Two brothers.

Two brothers that looked so alike but different so much in temperament. It was uncanny to think that they had once shared the womb at the same time, but even as Isaiah attempted to comprehend it, the older twin was dragging him by the arm towards the festival. Gods knew he didn’t want to go, but Elijah wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Come on now, brother. Reaver even said we could go and have a little fun”, he spoke through the grunts as he fought with his brother’s heels that dug into the fresh earth. “Besides, you should come out every so often and enjoy life aside from busy work and that nonsense.”

“You should worry about completing work first”, Isaiah complained. Despite being twins, their outlooks on life couldn’t be any farther apart. While he was known to be the more responsible one of the church, his brother and work didn’t belong in the same sentence. If he wasn’t goofing off or napping, he was messing around with the local women in Vilpamolan. How many times did he catch him with his pants caught down? Far more than he’d like.

As the festival came into view, Elijah snickered a bit. “Well, don’t have to worry ourselves about that. Here we are!” To that, Isaiah rolled his eyes and tried to pull back, but to no avail. As much as he was smarter than him, the other was physically stronger. There was nothing more he could do but mentally prepare himself for a long, long night.

At the very least, the two could be told apart; while Elijah was dressed in a dark suit with a red vest, his brother was in a light blue suit.

Finally Lenora would be able to enjoy a festival and not have to worry about her work, or the Order hanging over her head wanting jobs done. Finally, she could just take her time and experience everything that the festival and carnival had to offer, from some of the confectionaries to the games that were set up, everything. ”Come on, Zeno, we have a lot to look forward to.” The dhampir smiled as a soft and excited bark from beside her came from the adorable beagle she had with her. Zeno was getting his fair share of stares, like the hellcats and hellhounds wondering the grounds, which sometimes stopped to sniff at him, curious about what this little dog with black bat wings was. Zeno was a vampiric beagle and Lenora’s companion for many many years, the Order had tolerated his existence because he was friendly but had never allowed Lenora to take him out from the headquarters.

Standing at average height, Lenora’s dark red hair was tied back in two braid on either side of her head with her bangs hanging down to frame her face. Piercing green eyes flicked across the fairgrounds as she figured out what she wanted to do next. She wore her usual black leather get up, and her heavy black cape, she didn’t have any visible weapons, but Lenora was never without some kind of dagger on her, they were just hidden. No need to cause a scene by walking into the place strapped for a fight after all, this was meant to be a fun night. ~Wonder if I’ll run into Syn somewhere? Oh, maybe if I do find her we can find a quiet place for a few moments.~ Lenora thought, putting a wicked little grin on her ruby coloured lips.

”Test your luck, lady?” A voice called.

Lenora turned to see a scraggly looking man behind a stall staring at her holding a wooden ball in his hand. There were three sets of bottles stacked up behind him. Intrigued Lenora turned and walked over to him. ”And how would I do that?”

”Three silver per throw, or, since your friend there is so cute, I’ll give you three throws for seven silver. You knock down all of the bottles you get a prize.”

”Oh, why not.” She reached into her coin pouch and handed him seven silver coins and he handed her three wooden balls. Zeno barked and his tail wagged excitedly. ”No, Zeno, you can’t play fetch with these.” Lenora smiled but beagle didn’t seem to care as his tail never stopped wagging, it rarely did stop. Cocking her arm back Lenora let the ball go and nailed the first stack of bottle and then all clattered to the ground.

”What an arm! Next set!”

Dull, boring, and tedious were their duties, and Elijah had it in his head that the two needed some time to enjoy themselves. It wouldn’t kill either of them, and the head priest would understand, right?

If anyone was to ask his brother; however, then Isaiah would have told a completely different story. But it was no use- they had already made it to the fair and as long as he could knock back a few drinks, then he would indulge the elder brother in his simple ways for this one evening. But that didn’t stop the death stares he was giving Elijah as he dragged further into the festival. There was plenty to see with games and food and even certain attractions he could hear being pitched towards the crowds. Something about scaring the pants right off you, which he needed hardly an excuse to slip out of in the first place.

“Okay, where should we hit up first?”, Elijah questioned as his head constantly turned about.

Isaiah pulled away from the grip and headed for the refreshments. “Don’t know where you’ll going and don’t care. Just don’t mess up and disgrace our family or the church while I go get a drink.”

“Love you too, brother”, Elijah called out while his brother gave him a crude gesture with his middle finger before he headed to one of the concessions stands get himself some whiskey. Elijah shrugged it off and soon found himself spotting a lovely lady over by a game of stacked bottles. A mischievous grin was etched across his face as he gathered himself over to her position. He made it into time to see her knock over the bottles with the first of her throws. “Damn, you’re pretty good at that”, he smiled towards her, all the while taking in the full view as he struck up the conversation. While she was a great sight to look upon, the incubus did take into account her wardrobe and was a bit concerned about it. She didn’t seem all that innocence and there was an array of reasons why she was wearing all that leather. Despite his seeming naiveness, he’s been around the block a few times to know when something’s not right.

But all that suspicion faded for the time being and he kept a friendly face. “And what a cute pooch you have there too!”

As she was getting ready to throw the second ball the voice behind her caught Lenora’s attention and she lowered her arm and looked over her shoulder at whoever it was who was speaking. A young looking man, well dressed, eying her up before he complimented Zeno’s cuteness and Lenore grinned. ”He is adorable, aren’t you boy?” Lenora chuckled as the vampiric beagle barked and his tail wagged happily as he panted with a doggy grin on his face, his elongated fangs showing, wings twitching a bit.

Lenora turned her attention back to the young man again. ”Perhaps that was a lucky throw, let me try again.” Lenora turned back to the game and ignored him for the moment as she focused on the target and threw the ball. It struck true and the larger stack of bottles toppled over and Lenora smiled, pleased with herself.

”What a throw!” The attendant said in an overly exaggerated excited voice. ”But what’s this? A handsome young man has arrived? What do you say, son? Test your skill and try to impress the young lady?” He question, knowing full well the last set of bottles was rigged so that not all of the bottom row would fall over.

Lenora grinned and turned to the young man, holding out the last ball she had paid for to throw. ”Well? Would you like to win me that prize?”

All his worries seemed to melt away when the lovely redhead spoke to him. Already his mind was a-scheming about certain things, but he kept himself in check for the time being. As his brother would put it, he would try and "behave" as he kneed down and looked at her pouch. From the fangs, he could see that this wasn't any old, ordinary dog. Perhaps now would have been a good time for his suspicions to come back, but his attention was elsewhere as the woman went back to the game and pitched another well-aimed throw. "Lucky, eh? You must have rubbed elbows with the gods then, beautiful", he smirked, rising back up to his feet. She had one hell of an arm for sure. He wondered what other talents she had and if they had to do with all that leather. He hoped that she wasn't some sort of assassin sent out to kill him (though that was more so him overthinking the situation than anything).

His smile faded a little when the attendant opened his mouth and the way he presented himself reminded him a good bit of something for some reason. It was likely his tone of voice when he was trying to goad him into the game. But then the lady presented a challenge to him, and he shook his head with a chuckle. "Hell, why not?" Elijah took the last ball and carefully aim at the set of bottles remaining, his right foot positioned back, and his arm followed suit. He steadied himself before bring his arm forward and releasing the ball at the bottle at the bottom row, second from the right. The ball connected but only a few bottles on top had fallen back. The rest remained and the attendant had a big smile across his face.

"Ah, I see now…" The incubus sighed and placed a hand on the counter. "What are you…", the attendant hollered before Elijah had gone over to the stack and poked at the bottles of the bottom row. "I spent a good amount of time in Vilpamolan, where swindlers and other shady folk thrive. Didn't want to think that this was a setup, but I was mistaken." He kept his eyes on the bottles yet his tone was less than friendly towards the attendant. "I wonder what will happen If I spread the word that you're tricking people like this? I once saw someone get their hand chopped off when they tried to rip another off in a card game. Gruesome stuff."

He turned to face him and his face held a kind smile again. "Of course, if you let my new friend here get her prize, then I'm sure that I can forgive you, right buddy?" He winked at her before he coming back around to her side. "I'm Elijah Lo'vada. It is a pleasure to be in your company, no matter the length of time", he said with a half-bow.

Lenora grinned at his flattering comment, and inwardly chuckled, oh if he only knew what God she had allied herself with and followed. He may not have been so friendly then, perhaps a bit more careful. She presented the challenge to him to throw the ball and win her the prize, though if he thought he was getting any kind of prize, he might be mistaken, but Lenora wasn’t above leading him on for her own entertainment.

When only a few bottles fell from the stack Lenora raised a brow and glanced to the attendant, she wasn’t overly surprised to see that it was rigged. But the young man chimed in first and jumped the counter, and she watched as he threatened the attendant. When it was mentioned that Lenora get his prize anyway the attendant blanched and nodded. ”Y, yes, of course, you hit the bottles after all.” He reached for the prize, which turned out to be a stuffed bear and held it out for Lenora.

The dhampir smiled. ”Zeno.” He clicked her tongue and pointed at the counter and the vampiric beagle hopped/flapped his way up on it. Upon seeing the beagle, who he hadn’t seen and only heard until now, the attendant’s eyes widened more. He flinched away as Zeno grabbed the bear in his mouth and hopped down, hearing the bear squeak as he did. ”He needed a new toy anyway, he tends to destroy them rather quick.” Lenora smiled.

She looked back to the man again as he introduced himself. ”And I am Lenora Victoria, a pleasure, Elijah.” She replied with a slight nod of her head. ”I think I’m done with this game, care to join me in a walk around the grounds for a little while?” She asked. ”I’m here on my own, aside from Zeno of course, I wouldn’t mind a little company. However on that note, do you make it a habit of winning ladies prizes?”

The man was hardly shy, not when it came to women nor when it came to seeing an obvious, sad attempt to rip someone off. Especially when that person in question was himself. He didn’t have to do much in the department of intimidation when it came to this booth holder; he seemed rattled by a little tale of Vilpamolan justice. Once the attendant responded correctly, Elijah simply slapped the side of his upper arm and smiled, “Attaboy. I suppose that tricks are commonplace here, as well as the treats. No harm was really done, my good man.” He watched on as the good fellow went to hand over the teddy bear to Lenora. But all didn’t go as according to plan for either man as the toy was not meant for her, but rather her canine friend as he hopped up and took what was now his. “Wasn’t expecting that, but either way, I did my job”, he spoke, patting the back of the still shocked attendant.

The cardinal hopped back onto the other side of the booth and dusted himself off a bit. At least now he knew of his new friend’s name, which was a better reward than a stuffed toy for him. “Pleasure’s all mine, Lenora. And it’d be below me to turn down such a gracious offer.” He thought back to his stiff brother, who was likely drowning his sorrows in his weight of ale by now. Pity, but he was sure that he would find them before night’s end. But in the meanwhile, that left Elijah completely unattended, a danger of itself as he was simply a magnet for such things. Not that his lady friend would have to know about that.

A charming smile was thrown her way as he let her take the lead. “Only when they want me to. I don’t want to intrude on their fun”, he replied. “This would be the first time that I’d win on for a little doggy though. There’s a first time for everything, though. And he certainly looks like he’ll be enjoying it, at least for a bit.”

“So did you come here for the tricks or treats this place was promising?”, he genuinely asked. He could easily see that there were plenty of the latter for those that wanted to indulge in food and entertainment. It was the frights that were promised that had a particular interest for him but with Lenora, he wouldn’t mind missing out on it for the time being.

"In any case, you are in good hands. I rub elbows with powerful people in these lands."