Rachel went home after having lunch with Emily. There she dove once more into her research. An outline was beginning to form for her thesis and she was making great strides.  Doing the research helped even though the tremor in her hands remained. Lucio hadn’t responded right away and that made Rachel nervous, but she tried to remember that Lucio had a life outside of her too. He wasn’t always at her beck and call.

About an hour later, she finally got a response from him. She smiled, knowing she would see him soon. She a little more to finish though before she stopped working today. I have about a half hour more of work to do, the. I can head over there :-)

Rachel knew he wouldn’t mind the wait. He actively encouraged her studies. Rachel hadn’t taken to wearing skirts and dresses more often lately, and so was already dressed nicer. After making sure all her work was saved, she headed to meet Lucio at his hotel, letting him know she was on her way.

Marta told the driver where to go, and she didn’t look as they drove. Her attention all on the baby. She did think though. She had heard the bark of Ricky’s gun. She briefly looked at Marisol who seemed calm. 

They arrived at the building and Marta entered. Still carrying Lily. Immediately she spoke aloud. ”Sky - please alert Liv that Nox may be incoming soon. And he may be hurt. Also tell her I have Lily and I’m in the building.” It was an instinct. Marta knew what Liv could do and She’d rather Liv be prepared than not.

Sasha stormed out of the basement and up the stairs. He was peeved that the bastard wouldn't teach him -- said he couldn't. He didn't beleive him.  The fury and fire with in boiled and brewed inside.  Though it didn't threaten to overtake him. It could, he knew it. But he was in control, and he wasn't even holding the life blood even though he squeezed the shard tightly in his hand. It cut deep but it wasn't a bad thing or a bad feeling. Sasha relished in that pain.

It was freezing outside, but Sasha felt none of it as he stormed passed people. After leaving the Red Light district people looked at him strangely. He was a bull in a china shop blowing through people. They cursed in various langauges but Sasha didn't care. He didn't understand any of it!

It had become something of a tradition for Enrique and Marta to spend the day doing fun things on the days of her psychology appointments.  They would go get lunch or some sort of treat or maybe go shopping at the GUM.  Enrique always let Marta decide, but it was getting to be where she would want to spend that time with friends soon - especially since she was making friends.

Marta had changed quickly in the last week.  Online school had been a good choice for her and going to Kallisti had been helpful as well.  That still surprised Enrique, but Marta was growing.  The other kids there had accepted her without question.  Then she had gone to a group session with them and Elyse's friend Hayden and her confidence had soared.  She still struggled.  The previous day she had a minor episode, but given that it was minor and her issues were becoming less frequent, she was healing a bit more.

Marta had wanted to go to the coffee shop she had seen Elyse and her friends in the other day, and of all things, she wanted coffee.  That was new too.  Elyse had informed him that Marta was showing interest in boys now too.  She just was growing up, and that would make things more difficult, but still, she viewed Enrique like a big brother. Marta ordered a cappuccino and sat down, Enrique sitting across from her.

"How is school going?" he asked her.  

"Fine - working hard and learning a lot.  Sterling helps when I don't understand things. It's easier with the smaller group and being with friends," she said honestly.  "Did you have fun the nights I was with Elyse."

Enrique smiled.  They had been enjoyable evenings. "I did - made a new friend myself." He and Marisol had a dinner date one night, but neither one felt ready for anything besides friendship and Enrique was content with that.

"Oh," Marta said with a mischievous smile. "Is it a girlfriend?"

"No it's not like that at all..."

"Ricky's got a girlfriend...Ricky's got a girlfriend..." she said in a teasing singsong voice. "I'm kidding! Glad you had fun!"

It was things like that that reinforced that Marta was changing.  She never would have teased him like that before.  Enrique was getting the idea that he was beginning to see what Marta would have been before her trauma.  Now that it was being dealt with, it was starting to come out.

Rachel sat in the university library - psychology textbooks surrounding her. Rachel had taken a few days off her work on her thesis. The first had led to a break up with Cruz. The second had led to Lucio, and the third had been a night full of amazing sex. She had slept most of the next day. Truthfully she hadn’t felt good at all - almost sick - but in a way she didn’t understand. She wasn’t sick. She had just felt weird. 

Lucio was always in her mind, and it made studying extremely difficult. She reread paragraphs because they didn’t stick in her mind. All the notecards in front of her were blank. She was getting nowhere. All she wanted to do was be with Lucio. All she could think about was Lucio. She needed to work on her thesis, but she needed him too. 

Rachel leaned over in the table, banging her head quietly on it before pulling a large book in front of her and attempting to read. She tried again, but soon had her wallet in her hands, and she fought with whether to text Lucio or not. She really needed to work on her thesis. She really shouldn’t text him. But she needed him.

Elyse arrived back at the building that was now becoming her home. Anna was inside - getting herself moved in. Elyse had left to go to the psychologist. She had been surprised that she had gotten an appointment so fast, but she had sensed the urgency within the reception when she answered positively about having suicidal thoughts. 

She had kept Hayden informed and even now she sent him a message stating her diagnosis. Pyschologist diagnosis: severe clinical depression. I’m on meds now. Said I might have some mood swings as I adjust.

She enter the living area and saw that the kids had been playing. The toys were around haphazard. No one had gotten around to cleaning up. Elyse’s first thought was to blame herself. It was probably because of her episode, but she was working on that. 

Also having kept Anna in the loop, Elyse sent her a message. Back. Downstairs cleaning up.

Elyse knew it was time for her to start earning her keep here. This was a simple way she could start. Maybe she would touch base with Liv later and ask what she could do to ease her burden. It was a possible meeting that gave Elyse anxiety. It wouldn’t surprise her if she was on Liv’s bad side - and Elyse thought she deserved the other woman’s ire. 

Elyse began to pick up the toys. There was a toy box now. She hadn’t ordered it, but it was there nonetheless. 

”Sky - do you know what the procedure is for my medication?” She asked, hoping that it understood what she meant. She would clarify it if needed. She assumed that her meds would be locked up and she’d have to get them from someone else.

Nox's arm wasn't forceful he just held out his arm to stop him. The man with him left and didn't say a word to him.  Ashton had seen him around the house talking to Nox and the kids. He'd been there that night Jaxen had cornered him too. Though he'd snuck off somewhere before the night got exciting.  He had been there the next morning though.

Nox didn't look right. His fake arm didn't feel the same either. He had gotten a new one and this was the first time he'd put it on it seemed.  Ashton looked at Nox who tried to urge him back into the warmth of Kallisti.

"I can't go back in there right now."

Nox nodded and turned on his heel. "Let's go have a coffee then."

Ashton shrugged and followed Nox through the streets.  Though Nox tried to slow and let him catch up but he always slowed to stay a step behind.

Nox stopped and rolled his eyes. "You aren't my peon or slave or lesser. You either walk with me or we just end this now."

Ashton turned around before Nox grabbed his arm. "Okay. Not the words to use to someone who's gonna take them literally."  He didn't seem angry or sad or happy or concerned. He didn't seem anything.

"Just walk at my side. Please."  Nox added though there was no added warmth. "I need to talk with you and I don't want to do it out in the fucking cold."

Ashton sighed and nodded.  He didn't follow Nox, but the other man lead on in silence. He wasn't happy nor sad or even boastful he'd gotten his way. He just walked in silence.

Everyone was busy trying to get situated in their new life. Nox was back and the house was full of activity. The kids spent part of their days at Kallisti and the rest of it in the basement playing and working out and doing whatever it was they did the closer it got to opening time at the club.

Ashton helped around the club cleaning things up for the performers, running whatever errands he could. He wasn't so much as getting paid as much as helping out.

For a club in the Red Light District Kallisti was one of the cleanest he'd ever seen. Not that he frequented them often, but sometimes a mark could be found. Though after the Jaxen incident he hadn't exactly frequented places he could make the same mistake again.

With a sudder Ashton started singing to himself. To ease the tension he'd inadvertently created in his shoulders. Singing to himself didn't really do anything, but Ashton relaxed none the less. And no one here seemed to mind his voice piercing their thoughts. At least no one had told him. And Nox couldn't get angry if he accidentally sirened someone, he was alone right now and his voice wasn't carrying beyond the room. And it was nothing really he was just easing tension. What was the harm in that?

Edurne Ferrón Arriaga


Age: 32


Origin: Madrid, Spain.


Occupation: Socialite.


Psychological Description: 

In terms of her psychology, Edurne is a well-adjusted woman who is generally well-liked by those around her. She communicates wit and charm with each word, but given her upbringing, was primarily only exposed to people of a certain class. With her father being a nobleman from a historic Spanish House, Edurne was expected to act a certain and behave a certain way from a young age. Given the double-speak that most people in the upper echelon of society utilise in conversation, Edurne has a learned talent for ascertaining the true motivations of those around her, and is familiar with and loathes social climbers.

She is very intelligent and well-read, but she is considerably lacking in what could be considered as street smarts. Having earned her degree in linguistics, Edurne is a polyglot, capable of speaking Spanish, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic, the latter two of which she achieved fluency in during her time at university.

Yet even from a young age, Edurne knew that she was different. Often attributing it to luck, it wasn't until she was approached by another woman at the age of twenty that she truly learned what she was. A Channeler. It wasn't luck that was making things happen for her, it was the One Power. After this discovery, everything changed for Edurne. The more she learnt how to embrace the Source the fewer headaches she got, even having been hospitalised when she was fourteen for what she now realises was the sickness.

Highly emotional, Edurne has worked with therapists and psychiatrists to learn how to control her emotions and to wear a mask of serenity at all times. This was also something that came into play with her channeling tutelage at the hands of the nuns in Goa, enabling her to more easily channel.


Physical Description: 

Standing at 5'3, what Edurne lacks in stature she more than makes up for in devastating beauty. She has long golden hair that spills down her back and across her shoulders, high cheekbones and blemishless skin, and deep green eyes. Edurne's sense of style could only be described as high-class, preferring quiet designer items in lieu of what she considers to be trashy brands that the nouvelle riche opt for. Despite being in her thirties, Edurne still appears to be in her early twenties, and will likely remain that way for many years to come.


Supernatural Powers: Channeler:

Edurne is a powerful channeler with a natural proclivity for compulsion. When she first began to channel unknowingly, people would find that they would do as she wished without hesitation. Having received tutelage from another Channeler, Edurne has been practising her weaves and abilities for the last twelve years. She can hold one weave at a time for now, and prefers the elements of air and water though is capable of channeling the other elements too. 

Current Strength: 30


Potential Strength: 38. 


Experience: Adept.


Biography:

Originally born in Madrid, Spain, Edurne's upbringing was one unlike anything that the average person would typically experience. House Arriaga is an ancient bloodline dating back several hundred years, a noble family which still enjoyed its status in the present day. As such, Edurne was raised in an environment where superiority was constantly instilled within her, but that never sat right with her. Besides wealth, there was truly nothing that separated Edurne and her family from the common man, and in her teens she began rebelling against her parents' wishes to be nothing more than a beautiful ornament.

Neglected by her parents who owned various enterprises across the globe, they seemingly cared very little for their daughter's emotional and physical wellbeing. At the age of fourteen Edurne was attacked on the way home from school by a group of students, and during the event she blacked out. When she awoke, so too were the rest of them unconscious. Ten days later Edurne became very sick, and was hospitalised with something that was only called the Sickness, a new communicable disease that was unidentifiable. Neither of her parents visited her in hospital, sending the housekeeper in their stead. Crying alone in her hospital bed after visiting hours, a storm began in the skies above Madrid, called into existence by Edurne's latent ability to channel.

For the next few years Edurne suffered from headaches, frequent nosebleeds, but more strangely, came to realise that people tended to do what she wanted. It was almost a preternatural swaying of others that led to Edurne becoming extremely popular at school, at the expense of her worsening health. Eventually Edurne learned how to control these episodes. She could sway others' opinions, and would then experience the aforementioned side effects.

When she was eighteen Edurne went on a gap year, and decided that she would travel the world. Her parents cared little for where she went, but funded her trip nevertheless. It was in Goa, India, when Edurne was approached by a group of nuns. One of the younger sisters had seen the glow of Saidar when she embraced the source to compel a group of men to leave her alone, and invited her to their convent.

For the next few months Edurne remained there with one of the sisters who, like her, was capable of channeling. The sister was about Edurne's age, but had been practising with the power for much longer than the Spaniard had. She taught Edurne how to meditate, to picture a door in her mind and to open it slowly, feeling the energy suffuse her body as she did so. "It is a gift from the Gods," the sister had told her, but whether Edurne believed that to be true or not, she didn't divulge. The two were practising with their threads one day when Roshni, the nun, couldn't "close her door." She channeled too much too fast, and Edurne watched as the girl burnt herself out. Horrified and reviled by the fact that the power could do that to someone, her experimentation for the next year went cautiously. Open the door slowly, never open it fully.

By the time that Edurne had departed from Goa, she had spent over a year at the convent. While she may not have been inducted into the sisterhood, the convent had made an exception for her tutelage. Now she was able to embrace the One Power on demand, and was beginning to learn weaves, elemental threads united to create a specific result. 

After Goa, Edurne was admitted to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom to study languages, where she ultimately received a first class honours degree with a distinction. She had been away from home for four years, and even though she devoted much of her time to studying, she practised day and night with the threads that she could channel, combining fire and air to make a ball of flame, for example, and learning how to keep the threads from dissipating by essentially tying a not in them. 

When she finally got home, neither her mother nor her father had even asked where she had been. No phone call, no text message. It had been a year! In a fit of rage Edurne implanted a compulsion into her parents' minds to transfer a great deal of wealth into a new bank account for Edurne. She wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

With her newfound personal wealth, Edurne bought a home for herself in Argentina, South America, where she was able to practise her weaves in peace. She remained in Buenos Aires for the next ten years, until eventually she decided that she wanted a new experience. Armed with what she now knows to be the One Power and more money than sense, Edurne departed from Madrid and travelled to Moscow, the capital of the CDD Empire.