, burned... and a thousand other tortures that I promise you cannot imagine. I turned to poppy seeds, the narcotics made me numb, made me not have to feel or remember. I got my thrills off of meaningless one night stands and drugs...until Neo. Despite the fact he was a puppy, he made me remember how lonely I was as a child. I...I couldn't let that happen to someone else, and he trusted me. He put so much faith and trust and love in me and I'm so entirely fucked up. I just wanted him to be happy and I thought maybe I could give that to him, I led him away with promises. I should be punished, not he." Her words were resolute and strong. She deserved death for all the wrongs she had done, not Neo. "I'm sorry if my selfish actions have hurt Valhalla, and I'm sorry for whatever bitterness has arisen here because of it, all I had seen was a pup that needed me and I... could not say no." She would murmur the last part softly. "I don't ask you to understand, I don't ask for your sympathy or your kindness nor do I deserve them, all I ask is for a chance to tell the only family I've ever had that I'm pregnant. You can stand right at his side, listen to every word we say if you don't trust me. I ask for a few moments, nothing more. Please dont punish him for my selfish actions." The dame had ceased her crying, she was stronger than that damn it. She waited patiently, tail drooped and head lowered, posture submissive. Speech,

Silence fell over Epiphron Adravendi as the one who introduced herself as Luce began to speak. She'd heard rumors of how this bitch had come to defend her brother in the battlefields, to offer her own body in place of his, to be condemned to slavery in place of his freedom. The fact of the matter was that Neo had to take responsibility for his own actions, independent of whoever may have influenced him or brainwashed him. Perhaps Luce had been one of those creatures.

At the very least, she would lend the woman an ear, and grant her a moment to speak. It was the polite thing to do, and she knew it -- but something deep inside her told her that she ought to hate this woman, for taking every last ounce of Neo's innocence from him. The thought of her brother mating with this woman was slightly nauseating; despite her obvious beauty, it was also apparently that she was far older than he, nearly as old as her own father.
Imagining the two together perturbed her slightly, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Jaws were clamped shut, biting her tongue to keep harsh words from spilling over her lips before Luce got a chance to beg to see Neo.

Eyes narrowed as she listened to her. Epiphron was skilled at maintaining a demeanor of regal composure, masking whatever emotions dwelled within her chest. Her words seemed to effect her, though, and her sapphire gaze softened, even if only momentarily. "I will admit I cannot possibly fathom what you have endured, Luce, I also will not forgive you for involving yourself with my brother. Truthfully, he is far too young, far too impressionable for a woman of your age." Her tone was not seething, but she knew the words would sting, regardless. "You surely knew how easy it would be to win over his heart.." Something akin to pain crept into her voice, her tail lashing once behind her back.

The girl would clear her throat, bowing her head slightly. "I understand the pain of losing someone you love," she said simply, softly. Almost as though she empathized with her. "I, too, am kept from being with someone who I have fallen in love with. For that, I will sympathize with you." She admitted it simply, matter-of-factly -- the first time she'd ever said she was in love with Maverick. The first time she'd ever realized it, too. "But it is not fate that has drawn you two apart. We would never have taken Neo if it wasn't for his blatant disrespect for Valhalla, and for the ones that raised him. You two have joined as a union, and in doing so you have also accepted that his actions would affect you as much as your own."

"I understand your love for Neo, but understand this, as well: despite what he has said to you, Valhalla has never mistreated him. He and his brother, Preston, were orphaned, and my father Cairo took them in. He is a kind man, and has never ceased loving them. It is Neo who has distanced himself for us, blaming us for whatever issues he has worked up inside his head." Epiphron had grown slightly frustrated, and while she struggled to contain her anger, a slight curl of her lip showed her disgust. "Forget what he says about our family -- we have loved him deeply, but it is he that chose to abandon us and betray us. It is he you should blame for your pain, not Valhalla, and certainly not yourself." Her voice had risen slightly in volume, slight rage trickling into her normally sweet tones. "It seems you did not wrong, and I see no fault in your love for him, however disgusting I might find it." The girl's words were harsher than she intended, but Epiphron knew she had the upper hand in the situation -- Luce would endure the depths of hell for Neo. She saw the devotion written plainly on the woman's features, as obvious as day. A pretty young Alpha's snarls and growls would not drive her away, not without a demand to leave.

"I will grant you this one meeting with Neo, for he deserves to know what his actions have done to you. A single mother, bound to give birth to bastard children, because he could not keep his mouth shut for a moment." The words were spat at the woman, a snarl leaving her lips. The frustration was towards Neo, her ex-brother, not at Luce. The boy she had spent so much of her childhood with, so much energy struggling to help him feel as part of the family. As this is what she had received in return -- betrayal and heartache.

Eyes left Luce, closing briefly as the girl tilted her muzzle to the sky, letting loose a demanding call to Neo. She dreaded facing him, and truthfully hoped the boy did naught but look at her. Until he arrived, she would again face Luce, wondering what she would say.

Silver hued ears would pin back against her cranium, but as the words of hatred and degradation began to spew from the woman's maw, the raw emotion would vanish from the dames face. Her maw would contort into a solid mask of unreadable ice. Even her eyes as bright and as brilliantly blue as they were, would turn to utter stone. The bitch before her could belittle and accuse all she wished. Her words would mean nothing to the once addict. She had not told the pretty fae that Valhalla had harmed her, she didn't tell the woman that Valhalla was not paradise, at least in her eyes. The woman, no matter how mature she seemed, still had a lot to learn, but Luce wasn't here to sneer and to snap. No matter how thickly the taste of blood filled her mouth from how hard she bit down upon her tongue. She could still the waggling appendage and take the belittlement with an air of dignity. In all reality... who won here? It certainly wasn't Valhalla, this dame seemed to hate Neo all the more now that he returned, Neo, from the way the pup had described it, had never been happy here, whether the plans he made in his head were a fantasy derived from the bitterness of a stubborn child, or true fact, it mattered little to the silvery dame. neo didn't want to be here and they didn't want him. He had chosen her, he had picked her. Valhalla could proclaim greatest and family and kindness until throats were raw, emotions sprang up tears and the very core of the pack fell to the ground in exhaustion... but at the end of the day... she had been chosen, she would still be chosen if given the chance and there was no venom, no hatred, no malice that this woman could spew to her or to Neo that would change that fact. Neo loved her and in her own twisted way, Luce loved Neo. "Answer me this... pack mentality has always been a bit of a gray area for me... having grown up in a steel box... from the way Neo spoke of Valhalla, he hated it from the moment he placed a paw within its borders. Why not just let him go back then? Why keep him for so long? Why chain him like a prisoner watching his hatred grow? Even if he had never met me, his hatred for Valhalla was... intense. Who won by keeping him here? Who gained anything from such intensity? Certainly not he and certainly not Valhalla. You speak as though I twisted his mind, manipulated him into some wicked scheme. I hugged him, soothed his tears and spoke a few words of encouragement, nothing more, he choose to leave because he was miserable here and whether his ideals are true or not, you claimed him as an object, a piece of property once lost, now returned. Whatever Valhalla's intentions towards him and wherever Neo's aversions towards Valhalla stemmed from, he obviously hated it here. Who won by forcing him to stay? And for that matter who wins now? You claim him a slave and clearly your hatred from him even tarnishing your land is strong enough to break your composure, I doubt many others if any at all have a better reaction. Neo certainly doesn't win, nor will my unborn litter... so what's the point? A bit of pride? Self-esteem? Honor?" Her words held no bite, no malice, if anything curiosity laced within her tones. She wanted the womans honest to God opinion, not some rehearsed line about unity and pride... she wondered if the woman would give it to her, or if she would merely spew more vile hatred. Luce's head would shake, falling as though something aside from the woman before her had already broken her, and perhaps it had. Crystalline blues would slide shut in their exhaustion before they slid open once again. "Despite how disgusting you find this entire situation, I thank you for allowing me to tell him. You didn't have to give me that and you deserve, at the very least, my gratitude." She would dip her head in silent gesture of thanks and recline back upon her haunches. She never should have left the humans. She never should have escaped. She would have pulled and pulled and pulled until her muscles tore and her bones finally cracked, carting all of those supplies across the snow covered mountains. She would have lived until she turned three or four, give or take and they would have planted a bullet between her eyes, it seemed a kinder life than the one amongst her own kind. Speech,

Epiphron wanted to hate Luce far more than she did. Sure, a deep anger had begun to flourish, bubbling over into her typically serene expression and tainting her lyrics with its ugly presence. She felt for Luce, she truly did -- he had deceived her as much as she had him. The woman had entrapped him, and the helpless boy had followed in suit, even to the point of mating with her and creating the whelps that grew inside Luce's belly. As she gazed at the woman's bulging stomach, she could only be thankful that they were not of Valhalla lineage. Tail once again lashed out behind her dangerously, but despite her harsh words, Epiphron was a respectful woman at the core, and she would continue to listen to this woman as they awaited Neo's inevitable arrival.

A laugh suddenly escaped he throat, a bitter hollow sound that erupted without warning. "You act as though we have imprisoned the boy since we found him, as though he is an innocent victim! If only you knew how Neo has deceived you into the lies that he, himself, has grown to believe!" He words were suddenly brimming with laughter, incredulous at the way she described Neo. "I grew up alongside Neo. He was never held against his will, and it is only as he faced adulthood that he begun to spin these twisted webs of lies in his head." Suddenly the girl's laughter faded, her voice painfully serious. "Neo was never a prisoner of Valhalla until he turned on the ones who effectively raised him. You act as though we have concocted this situation among our numbers, wanting to harm Neo -- I know not what you think of Valhalla, nor do I know what you think our aims are -- but I can convince you, as a child who was raised alongside Neo, as his sister, that he was never treated as you seem to imply. The Adravendi family loved him as one of their own, alongside his biological brother. His hatred sprung out of nowhere. I first caught sign of it when he was not given a position alongside me, and my sister. But Luce, he had not earned it; he had retreated into the darkness of his own mind and refused to come out." Nose wrinkled slightly in agitation. This woman would likely not believe her, would think Valhalla a pack of savages and torturers. If only she knew the depths of Neo's madness, which Epiphron herself was beginning to see -- her family had been unable to save him from himself. "I will grant that you have not manipulated Neo, so long as you take heed to the words I say, as well. We mourned the loss of our brother, and my father of a son, when Neo left -- but we would never have sought to claim him if it had not been for his blatant disregard for the very creatures who saved him, and nursed him to life. He is a selfish child. Do you not think he should be punished for betraying us, and possibly putting all of Valhalla into danger? Should such abhorrent actions not be punished? Would you not expect punishment yourself if you strove to destroy the very ones who opened their hearts to you?" Her voice had risen again, growing slowly more frustrated. She both hated and love Neo; hated him for betraying them, but memories of them as children sprung back painfully as she reflected on the boy, times when he had not been so easily angered, so conniving and destructive.

"The point of this?" Her gaze had cooled, despite the increase in volume of her tones. Something like pain shone in her eyes as she watched Luce, feeling for the unborn children that would go without a father. "Do you not believe in punishment, Luce? Do you think you can simply walk the earth without fear of consequences of your actions?" She was not speaking about Luce in particular, but rather a general statement. "Neo's betrayal, had Tortuga been stronger, may have very well cost us the lives of numerous members. And why? Simply because we loved him, but refused to hand him what he wanted on a silver platter, he thought it would be best to divulge our secrets to them. And for that, Luce, he deserves punishment. You can disagree all you want, claim that our hatred of him drives this, but justice has always been served in Valhalla, and Neo is no exception." Pain cracked in her voice as she spoke, finding it surprisingly painful to speak of Neo. Her mind drifted to Maverick, wondering how he might take her words, whether he would approve of how she spoke to Luce.

Luce cared little for the packs, Tortuga included, she hated this world so cold and harsh, there was no love for the damned, no rest for the wicked and she had half a mind to abandon the area all together, to find a nice forest devoid of wolves, to settle, give birth and raise her pups without the stresses of these politics and demands. At the end of the day they were all wolves, could they not break apart this structured social standings? What would these wolves do should the world descend to anarchy? They would crumble, they would tear each other apart. They weren't strong enough to survive alone. They didn't have Luce's strength. Luce could leave, could vanish, never to be seen again, lost amongst a plague if foreign entities and she would survive, but what would these wolves do? The ones that thought they were so much better, so much more noble than she? What would they do if the chips fell away and they had to turn to cannibalism to claw their way to survival? "I never claimed you chained him, I claimed he was unhappy. He never enjoyed his life amongst this pack, regardless of what you have or have not done to him. I have no desire to accuse or deny Valhalla of anything, I was once a part of it, I don't need Neo's words to sway my opinion of your pack." Her words had turned a shade darker, but she still refused to give into her aggression, her hatred. the woman before her could descend into snarling and snapping all she wished. Valhalla meant nothing to Luce, nor did the opinions of this woman. She wasn't here for Valhalla, she was here for Neo, and if taking a few derogatory statements was what it took to see him than so be it. Luce was a survivor and she had taken far worse. "Punishment?" That word drew a harsh snarl from the depths of the woman's throat, the first real aggressive action the pregnant dame had made. "It's hard to believe in a fair judgment when bones crack and muscles rip and the only suffering given in return is a fierce cackle before a bullet is placed between your eyes!" The sentence was spat with such utter venom and her eyes boiled with such hatred, that she sealed them from view as her bodice trembled. Jaw locking she drew a deep breath, calming herself and exhaling slowly, forcing herself to calm, it was bad for the pups that grew within her to feel such utter hatred. "And how long will you punish him? How long will you hold him a slave? The next eight years of his life? You will taunt and tease him, spew venom and hatred whenever you chance upon him until his dying day? And for that matter... why was Neo chosen? I left Valhalla, Antiva left Valhalla, Loki left Valhalla and yet Neo is the only one you seek vengeance upon?" Her words were sharp, articulated, but she controlled her anger, face falling back into a mask of complacency. Speech,

And to think she had briefly felt bad for this woman. Her story was heart-wrenching; she'd experienced far worse than Epiphron ever had. Perhaps if she wasn't so goddamn thick she would've heard a word that had left her own mouth. But she was either stupid, or blinded by love.. or perhaps it was a combination of the two. After she said her part, the ivory-furred woman opened her mouth to speak. Jaws clamped tightly together and eyes narrowed, listening to her rebuttal. She had not expected such a conversation when she'd first seen the pregnant stranger.

While the female was typically composed, her regal demeanor had been abandoned. Back curled slightly as she gazed at Luce, head low and ears pinned to her skull. Irritation painted her face a shade far less pretty than normal; she cared not that her emotion was showing, loud and clearly, for Luce to see. The woman ought to shut her mouth -- it was Epiphron, after all, that had given her the opportunity to see Neo. She doubted many others would've obliged to such a request, and she wondered if the fae had any idea how lucky she'd been to encounter the newest leader of Valhalla.


"I have no idea how long Neo will be punished for. His sentence will suit his crime, that is all I know. And for those creatures you speak of... I know nothing of them. I trust you are not stupid enough to believe that we are punishing Neo for simply leaving. We never held him here; he could've left freely whenever he began to desire it. But, let me ask you this: are you so ignorant to believe we are angry at Neo for leaving us? No. He went to the Alpha of Tortuga-" she spat the name with disgust and bitterness dripping from her tongue at the mere name of the northern pack, "--and he betrayed our secrets, with the intent to create war amongst the packs. He wanted to see bloodshed. Wanted to hurt and maim the very ones who raised him and cared for him. As much as you might love him, he is not innocent, nor should his actions be excused." The anger never erupted, simply remaining a steady presence in her lyrics, an unwavering fire that burned in her blue eyes. "I care not that you care for the bastard, nor that you carry his whelps. If you really think he has done nothing wrong, when he has clearly committed a crime, I am sorry to say that you are not just wrong, but also very stupid. Though I guess Tortuga has never had a reputation for harboring geniuses." A slight sneer was given, teeth baring; but she withdrew, retreating suddenly into herself. No further words needed to be said. The woman would stand tall upon her haunches, awaiting Neo's arrival.

Luce would calm, her blood pressure dropping to its normal steady rhythm, the aggression and the hatred, falling from her face like drips of ice, with every ounce of control this woman gave up, the more docile Luce became, the more at ease, the more relaxed. It was a fight to keep the smile from coiling her lips. She would recline, falling back to her haunches, a non-hostile position, lest her very posture bring a rise out of the woman before her. It was difficult to maintain her composure but years of steel covered eyes and expressionless masks taught her well and she revealed nothing as the woman lost her temper. Her tail would flicker, easily careening from one side of her bodice to the other. She would watch the woman lose her composure and internally Luce would cackle wildly. God this was what she lived for, crawling inside the flesh of another, grating upon sensitive nerves and watching the innocent squirm... she doubted this woman was innocent, she disgusted her more than anything all her talks of Valhalla's greatness. Valhalla was naught more than a pretty lie. She could preach its greatness until her eyes bled and her jaw unhinged and fell loose and Luce would still view it as the pack of scum. The pack of liars and bullshitters who cared for their members about as much as shit on the bottoms of their pads. Ah yes... life without such pesky emotions, she missed it. "You twist my words Queen of Valhalla." Luce's voice was as smooth as silk, no malice, no hatred, no even the slightest indication of ire. "I never claimed Neo innocent. I merely stated that he was unhappy and will remain as such beneath your banner. I do not see his leaving Valhalla as betrayal merely trying to strive for something greater, better... maybe not in the path you set for him, but in what made him happy. As for Kaien, Tortuga's louse of a ruler, his corpse rots amongst the damned in the battlefield. A new ruler has taken his throne." Luce would respond almost cheerfully, unaffected by the woman's obvious hatred. Luce spoke as if narrating the weather, or perhaps a casual conversation. She would speak no more of her home though that's not why she was here. Luce's laughter would be smooth and genuine at the insult, her eyes a lit with amusement. "Ah yes, lets speak of insipid things shall we? Again you twist my words, I have never claimed Neo innocent, nor unworthy of a punishment, you force me to sound like a broken record, I merely asked who benefitted from it and to what extent the punishment would be delivered. It is you that twist my questions and hear them only as you wish. Then again Valhalla is infamous for shitting on those absent of Cairo's seed." Even now the words held no emotion, they were tossed from her larynx seemingly without care. This woman's opinion did not matter to Luce. Something would dawn on the silvery hued dame... her and this woman had been speaking for much too long. Neo was nowhere to be seen, she couldn't even scent him upon the air, Valhalla wasn't that big and he should have been here by now. Disappointment and sadness washed over the pregnant fae, but just as fast, aggression and rage would take its place. Her face would steel into a mask of cruelty and her eyes would flicker to the Valhallen Queen. A snarl was tempting the corners of her mouth. "Tell Neo or don't I suddenly have no care if the bastard knows. If he cannot be bothered with me than I see no reason to linger. Perhaps you were correct about the whelp. Dishonorable seems a fitting term." The snarl would escape her low and deadly, her crystalline blues would flicker to the woman. "Thank you for what time you have attempted to grant me. I appreciate it, regardless of how little you think of me." That phrase, at least run with a bit of sincerity. The silvered dame would turn, vanishing back into the trees and heading home. Fury, hurt, and raw determination swirling in her eyes of ice. -Exit Luce- Speech,

It was the first time Epiphron had gotten a real taste of power -- she was the sole decider of whether Luce would be able to see Neo. She could spew hateful words at the woman, and she would remain unaffected, as though she would move mountains for the boy. And why, she had no idea! She'd never been in such a position, and oh how she wanted more! And yet she knew it was imprudent to let her passions get the best of her; there was no use in arguing with this woman, despite how thrilling it felt to let her temper take over and morph her into something far more sinister than she ever knew was possible.

But instead she was silent, nearly motionless, except for her eyelids lowering to partially conceal her blue eyes. A slight quiver of her lip revealed a single pearly white fang beneath, but soon she relaxed. No further words needed to be spoken. Did Luce not understand that it mattered not whether Neo was unhappy here? He had betrayed Valhalla, and his punishment was not dependent upon whether he was pleased with it or not. The thought nearly make her laugh, the slightest hint of a smirk toying with the corners of her black lips, but the expression faded into nothingness quickly. Over and over Luce said she did not see his leaving as betrayal; if only the matter at hand was as simple as him leaving. No, he had spoken to Kaien with the hopes of starting a war, of seeing members of Valhalla bleed and die from the pressure of his own jaws.

But the conversation would die quickly, as they both realized Neo had not shown up. Perhaps he had not expected her to let Luce speak to him? Doubted she was here at all? Stupid boy; his lack of respect would, once again, be his downfall. A slight sneer fell from her lips, though her annoyance was -- once again -- directed not at Luce, but at the one she had once called her brother. "I promise that I will tell Neo you came for him, and that he has impregnated you." More cruel words threatened to bubble over, but she held her tongue. She refused to call him a father in any sense, since he had refused to even answer Epiphron's call... if he didn't give a damn about Luce, why would she expect him to care for their children?

Perhaps Luce was better fit to be a parent on her own. Perhaps things would be better this way. "..'til we meet again, Luce," she said, lyrics void of emotion, though her tones were strangely serious. It seemed not only possible, but very likely, that they might run across one another in the future. She could only hope. While she didn't like the female, she sparked something in her that no one else ever had -- hate, disgust, fury -- and she reveled in how the passion felt, lodged deep inside her chest. With a simple nod as Luce turned to leave, Epiphron also turned to lope away, towards her home.

- exit -