Anthony blushed a bit, that same amusing shyness returning full force.

"Well... you see.. out of all my male siblings..." he paused.

"I'm the only one who can cook... and and they never cease making fun of me for it."

He began to fish for the ingredients out of the cabinets, muttering to himself as he collected them all.

Thalian chuckled as he stared down at the black-haired lump attached to his ankle.

"And yet I didn't hear you object to being able to choose from clothes that would actually fit you, did I?" He said in a very smug sarcastic tone as he grinned down at her blushing face.

He decided not to wait for Hollow to release him and dragged his ankle, along with Hollow, down the hallway as he shuffled to room containing his parents and Aideen.

He brought the ankle with Hollow attached to it forward with incredible force, tossing Hollow butt-first through the open door of the room where she landed in a heap in front of Aideen.

"Maybe I don't look good in anything." He called after her. "But I'm good AT everything." He laughed in her general direction as he meandered into the room. She was too easy to tease.

Anthony seemed to perk up noticeably at Kitara's compliment, because he started working faster and seemed more cheery besides. He brought the milk out of the cellar and poured it into a small cast iron pot he placed over the fire on a rack. It was a lovely fire, set back into a deep brick hearth full of warm coals and good smells.

The air in the kitchen seemed to have a bit of spice in it, and despite the size of the castle, it was very small and cozy. Wooden tools and untensils hung down from everywhere, even the ceiling. A large corner was stuffed with all sorts of strange pots and pans. A deep tin tub with a drain and pump that must have lead outside somewhere occupied the other corner.

Anthony had sat Kitara in a pleasant oak stool at a comfortable stony island in the center of the room.

"How warm do you like your milk?" He asked politely.

As hideous as she is now, every demon she killed made her feel that much more monstrous. Flapping her wings she prepared to land at the entrance of her clients dwelling for her payment. This was the only way she knew to earn a living, it came naturally. The first demon had a bounty on his head and when she retrieved it she found herself a small fortune and a few clients. Now her only clients were waiting for the head of her most recent kill. They’d always paid well and gave her plenty of work, they’d never given her trouble. As she walked into the cavernous entrance she brought her wings into herself and they disappeared, as if they’d never existed. She flipped her long blonde hair back and adjusted her black cotton skin-tight shirt over her black dragon skin pants. The black dragon skin boots made no sound as she walked through the familiar corridors, ignoring the remarks made by other demons who’d come to call her the Angel of Darkness. She’d made a name for herself here, granted not a welcome one but at least they kept their distance. The brothers were waiting for her and she could sense the tension in the air, they were up to something. They were twins, but that didn’t stop them from shifting their scales to different colors as they sat behind their desks, taking inventory and counting out their gold.

“Here is the traitors head as promised!”, throwing the bloodied rag onto the floor beside their desks. The rag opened revealing the parrot head of their former treasurer. “Now as for my pay, I’ll be taking that and be on my way.” Arianna didn’t like to stay for long, she didn’t care to know of any of their dirty dealings.

“Aahh…Arianna, yes how nice of you to drop in hehe..ooh.. I see you got him. Yes, Tiros she got him.”

“Good, good. Well her you go.” Hiros threw her a small bag of gold coins and she caught it in mid-air. She weighed the bag in her hands then turned her attention to the twins.
“This isn’t the amount we agreed upon, it’s 3 pounds lighter than it should be.” The twins averted their eyes and continued working.

“No that is the correct amount, remember we wanted him here three hours earlier but you took too long. Every hour lost was on your wallet.”
Taking a knife from her side belt she stabbed it into Tiros’ desk. “That’s Bullshit and you know it!”

“My dear there is no need to get violent, this was our agreement.” Tiros didn’t look at her, but he was very nervous. His eyes kept flicking over to the hearth. “Now if there’s a problem I’m sure it can be worked out.” Tiros started counting the gold on his table once more. Arianna tightened her hold on the handle of her knife, she knew what was coming and she didn’t like being handled this way. She did these jobs on her own and handled her own business, nobody handled her. They weren’t going to cheat her out of her money, too many others had which is why they were her only clients. Now she was faced with the same problem she had to deal with before, and no one separated her from her money. The knife was taken out of the desk and she sheathed it, walked over to Hiros’ desk and faced him head on.

“What are your thoughts hmmm? Because I’m not getting what I rightfully deserve and you two are contradicting the contract.” Hiros turned his serpant head up to face her, his scales changing from a mild blue to a warning orange color. “Now pay me my due or things are gonna get ugly.”

“What as ugly as you? Wench you’re the dirt at the bottom of my boots, be thankful for what we did pay you. Anyone could have done that job at a lower price, now get out of here!” Arianna reached for her knife and that’s when she noticed the heat from the hearth was intensifying.

"Whoa whoa", she said, backing up, hands in the air, "We don't want any trouble! We don't know HOW we got here! Last I remember, we were asleep in our bed! Our... aura, as you call it, is probably due to our heritage... we can't help what we are, you know."

Benvolio was sucking the water out of his foot, but all the while, he was ready... just in case, watching with his big button eyes.

A sharp pain hit her on her left side as she released three daggers hidden in her leather bracers. They hit their target, but only enough to stun it. The twins were trying to pull their books and money out of the way, they didn’t want their precious things destroyed or taken by the fire demon or by their previous assassin. Arianna unleashed another two daggers one at each brother before drawing her sword and quickly slicing the fire demons head from his shoulders.
Turning to the twins she held the sword out and placed the blade on Tiros’ neck, then she kicked Hiros. “Now do we have an understanding fellows?” Hiros groaned and Tiros just stared at the blade at his throat which Arianna proceeded to slowly push farther in. “WELL?!”

“N-n-nnoo. No problem, take the gold, t-tthree pounds right?” Tiros asked shakily holding out the gold to her, with a look that somewhat resembled a smile. She smiled back at him, and shook her head.

“Wrong Tiros, your attempt on my life will be…returned.” She thrust the blade into his throat and twisted the blade. Then she turned to Hiros who was whimpering on the ground, he looked more like a fat toad than a serpent demon. She kicked him again, then cut off his head. Three more heads, three more deaths, and now she was three times uglier for her hand in such a terrible situation. She gathered up all the gold and placed them in the chest Tiros kept under his desk. Arianna pushed her wings out and they shone brightly as she held the chest in her arms and enveloped herself with her wings to hide the chest from the demons in the corridors down the hall. The last thing she wanted was to fight her way out, hopefully her reputation would keep any of them far enough away.

Arianna stopped…she thought she’d heard a voice coming from the shadows of the cave. But when she turned there was no one there. She shook her head, maybe it was time for her stop this business hearing voices that weren’t there was never a good thing, so she flapped her wings and took off.

Flying to her hiding place Arianna placed the gold with the rest and examined her little treasure trove. This would be more than enough to start a life some where a lot safer then the mountains she’d fallen in to over a year ago.

Her memories flashed to a comfy kitchen with a small hearth and the warm smell of bread drifting in the air. The children loved it when she cooked, the family she worked for were like her family. The parents were kind and their 5 children were copies of their parents. They were always energetic and getting into mischief.

Then the memory changed, a handsome man in uniform on horseback riding full speed with his hunting party and a 6 year old boy chasing after his ball. She pushes him out of the way, and she’s trampled by the rushing horses. But all that matters is he’s ok…he’s ok…the family is safe.

She shook away the images and the tears that were threatening her brilliant blue eyes. She tied her long blonde hair back and started to gather the money together. She was going to need most of it to get the supplies she needed. The rest of her treasure she’d hidden in other smaller caves under dirt and leaves she’d retrieved. She’d be able to salvage it when it was needed.

The wardrobe. Right. How could she have forgotten? And then Aideen remembered the events of the last evening, and decided that the closet was the least of her worries. "I didn't think of it," she replied, looking down at Hollow, eyes betraying no emotion in particular. "Come on. Let's see what we can find."

She cast an anxious glance at the bed with its sleepers, but seeing no hint that they would wake, opened the wardrobe. It was magical indeed. If Valerie had removed an astonishing amount of clothing from it, its full capacity was almost impossible to believe. There seemed to be a little something for everyone, and yet... and yet it was easy to find things, too, as though the wardrobe knew just the sorts of things those looking through it wanted and provided them accordingly.

Aideen carefully rifled through it, finding suitable undergarments, a new pair of slip-on shoes, and, to her astonishment, a gown very much like the one she’d lost. It wasn't identical -- the red patterns were strangely leaf-like rather than amorphous -- but it was familiar just the same.

As she changed into her new clothes (which the ash did not cling to quite so well as it did Thalian's pants), she hoped that Hollow would find something acceptable.

Kara did not wish to become hostile with the two at all, but she was very torn between good manners and gut instinct.

"Being rude to your guests again, Kara?"

Before Kara could make up her mind, this terribly loud voice came echoing across the crests of the waves crashing onto the shore. It sounded like the voice of the man, only it had the slight ring of static electricity about it. Kara looked shocked for a moment and outraged only a second later.

"What do YOU want Delanos!?" she screamed at someone behind Benvolio and Olivia.

The same voice echoed out of the shadows throughout Alianna's cave despite the fact that she had traveled a good ways from the place it rang out the first time.

"It seems you have done well for yourself." The charming voice whispered. "Though, is it enough? After observing your skills today, I would like to say you could obtain more than just gold. Revenge, for instance, is a reward worth having as much as riches, if not more so. Tell me, Alianna, are you a woman of justice?"

Anthony finished mixing together Kitara's hot chocolate, and he brought it to her nervously. What if she didn't like it? I suppose there were more important things... but he'd already held a sword in her face once today. He didn't think he could handle it if he spoiled her sweet drink too...

His thoughts must have been leaping onto his sleeves because his hand shook a little as he set it down before her. His feet were getting sweaty...

"I uh.. hope you like it. If not that's alright! I'll happily make you something else! There's tea and I could try my hand at a little food if you like, I mean if you WANT food, and I guess..." he began to stutter on nervously.