The Much Anticipated Arrival

[Alessandro Darko]

As they walked off of the staircase and onto the dance floor, Alessandro, yet again, felt another presence in his mind as his foot touched down onto the ballroom floor. The tingling feeling was almost undetectable, which meant that the mental assailant was trying to learn from previous mistakes by making an easy entrance, but Alessandro had been working diligently on his occlumency and strengthening his mental awareness.

Instantaneously he blocked his mind with his trademark wall of fire, preventing any external mental force from delving any deeper than the flickering inferno of flames. He pulled Keaira into an embrace from behind her as he had been leading her by his arm. He leaned in close as if he were to whisper sweet nothings into her ear.

Somebody is trying to get invade my thoughts.... He whispered ever so softly and cautious not to let his voice carry anywhere else but her ear canal. He felt a pitfall in his stomach as his cares and worries gushed back into his body. So much for a night off from the normal business. It seemed as though frivolity was a luxury that he couldn't afford. His mouth pulled up into a sneer as he felt anger coarse through his veins. His mask was still on his face, held in place by right hand via wand, obscuring his emotional expression, which if his mask had not been there, would be quite apparent.

He imagined a tremendous fiery explosion ricocheting off of every mental wall in his brain, pushing with all his might outward, in an attempt to expel the invader and discourage any further attempts at legilimency.

"Keaira...can you trace the mental signature?" He whispered delicately still with his embrace. He began to sway back and forth lightly to the music. They were going to have fun whether he had to keep his mental shield up the whole night or not

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira couldn’t help but feel the warm flush that swept across her skin as he commented on her. Using words like ‘Fair Maiden’, and ‘grace of beauty’, she had all she could do to suppress the girly giggle that threatened to erupt from her poised, body. Of all that the night held to offer she found herself immensely happy to be spending it with some one as kind as Alessandro. She was truly happy that she did not have to spend the evening all dressed up and alone.

As he gently caressed her hand, and lead it to met his lips she averted her eyes slightly, and covered her mouth as a mock gasp escaped her painted lips. Her eyes dazzled and lit up as she turned back to face him only seconds after he had removed her hand from his lips. “My darling charmer, you flatter me with such gestures. I fear I may faint if you proceed further.”

How it thrilled her to play out the part of the courtier, She mused about what her fair prince may have in store for her this night, as she gracefully moved beside him, and wrapped her arm through his own. Linked by their arms the pair entered the ball room, and moved towards the dance floor. Keaira was a bit unsure about dancing. It wasn’t something she had taken much interest to as she was growing up, and therefore she found that she was a bit limited as to what she could do.

As they stepped across the threshold she felt Alessandro’s arm tighten a little as he swung her around and embraced her gently. His voice was just barely audible over the music and general noise of the ball room. She had hoped he was going to say another sweet and charming thing, a smile already flushed across her, something she sustained even though his words were worry sum.

Keaira gently wrapped her arms, around him, bringing them closer, as she rested her head gently against his shoulder. She breathed in, steadying her thoughts as she separated her own memories from the task at hand. Slowly she rocked back and forth with him swaying to the music as she closed her eyes. Her own mental barriers went up. 16 years of hearing other people’s thoughts had more than trained her to guard her own mind; it had conditioned her to do so.

Her eyes closed as she tightened her grip on his body. Gently she pushed out her own consciousness, touching Alessandro’s mind gently. Reaching for the thread that would connect her to the intruders mind. Discovering it was easy, as she simply noticed an inconsistency with what was normally Alessandro. Quickly as she found the intrusion she pushed back on it. Forcefully attempting to push the intrusion back upon the mind that initiated it.

This night was already shaping up to be an interesting night. Masks, and costumes, she wondered if there would be just as much intrigue and deception as there traditionally was at a masque. Would this night transform in to a night where the good guys spent the entire evening attempting to block out, and discover who was praying upon them? Or would it be far more detrimental where the lightfighters would end up simply trying to save their own minds from intruders the whole night through.

[Alessandro Darko]

He and Keaira continued to sway to the music, locked in an embrace as they both persisted to non-challantly block out the mental intruder that had plagued Alessandro before in History of Magic. Alessandro's eyes were scanning the room behind Keaira, and he hoped that she was doing the same, if not more, as she was more mentally capable than he. His eyes darted from person to person in the ballroom. The couple dancing next to them, people laughing at a table, and finally, his gaze fell upon Sebastien Bellefleur. The exchange student from Beauxbatons. He had tagged along on the trip to QQS in Diagon Alley, he seemed to be a nice enough chap to him, however, it did strike him as odd that the new arrival suddenly gave way to the attempted invasion of his thoughts. Caz was new as well, but he felt that Caz had his own can of worms that he was trying to deal with, so Alessandro ruled that out at once.

Sebastien was talking with Wysteria, who looked absolutely raveshing. He noticed that she had gone the extra mile and intricately charmed the Jasmine flowers she wore in her hair as per usual, to glitter like diamonds. He noticed that she could be beautiful before, but didn't realize how much more she could intensify it. He smiled at her, though, he still was behind his mask, and she probably wouldn't know the deranged Jester sending her a silent hello while dancing with a Blue Fairy.

Alessandro slipped back to Keaira and realized that it was no longer necessary to fuel his fire, as he let it flicker away, he felt no longer a presence lingering in the back of his mind.

"I think it's safe to relax for now." He whispered to Keaira. "I think the psychic assault has ended, I don't feel another presence in my mind." He said smiling at her. He switched hands so that his left was now holding up his mask and grabbed her right hand with his own right, and sent her into a twirl, her beautiful fairy wings gently fluttering as she twirled.

Suddenly Alessandro's attention turned to the spectral canine that had floated into the ballroom, leaving a shimmery trail of silvery luminescence. He eyed it curiously as he thought to himself that it couldn't possibly be a ghost, and that it in fact was someone's patronus. But whose? He watched it haunt its way over to D'rorah, who had moved next to Wysteria and Sebastien, and in a matter of seconds, the patronus and Dee were gone.

[Kerridon Paradox]

The fiery barrier flared up again at once, blocking his access to the boy’s mind. He clenched his hands behind his back, but other than that he displayed no evidence of the mental burn. He had learnt from listening to conversations that the boy’s name was Alessandro Darko and that he was friends with Wysteria, another of the lightfighters currently taking residence in this school. Yet another piece of evidence to back up his theory that Alessandro was a lightfighter. As for the other girl, he only knew that her given name was Keaira, and that she had been missing from school for several weeks, supposedly ill. Another member of the opposition’s army, perhaps?

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the patronus enter the room, but paid it no attention except to store away the sight. He would ponder on that another time.
He let his presence fade from the Ravenclaw’s mind, trying to lull the pair into thinking he had given up. Before he left, he felt another presence in Alessandro’s mind, except this one was attempting to follow him. That could not be allowed to go on. He shoved his legilimens skills at Keaira’s mind, wondering if she, too, knew occlumency. Likely, but there was no harm in trying. Besides, she could not be allowed time to trace his mental signature.

[Keaira O'Connell]

As Keaira noticed the fiery touch around Alessandro’s mind slowly recede she wanted so scream at him not to let his guard down. It was quite apparent to her that this was just a method of luring them in to a false sense of safety. Her eyes snapped open at his words, utterly ablaze with all the thoughts that currently swam through her. ‘Why would he drop his guard?’ What does this person want?’ ‘Will they ever be left alone?’ ‘How much psychic energy can this school hold?’

She wanted to tell him to put his barrier back up, but found that Alessandro had chosen that precise moment to grab her hand, and push her away in to a quick spin. Happy that her hands were completely free, she used her left arm to help keep her balance as the unexpected move, through her a bit. Happy that she did not stumble about after his well placed spin she allowed her hands to be swept back in to his. Even with the menace of the mind invader Keaira couldn’t help but smile. She was bursting with joy that she had decided to attend the dance with Alessandro.

As she moved to whisper that they should move away from the crowd and maybe enjoy the evening air in the gardens she felt a prickle in her mind as she touched what she believed to be the invaders thoughts. A touch that resulted in a reciprocation that she was entirely unprepared for. Her mind was thrown back. Forced in to her own thoughts, causing them to scatter. She fought to keep them together but found that they would not stay. Her mind tried to refocus, knowing that the invader would get a glimpse of her scattered thoughts. She silently cursed as she felt her thoughts leak out a little, hoping that Alessandro would not be assaulted with them

Images of the past swam her vision. An old gentleman lie on the ground, a young girl heaped over his body. Blood spattered on them both. A gun shot rung the air, a scream escaped the girls lips. Dark shadows loomed over the pair, as a gun cracked the air again. The memory faded, and was replaced. The smell of cooking was evident in the air, it was late, she sat on the floor a pouting a little, as a hand was reached down to help her stand. She reached up. Taking it and stumbled forward. Alessandro caught her, the pairs faces were inches apart. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was going to do. She liked him, but would he take advantage of the situation. Or was he more of a friend type? The memory was gone, replaced with the always constant buzz of the thoughts around her. She was never alone. No matter how late it got, or how few people stayed at the castle. She always had the comfort of hearing the random things that were found at the school.

She knew that feeling. It was ever constant. And she knew she could use it. Keaira could feel the effects of the boy’s assault on her, yes a boy. She felt it in her mind. It was most definitely a boy that caught her off guard. As she felt him still lingering she pulled on the feeling that buzzed around her mind always. There were times when it was so loud that she could not hear the words of others around her. She let it fill her mind like a rush of water. Pulling on the thoughts of the school body as a whole. It had taken her years to learn to deal with it as a constant, as Keaira let the buzz build to be a roar she wondered if the invader would know what to do with this onslaught of a thousand voices in his mind at once. She doubted that he would be able to cope, but she didn’t keep hope that she would know who it was with pout further investigation. Something she had no intention of risking.

[Kerridon Paradox]

With a sense of triumph, Kerridon felt Keaira’s barriers give way under his assault. Obviously she hadn’t been expecting him to redirect his mental attack at her.

His satisfaction faded slightly when he saw the image of the young girl. She looked like his little sister had. Taisy. Her hair had been that exact colour, except on the day she died. Then it had been matted with blood. No! Forget her! Concentrate on your task!

A scowl plastered over his face, which he quickly straightened, he reverted his attention back to the memories flashing in front of him. Keaira and Alessandro; Keaira was confused as to her feelings towards the boy. That could probably be used to his advantage at some point. Then the buzzing filled his ears. It got louder, and he felt his grip on her mind loosen. The realisation came with panic as the buzzing grew to an almost unbearable level. This girl was a telepath. The voices of everyone, the whole school it had to be, louder and louder, he could hear everything they thought, all their emotions, all their fears...

He brought up all the occlumency barriers he could muster in an attempt to block out the voices. They cut off and the ballroom suddenly felt utterly silent, despite the music and murmuring voices around him. Kerridon breathed out slowly as his ears readjusted. Wait, he suddenly realised, Keaira’s a telepath. That means that if she focussed she could hear any thoughts she wanted to. Including mine. Had she accessed them during that experience? Did she know about Taisy? Had Keaira gotten that name? If so, then a brief mention to D’rorah of the attack would reveal who he was. He strengthened his occlumency shields and realised with an internal shudder that he could not risk allowing them to wane again. Hopefully occlumency would block the intrusions of a telepath, but he had never looked into the skill before in great detail. That was something that needed to be done as soon as possible. If occlumency didn’t block it, then he needed to quickly take steps to rectify that, and be careful of his thoughts before he could be sure that no one was going to overhear them. Suddenly he found he didn’t much feel like being in the same room as the Slytherin anymore. He couldn’t leave immediately, though, without arousing suspicion. He would stay for a little longer, then take a trip to the library to research telepathy.

((How exactly does the telepathy work? Just so I know what Kerridon will find when he researches, and for future encounters with Keaira.))

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro stumbled backwards a bit as something very strange happened to him. It appeared that Keaira was taking on something very large in her mind, and in the process, had let some mental flares into Alessandro's mind as he was in a very close proximity to her.

He gasped as he heard a gunshot and clapped his hands over his ears, dropping his mask which instantly transfigured itself back into his wand. He saw visions of a little girl in a kitchen, and then flashes of he and Keaira, almost as if they were about to kiss. A trickle of blood forged its way down Alessandro's nose. It felt hot and prickly up inside his nasal cavity as there was now a loud buzzing noise in his head. With a small groan, he whirled away from Keaira and made his way over to one of the tall doorways leading out into the balcony.

As he put distance between he and Keaira, his head began to settle. His mind was reeling after the psychic backlash that he had just experienced. Never in his life had he experienced something of that magnitude before. He had recently discovered he had the ability to receive visions, but usually that was something more docile than intercepting the thoughts of an entire ballroom of students.

He leaned out onto the edge of the balcony and took in a deep breath of the crisp night air, and exhaled. "I bet she could knock a person unconscious with all of that, then..." He muttered and shook his head with a slight laugh.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira stumbled slightly as she felt Alessandro’s body pull backward. Her smile was quickly replaced with a frown as she felt his need to put some level of distance between them. Her eyes shifted over his features as it registered in her mind that he had been assaulted with the backlash from her psychic attack. As she watched his mask fall away and reveal his handsome features, she reached out to touch his cheek. An action that was nearly impossible, as Alessandro drew away from her quickly. There was a glimpse of blood marring his features as she watched him briskly remove himself from her presence and head for the nearest balcony.

Keaira could not hear the music or the talking that had filled the ballroom. It was as if the entire world was silent as she heard Alessandro’s wand hit the floor, and his steps moved away. She thought of reaching out to him, but he had already moved too far away. Her eyes followed him, and after a moments consideration she swooped down to retrieve his wand and then rushed after him.

“Alessandro, wait.” She said it quietly, hoping not to cause a scene as she picked up the bottom of her dress, and headed after him. She followed him outside, and slowed her pace as she saw him leaning on to the edge of the balcony. Her mind still buzzed with the thoughts of the students around her, but, she had pulled them back within the confines of her own collected conciseness. As she looked at his back, she wondered if he would hold this against her. After all, she had not meant for it to happen. Slowly she moved toward him, her hand gently outstretched.

“Alessandro, Are you alright? I didn’t mean….. I- I’m sorry.” She hated the fact that she might have hurt him. A tear welled up in her eye, but was quickly swept away by the night air.

[Alessandro Darko]

His mind was settled now and the unfamiliar memories were now out of his active mind. The buzzing noise had wound down and now all that was left were his own thoughts and memories. The only residual flash that he maintained was the one of he and Keaira, seemingly in an embrace, faces mere inches apart. Where exactly had that come from? He thought quizzically. Was that one of mine? or hers...has that happened? Was that a fantasy? A sly smile crept around the corners of his mouth as he began to feel pretty good about himself.

“Alessandro, Are you alright? I didn’t mean….. I- I’m sorry.” She hated the fact that she might have hurt him. A tear welled up in her eye, but was quickly swept away by the night air.

Alessandro jolted with a start as he had let himself slip into his comfort zone. He turned around with a sheepish smile on his face as if he was thinking: Aha....you startled me. He thought he caught a slight welling of a tear in her eye, but dismissed the thought as she appeared to be stable.

"No, Keaira, it's alright...You don't have to apologize....but what was that? I think i may have seen some things..." he said as his cheeks flushed red as if he had witnessed a private fantasy. He cleared his throat quickly and progressed. "Was that...a gunshot I heard?" He asked her as he moved in closer and found her left hand and squeezed it within his own. He was shaking a little, partly from the recent stress on his brain, and partly from holding a girls hand in a moment of sincerity.

He looked around him subtly as he led her over to the railing he had been leaning on. "Will our minds ever be safe here?" He sighed as he continued to patrol the area with his eyes, looking for suspicious masqueraders that could be guilty of offensive legilimency. Who could be trying to invade my mind? Somebody obviously knows that we're connected to the lightfighters... He thought and segued into verbal speech. "We're probably going to have to keep a low profile, Keaira..." He said with a low voice.

[accelerando]

Angelique descended down the stairs of the ballroom, wearing a gorgeous, silver and white gown that tailed along behind her, in a mini train. It was silvery gold on the top, strapless, and fitted as tight as it could be, and it flowed downwards from her hips. One side of the dress was slit, showing the layers of petticoats beneath. Her hair was done to perfection, her long, chocolate brown locks in a half up, half down style. It had taken her ages to ease the white flowers into her hair, but the finished hairstyle was stunning. Her feet, hidden by the massive skirt of the dress, were clad in a pair of silver, Jimmy Choo stilettos, which tied around her ankles.

It had taken her ages to get ready, and she was quite happy with the result, actually. Smiling as she made her way down the stairs, she noticed more than a few lingering glances directed her way. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she made her way over to the drinks, and picked up a glass of punch. Taking a sip from it, she looked around the room, trying to see if there was anyone that she recognized.

She had decided to come solo this time, because there was no guy that she was currently crushing on that she might of asked, and everyone else who asked her were not to her taste. By then, she had walked over to one side of the room, and she leaned against the wall.

[Keaira O'Connell]

With the threat of someone attempting to pull at Alessandro, and her own thoughts, Keaira couldn’t help but try to keep herself as guarded as she could. It worried her that there seemed to be no rest for the people who were in this war. It pained her to think that even on a night that she was supposed to be able to relax; she instead found that she was busy guarding herself from allowing such an invasion of her thoughts to begin again.

As she reached out to Alessandro she noticed the way he seemed to shake slightly as if he was caught off guard. It only took a second to realize that she had caught him off guard. Silently she made a note to remember not to sneak up on him, if she didn’t have to. His words seemed a bit shaky; like he wasn’t too sure that he actually meant them. His words brought her a small sense of curiosity. What had he seen? Why did he seem almost embarrassed to have seen her memories?

[glow=red,2,300]"No, Keaira, it's alright...You don't have to apologize....but what was that? I think i may have seen some things..."[/glow]

She wondered how she would explain the whole situation to Alessandro. She was curious as to what he had really seen. However she wasn’t sure if she could openly ask it of him. She thought she saw him flush a little as he mentioned that he thought he saw something. As she was about to address his question about what it was he had seen, she heard him speak up again.

[glow=red,2,300]"Was that...a gunshot I heard?"[/glow]

She thought about that for a moment. A gunshot. She had not openly told anyone about that incident. The only person even in the school that knew of what had happened that night was Dien Serlaen. As she felt Alessandro grasp her hand she felt her pulse increase. That paired with the fact that she felt Alessandro shaking slightly made her step in a little closer to him.

“I couldn’t stop him. When I traced the mental signature, he pushed back very suddenly, and forcefully. It caught me off guard, and I lost control. He made my thoughts scatter, kind of like when you’re playing pool. The way the first person shoots the cue ball in to the rest to break them apart. That’s kind of what he did to me. Only instead of pool balls going every which way, it was my thoughts and memories. I’m sorry.”

She let the words sink in, allowing him to process what she was saying. Her mind went through her memories to try and figure out what might have given him such cause for embarrassment. Keaira pulled herself to the night before she left for China. The pair of them had been in the kitchens alone, that night they had enjoyed a snack, and talked about the plans. It had been a pleasant night, but it had left Keaira confused about Alessandro. He had all the opportunity to kiss her when she had fallen in to his grasp, but he hadn’t. With her thoughts there she realized that perhaps he had a glimpse of the moment when they were close enough to kiss, but did not. Keaira reasoned that it must be that which caused him to blush so fiercely.

“Yes. A gunshot.” She paused and brought her right hand up to her left shoulder. Slowly she pulled the collar of her dress downward, revealing a half dollar sized gunshot scar that adorned her left chest nearly three inches below her collarbone. She had kept it as a reminder of her grandfathers’ sacrifice. It was something she did not reveal often, as it pained her when people asked her about it. “You must have seen the night that my grandfather died.n Perhaps I'll tell you a bit more about it one day..”

She wasn’t about to give a lot of details unless he asked. After all remembering that night always made her cry, something that she had no real intentions of doing this night if she could avoid it. After she had shown him the scar she slide the shoulder of her dress back in to its place, and moved a little closer to Alessandro so that her words would only be heard by him.

“Until the Mage is defeated we will not be safe. It’s a good idea to try and keep ourselves out of trouble.”

[Alessandro Darko]

He tore his eyes away from perusing the occupants of the ballroom and focused them on the girl in front of him that had begun to speak. It was amazing that someone so pretty and delicate could be so strong and amazing as a warrior. He studied her lips as she spoke and explained exactly what he had just experienced on the dance floor. Alessandro was familiar with such mental abilities as occlumency and clairvoyance, but having someone else's thoughts and memories come crashing into your own, not to mention the unbearable pain of having everyone speak in your mind at once, this was a particularly unique experience for him.

He nodded as she informed him that whoever initiated the psychic assault had gotten the best of her, and her simile of how her memories scattered like someone had shot a cue ball into the rest definitely made sense to him as he felt the chaos of it all. Then came the gunshot question

Judging by her expression, Alessandro could tell that this next explanation would be somewhat sad. As she revealed her gunshot wound, Alessandro's jaw dropped. Not only did this girl have beauty and strength, she had battle scars. Keaira definitely was nobody to mess with, physically or mentally.

“You must have seen the night that my grandfather died.n Perhaps I'll tell you a bit more about it one day..”

"Keaira..." He said with a breath. He quickly caught himself before he had slaughtered her with questions about the event in which she received her memento of remorse. Did it hurt? What exactly happened? How big was that bullet? Questions flooded his mind, but he shook them off as he looked into her eyes. He couldn't help but feel that he was not going to be able to look into those eyes for a very long time and he didn't know why.

“Until the Mage is defeated we will not be safe. It’s a good idea to try and keep ourselves out of trouble.”


"Out of trouble..." He murmured. He scoffed a little as he let the thought roll over in his head a couple times and then looked at her again through happy eyes as a signature smile spread across his face. "You know me..." He said mischievously.

He turned to look at her as he grinned and realized how close she was to him. He felt his heart fly up into his throat as his whole body seemed to explode with anxiety. He swallowed hard as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair and tucked several strands behind his right ear.

"Hi..." He whispered.

[Keaira O'Connell]

The shock that Alessandro had after Keaira revealed her scar was expected. Of the few people that knew the details, nearly all of them held some kind of pity for her. A small sentiment that she was sure she did not need. Pity was only as good as the comfort that the person intended to give. Without comfort to help, pity is useless. Alessandro did not seem to hold pity for her though. She sensed a feeling of wonder, as if he couldn’t believe that she had been through such things. But she also felt a sense of respect. As if he honestly thought that she must be something special to have gone through what she had, and still be sane enough to tell the tale.

[glow=red,2,300]"Keaira..."[/glow]

As she heard him speak her name she wondered if there would be questions to follow. Dien didn’t have any questions when he learned the truth, but then again, Dien had seen the story play back right in front of his eyes. Her parents had asked so many questions the night that she had woken up in the hospital bed. She still couldn’t remember how she got there, but they had told her that a young police officer had found her shortly after they heard the gun shots. He had brought her to the muggle hospital that cared for her, and her parents had allowed them to continue knowing that it was a muggle weapon that had inflicted the wound. After she was released from the hospital her parents offered to get the scar removed, but she had chosen to keep it. A small memento of the night her grandfather gave his life for hers.

She felt his eyes drift from her lips in to her eyes. She wondered for a mere moment what he was thinking while he looked at her like that. She let him gaze through the silver, mask, and in to her greenish brown eyes, while she returned the look to his own grey ones. She knew she could easily reach out and pluck the thought from him like it was an apple hanging from a tree unguarded, and free for the taking. But she wouldn’t. She had no need, nor desire to access his mind and seek out his thoughts. She trusted him enough to tell her, if she needed to know.

Her thoughts shifted as he commented on her own statement about staying out of trouble. She had to admit she was quite relieved to see the way his eyes seemed to dance at the thought of generating some sort of prank. The familiar smile that spoke volumes of his personality was such a comfort to her at that moment. She couldn’t help but smile at his comment. It was good that he could still find humor even though they seemed destined to always have to fight their way through the day.

“Well, let’s start by not pulling stunts like turning rats in to apple shall we?” She smile broadly, and had a slight bit of a giggle to her statement. She had meant the comment to be a playful jibe, much like she had done in the past, but then again, she had turned him into a mouse that day so she hoped that he would take it well. As she spoke the words her body moved ever so slightly, causing the dim lighting that adorned the balcony to catch in the gems on her mask, and jewelry. Her eyes seemed to sparkled with the glint of the gems, lighting up her face. As she stood on the balcony next to Alessandro, Keaira couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to tense up suddenly, as if something was wrong. She returned his stare fully aware that she was a bit close to him, but that didn’t seem to be a problem to her.

Hi, he had said it as if it was the first words he had said to a girl. It made her want to fall in to a fit of giggles, but she knew that would only make him even more unsure of himself. So, she suppressed her first urged to giggle at his response to her, and instead opted for a different path. Standing so close to him, she leaned nearer to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. Her wings fluttered gently behind her as she slowly breathed, taking in the air and the scent that was Alessandro Darko.

“Hi…”

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro took in a deep breath as he regarded the night sky. The stars were twinkling like diamonds off in oouter space. In reality, he knew they were big balls of burning gas, reflecting the sunlight and whatnot, but he found it quaint to pretend that they actually were suspended fragments of some extraterrestrial jewels. The air was crisp and told tales that winter was right on their heels, as he could begin to see his breath against the night sky when he exhaled. Alessandro found it hard to believe that just moments before, he and Keaira had been under psychic siege by some unknown force, and now they were under the night sky out on the balcony, holding hands, standing dangerously close to one another.

“Well, let’s start by not pulling stunts like turning rats in to apple shall we?”

Her voice pulled him back down from outerspace and into his body again as he became fully aware of his spacial environment. He looked down with a rush of color to his cheeks as he remembered that day. He had meant it all in good humor, hoping Keaira would get a kick out of it, and secretly hoping to get a good laugh. Unfortunately for him, there were repercussions and he found himself at the mercy of Mistress Keaira Alecto Alya O'Connell. They had certainly come a long way since that time, here they were standing in the moonlight, dressed as royalty, in a very dangerous game of survival. A game which children should not ever have to play. He cast off those negative thoughts and took in another breath.

She had laid her head upon his shoulder, an action to which he took comfort in, oddly enough. He exhaled and let his eyes close, soaking in the moment that they were sharing.

I could stay like this forever... He thought as he gently tilted his head so that it rested against hers. He let go of her hand only to wrap it around her waist and pull her in closer against him as they stood there.

As he stood there with his eyes closed, his mental vision was hyperactive. Shapes and and figures swirled in and out of his minds eye. He struggled to clear and calm his mind as he just wanted to not think and just be. He began to feel a strange whirring in the back of his mind, a whirring that he had felt before. It was there the night of his dream about Caity and Jacques running into the forest and it had been there when he had warned Keaira that they were about to be attacked.

He took in a sharp breath as he was plunged forward into a vision.
[glow=darkblue,3,300] Keaira was no longer next to him, he could not feel her warmth anymore. His surroundings were dismal and gloomy as he found himself standing in a graveyard. Headstones riddled the ground at his feet and tombs were seen off in the distance. He heard several cries from behind him and he whirled around to see what the commotion was only to catch a quick glimpse of Keaira rushing toward him as he was struck by a green flash of light. Then blackness.[/glow]

He opened his eyes as he exhaled heavily. He had not taken a breath the entire time he witnessed his most recent premonition. As he regained his breathing, he looked away, hoping he could play it off that he just felt a sharp pain in his chest, and wouldn't have to tell Keaira what he had just seen. He didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to believe it himself.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira let the world around her dissolve, allowing her mind to think only of Alessandro and herself alone in the night air. Her posture was slumped, so that her head was comfortable on his shoulder. Keaira slowed her breathing, relaxing so she could enjoy the environment. Alessandro’s chest rose and fell as she soaked up the moment. To be honestly able to simply enjoy another person’s company was something Keaira made note to be thankful for next time she had the chance.

Keaira sighed, a soft, contented sigh as she felt Alessandro’s arms wrap around her body. She felt safe with him there. The attack that they had endured earlier was away from her mind now. Slowly she wrapped her right arm around his waist and her left arm over his shoulder. Linking her hands together, she gently rested with him there.

The soft music from the ballroom floated through the slightly ajar doors, it danced through her ears, and she slowly hummed along to the tune. Alessandro’s heart beat steadily, like a small metronome, or at least it began that way. Shortly after she began humming, she noticed a change in the way his heart beat. His heart rate increased, and she felt that his breathing had nearly stopped. It was a bit of a shock to Keaira as she was enjoying the steady beating of his heart, to change so quickly.

She pulled away from him slightly, looking in to the eyes of the boy she cared for. Worry was evident in the look that she gave him. She had stopped humming as she noticed the changes in his composure. “Alessandro…” She whispered his name, her eyes searching for some sort of recognition of her voice. He seemed a little detached, as if his mind was far too preoccupied. ”What’s wrong?” She didn’t feel any sort of invasive mental signatures at that moment, and honestly couldn’t figure out what might have caused such a shift in his body.