It had been some time since he saw Rayne, or at least that was the name she had taken on while watching over Colden during the dark days of Cyprus running amok. She had done her job well, even though in the end he was taken by his mother. But he was in safe hands now and everything seemed peaceful until his damn son Sol poked his head out of his punishment and was running around like the trouble-making degenerate he was. He was also informed that another sibling of the Black Rose Court was with him, which begged the question of how many were truly dead, to begin with from Cyprus’ neglect and rage.

This did bother him to a good degree as he lingered around the courtyard on a beautiful star-filled night.

Eldora, we have something to discuss this sea sister of yours.

Of course, there was much more than merely that and he waited to hear the slightest sound and sat onto a chair made from shadows. “Rayne, I see you finally made it through.” Behind him lurked a redheaded woman with green eyes. No one would question that she was like so many of the Rosenites in Arri but there was an air about her as she lingered at his side. “You think now is the time for an unmasking?”, she asked, her accent seeming more eastern than what her kin was used to.

“Yes, it's time to give up the ghost. I need to know how many in your court still thrive. You lot have been nothing but surprises to me, not all of which are good things. I can cope with it, however." When Eldora did arrive, he glanced at his oracle with a grave face. “Your sister apparently found one of my wayward sons, one of the first, in Abed. I had gone to great lengths to track him down and it seems that your family has a way of finding an attachment to mine.” Rayne looked her up and down, not recalling the last time she had seen the woman. Honestly, the only person she had seen since her “death” had been Colden and even then, that was some time ago. Xunatar caught onto Rayne’s interest and sighed. “I suppose that now we must discuss the other reason why I called you here. For the time being, this will be between the three of us. This woman is known as Rayne, the protector of Colden from when his mother was still around. However, that is not her real identity.” She frowned deeply as he stood up and moved in front of her. “You recall the moment your siblings had perished, correct? Well, I can assure you that not all of them had died. I will recall coming to the scene after Cyprus threw her hissy fit and I snuck in to see the carnage. Out of all of them, only one was still breathing, barely so and I took her.”

As he stepped to the side so that she could be seen again, her appearance was vastly different. Her face more oriental and her red hair replaced with black. The sunkissed skin that the Rosenites were known was a tad darker on her. Her eyes were filled with a crimson color. “Eldora, meet Junko. Junko, Eldora. But then again, you have already met in a sort of another life scenario…”

Eldora was dressing Estelle when Xunatar’s voice ran through her head. “Go be a good girl. Mommy will be back okay?” She kissed the top of the child’s head before she set off to go up to the palace. It was a long walk filled with uncertainty. It always was whenever she was called by the god. “Undine is hardly associated with us at all. The last time I saw her she tried to put me through a wall with magic… to how did she put it?” She thought about it. “Right… Put me in my place.”

Eldora’s blue eyes moved to the other woman in the room. She got vibes from her that she could only explain as familiarity. The oracle tilted her head. “Remember but I was not there.” Eldora cooed softly in the direction of Raine. When the appearance of the woman changed Eldora bit her lip as though pondering. “The more alive the better.” It was emotionless and not at all happy but Eldora was detached from almost everyone. “I wouldn’t think we heartless though Junko… This is just my nature.”

Turning her attention back to the situation with Undine Eldora approached closer. “Abed? That is where her cove is… They probably ran into each other after she woke up. Undine is extremely temperamental and unpredictable. Your son is in just as much in danger as any enemy of hers should he not tread carefully. Powerful doesn’t even cut it with her but if I know Undine… and I would like to think I do… She is probably using your son to get what she wants. And trust me unlike Lotus sex isn’t what she is truly after.”

Eldora’s eyes moved back to Junko now. “I’m still processing how I missed one but I suppose that you hid her so even I could not see her.” The oracle shrugged her shoulders now as she thought. “Unfortunately my mind is on Undine and the trouble she could cause with one of yours. Forty years ago the great demon Eliagos put his daughter to sleep because she threw a tantrum so bad that it sunk four islands off the coast of Abed. It was a justified tantrum but still…” Eldora shivered. “She is like an embodiment of the sea. Your boy shouldn’t stay anywhere near her.” It was more of a warning that she knew would not be heeded.

“Steele and Dante don’t even want to deal with her nor do I think they can. She had Dante scared and she wasn’t even at full power yet. Of all the siblings, cousins, whatever else family I have… It just had to be Undine he found… Or she found him. Either way, it isn’t good. I may be powerful but Undine trumps me in almost every way.”

She didn’t expect for Eldora to welcome her with open arms, given the time and all, but the fact that she didn’t downright disregarded her was a pleasant surprise all the same. “It is only fair, I don’t blame you either way” She looked over towards her master and shook his head. “Undine isn’t exactly one to be messed with. It may prove my mission to be even more difficult as it already is with just dealing with Sol.” Xunatar took Eldora’s warning to heart as he settled back down into his chair. He held a blank gaze as if in deep thought. “She honestly sounds like him- and he’s been known many times to play with fire, literally and figuratively.”

“I barely remember her myself, but I do recall her being dangerous.”

“Oh course. My informat pointed that much out. She sounded very aloof about whether he would succeed or fail in his mission and she was sure to point out that she would abandon him should things go too awry. She also made it clear that they are both using each other, though I couldn’t imagine what sort of goal she would hope to achieve.”

Junko didn’t know, but one thing was for sure. “She is the oldest and even if she’s a threat, I am unsure if I could bring harm to her, if it's even possible.” Her master looked onward, his face holding a sour look. “Right, your sense of honor… Nonetheless, you do have permission to drag the boy back here, even if you have to cripple or maim him. I simply want him back so that he can never see the light of day again.”

He turned attention to Eldora and tilted his head. He was aware of such a demon as Eliagos, and apparently the boy had refused to once more to listen to his caustions. “The fact that he aligned with a powerful sea demon speaks volumes of how hard headed he is, I’m afraid. He’s too haughty to be careful- if there is a promise of helping him regain what he lost, then he will seek it out or die trying.

“Perhaps the latter will happen after all”, Junko suggested. “If he let’s her venture too deep, then the more at risk he will be if he crosses her.” She then looked to Eldora herself, “They are somewhere in the underbelly of the city, hiding and binding their time accordingly. You fortunately carry much information about her.”

“Dante scares easily, especially if he’s at risk of losing the lower part of something…” Xunatar didn’t bother to discuss the full details, thinking that they would know what he meant. He didn’t fill like being so crass right now- he had a fire demon and sea demon to deal with. “And Steele I’d guess was holding back.”

“Perhaps her father had been too lenient in releasing her to the world so soon. I was…told of mother’s death myself some time ago.” The word “mother” was brought up with venom that dripped from her tongue- it was a sore subject to speak of even now, after all those years of never seeing her again. Good riddance.

“My mission is clear, to retrieve Sol and try to avoid conflict with Undine as best as possible. Yours is to indulge me with whatever information you have on our sister.”

Eldora thought about it and tilted her head. “The one way to deal with Undine is to make it seems like Sol isn’t going to get anywhere. If it starts to look like he will lose she will leave.” They already knew that much. “She is an obstacle that I don’t wish to encounter if I don’t have to.” Tilting her head towards Xunatar there was a smile on her face. “Undine tends to have reasonable goals though whatever she is using Sol for I don’t know… She tends to keep herself level-headed underneath the air of… I suppose you can call it pride.”

Thinking on her sister she crossed her arms. “Undine… Her birth was an anomaly from the beginning. She was the first and she was also the first to be sacrificed for Mother’s own greed. What happened to Undine is what made her who she is. She may be jaded but it isn’t her fault. She was reborn in a sea of agony and anger. A demon of the sea. Her blood was purged from her and I’m sure you can only imagine how much that must have hurt… The sea birthed her new into the siren that she is. Her father Eliagos gave her the strength that he had promised Cyprus should Undine be born, however, Cyprus went too far and thought killing the child would get her more. Eliagos was devastated because of his only child. So he gave her the power. Whether or not this was a good idea we’ll probably never really know with her. However, her rage was enough to shape the coast line of Arri near the Black Court. We felt the shock waves even in the Oracle District.”

Eldora recounted the memory of how Undine came to be so Xunatar and Junko were up to speed. “Her goal before was to kill Mother but now? I don’t have the slightest clue. She’s been up for some time so she’s probably recovered the property stolen from her as well… Which makes her even more dangerous. She was gifted a necklace by her father that was birthed in the deepest depths of the ocean. It was forged by the underwater volcanoes and pressure. It is a conduit for water magic and it makes her even stronger than she is now. I don’t doubt she’s used Sol to get it back and I would rather assume she has it already.”

Tilting her head she thought about it more. “Eliagos won’t ever admit he did wrong by waking her up. More than likely he was waiting for something or… Her body has finally adjusted enough to where she doesn’t need to sleep for such long periods of time. It will become harder for him to control her the more she adjusts. Undine is a quick study and she might come off as impulsive but she is smart. However, if she enjoys Sol’s company she might try and enlighten him on her knowledge. Even if the result is all the same in the end she will try to keep what she believes if hers. If he has her on land that is a pretty good indicator of how well they are working together. She would never spend time on land if she didn’t at least fancy him a bit.”

She tapped her fingers against the upper part of her arm. “Steele probably was. I know Dante was holding him back but it is probably a good thing he did. When Undine wakes up she is volatile. The only reason she probably attacked me was because she was cranky. If you get Undine in the water… Flee. There’s no beating her in her element unless you have power backing you up. I am curious about what she is up to as well. I would say it couldn’t be anything good but it is a coin toss whether or not that statement is true. Undine isn’t inherently evil… At least I don’t believe so. I just think that she’s been victim to many at this point and she takes it out on whoever she pleases. That being said normally every move she does is calculated to some extent. She never just lashes out to lash out… There's always a motive."

“Of course he won’t get very far, unless he is able to re-establish his faith in Abed again. The boy is very good at manipulation and appealing to others. They will think of him as some sort of messiah if he has the chance. Think of a much more smarter Dante that isn’t loin driven.” Still, it was something that could take advantage of if he could prove to be incapable of success.

Xunatar shifted more to his left in his seat, not impressed with the news of how Undine came to be. The part, in particular, was the very subject that always seemed to annoy him- Cyprus. Just thinking about her made his blood boil and Junko could easily spot his mood. “She’s paid for her crimes and then some, from what I’ve heard. I’m only sorry that I didn’t get to see it for myself.”

“Gifting that much power to someone that probably wasn’t very stable to begin with wasn’t a smart idea. But better her than Cyprus getting it into her clutches. She was probably always an idiot.” It didn’t seem like her daughter was the same way, unfortunately. At least the mother was easy to deal with, but with Undine with him, Sol might find some ground into getting his revenge. “The boy thinks that he needs to justify what happened so long ago. His own pride…was taken from him by me. I suppose there’s no point in keeping this in secret any longer. Sol is Pride incarnated, or at least was until he made a very stupid gesture in order to try and claim the mainland. Needless to say, he was easily defeated and I stripped him of his power and gave it to Carrie. He decided to take as many of his siblings as he could and try to dethrone me and ruin Carrie and Steele when they were younger.”

“In the end, he was close, but failure was the result”, Junko chimed in, “and for that, they were imprisoned into tombs that sealed their power. They stayed there for centuries before he was able to break out. We sent another sibling from there to locate him and that’s how we know where they are.”

“As long she’s kept from the water, she should be easier to avoid conflict with. Sol will be my sole target. I won’t try to kill her, but if I must, I will make sure that she doesn’t interfere.”

“Still, it wouldn’t be wise not to keep an eye on her. She could very well undo everything if given a chance. No matter what though, he must be brought back here or else he won’t just be a thorn in my side. He’s vindictive and could take it out on his brothers and sisters, as well as anyone that’s linked to them, including you and Estelle, Eldora.”

“We’ll be in a lot of trouble if Sol uses Undine’s song to attract those who can’t resist it.” Eldora put it bluntly. “I have no idea on what his knowledge of sea demons are but Undine won’t just let him she can do it unless he asks of her. She’s not completely one to put all of what she can do on the table. But if Sol were to ask her… She just might.”

Eldora listened to why Sol was on a rampage to begin with and she began to think. “Do you know how he was able to get out or was it just luck?” Her eyes darkened just a bit at the threat of something against her child. “If Undine knows what’s smart she won’t let Sol think about it. If he comes after my child you won’t have a son left and Undine will probably be missing a few limbs. I will not hesitate to use the full force of my abilities against them if I have to even if it hurts me to do it.” Her arms crossed tighter and she clenched her teeth. “I’ve not sought a fight with Undine because it would be long depending on if there was water nearby but I will not hesitate if Sol comes after Estelle.”

Her eyes returned to normally and she began to pace. “Besides if Undine knows what is good for her and I assure you she does… She’s put a stipulation not to mess with the family besides Carrie and the others not entwined with our family. Undine while it might not look like it does care for some level about the remains of this twisted family we have. She will pick her battles carefully and she doesn’t want to pick a fight with me on even grounds. I’m much more in control than I was before I came to this place. If there’s anything my mother did do it was produce powerful offspring. Undine and I are about the same age and we developed our abilities at the same pace. While hers are more devastating Undine has a tendency to get tired from the backlash of power on her body. I don’t tire easily. Still, I would rather avoid a full-on fight with Undine if I can help it.”

She tilted her head to the side. “I can begin to form a water mirror so we can observe them… Shouldn’t be too hard to locate them since we already have someone who has been where they were. I’ll just need him here for just a little bit.”

“Nothing other than what I’ve told him, which no offense to your sister, was not to trust them because of their knack of making impulsive decisions. They aren’t the most stable sort of demon, though this Undine sounds like she broke the mold then.” She would prove to be an annoyance to deal with, though. For one thing, he knew nothing in great detail of her, and vice versa. So whatever she was doing for Sol was not purely against him. Another couple of things were Eldora and Junko- he was all but positive that they didn’t wish to kill their sister. “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did or didn’t request her of doing that.”

He leaned his head against the back of his head and frowned, “I would hope that it was luck, but the boy is too damn persistent. He could have found some sort of way to break free from his tomb; Sol had plenty of time to try and worm himself out though it shouldn’t be very likely. There was a weakness in that plan, and once the Dark Lord found a more potent way to keep him locked up. There was no surprise in Eldora’s demeanor when it shifted to anger- Sol could very well move against her, Estelle, Dante and Lotus’ twins and even Crystaline. “It is possible that he could, just as well as he won’t. It just depends if they get in his way. He might threaten to harm them, but carrying it out…it’s hard to say. Your sister would be wise to keep him in check, just in case. If he is to regain his power, as well as gather more followers, he will be much more dangerous to handle. Fortunately, he will not have one of my smarter sons align with him this time. That will help significantly in dealing with him.”

Speaking of which, Eldora requested him and Xunatar looked to Junko and nodded before entering the house momentarily and returning with a spiky, red-headed man with a sour look on his face. “Thought you said I could go…”, he sighed as he was dragged over to his father’s side. “I said you were pardoned, yes. But not free, not just yet, Hendrix.”


His mood didn’t change when he saw Eldora. “So she’s the little thing involved with Steele?”

“Speak up and tell her where you spotted them”, Junko spoke, jabbing him on the side with her sheathed blade’s hilt.

“Ouch! Okay, I saw them in Abed’s underbelly, around the black market. That Undine woman spotted me first and took me a bit away from there to an abandoned house to the east. That’s where my dear brother is hiding.”