Akino took Eli's hand and cautiously hopped onto the raven. Seeing as the bird accepted her, she relaxed a bit more. "Thank you, mister. I do believe that the Grand Hall is where I need to be." She remembered about her clip that Nikk had magiked, then, but she hoped she didn't need it. She was pretty sure that the nice fairy and his raven could help her.

"You might want to hold on tight." Eli smiled at her and took hold of the tiny reigns. The bird spread its wings and flew off the ledge. The Raven knew where it was going. It thankfully flew straight instead of in loops which Eli loved to do sometimes. The grand hall was not that far away. It took them but only five minuets to arrive.

Meanwhile Nikk and the group was still in the grand hall waiting for her, but it wasnt to bad a wait. There was now a fairy that was telling jokes with a friend and they were actually quite funny.

"Would you like me to escort you?" Said Eli to Akino. "I can help you find your seat and your friends." Eli seemed to be starving for interaction. He was talking at a normal pace, but he was trying to start up a conversation with Akino like it was going to be the only one in a really really long time.

Akino held on tight as the raven flew them to the grand hall. It wasn't that bad, just like flying really fast, something she wished her tiny wings could do. When they got there, she hoped off the raven's back and fluttered in the air with her own wings.

"Would you please?" She said with a smile to Eli. "It's really nice to talk to another fariy, you know."

Eli happily walked with her into the grand room where there was alot going on. Some servers were rushing to get the food to where it needed to be and others were flying around with messages that they needed to deliver. Some fairies were very fond of writting little messages to eachother. Some of them tended to be mischeivious plans and tricks that they were going to pull off on the nearby villagers.

Eli didnt pay much attention to everyone else but they did tend to stare at him and the new comer. Eli knew what they were thinking, but he ignored it. "Right this way." They turned a corner and imediatly spotted the people akino had come with.

Eli noticed Nikk and waved. nikk waved back. "Hello Eli. Long time no see." Eli laughed. Seeing was exacty his specialty. He noticed Elaina and waved at her too. "I haven't seen you in a long time either. Are you here to guard again?" Eli seemed to make friends with whomever he met. Even if it was a demon like angel.

Elaina pointed at Eli, “You! Eli, hey where’s your friend? He still owes me money on that bet we made, you know on the treasury mission?” She looked at the raven and smiled. “I see you still have the same one, but he’s getting old don’t you think?” She really liked Eli’s raven, it was aggressive at times but still it was cute. Though she’d never admit it to Eli, she fed it her leftovers whenever they went on missions together. “I’m not working for those uptight people anymore. I’m on a mission with this uptight guy now, can you believe he took away my powers? I mean come on, I was only having some fun and he had to pop my…” She didn’t continue because Nikk was giving a look. She grinned back mischievously, “Honestly Eli, I think he likes me.” She whispered to the fairy as he came closer, “Then again I am irresistible, aren’t I?”

Teva was glad to see Akino again. Deep down, she'd been a little worried, not that this place was all that threatening. If the pixie had decided to stay on with her own kind, it would not have been a shock. Just a disappointment. That, and the fairy was crucial to their mission.

Before she could greet her friend and the blindfolded stranger, Elaina started chattering. Teva sighed, bit into a small sausage dumpling -- she hadn't been eating much, just enough to keep the edge off -- and listened. Her hearing was sensitive enough to make out the angel's whisper, and she nearly choked at word "irresistible." Oh, they'd been resisting, all right. Resisting the urge to strangle the girl, or at least slap her upside the head. Then again, how long could that last if the angel kept up the way she had been? Irresistible indeed.

Eli patted his Raven. "Im not sure where he went." He said to the question about his friend. "Elaina I think Nikk is interested in someone else." Eli was about to say more but got a death glare from Nikk.

"We need to talk to Brady." Said Nikk. "I think that he owes me a favor." Eli looked at him weird. "I dont know where Brady is... I guess he owes alot of people alot of things." He looked at Nikk and Elaina and feared for his friend.

"Oh Elaina didnt you know Nikk is one of the five most powerful mages." Said Eli. "I think he knows what he is doing and had a pretty good reason for subduing your powers."

Elaina looked at Nikk then back at Eli, “Maybe he could sense how powerful I was and wanted me to feel vulnerable around him. Is he a dominant male? I would totally let him…” She looked around and noticed Bia was looking right at her so she let the sentence go unfinished. Then she remembered what Eli had just finished telling Nikk, “Hey, you know where Brutus is? That’s the guy that owes me money! I can’t believe I trusted him to pay me back later, I swear sometimes I’m too nice.” She looked at Eli as he pet his raven, “So how did you find our little pixie? I’m mean…” she waved a hand in front of his face, “you still can’t see right? I never understood your whole feeling people theory.” She thought of something dirty, but let the thought go unsaid.

"I told you before Elaina I CAN see... Just not very well. My eyes are extreamly sensitive to the light." He was about to say more but then something clicked with Bia and she has to say something.

"Nikk does not like you because he is going to marry me and you are supposed to like the one that you are going to marry." Nikk planted his face into his hand to hide it. They were definetly saying to much about him and he wouldnt be able to stop Bia no matter what he did. "Nikk is going to life this curse off of me and bring back my memories and we will get married!"

All of the fairies knew about Bia's curse, but they still wanted to see his friends reactions to it.

To break the silence and change the subject Nikk yelled. "Does anyone know where brutus is? I really need to talk to him? anyone?"

Brutus was actually hiding around a pillar watching the whole thing, but he kept silent waiting to see what his friends were going to say about Nikk. Brutus loved it when Nikk got under pressure. He was definetly not good under pressure.

Akino came in with Eli and immediately flew over to sit on the table next to Teva. Some fairies brought her food and she smiled, glad for food that seemed made for her! In a way it was, she was a pixie and this place was really nice. It felt good to be around other people who had the same size challenges. She liked Eli's way of handling that with the raven.

She was about to start up a conversation with Teva when Bia started to chatter away and at first Akino didn't pay much attention to it, but she paused mid-bite as she listened and put down the little biscuit with honey.

"Did you just say....a curse?" She said slowly, then in a much more hurried tone, "What kind of curse would that be an-and, no memories?!" It wasn't anything about marriage or whatever that bothered her, but a curse sounded most worrisome.

It occurred to Teva, and not for the first time, that she knew absolutely nothing about the people she was with. Well, save that the pixie was friendly and the angel was insufferable. She stared at Bia, then Nikk, then back at Bia. Marriage? The girl seemed much too young for him, and yet, what were appearances in this place? No, no, it wasn't just her appearance. It was her behavior that marked her as young.

"Who cursed you?" she asked the girl, finally. "And why?" A curse was nothing to mess around with, Teva knew. In her world, at least, they could sometimes be contagious, affecting not only the original target, but those around the target as well. Were they all in danger?

"It was Farlow." Yelled Bia. "Her and Nikk were having a fight and she put a spell on me." Bia teared up. "Its hard remembering things and I only remember insignifigant parts, but I do remember being able to see Nikk eye to eye when he stood up and us talking about getting married!" Tears came to Bias eyes.

Nikk Hid his face not out of embarasement, but to try and forget what had happened. He didnt want to think about it he just wanted to get it fixed. "We need to bring down Farlow for more than one reason."

Akino blinked slowly. "Wow, I'm really starting to like this Farlow less and less. That's a horrible thing to do, but why would she even curse little Bia?!" She looked over at the girl crying now and it seemed all wrong. This was a little girl and she didn't deserve what had apparently happened to her at all! "I say we hurry up and get this Farlow evil chic!"

Eli landed next to Nikk. "Can I come along. Farlow took out some fairys in that incident. One of them was a really close friend of mine. Please let me go with you Nikk." Nikk found it hard to turn down Eli. He was a very kind person and possibly very useful. He could probably help him. "I dont see why not." Said Nikk

Eli smiled and turned to face Akino. He took her hand and started off in Bruce's direction. "I can help you get fit into your armor." He said to Akino. He couldnt help, but smile. He was so happy that he was going to leave the fairy tree. For once he might even be able to use his magic a little.

Bia nodded her head in agreement with the statement that Akino had made. "Farlow is a very mean person and she wants to be more mean to everyone in the world." She wasn't sad any more, but frustrated. Like a kid that couldnt get a lego to fit on top of another one. "She needs to be nicer to everyone."

Nikk took a cloth and wiped her tears away from her cheeks. She was dirty from playing all day in the forest. They were going to need some rest time before they left. Nikk turned to Teva. "Is there anything you are in need of before we leave. These fairies make great horse shoes. They would help you on you way to Marrow cave. There are alot of rocks."

As far as she could tell, the smith Teva had visited had done a fine job on her current shoes. Then again, she had no real experience with shoes nailed to her feet. Maybe steel, strong as it was, wouldn't be good enough for the path ahead. Eventually she suspected she'd want armor, too, but better shoes would be enough for now. Teva lifted a forehoof, examining the metal on it before nodding. "I think I would appreciate an upgrade, now that you mention it. I haven't tested these on stone, and now might not be the best time to try. What do the fairies make horseshoes out of, exactly?"

"Runeite." Said Bruce who was already on Tevas shoulder. He had the ability to appear wherever he wanted to be. He would quickly change Teva's Shoes for her and then poof back to the smith to make armor for Akino. "If you would please lift your front right foot."

Bruce flew down to Tevas hooves. He had a little bag on his side full of sparkly dust. It was what he used to replace other metals, but there had to be a metal there in the first place in order to replace it. "You have nice hooves. They are nicely polished and everything." Said Bruce to Teva. "Most Centaurs dont know how to upkeep their hooves or they over do it. You have done a nice job."

"Oh!" The centaur startled a little as the new fairy appeared suddenly. When Akino landed on her shoulder, there tended to be warning. But not here. She settled quickly, though, as Bruce went about his business, and obediently lifted her hoof as he asked. "Thank you. They're rather new, but the smith who did the shoes showed me how to take care of them." She would have to trade for a trimmer, pick and file somewhere, now that she thought about it. That and teach someone else how to use them, at least for her back hooves. Those were trickier to reach. Luckily the hooves were strong and slow-growing. Or at least, that's what the farrier had said.

Nice hooves, Bruce had said. It was so strange to even have hooves, and everyone here acted like they were normal. And now she was, too, it seemed.

She hadn't heard of the metal the fairy spoke of before, and asked, "If you don't mind, what is runeite?" She wondered if it was anything like mythril.

"Its an ore thats really hard to find." Said Bruce. "Runeite is found in enchanted mountains and can only be found by the mole people." Bruce shivered. The mole people were really ugly. "Because of its ability to obtain magic it becomes really useful once you learn to use magic."

Bruce reached into his little bag on his waist. It was chips of Runeite and something else. "This is Runeite peices and blank ores that will expand and replace your hooves. Its painless.... If I do it right." Bruce was just joking around. He was an expert at this. He had been doing it forever.

He pressed the metal to the old shoe and Bruce's wings started to sparkle. He was using Fae magic with the ores in his hand. It wasnt long before the shoe was replaced with a green looking shoe. "Next" He said as he flew over to the other shoe.

Elaina stood still as a statue, Bia and Nikk?! What a perv, no wonder he wasn’t into her, he liked little girls…eww. She was in shock, she felt herself melting, then she felt her powers return. She floated in the air over the group as Teva got her shoes and Akino waited for her armor. Little Bia was trying to stop crying and Nikk was comforting her. What a baby, Elaina liked to kid around but she could understand why Farlow would curse Bia, especially if Nikk rejected her. Elaina had been rejected plenty, but when she’d shared herself with someone and he broke her trust that’s when she learned not to take life too seriously. It’s why she no longer worked with the angels and why she watched out for number one. She’d pledged her allegiance to this cause and she’d follow through with it. She waited for Bruce to be done, he owed her big time and he knew it. Elaina hovered in the air and watched the scene below, she enjoyed having her powers back, but she was itching to spar with someone. She looked around at the small group, rather then attack unpredictably she decided it’d be best to ask; much to the surprise of the whole group, “So does anyone feel like sparring with me before we sleep for the night or do I have to spar with the fey?”

Akino went with Eli after Bruce, smiling a bit. "So will the armor really be strong?" she asked curiously as she watched the rather mysterious magic that gave Teva new green shoes for her hooves. it made her think about magic. she was starting to get rather curious about what she could do. She completely ignore Elaina. she new better than to spar with the angel. she'd already had enough of that!

Nikk looked around the room. Everyone was either Fae, Young, or busy. The only person that was even available to fight was him. "Stupid." He mummbled to himself.

"The armor is the 2nd strongest in the portal." Said Eli. "Dragon armor is first, but fae dont usually wear something so ugly." He said to Akino. "Fae armor is renouwned for being very easy on the eyes. I dont wear any armor tho. I probably should."

Bruce started working faster when he heard that Elaina wanted to fight. He was eventually done in no time at all. "If you need anymore help please tell me." Said Bruce as he quickly dissapeared into thin air before Elaina could say anything about it.

He reapeared in his shop just as Eli and Akino arived. "Perfect." He said coming around the desk to get a closer look at Akino. "Wow nice shape." Winked Bruce. "Im going to love making armor for you." He turned around and grabbed a hammer and went over to a fire. "It will be a couple of hours before it is done so you can go around town or something." Said Bruce. "Eli knows all the fun spots." He laughed.

Eli shook his head. "I am not that kind of person."

The fairy worked quickly as Teva offered one hoof, then another. The new shoes had a strange, green sheen to them, which she couldn't help but admire. They were beautiful. And perhaps someday they would be magic. Beautiful, magic horseshoes. She choked back a laugh at that, and managed a sincere thank you before the fairy smith disappeared.

In fear of Elaina, that was clear. The angel who wanted to spar. Stupid angel. Teva still had questions for Bruce, about how to maintain the special shoes among other things, or rather, whether they'd ever need repairs and whether any non-fairy smiths were qualified to work with the rare ore, but... that would clearly have to wait. And she did not want to spar. Elaina had magic and flight. Teva, for all her combat training, was not magical at all yet, and was all of two weeks old in her new form. How did centaurs fight, anyway? She had no idea, and had a feeling any arrows would glance off of Elaina’s shielding. All of that on top of the fact that practice fights worked best when the combatants didn't actually want to kill each other.

No, Teva did not want to spar. So she ignored the angel, too, and went back to examining one of her shoes. Deep down, she had a feeling they would serve her better than steel ever could.

Elaina flew down to close to horse-face and looked at the new shoes, “Well their ok for now, but you still need to break them in. It’s best for all new shoes, and what better way then sparring? Come on, I’ll stay on the ground and only put up my barrier if I think that one of your…attacks is going to be too close. It’ll be good practice for you and a warm up for me, come on what do you say?” Elaina wanted to battle and she realized that if her powers were cut off again, by Nikk or anyone else she needed to be able to defend herself. She had honed most of her magical abilities and was the most graceful and skilled of any in the sky and though her combat skills on the field weren’t the best, they were adequate enough for her to survive. But the centaur didn’t need to know that, ground level they might be evenly matched. Elaina kept an air of confidence and playfulness about her as she teased and taunted Teva, she really wanted to burn up some of the pent up anger she felt toward Nikk. Leading her on when he had a…a girl he was engaged to, not to mention pulling her powers. He was next on her list, he would challenge her magical abilities. Maybe she could learn to defend against magical blocks that cut off her powers.

Teva huffed. The angel had no sense of personal space, did she? "They are pieces of metal nailed to my hooves, not leather moccasins. They do not need breaking in," the centaur retorted. She missed wearing leather moccasins. Why did Elaina have to keep reminding her of what she'd lost, even as she grew more comfortable with her situation?

On the ground, though, and no magic. Those were better terms than Teva could have expected. Granted, her specialties were woodcraft and ranged combat, not melee. Everyone cross-trained, of course, but close combat was for infantry and cavalry. Then again, she guessed she was cavalry now. Maybe a bit of practice swordplay wouldn't be such a bad idea. She hoped to train with an experienced centaur, of course, but who knew how many she would meet?

She looked Elaina up and down. Well, the centaur did have the height advantage, and the reach. She didn't know about the strength, but she supposed if Elaina had relied on magic for so many years, that wouldn’t be an issue. Agility, though... That would be an issue.

Finally, she sighed. It might be good to get the angel away from Nikk before he lost it again, anyway. "I'll need a longsword. Blunted." Her hunting knife certainly wouldn't do.

Nikk turned his attention to the fight. He hoped that Elaina went easy on Teva. She was new to EVERYTHING after all. Since their was a no magic rule in place now Nikk couldnt join in if he wanted to. He was a pure magic user and if he did do anything physical it was in a monster form that he didnt like using. "Be careful" He muttered to them before they started.

Bia watched intently. "Can I fight too!" She exclaimed. "No" Said Nikk firmly. "They said no magic in this round." Bia looked at Elaina. "Can I fight with magic against you." Nikk furrowed his brow. Bia was not listening to him.