§ Bittersweet Symphony §

[[Insert Various Quiz Result Here]]

If.... if I were to make my own cupcakes, they would be chocolate, with vanilla frosting. There would be little dark blue and bright cyan sprinkles on them. Moris would LOVE my cupcakes. If he didn't, he'd sleep on the couch. But, since he loves my cake, he'll have to love my cupcakes. I should open up a small business, a bakery. It'd be fun. Every wife needs a hobby after all.

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She smirked at an enigmatic guardian. "Why... aren't you a lovely one?" Nadia winked at him from her carefully selected seat on the ground, her arms crossed over her chest just right, hiding her... assets. He raised his eyebrow at the woman, a look of disinterest very evident on his face.

"Ask me for passage if you wish to enter Hades' realms," the guardian said. "Anything else does not interest me." Nadia pouted at him and looked away. She chewed on her lower lip, plotting what to do next.

'I could try to seduce him verbally,' she thought to herself, 'I could make myself invisible. I'm good at that.' She glanced at the figure in black. '....or I could move onto physical seduction.' Nadia thought the last would probably work the best.

"I'm not interested," the form said as she uncrossed her arms and stood up. She hadn't even said anything to him! This was terribly frustrating for her, the Mistress that was used to getting her way.

"Wot the bloody hell are you interested in?" she hissed, crossing her arms again.

"Passa--"

"Passage to Hades' realm," she said, cutting the guardian off. "Right-o. Gotcha." Nadia rolled her eyes. "Bastard," she muttered, "Could at least get creative. And a new goal. It's almost as if he wants some trim or something from Persephone."

"...trim?"

Nadia laughed. "Well, you see, Mr. Enigmatic Guardian, tr--"

"Nadia!" shouted a voice from behind her. She whirled around and saw Rowane de'Dannan standing there, his eyes covered. "Come on, this way, girl." She grumbled, annoyed at the fact that she couldn't 'elaborate' for the being of the underworld.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, stalking over to Rowane, past a rather confused looking guardian.

"Trim," the guardian repeated once they had left. "I must find out what that is. Her tone suggested it may be better than passage."

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'Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, oh, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight,' Nadia breathed as she closed her eyes, the bottle of wine falling from her hand. Not that it had a long tumble - the mistress was lying in in the over grown grass of the Chateau's garden. She took a deep, shuddering breath and a few tears fell rolled down her temples.

Someone picked up the empty bottle and tossed it aside. Nadia felt them lie down next to her, and felt their fingers brush hair out of her face. 'I'm sorry, Moris,' Nadia whispered.

'I'm not Moris, dear,' Setheus said to her, his voice gentle. 'What's your wish, Nadia?' The woman opened her eyes and tilted her head towards the angel. She sniffled and rolled onto her side, looking into Seth's eyes.

'That I didn't know,' she whimpered, leaning against his chest. He leaned down, closing the gap between their faces. 'I wish that I hadn't asked him.' Nadia fell into another wave of tears, these coming harder, her body shaking harshly.

Setheus sat up and pulled the crying woman onto his lap. 'You had to know, Nadie,' he whispered, his hand gently rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. 'It'd be harder if you didn't know. You'd just feel angry and lost.'

Nadia sniffled loudly and looked up at Setheus, tears still falling. 'You're still trying to make amends,' she said, frowning. 'Don't tell me my wish is wrong, don't tell me I did the right thing, angel. You don't know how much it hurts.'

'Nadie, I d---'

'You don't! I hate him!' she sobbed, pushing against Seth's shoulders. 'I hate him and I have to live with knowing what role he had in my life! You don't understand this pain.' She sniffled loudly and wiped at her eyes with her palm. 'Now look at me. Look at this, I'm drunk and emo and lying outside in my pajamas. I'm here, crying. Did I say I'm drunk?' She rambled on, her words slurring together more and more until she fell into another harsh fit of sobs.

'You're fine,' Setheus cooed, feeling through her hair. 'Alright, so it hurts, life hurts, Nadie. You know it does.' He shifted Nadia on his lap so she was looking at his face. 'But you'll deal with it just fine, you take everything in stride, and so does your husband.' Nadia sniffled and pouted at the angel, her nose wrinkled and brow creased. 'He'll take it fine. But if you don't tell him about the Destroyer soon, I will.'

Nadia glared at him.

'Yes, Nadia Lynn Marie, I'll tell him,' Setheus warned her. 'So you'd better hop to it. And stop drinking, it'll lead to nothing good.' He ran his fingers through her hair again, his hand lingering along her back. Setheus licked his lips instinctively, wetting the exceptionally dry skin. 'Now, you're going to get up off my lap and go inside.'

'But-'

'You're going inside, Lady Ravenswick,' Setheus hissed, his hand dropping to the ground. 'You're going to wipe your tears and go back to bed. Moris is going to wake up if you're gone much longer.'

Nadia's eyes softened, her drunkenness still showing through. 'Will you kiss me? You used to,' she muttered, 'when things were bad.'

'You're drunk,' Setheus said flatly. 'You don't want me to kiss, you just want to feel lips on your own. Go to bed, Nadie.' She pouted at him again. 'Right now. You've made your wish, you yelled at me, you cried to me, you know what you have to do.' Setheus voice had been steadily growing louder, and he'd moved Nadia off of his lap and stood. 'You know, woman, now act. Be the mother, the lover, the wife, the daughter. Be strong. You're their link. You're their hope, now find yours. Find your hope, your faith, your love, your courage, your chari---'

'Enough,' hissed a quiet voice from behind them. 'Enough.' Setheus spun around and fount himself face-to-face with Moris Ravenswick. 'First I find you with my wife, just the two of you. Next, you're yelling at her. Goodness only knows if you took advantage of her state.' Setheus opened his mouth to speak, perhaps in an attempt to defend himself. Moris glared at him. 'It matters very little to me what you wish to say... I warned you once what would happen... leave now before I fulfill my promise.' Seth looked from the pale man to his bride before rolling his eyes.

'You'll trust me yet, Ravenswick,' he muttered. Then he was gone.

Nadia sniffled up at her husband, her eyes still glazed from the wine. Sighing heavily, Moris stepped over to her and picked her up, the woman happily slipping her arms around his neck, embracing him. Moris said nothing to her, but just simply took her inside. They'd talk when she was sober.

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"Oh my god," Nadia breathed, her hands pressed against the display case, much like a small child's would be around Christmas time. "It's... it's beautiful." Moris peeked over his wife's shoulder and shook his head. It was just a blue and gray rectangle, what was so special about it? It had a button that could be pushed, and a couple wires were protruding from it, but still. Moris Ravenswick just didn't understand Nadia's fascination.

Nadia squealed loudly as she jumped up and down in front of the display. "Oh my god, Moris, go get me a sales person! This is perfect!" Moris just stared at her, his eyes reflecting a bit of confusion. After squealing a couple more times, it finally registered in her mind that Moris hadn't moved yet. "Go get the lady that's over there! I finally found a pressie for him!"

After about twenty minutes of unlocking this and that, finding the right colour mixture (Nadia highly doubted the recipient of this gift wanted a lime and black one), and filling out various warranty sheets, the Ravenswicks were ready to go. With Moris carrying the bags, and Nadia holding a small box, they walked out of the store and onto the windy, snow-covered path. It was back to the suite to pack their items... and to search through the twins' room one last time. They'd been sent back to Joel's a few nights before, after Moris' interlude with Setheus, and Nadia and Moris were ready to head home themselves.

Moris didn't ask why his wife was crying, and she didn't tell him why. He didn't ask who laid claim to her as their 'firebrand,' nor did he ask if she knew the angel's name. She would have gladly answered any question he asked. She'd forgotten that she hadn't mentioned a few things to her husband. She'd inadvertently kept a few secrets, and though it was killing her husband, she had no idea. Thus, Mistress Ravenswick couldn't fix it. This was quite the no-win situation for them, and only time would tell if it was fixed at all.

"It's all clean," Nadia said as Moris zipped the bubblegum pink duffel bag shut. "Not even a candy wrapper under the bed." She stepped up beside her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you," she mumbled against his shirt. Moris smiled at his wife and brushed an auburn lock out of her face. He didn't say anything, however. This gentleman knew he didn't need to say a word. His wife was content, and he didn't want to break that. Not after everything that had happened lately. She was his world. His wife, his passion, his Lady, his eternal lover.

"And I'll never stop, Ravenswick."

She said more than enough for both of them.

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"Kendrew?" Nadia questioned softly, pushing the floral-pattern comforter off her body and leaving her husband's side. "Darling, what's wrong?" She pulled on a near-sheer silk bathrobe as she rushed over to the pale child. The instant she reached him, she picked the boy up, his teddy bear dropping from his grasp.

"'dia, I couldn' sleep. I had a bad dweam," the boy cried, clinging to Nadia. Moris had crawled out of bed, looking concerned for Kendrew, but also looking slightly disappointed -- his hair was a complete mess. Husband and wife crooned over the five year old, brushing hair back

"Dream. We've had lessons about this, Kendrew. Dream, with an 'r.'"

Three bodies quickly turned to look at who the new voice belonged to. It took just a millisecond for any of them to realize just who was standing in the room with them. Moris gently pushed Nadia and Kendrew behind his body, his tall form protecting his wife and would-be son from the intruder. "Nadia, take Kendrew to his room," Moris said, his tone suggesting it was an order, not a request. His eyes had adopted a cold edge, one that hadn't been evident in months.

"Moris," Nadia said quietly, trying to step around her husband, trying to get a good look at her uninvited guest. "Stop this, let me se--"

"Nadia!" Moris half-shouted, trying his very best to remain the gentleman in his moment of panic. "Please, just take Kendrew to his room." He glanced over his shoulder at his wife. "And stay there with him."

Nadia shot Moris an awful glare, and her hold on Kendrew went a bit lax. The little boy took this opportunity to squirm from her grasp to see who was here with them for himself. He gasped delightedly when he peeked around Moris' leg. "Setheus!" he squealed, running for the man. A weak smile crossed Seth's face.

"Hey, bud," he said, kneeling down so he was almost eye-level with the child. "How're you doing?" The little boy sniffled and rubbed at his right eye.

"I had a bad drrream."

"A drrream?" Setheus ruffled Kendrew's hair. "Why didn't you call me, you little twerp?"

Kendrew made a face at Seth and he tried to push his hand away. "You'we messin' up my haiw!" he said, pouting. Setheus gave him a pointed look. "Rrrrrr! You're messin' up my hairrrrrr!" Suddenly Kendrew found himself off his feet and instead in Moris' strong hold.

"Take him to his room, Nadia," Moris said quietly, his jaw clenching as he gently handed the child to his wife. "And please, Nadia, please stay with him until I call for you."

Normally Nadia Ravenswick would have objected. After all, who was Moris to tell her what to do? She was her own woman! She was independent, and she didn't take orders from anyone...anymore! However, with a pouting child squirming in her grasp, she wasn't left with much choice. Hrmphing loudly at Moris, she turned on her heel and sped towards the twins' bedroom, cooing softly to Kendrew as she moved. Moris shut the door behind her and he slid the lock into place.

"Before you do anything rash, Ravenswick, hear me out," Setheus said to the silver-haired gentleman as he moved across the room. "For the love of everything beautiful, just listen!" Moris glanced at Seth, yet said nothing, his hand reaching for the silver cane that was resting next to Nadia's CD player.

"You've nothing worthwhile to say, angel," Moris said, unsheathing the sword which normally lay hidden in a perfect cylinder of silver. "You invade my rooms, speak to one of my children as if you were an old friend, and you stare at my wife." Setheus flinched. "Yes, I saw your eyes. They're not much different than the instructor's, or the bell-boy's, or even Joel Alexander's."

"Alexander is engaged--"

"To the High Priestess Malia, yes, I kno--"

"No, Ravenswick, you don't know!" Setheus hissed, glaring at Moris as he approached, the tip of the sword pointed at Seths' perfect and pale neck. "The vampire's birthday, he ended it. Chara's 'present' was his breaking off his engagement to Malia." The angel backed away, oofing when he felt his back bump against the wall. "Kyla. He's fallen for another mortal. He's fallen for Kyla."

Moris glared at Setheus, his eyes locking with the angel's. Silence surrounded the two of them as Moris let all of the information roll over in his mind, the only sound the soft voice of a woman singing. Both assumed it belonged to Nadia.

"That doesn't matter," Moris said quietly. "You still entered my rooms uninvited. You still caused my wife torment." He leaned forward, the blade's tip gently nicking Seth's neck. "If only I could cause the same for you."

Setheus rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to rectify that, Mor--"

"You shouldn't have caused it in the first place!" bellowed Moris, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I'm not the only one who caused it!" Setheus shouted in return, his black hair beginning to show awful red highlights. "And you know that, Ravenswick."

"You're right," Moris said in a very forced calm. "You aren't much better than the Grendel, either." Setheus rolled his eyes again.

"Are you truely that narrow-minded?" he hissed. "I wasn't speaking of the dragon-spawn. I was talking about the Destroyer. Ever thought to ask your wife what their last conversation was about?" Moris' eyes flickered, a bit of confusion and jealousy showing through. He slowly lowered the sword. "Ever thought to ask Nadia if she's anyone's little firebrand?"

"Firebrand?"

Setheus' right wing twitched. "That's his term," he said lightly, slowly edging away from Moris.

Moris frowned, looking a bit worn, and beaten. And hurt. That was perhaps the most evident emotion, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from the angel. Why hadn't Nadia mentioned Amducious? Was there something more he didn't know? It was bad enough that she hadn't told him, but to hear it from a being he loathed made the betrayal all the worse. "We're not done, angel," Moris said, sheathing his sword. "We will speak again. If you wish to see that conversation, however, leave me." Setheus didn't move. "Now!"

"Alright," Seth breathed, glancing at the bedroom door. "She's coming back anyway." Moris watched Setheus intently, noting his movements, frowning slightly when Seth's wing twitched again. It was boggling him as to why the angel was walking towards the balcony door. It was bitter cold outside... where had he come from, actually? Moris glanced around the room, looking at the possible entries. When Moris looked back to Seth, however, he wasn't there.

"How..." Moris began, standing up. Just then, Nadia opened the door, her eyes brimming with tears.

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