A Shadow Heart's Day Off

The woman scowled and brought her club to bear as a magic circle below her feet blazed to life covering her in the same material as her club before being taken off guard by Fayte's speed.  She swung her club trying to deter the Harpy from getting too close to her swinging at her wings.  in an astonishing display of agility for one covered in glass stone, she fell back onto the desk and smashed half of the desk sending it flying at Fayte.  Atrum for once thanked that he was slower than the others because even though he had charged along side Fayte he hadn't caught up until just now.  Drawing back his flaming arm he punched the desk into the ground the surprisingly durable desk smashed into the ground with little damage done to it.  "Darn so close."  The woman snarled, bringing her club back up preparing for another strike.  Atrum growled, feeling absolutely livid by this point.

"Fayte,"  Atrum began lowly keeping his voice low so their opponent couldn't hear him.  "I am going to do something really...Destructive.  Can I entrust her to you for a little bit?"  He asked looking from the obscenely heavy chunk of desk and the metal beam.  "I need you to distract her to ensure when we go in for the finish it hits."  He didn't wait for Fatyes answer, honestly he no longer felt he needed to.  He picked up the desk and looked up at the Metal beam again, he would need a bit before he could do what he planned.

"Glass canon!"  The woman shouted pulling out a chunk of her obsidian arsenal and pointing at Fayte launching it at her.  The spell was fast and if it hit it would shatter to inflict more damage.  Fayte was fast thought it shouldn't be too much of a problem for her.

Fayte's eyes narrowed. The other was covering herself in what looked like a protective casing. Whatever it was, it was going to slow down any killing blows. She only skidded to a halt when Atrum slammed into the desk, protecting them from the other hit. That was close. Fayte had been planning to take the hit, but wasn't sure it would have been worth it, especially with that strange armor. Her eyes flickered to Atrum as he discussed the plan, the desk momentarily stopping their opponent from seeing that the two were plotting. The moment was done quickly, and Fayte had no time to tell her response. But she had heard, and that was enough.

Time to stall for Atrum. Whatever plan he had, she trusted. That armor looked like it was going to limit some of Fayte's attacks. She ducked and dodged the first bullet, the glass shattering loudly on the wall behind her. Already Fayte was dashing in again, intent moreso on keeping the woman's attention on her, rather than dealing a lethal blow this time. Besides, Fayte would rather reserve at least some of her magic power... just in case.... there was no telling what would happen with Ater, or even Atrum. A good dark wizard knew how to leave options available.

"I think you are the one who should be leaving," Fayte said. Her talons reached forward, seeking to scratch her opponent. Her plan now was to simply attack without overcommitting herself, ready to leap back at a moment's notice, and let Atrum take the spotlight when he was ready. "If your friends couldn't beat us, how could you expect to do so alone?" And if talking distracted her, Fayte would go with that too.

112/200:

"Oh no!  You beat up an talkative idiot and a bunch of imps, I so scared~!"  The woman taunted taking a step back as Faytes claws scratched swing at Fayte with her club just barely missing as the Harpies' superior agility allowed her to dance away from the obsidian covered mage.  "Come on little birdie I won't hurt you, much!"  She shouted swinging the club horizontally three spikes made out of obsidian being launched out of the club flying towards Fayte.  "Let's clip those wings of yours birdie!"  She all but screamed at the harpy, the woman was practically hysterical.  She had a insane glint and her cold and calculating eyes.  however it seemed that her ego was easily bruised as she now was focusing Fayte entirely seemingly forgetting that Atrum was even there.

---

"Thank you Fayte."  Atrum said pulling out his hand and pointing it to the metal his dancing flame sparking to live and over charging to melt through it.  He looked over at the other target he needed to weaken and grinned.  The ruined state of the lab served his purpose, vials and equipment all around, structural weak points in abundance.  He just needed a bit more time to work over the place properly, Fayte seemed to have gotten on their opponents bad side.  He should be fine for a few minutes, he was a bit impatient though but rushing himself would only make him mess up and he'd miss.  He spared a glare at the woman, yeah he certainly didn't want to miss.  Atrum's rage didn't replace his reason it just served as motivation to achieve goals this woman really ticked Atrum off he wasn't going to let her escape if he could help it.  Not on his watch.  Still he needed more time he was sure he could count on Fayte to hold off the woman for a bit longer.

mp:95/200:

Fayte's distraction seemed to be working. Her opponent was quick to talk back and seemed even more focused on Fayte. Overconfidence was a common mishap, but a fault Fayte was keen on taking advantage of. This woman was very fond of strange weapons. The first strike of the club was easy enough to avoid. The second, Fayte at first moved to avoid the same way... before the spikes flung out dangerously. Magic gathered in her wings again. A gust of wind formed before her, pushing against the flying spikes. Fayte didn't trust herself to dodge in time, though she could have tried.

The wind met the spikes. While not quite enough to knock them back, it was enough to derail them off their intended course. "Is that the best you can manage?" Fayte waited this time. Atrum clearly needed more time, so Fayte planned to stall for as long as possible. "After all your talking, I expected something more." She braced herself, ready to react in case this woman tried something rash. With her hysterical laughter, it didn't seem like she was completely in her sane mind. She resisted the temptation of looking back at Atrum to see what he was doing. If Fayte did, it could tip off her enemy that something was up. No, better just to keep her focus on her opponent and see what happened from there.

99/200:

"I'm sorry I think something is wrong with my ears all I hear is; 'Please miss kill me, I can't stand to live any longer!' I don't mind helping you out with that though."  The woman laughed bring her club over her head and slamming it into the ground the top part of it shattering violently, and at first nothing happened, then suddenly the floor began to rumble as sharp obsidian spikes rose from the ground speeding towards Fayte meaning to impale the Harpy or failing that keep her from moving around as easily.  "You are mine!"  She snarled dragging the club back and preparing to attack again.  If she hadn't had to watch over the unconscious Scientist on the ground she'd had simply rushed Fayte and in her mind had won this battle already.  Was she arrogant?  If you asked her, she was simply confident in her abilities, though she definitely saw herself above most.  She pulled up another chuck of obsidian glass to launch at Fayte intent on watching her fall to the ground, she wanted to win.

--

"Alright almost done."  Atrum said shaking his now bleeding hands, he was putting a lot of effort into weakening the integrity of this room, shearing through support beams damaging the base of others, and compromising weight bearing walls and beams.  Hard work as his now bleeding knuckles and palms attested to this fact, he was proud he could just set himself to a job of destruction and do it as well as he had.  He was about to signal Fayte that he was about finished when obsidian spikes ripped from the ground around him forcing him to dodge for his life.  He blinked as the spikes slammed into one of the beams he had just finished working on causing it to slip towards his face.  "Blazing hells, I just finished with that!"  He growled angrily throwing his arms forwards and catching the beam as it fell towards him, pushing him against the staff of one of the obsidian spikes.  He was just glad he didn't hit the point and get impaled that would've sucked.  This was a set back, he'd have to fix the issue she had just caused him before he could go through with his plan.  He needed to hurry though, his muscles were screaming at him for pushing them too hard.  The sudden extreme weight was almost too much for him in his worn out state.  He just needed more time, just a bit more then they could end the fight, but first he had a bit more work to do.

The ground rumbled. Fayte tried to shield herself, but there were so many spikes. One sliced through her side, causing her to gasp. She managed to avoid a fatal hit, but it was not a pleasant wound.... now she had two matching bloodied sides, one from the imp earlier. Uncertainly she took a step back, but there was little room to navigate. The spikes were all over the place. Fayte leapt upon a half-fallen beam, perching atop it to avoid the rest of the spikes. Still, she wasn't sure granting a large distance was good against this kind of opponent. It seemed a rushdown approach would have been better after all, but it was a little late for that. Fayte's form reverted, the harpy form vanishing, replaced with her human form with black wings. There was little reason to continue when her magic power waned, and when there was little room to navigate with her speed. Sprawling her wings, she unleashed another cone of wind. It wasn't meant to hit, more just to stall for time. She hoped Atrum would hurry...

Her wings created a powerful gust again, more for a defensive measure against the incoming glass. "Just try it, then!" Fayte spurred her on still, despite her wound dripping blood. Pain was nothing... she felt nothing. All she needed was a little more time, and this would be over.

89/200:

Atrum groaned as he pushed the beam back into place, he was almost out of energy and if it were a lesser man they probably would have passed out from exhaustion already.  He was running out of time, his own injuries were bleeding again from the excessive strain he was putting on his body.  There was no more waiting it was now or never, bleeding out was the only alternative and it wasn't a pleasant one.  He smashed his foot into an obsidian spire cracking it, he grabbed it and flung the spire into a wall causing it to shake and groan in protest as the weight of this secret room was now no longer properly supported.  The beams fell down surrounding Atrum, Fayte and the woman, smashing into other walls and sending them tumbling down.  The Ceiling cracked open and dropped chucks of the roof into the room as the entire section of the building shook itself apart.  Atrum arms almost gave out as he tosses the desk towards Fatye Missing his target of the beam behind her he felt to his knees and cursed aloud.  At least the oversized chuck of desk might provide some sort of protection.  He had one last thing to do first.

---

"I'm going to enjoy  plucking those feathers of yours!"  The woman shouted right before she was knocked back by the gust of wind smashing into her.  The force caught her off guard but only served to enrage her, she got back up to her feet and felt the room shake as a beam smacked into her back and knoced her forwards.  She blinked and snarled raising her club as she realized that she had forgotten about Atrum she took her club and chucked it at Fayte The weapon sharpening to a rather large spear as the desk flew into it's path.  The woman's eye's widened as her spear shattered across the desk and she turned to where it had come from to attack the giant that she had forgotten.  "I'm going to skin you ali-"

"Out of my way!"  Atrum growled pointing his left hand at the woman a lighting bolt of flame flying from it and smashing into her shattering most of her armor but leaving her rather unscathed as the giant ran straight past her towards his brother.  

"Don't you turn your back on me!" the woman snarled as the giant fell over against the desk chuck his borther was pinned next too.

"Honestly I am the least of your problems."  He chuckled as he felt his body go limb unable to keep moving any longer, he succeeded however there was no way out of this room without a lot of effort.  He wasn't sure but he was confident Fayte had avoided most of the falling beams and debris.  If she had she could pacify this insane woman while Atrum debated the value of pacing one's self.  "No escape now..."

Mp:70/200:

Fayte's wind slowed down her opponent, but seemed to have little other effect. She hoped that whatever plan Atrum had, that it was a good one. Their opponent was noticeably stronger than the other lackeys they had encountered - but Fayte would never admit so much out loud. Then the woman took out a spear. With Fayte's mobility already limited, Fayte was certain it would hit. She tried to twist further out of the way, but braced herself for an inevitable impact. The air rattled, the sound of shattered wood. The hit never came, instead deflected by Atrum's intervention.

Fayte, confused, turned to her savior. While the blow would have certainly hit without the help, she hoped he hadn't done anything foolish. The woman's attention was back on him now. As long as he had finished his task, and then intervened, it wouldn't matter. But otherwise, his moment of compassion could cost them the battle. Before Fayte could contemplate further, Atrum dashed past, striking the woman with fire and racing towards his brother. The entire room started shaking, adding even further to the chaos. With great crashes, the collapsed to the ground. Fayte barely managed to dance her way through the debris. When at last the room stabalized, she stood a few feet away from the collapsed Atrum and his brother.

So this had been his plan... She took a steady breath. What a risky plan. He had nearly taken them all out in the process. ...And looking over at the Fairy Tail wizard, she could see the extensive injuries. He was as limp as his brother. "... Atrum ... " She wasn't sure how to feel about the turn of events. He was going out of his way to protect his brother, and help Fayte at the same time. Darkly her gaze returned to the woman who had orchestrated these events, who was probably half caught in the rubble. Before Fayte helped the two brothers, this woman still needed to be taken care of. Fayte had to make sure the woman wasn't around to tell this tale...

The woman had not been expecting Atrum to simply hit her like that and the weakening of her armor by the harpies spells made it easy picking for his explosive spell, she cursed as she tried to move her leg.  After her armor had shattered the building fell apart around her and she hadn't been fast enough thanks to the daze of her situation.  A chunk of the roof had hit her leg and right now she wasn't sure if she could walk out of here  in this condition.  Suddenly the woman froze as she got a strong sense of foreboding, she looked up to see that Fayte was unharmed and glaring at her.  The woman gulped and tried to focus on making a new shell of  obsidian armor with mixed results covering only parts of her chest and limbs.  She cursed again glaring back at the Harpy, not willing to go down easy she prepared herself for a fight of desperation.  She was intent going out kicking and screaming if it came to that, as she was sure that neither of these two had much use for her alive.  She'd give them hell either way.

"Blazing Hells..."  Atrum for his part could be doing better, his vision was blurring slightly, most of his body was numb, and for some reason he found this entire situation hilarious.  The giant made a groaning noise as he realized that he was still bleeding and that might explain why he felt like someone was sticking him with needles.  He breathed out as an aura of flame washed over his body normally it wouldn't burn him but now bleeding as he was he was attempting to both clean and close the wounds at once even if he was dead tired.  Atrum looked over at his brother, a feat that felt like trying to move a mountain in his current state, yet something he managed if only because pain and rage make on hell of a motivator.  Ater was lying underneath a heavy beam of metal but otherwise seemed unharmed, that was good.  It would be embarrassing to almost kill himself to rescue someone already dead.  Still it was good to know that his brother was still alive, a fact that he only knew due to the pain his spell was causing by making direct contact with his own flesh something that normally never happened.  The giant groaned wondering what was happening with Fayte, unable to summon any more strength to watch her pacify the woman.  He would've chuckled if he had the energy, but it looked like he was just going to have to have faith in her again.  Not that he minded, he was sure he had been relying on her this entire time anyways.  Trusting her a little longer would not hurt, at least not more than he already was.

Mp 60/200:

Red marked Fayte's torn clothes. Both her sides were bleeding, and they weren't exactly shallow wounds. Yet somehow, she seemed to be in the best shape out of anyone in the room. The enemy before her could barely stand, and the magical barrier couldn't even form properly. Killing her would be easy. "...." Fayte stopped, staring at the woman. A sudden thought had hit Fayte. This person was responsible for the recent events that had turned Atrum's life upside down. This person was the one who had kidnapped his brother and hurt him. Kin supposedly held a deeper bond than any other. Damaging one like that, this woman had earned the brothers' wrath.

...cross us and we will give you hell for ages.  Harm us and we will hunt you forever. Atrum's words rang in Fayte's ears. Yes... certainly he would understand. He would know it better than she, who wanted the want. Atrum deserved revenge. But then... there was his guild. Would that stop him from submitting to his desires? She didn't know... which would he desire more... Fayte half turned to him, keeping her other half and eye on the enemy, in case she made any sudden moves. "Atrum..." She spoke blankly. Even from her position, she could see his blood pooling. Even his brother looked like he was in better shape, and Ater was unconscious. Atrum was going to be in no position to move, let alone fulfill a desire for revenge. "If you can hear me... This decision should be yours... Do you want me to keep her alive so you can strike the finishing blow...?" She wondered about murder simply.

Atrum looked at Fayte and gave her a soft smile as he stopped trying to keep up his aura spell, she wished to know if she wanted to keep the woman alive for him to deliver the final blow?  He found himself chuckling to himself as he thought about it, if they were in his homeland this would be commonplace, the woman would die for causing harm to his family.  Atrum had resolved to live by his guild's creed however, he would not kill her and if he could help it neither would Fayte.  Besides just because he had resolved to not kill did not mean he could not take vengeance.  A furious glint entered Atrum's eye as his thoughts raced, the woman would pay with her life, but not with it ending, no that would be too easy too simple.  It wasn't... The thought stopped and the giant found himself sighing, he looked over at the woman and the glint leaving his eyes replaced by something more cold.

"It is not nearly enough."  Atrum started simply, smiling softly as he turned back to Fayte.  "Killing her would be easy, she would be removed as a threat but I would not be satisfied.  She hurt my only brother, I want her to live to regret this." The giant tried to move but found that his body was simply refusing to listen to him in that regard he had no strength to move, but his mind refused to accept that and he continued to try anyways.  He hadn't even realized he had slipped into a rage, he couldn't even pretend to not be angry.  He almost continued speaking purely of wrath before he felt a sharp pain from some of his wound snapping him out of his blind impotent fury.  "Heh that is a bit worrying, even calmed down I feel the same.  Still that would be my preference, killing her feels too simple for what she has done.  I will not be satisfied with killing her." He felt like his attempted cauterization did nothing but sting him alot as he was sure he was still bleeding. At the very least the fight was over, that's when the smell hit him and Atrum looked up at fayte. "Wait... you are bleeding... Are you alright?" He asked suddenly worried about Fayte's condition, he stared at the red on her sides, that was surely his fault. He didn't just managed to almost kill himself he had also harmed his ally as well, he had to do something but his muscles refused to move.

Fayte's brow furrowed ever so slightly when Atrum began to laugh... She didn't understand. Had she said something funny or strange? They were in a life or death situation here... and even if Atrum chose a different path than revenge, it was a serious matter. She completely misunderstood his next words. "Killing her would be too easy." That's what he said, and that's what she took the meaning as. This woman had to suffer first. Her life or death inevitably didn't matter. Yes, she had heard of such things. When someone was truly wronged, they found great joy in the suffering of their enemy. Death was such a cold and final answer... there were other ways to find enjoyment. Or so she heard... Torture had only ever been a practical means for Fayte. Still, this was quite possibly the last response she expected from a guilded wizard. "I can hold her still then, or bind her - whatever you need," Fayte offered. "Although I must admit... Considering your earlier hesitation, I'm surprised your interest in harming her has been re-kindled." She had no care that the woman could hear their every word. Their enemy was at their mercy, after all. There was no reason to spare her feelings.

Slowly Fayte shook her head at Atrum's worry. This man... truly confused her. How could he wonder about her condition, when he was nearly half-dead himself? "It's... not painful to me..." She told him truthfully. Physically, her body felt tired. But there was a certain numb sensation... the feeling she got when she was watching herself from a distance. It dulled the pain, making the whole situation somehow feel unreal. "But you...... you may die. Your wounds are very severe," she told him plainly. There was no expression in her voice, but... if she could help it, she didn't want him to die. .... She had to do something, then. Casting a glance at their enemy to ascertain whether she would continue the fight or not, Fayte abandoned her stance. Instead she approached Atrum. Carefully she looked him over; there wasn't much she could do. The blood had stopped thanks to his fire magic, and she didn't possess healing. "...I'll carry you," she decided. Ater would be a worry for another day. And never mind the giant's height or weight... such a concern never factored into her decision.

Atrum would've scoffed if he had the energy as it stood he barely had enough to talk in general, still he wasn't as bad as he thought he might have a bit of reserve magic he could use as a pick me up if it came to it, although that would definitely send him to the hospital if he was forced to.  Still he wasn't sure how to take Faytes response, his people were that of warriors they did not torture others even unless their doctors needed to know how a living body reacted to trauma and even then tried to keep the unfortunate unconscious through the event.  He had other methods of revenge in his mind, and though he will not deny the urge to hurt her he would not submit to it.  He was still more worried about Fatye especially since she had told him that she didn't feel pain, a bad sign in his experience usually meant you lost so much blood you couldn't feel anymore.  He summoned his remaining energy and found he could only really talk, he guessed he couldn't refuse her help in this state.

"I still find torture distasteful, it goes against the principals of my people.  I will not forgive her though, she will be punished."  He growled lowly before trying one last time to move, another attempt met with utter failure.  He was at the mercy of Fayte's assistance, she seemed cold often enough since he met her but these bouts of kindness made him comfortable around her.  If his people were still a large force in the world, he would be convinced she was one of them.  "I suppose you are correct, I have done quite the number on myself."  He chuckled to himself as he felt the shame his uncontrolled anger had brought upon him.  "Still, I should be fine once my wounds close up and I get some food in me, I am more worried about your injuries, you said you feel no pain are you sure you are alright?"  He blinked as he realized that he still couldn't move on his own, and that she was offering to carry him. "It appears that I can not refuse your help, Fayte.  I apologize for being such an inconvenience to you."  He said before looking at her wound and having an epiphany he wished he had sooner.  "I also apologize for being an idiot, there is some gauze in my inside vest pocket you should use it to cover your wounds.  If you let them sit long enough you will end up much like me.  I do not think I could handle you bleeding out on me after all of this."  He said simply, it made sense to him she was offering to carry him something that he would normally never accept that he was now forced to.  If she was going to be carrying him her wounds would be strained the gauze at least would keep more of her blood on her insides.

Fayte was honestly having trouble grasping the concept... Atrum wanted her to be punished, but not through torture. Was it some means through the law then? She did not understand how those two differed, outside of one being legal. Or perhaps that was not what Atrum meant at all. Although Fayte wanted to ask, she knew now was not the time for endless questions. She remained silent as Atrum's attention still remained focused on her own injuries. It seemed he wasn't exactly being the most practical, either. Without a second of hesitation she slipped her hands into Atrum's vest, though she was careful not to press too hard. Inside was the promised medical supplies, which she used to treat herself and Atrum as best as she could. Despite Fayte's earlier mention of not feeling pain, the fatigue was wearing down on her. Atrum was heavier than she originally anticipated. Then there was the matter of where to put him... normally Fayte would go to Shadow Heart, if she was injured. Obviously, she couldn't bring Atrum or Ater there.

In the end she decided on the hospital - that seemed like a publicly sound choice. She practically dumped Atrum at its gates, letting the medical staff take over. Next was bringing Ater. Atrum's brother was unconscious, but Fayte made certain to check that he wasn't a transformed imp. Once that was out of the way, she dumped him in a similar manner to Atrum. On her third trip back, the Magic Council had found the mainly collapsed base. Rather than risk it and pursue their female attacker, Fayte retreated to Shadow Heart, to treat her own wounds.

She didn't dare contact Atrum in the hospital, although she kept up with his condition with news when she could. It seemed both he and Ater would be fine, and both were expected to be released within a few days. Ater especially, having prominent connections in Crocus, was easy to get news about. Finding more about Atrum from there was easy. On the other hand, the woman was taken into custody by the Magic Council, and was awaiting some kind of trial. Considering her companion was in Shadow Heart's custody, the woman got off pretty easy. No sentence would match Shadow Heart's methods.

Finally the day came for Atrum to be released from the hospital. It wasn't like she was trying to meet him, but Fayte did find herself at the same park bench where they'd first met. Throwing some bread crumbs at the birds. It wasn't like she had chosen this spot for a particular reason, it was just a coincidence that she was at the same place where they first met. Atrum had found his brother, taken care of the villains, and was going to live happily ever after, or something.

Atrum figured that Fayte must have had more experience than he originally thought, as once again she was tending to wounds in a surprisingly effective manner. He found himself disappointed he had to rely on her so much throughout this event, he had not expected anyone to help him but found that so often that people were willing to that it was a tad bit hard to understand. Still he was thankful that she had decided to help him as he knew that without her he would have bled out and died by know and he might not have even gotten this far in the first place. As it stood the giant had no energy left to do much of anything, much less complain when Fayte almost literally dropped him off at the front of the hospital. After that Atrum wasn't sure exactly what happened as he drifted from unconsciousness to fighting with the medical staff to let him out and being heavily sedated. Normally he would have just walked out of the hospital as soon as his wounds were closed but this time they managed to force him to stay until they deemed he was fine to leave, annoying.

He learned that his brother had been released earlier than him having both less extensive injuries and being less of a hassle overall. That made the Giant smile as he went over to his brothers shop and punched him right in the face immediately shouting and cursing at his older brother for allowing himself to be captured and for making those stupid imps and for doing these experiments so close to a populated area. His brother being the man he was of course apologized and laughed off the attacked. the giant satisfied with his brothers punishment chose this moment to ask what he was even needed for only getting his older brother shaking his head and informing him that, the particular achievement he had reached was destroyed when Atrum brought down his storage room. The giant apologized and his brother once again laughed it off telling him that he should go home and that he'd call for him again when he managed to recreate his discovery and could show it off in all it's glory.

"My dear brother, you should return home I shall recreate that which was destroyed, and if possible even more magnificent than before, until then,it has been quite the pleasurable experience to see you my little brother. Even if the circumstances were of rather egregious condition." Ater said smiling as he shooed his brother off. The giant sighed and turn to the town feeling that he had a bit unfinished business here and began walking not a thought in his head besides that this too was a rather pleasant day.

"You certainly are a wonder Fayte." Atrum said walking up behind Fayte as to not disturb the birds she was feeding this time learning from his mistake the first time they had met. The birds were easy to startle and apparently did not like strangers so instead of approaching them he chose to stay a bit away to allow her to continue feeding them without causing too much trouble. "I like to think I am good at reading people, a decent judge of character, I am however stumped with you. You behavior raises a lot of questions that I found myself asking while I had nothing better to do while in the hospital... Again, thank you for that, you had no obligation to help me. Still I was left curious about you..." The giant gave her a pleasant smile not really concerned with whether she had turned to look at him or not. "However I will only ask you a single question this day, and it is not of your past. If you wish to share that you will do that when you choose. No today I would like to ask if you would not mind meeting again sometime for something less life threatening than our first meeting." He asked still smiling, not actually caring about the answer he planned on seeing her again regardless of whether or not she told him she wouldn't mind meeting again. "At the very least I intend to repay the kindness you have shown my family. Which actually reminds me, Ater said that if you ever require anything of him he would be happy to help you." the giant was still a tad concerned about the woman they had fought but a little digging before hand had revealed to him what had happened, Atrum had taken to keeping track of her whereabouts just in case though. Being locked up was hardly a proper punishment, he would not be satisfied with her getting off so easy, but for now he could relax, for now he could at least try and repay Fayte for the help she had given him of her own free will.

Fayte’s gaze looked up from the birds to the horizon, though she didn’t turn around at the sound of the footsteps. They were heavy set yet considerate, the birds continuing to feed uninterrupted, though honestly she thought it would have been okay if they had flown off, just this once. His presence had become familiar in a startingly short amount of time, and she wasn’t even worried that someone had taken her back.
A wonder… Fayte had been called strange before, but Atrum almost made it sound like a compliment. The two of them seemed similar in how they approached conflict head-on, had bonded unexpectedly over a series of events. Yet at the same time their thoughts and how they arrived at conclusions was so different. Fayte wasn’t surprised that Atrum had a question, just that he had one. The hospital must have given him time to sort out what was most important. Patiently she waited for whatever it was that had bothered him this whole time. Certainly she had left behind far more clues than what was normal. She was positive that he would ask something that would lead to her reveal of being a dark wizard, or something close to it. Or perhaps more along the sentimental lines, why she had helped, but she hoped that wasn’t the question, because she didn’t know if she possessed the answer herself…

He asked if they could meet again. The birds flew away abruptly, a flurry of feathers. She was glad that she hadn’t turned to face him, because she was certain that she hadn’t been able to hide her expression. No one had ever asked that before, not even in her time with Mayonaka. With her line of work, sometimes people asked if they could work again. But even if she took the rare occasion to be with someone outside of work, they never invited her back. Fayte recognized that there was something wrong with her, something kind of link that others could bond with each other, but not with her. The best she could ever hope for was that they would return for practical reasons, but Atrum had no practical reason.

She managed to get her surprise under control. Turning her head and for the first time that day, locking eyes with Atrum. The faintest of smiles appeared on her face, perhaps the last remnant of Angelique, one that she didn’t know still existed. She opened her mouth to tell him that she would like that too, when she remembered reality and that even a casual relationship between friends, especially one between a Shadow Heart and a legitimate guild member, was more than impractical. It was dangerous, for both of them. Moreso for Atrum, especially with the Magic Council acting harsher these days – simple association with a Shadow Heart member could make him lose everything.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Fayte turned back away. “I was using you to find out more about your brother and the organization after him. I don’t want to see you again.” She couldn’t see him again, not without risking both of their positions. Maybe she was being harsher than normal, but only to ensure that he wouldn’t approach her in the future.

The giant watched Fayte as the birds flew away and for a brief second he thought that maybe he had upset her and the bird sensing that fled to safety.  The giant normally chose whether or not he trusted a person, picking and choosing who he was willing to allow close to him with extreme prejudice.  Fayte was an exception he had in such a short time found that not only was he entirely willing to trust her, but that he simply did, regardless on any warning signs not to, regardless of what Simon had said, regardless of what she had said.  The flames of battle often bonded people together, those who worked together often became fast friends as they worked towards a common goal, this was different he couldn't tell how and he didn't care, he simply was waiting for her response.

She turned to him and for the first time since they met looked him in the eyes, normally he was simply being observed by the woman as they conversed, this seemingly came from nowhere.  If he wasn't already at least partially surprised when she stared him in the eyes, he definitely was when he saw her smile.  Fayte hadn't smiled once since they met, either her expression had darkened and returned to it's neutral state, or it had not changed at all since the beginning of their interaction.  Regardless there it was now a smile he had not been expecting, as faint as it was to him who had gotten used to the normal expression she kept it was like she decided to light off a fireworks display of emotion in a few short seconds.  The giant might've been struck speechless if he wasn't already waiting for an answer from the young woman, as it stood he was glad it was her turn to talk as he was sure he would've said something stupid to her on accident.

Then the smile abruptly disappeared, and the aura she gave off became her standard one once again as she gave him a curt, short, response.  'She didn't want to see him again.'  The giant blinked and thought about it for a second briefly wondering if he had been seeing things a second before, he quickly decided that he couldn't have and shook his head.  To put it simply he didn't believe her at all, while there was nothing in her current behavior to imply that she was lying the expression she had before was certainly not one of someone who didn't want to see him again.  He got the impression that if she really didn't want to see him ever again she'd make sure she never did.   If Atrum wasn't so sure he was right, her words might've actually really been hurtful to him.

"You are correct about one thing, my debt is not to you.  I owe my debt to Nyanko, the little feline who made our meeting as interesting as it was."  He said grinning and walking about in front of Fayte, now that the birds were gone he didn't feel any guilt for disturbing the place they had been.  He had heard it's name earlier but it took the rest up in the hospital to remember everything that had happened clearly.  At least he hoped that was what it's name was, he chose not to add that last part in to keep up an illusion of confidence.  "I refuse to accept your statement, I may not know you well as of now but I am certain that you are keeping something from me."

The giant sighed and shook his head, taking his hat off his head and giving Fayte a low bow, before rising up and replacing his hat back upon his head with a flair.  "As much as I wish otherwise, it seems I must leave now as I have work that needs to be done.  I would stay longer however I can not in good conscious force you to endure my company, so if you change your mind I believe you know how to get my attention."  He finished turning to leave and taking a few steps before stopping and turning back to Fayte lifting his hat up and giving her a pleasant smile.  

"You should really smile more often, it really lights up your face.  It looks rather beautiful if you ask me."  He said dipping his hat back over his eyes and turning back around and walking in the direction of the exit.  The giant wasn't satisfied with this ending, it just felt incomplete to him but he was sure that he would meet her again.  Whether she used his brother to contact him or if they ran into each other while travelling he was sure that he would meet her again.

[Exit thread]