A Rude Awakening (P)(Eck)

[Blink]

In the shadow of Night Kaida flew through the sky, a darkened copy of her figure contorting to the landscape below. The moon above her was full, and the sky was still providing for a perfect night to soar the last few miles to Zantarric. Having written a letter her 'friend' knew she was coming, just not as soon as tonight.

The young dragoness may have been a lot of things, but a complete fool was not one of them. She may have fallen for the frilly pink girl's tricks once, but she wouldn't give her the chance this time. Silently she flew past the city gates, knowing exactly where she was going per a little rumour she was told about where the girl lived.

Kaida found herself closing in on the ratty apartment building she was told about and so she began to descend, slowly transforming into that of a small white haired human girl. By the time her feet graced the ground her wings were just retracting into her skin, disappearing by the magic that allowed her to walk in such flesh.

Standing in the street the apartment building towered over her, yet somehow Kaida seemed to stand taller with the strangest smirk on her face. After a few moments she entered and began ascending the stairs, counting the numbers as she saw them on each floor she passed. Finally at the top she walked down a hallway until room number 313 was in her sights.

She paused in front of the door for only a second before placing a hand on the handle, pushing it down with some force causing it to snap a bit past the resistance of the lock. Kaida may have appeared to just be a small girl, but should she choose to channel the strength of her 'true' form she could be quite strong.

Stepping into the apartment she wasn't surprised to see the pink pillows nestled on a plain looking couch. In fact she took it upon herself to look around a bit, studying some of the weirdest art pieces she had ever seen in her life. Actually, other than the art and the pink pillows nothing about this apartment even reflected that someone as powerful and full of themself as Hildegarde Von Musel even lived here.

Shrugging Kaida then walked up to the door she presumed to be the bedroom and planted her foot just next to the handle, causing it to fly open with a loud crash. "Wake up! We have important things to discuss!"

By no means was Kaida gentle with her words, but instead acted as if Hildegarde had inconvenienced her by being asleep. "I'll get us something to drink while you get up, I am parched." Kaida's tone now pleasant and cordial as if her personality had switched at the flip of a dime. She was even acting as if she had the right to go through Hildegarde's home and prepare them something to drink. "Tea or wine? I noticed you have a set up for both" She added popping her head back in the room before turning around and going towards the kitchen.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

*CRASH*

Hildegarde opened her eyes slowly. Looking at the clock on her wall, she determined that it was far, far early for any sort of important meeting. She could hear that goddamn dragon in her kitchen rummaging for something to drink though, so she forced herself out of bed. She let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. "This had better be really fucking important, the sun isn't even up yet."

Hildegarde was wearing blue pajamas decorated with a ornate floral pattern. Her hair, normally brushed neatly into place, was incredibly messy. Without makeup on it would be plain as day to Kaida that she was Eckhart's older sister- the family resemblance was too strong to go unnoticed. Standing in the now busted doorway to her bedroom, she gave the young dragon a sleepy smile. "It's good to see you Miss Black-Hearth. Next time could you-" Hildegarde let out another yawn. "-next time could you perhaps knock?" She frowned. "Other people live in this building too, it's not just me. How is poor Chrys going to sleep?"

In truth, Hildegarde owned this apartment building- or at least, she came as close to owning it as one could in Zantaric. The other apartments were all occupied by members of Hildegarde's group, causing the building to serve as an unofficial base of operations for her. Nobody in their right mind would dare to try to take the building by force, that much was understood.

Sitting down at her kitchen table, Hildegarde rubbed her eyes once more. "I don't suppose you could put the water on for tea? I'll admit, you did catch me at an inopportune time." Stretching out her arms, Hildegarde continued in a slightly strained voice. "If it's alchohol you wanted, there's some in that cabinet." She pointed to the cabinet in question, then began to play with her hair.

"There's some Essyrni brandy in there that's pretty good, and that bottle of Adelan mead is really nice as well. Don't drink the garbage from La'marri, it's terrible. Tastes like seal piss." Scratching her head, Hildegarde continued. "Oh, and there's that new brand of wine from Jadenshine in there too, I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet."

Hildegarde let out another yawn. "So, what is it that you need to tell me? I hope it's important, because I'm not too keen on waking up early like this."

[Blink]

Kaida need not concern herself with what Hildegarde looked like when she first awoke, she was a monster in her eyes all the time. Even stripped of all the makeup and frilly clothes Kaida saw the girl as one of the worst people she had ever encountered in her life. However, this still did not deter her from stealing a glance, if not to poke fun at her about it later. "Cranberry!"

"Holy shit you and Cranberry look a lot a like!" she noted before reaching for a kettle and filling it with water. From there she considered the options for wine before going for the one she had never heard of before. Picking up the bottle she studied the handwritten label noting it was called 'Bloodstone Wine'.

Scouring the cabinets she found a glass and sat down across from the pink wench, popping the cork off of the wine bottle and pouring it into a glass. "You can finish your own damned tea.." she noted before sitting back in the chair, taking on her usual Kaida demeanor.

"You were wrong..." she tilted her head at Hildegarde, almost taunting her with a glare alone. "Emelia isn't just trying to come back..." Kaida reached down for the wine glass in front of her and took it in her hand. She swirled the liquid around in the cup as she studied it, allowing for a dramatic pause in the conversation she was leading up to. She then held the rim of the glass to her nose and took a whiff before promptly setting it back down on the table. "Bitch even poisons her own wine.... I'll deal with this later."

"She visited Aeizith." her glare then turned cold as she took in the awful site of the girl. "As in... physically she visited my brother."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde's eye twitched when the girl claimed she looked like her brother. "Don't compare me to him." she muttered. Her mood only worsened when Kaida shared the news about Emilia. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and grimaced. "Alright, I suppose it was important. Thank you for letting me know."

Hldegarde's mind raced with potential strategies she could use to take down Emillia. Basic void magic was already dangerous, but the dragon's raw capacity for magic made coming up with a plan difficult. The best idea she had amounted to throwing Ignatius at her, but even that wasn't foolproof. "He could feasibly kill her with that ability of his, but could he pull it off before she erased him from existence? I don't want to risk it." Hildegarde shook her head angrily. "I hate this. It's not fair."

Sighing, Hildegarde would attempt to relax. She looked at Kaida with a determined expression. "What did she tell your brother? We may be able to figure out what she's planning."

[Blink]

Eyeing the wine Kaida scooted the glass even farther from her making it very clear that she had no intention of drinking it. "She told him she was looking for me." Sighing Kaida briefly relived the horrid conversation that transpired with Aeizith. "He didn't really tell me anything else."

Averting her eyes Kaida then sat up straighter in the chair. "Where did you say you got this wine from again?" Her expression was puzzled as she pointed at the bottle of crimson liquid. "Did you get it yourself or was it a gift?"

Essentially what she was trying to uncover was wether or not Hildegarde was aware of its contents.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you press him for more information? This is life and death, Kaida. Your sister is a menace to everybody, not just you. You won't be able to hide forever." She threw back her head and groaned. "Ugh, now I need to send my own people to ask him. I'm sure that that will go over well."

Her attention shifted to the glass of wine. Kaida seemed offended by it, which gave Hildegarde a bad feeling. "I like trying new things. You need to expose yourself to things, y'know? Stay on top of current trends, know what kind of things are popular, all that stuff. My friends all know I do this, so they sometimes bring me stuff to try." She scratched her head. "If I remember correctly, it was Sarah who brought me this."

"Wait, that's not right. Sarah was with me when it was given to me, she was complaining about being allergic to grapes. Who brought it to me?"

After thinking on it for a while, Hildegarde snapped her fingers. "Ah, no, it was Terrence who gave it to me. He was in Serendipity negotiating a deal for me, and he picked that stuff up while he was there. He said it was popular local brand." She folded her arms, annoyed by this change of topic. "What's your beef with it? Please, enlighten me."

[Blink]

"Why don't you go press him for more information then?" With an accusing glare Kaida began tapping her fingers on the table. It was clear she was growing more annoyed with each passing second as Hildegarde refused to see the problem. "Aeizith practically threatened to kill me if I ever show my face to him again. I was lucky he told me what he did."

Dammit Aeizith and his stupid pretend virtues.

Hildegarde though managed to turn the conversation around, finally asking the only question Kaida felt like answering. "The wine is enchanted.."

Extending her hand once more she picked up the glass and held the brim to her nose. "Grapes... obviously" Pausing to stare at Hildegarde she tried to distinguish the other ingredients. "Sugar... water...yeast...." she then paused as the last component lingered in her mind.

"...magical opiate."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Opium? There's enchanted opium in the wine?" Hildegarde looked at the dragon, dumbstruck. "Opium, the addictive drug? That opium?" She shook her head. When Kaida had made a stink about the wine initially, Hildegarde had feared that somebody in her gang was trying to poison her- but now it seemed that they had stumbled onto something a bit larger then a simple assassination plot. She picked up the bottle and looked at the label, wondering if the company disclosed the ingredients or the manufacturing process. It did not, and Hildegarde's eye twitched. "Are they trying to make the wine addictive? That's our business model! Taza's chamomile tea is practically our biggest source of income! These fuckers are ripping us off!"

Hildegarde gave Kaida an apologetic look. "I'm terribly sorry about this. Believe me, I'm just as confused as you are. Would you like something else to drink while I speak with my narcotics team?"

As if on cue, a teenager wearing black eye shadow poked his head into the apartment. "Lady Hildegarde, you're awake? I delivered the letter, Eckhart says-" He paused for a moment upon seeing Kaida. "Wait, isn't that the dragon? What is she doing here still?

Hildegarde turned to look at the teenager, an exasperated smile on her face. "It's fine Ignatius, she's here on business." she said kindly. "Could you please fetch Taza from downstairs? I need her to look at some wine that's been tampered with." Ignatius nodded and began to head in the direction of the stairs. "If you lie and say somebody tried to poison me, she'll probably wake up quicker!" Hildegarde called after him. "And try not to wake up Randal, he had a long day yesterday!"

Hildegarde turned back to Kaida sheepishly. "Haha, sorry about that. Ignatius is a good kid, but he has the worst timing. Like, you have no idea how many important meetings he's interrupted." She ran her fingers through her hair pensively. "Now, your sister. Did she ever make any contingency plans in case of a situation like this? Meeting places, weapon caches, the like? I assume your big mountain castle thingy is the first place she'd look, but since you aren't there..." Hildegarde's voice trailed off. "Maybe there's somewhere else she'd look?"

[Blink]

Sliding the glass on the table towards Hildegarde the young dragoness remained calm. "Yes that opium." In truth Kaida felt pretty damn proud she had beaten Hildegarde to the punch on this one. She was about to flaunt it with some classic Kaida remark but... someone was at the door.

If a painting could be made of Kaida's face the moment the teenager entered the room it would have been made into an instant classic. Her expression harboring something between 'What the fuck' and 'Is this guy seriously wearing makeup?'.

How many crazies did Hildegarde even have? She did mention something of a narcotics team but Kaida had initially shrugged it off as Hildegarde showboating again. "And I thought Jaela was special." The boy then began to speak about a letter he had delivered to Cranberry before making a comment about her still being here.

It was enough to cause her to stand from the chair and give him an agitated look. Once again she was about to deliver a classic Kaida insult but Hildegarde had beat her to the explanation. Slowly she lowered herself back in the chair and looked at Hildegarde as if her brain was malfunctioning.

Was this the same woman that practically imprisoned her over some tea? She must have been brainwashed or something because the girl sitting across from her at the table was not the same Hildegarde Von Musel she had met a few weeks ago.

"The citadel and its contents are a secret only carried with the Black-Hearth family. I will not disclose to you what we have there but I can tell you that it is being watched closely."

Kaida could practically see Jaela now, probably swinging from a chandelier or running through the place nude. It caused a smirk to creep up as she continued with her response. "Emelia has not made any attempt to return to it which leaves me to believe that not even I know where she is hiding. My eldest sister was never one for 'roughing' it. I am sure she has another homestead somewhere. But as I said before this is all I know."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde's eyes lit up when Kaida claimed that the Citadel's contents were a "secret only carried with the Black-Hearth family". Recalling all the stories of dragon's hoarding treasure, the edge of her lip curled upwards ever so slightly. "Well, I know what I'm doing this weekend."

Hildegarde shifted her attention back to the matter at hand. "Really? No emergency plans at all? Interesting." Hildegarde personally couldn't put herself in a mindset where she'd think of backup plans as a waste of time- sometimes she had more backup plans then real plans. "Well, if I was a recently resurrected dragon I'd-"

"Hilda?" a female voice called out. Exited, Hildegarde turned her head to see her best friend Taza Faah being led into the apartment by Ignatius. "Hilda are you- oh." Upon seeing Hildegarde was in perfectly good health, Taza turned to glare at the teenage boy. He shrugged sheepishly at her.

"It was her idea."

Laughing, Hildegarde grinned at her friend. "Haha, gotcha bitch!" she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Taza's expression softened, and she too began to laugh. After a few more seconds of laughter, Hildegarde picked up the bottle of wine. Gesturing to Kaida to wait for a moment, Hildegarde stood up and handed the drink to her friend. "I need you to tell me everything you can about this wine. My associate here tells me there's opium in it, and it's apparent enchanted as well. You can use my chemistry set if you'd like." She gestured to a desk towards the back of the room that was covered in small vials and tubes. "I think the manufacturer might be trying to make the wine addictive- and you know what that'd mean for our business."

Taza's expression became serious. "Right. That wouldn't bear well for us at all. You still have the magigoggles I lent you?"

Hildegarde nodded. "They should be hanging up in the cupboard." Taza gave Kaida a polite smile, and then walked over to the chemistry table and began setting everything up. Satisfied, Hildegarde sat back down.

"Thank you for being patient." she told Kaida apologetically. "Business. I'm sure you understand." Once more changing the topic to Emilia, Hildegarde began to tap her fingers on her chin. "Did your sister have any friends? If she did, we should look into them, they may have a better idea of where she would've gone.."

[Blink]

Narrowing her eyes even more (if that was even possible) Kaida glared at Hildegarde as she saw the wheels spinning in her head. "Over my dead body" she thought as she pictured Hildegarde already planning to visit the citadel to see exactly what secrets Kaida was evading, but just as Hildegarde was able to jump back on topic so was Kaida.

Kaida simply shook her head back and forth at the prodding of emergency plans. Did she really know who she was talking about? Emelia never saw the need for plans in case of a situation like this because that meant preparing to lose something.

Then yet another person entered the apartment. This one was a woman of a darker complexion and tattoos on her shoulder. Being as well read as Kaida was she easily placed the home of this person to be an islander mix... perhaps Thanati? And then Hildegarde was at it again, acting as a friend to these people rather than a complete bitch. What was up with her?

The pink frilled crazy girl then began talking again as if nothing else was happening here. Her next question though prompted a response from Kaida that was rare. Her laugh started out small but then quickly erupted into a full on fit of laughter as she clutched at her sides from the pain of it. "Emelia... friends!?" Reaching up she wiped a tear from her eye as she tried to regain focus. "I thought you were a well informed girl, but clearly you have been living under a rock for the last thousand years!" Of course this was a joke only a dragon could begin to understand.

While laughing her gaze then traveled to the boy who had first interrupted them... he was still here. "What are you looking at?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde wasn't all that amused, but she laughed along with Kaida anyway. Inside however, she was brimming with contempt. "How dare you laugh at me you scaly piece of shit? Who do you think you're talking to? Did you forget that I can kill you whenever I feel like it? It would only take thirty seconds out of my day." After a moment, she stopped laughing. "It was just a suggestion- I doubt anybody would be her friend voluntarily. She is pretty genocidal."

Kaida then rudely addressed Ignatius, who had been patiently brooding in the corner of the room. His pet bird was on his shoulder now, and from the looks of it the two were deep in conversation. Hildegarde made a small *tch* as she glared at the dragon. "That was uncalled for. I'll ask that you be polite and respectful to my friends while you're in my house." she said pointedly. Turning to the teenager, she smiled. "Ignatius, did you have something you wanted to say?"

"Oh, ah, yes. It's just my report, Lady Hildegarde." The boy relaxed slightly at Hildegarde's smile, and when he continued there was more confidence in his voice. "I delivered the letter like you asked me to. Your brother say's he'll head back home, and that he loves you and wants to get more letters."

Hildegarde beamed, causing the teenager to blush. "Perfect. One less thing I need to worry about." She was about to dismiss him, but Ignatius continued enthusiastically.

"Your brother seems really nice! Why couldn't you invite him here?" Not waiting for an reply, he began to giggle. "When I found him, he was healing the angriest looking woman I've ever seen. Lady Hildegarde look, this is what her face was like!" He contorted his face into a disgusted, condescending sneer, then broke it as he began to laugh.

Glancing at Kaida with an exasperated look, Hildegarde began to laugh as well. "Haha, wow! That is funny!" Giving the teenager a thankful expression, she continued. "You just got back, right? You ought to get some rest, the sun isn't even up yet." The boy nodded sleepily, as if he just realized how tired her was. He would begin to walk out the door, and Hildegarde turned back to the dragon and rolled her eyes.

"Now, where were we..."

[Blink]

So Hildegarde had sent Cranberry a letter it seemed. The contents of said letter easily placed together as Kaida recalled the last conversation she had with the pink frilly bitch. "You're not fooling anyone."

Keeping up with her usual demeanor Kaida remained bothered by the presence of the younger boy. However that all completely shattered the moment he contorted his face into an all too familiar grimace.

Shooting up from her chair Kaida slammed her hands onto the table. "Wait!" she called for the boy hoping he would turn around. Kaida only knew of one person who could look so annoyed yet above everyone around them. Even she herself had not mastered Emelia's classic look of disgust.

"Where was Cranberry when you delivered the letter?"

Taking a few strides away from the table Kaida looked to her right as she used the same magic in creating a clone of herself on a new project entirely. The 'clone' that appeared though was not of the young white haired dragoness standing before them. No, this one was of a woman with an unusually large chest and evil eyes. She had even managed to get the armor and look of disgust almost perfect as she worked out the finer details.

"Was this the woman you saw?"

The clone did not move or react, it was really more of a shell than anything else. The only thing Kaida could think of as a visual representation of her eldest sister.

"Please tell me this was not her..."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

While initially shocked by the sudden appearance of Emilia Black-Hearth in her apartment, Hildegarde quickly regained her composure. "I wasn't aware she could make her clones look like other people..." She frowned. What else didn't she know about Kaida's abilities? "I wonder if she beats up clones of people she doesn't like?" she wondered. "That's what I'd do."

Still, she couldn't help but smile inwardly at Kaida's response. "She's paranoid. I can use that." Hildegarde was about to comfort the dragon, to tell her that Eckhart had nothing he could possibly offer to a being like Emilia. Just as she opened her mouth to speak however, the unexpected happened.

"Yeah!" said Ignatius excitedly. "That's her! She wasn't wearing those fancy clothes though, she was wearing rags."

"Shit."

Hildegarde's composure fell apart like a shattered window. "What? Why was she with him, of all people?" Her breathing become sharp, and she began to break out into a cold sweat. "Is she targeting me?"

"Ignatius." she said softly. "Where was this?"

The teenager- who now looked very scared- thought for a moment. "It- it was maybe, um, twenty miles north of the Ora River." He looked at Hildegarde nervously. "D-did I do something wrong? I'm really sorry if-"

Hildegarde cut him off with a gesture of her hand. "No. You aren't in trouble." she said flatly. "Thank you for telling me. Did she say anything at all?" The boy shook his head, and Hildegarde sighed. "Alright. You may go Ignatius, that's all I need from you at the moment." The boy nodded obediently and left the room, and Hildegarde turned to look Kaida in the eyes.

"This is really fucking bad." she said, voice quivering slightly as she attempted to sound calm. "I don't suppose you know why an immortal, human-hating dragon is spending time with an untrained healer?"

[Blink]

Kaida fell apart alongside Hildegarde, the two women seemingly having their plans foiled in a matter of seconds. Everything was so much more complicated now that Cranberry was involved. Of course she would latch onto him, she had to know somehow that Kaida had taken an interest in the alleged healer.

"The Bitch" she thought as she replayed every possible moment she could from the time she met the boy. Had Emelia had her followed somehow? At that point Kaida honestly had no idea that Emelia was even alive so it was completely plausible.

And then Hildegarde asked the worst possible question of all. Kaida had her own ideas of what Emelia was doing and since he was Hildegarde's brother she found it may be appropriate to share.

"I can only think of two things..." she began as she cleared her throat before pacing back and forth in the room.

"One. She somehow found out that I was interested in his... qualities...." This was actually the least horrific of her two scenarios.

"Two. She's going to eat him." After all her sister did have impeccable taste.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde's mind was to racing. "She's using him to get close to me. Somehow she found out about the spy I sent to infiltrate her army, and now she views me as a threat." She began to fidget in her seat uncomfortably. "Or Eckhart sought her out himself. He might be trying to take me out of the picture, prove he's the better sibling." Hildegarde frowned- she had made it perfectly clear to her brother time and time again that she was superior in every way. The idea of him even attempting to surpass her was inconceivable. "No, that can't be it. I wouldn't fail."

"And yet, he left home." she begrudgingly reminded herself. "I can't disregard it as a possibility."

Kaida suggested that Emilia wanted Eckhart for the same, impossible to understand reasons that Kaida wanted him. "What do you see in him that you don't see in me?" she thought jealously. The dragon's second suggestion caused the blood to drain from Hildegarde's face. Despite her complex feelings for him, she did not want her brother to die. Eckhart was family- her family. Hildegarde stood up, a determined expression on her face. "We need to find him."

"You're not sending Iggy again, right?" called Taza from the back of the room. "He literally just got back, he deserves a break."

Hildegarde gave her friend an exasperated look. "I'm not sending you if that's what you're asking. I need you here to deal with the wine problem." Hildegarde's expression hardened as she continued. "Besides Ignatius is the only one here who realistically has a chance of defeating Emilia if she's still hanging around my brother." Her eyes shifted to Kaida, who was currently pacing back and forth across the room. "Unless you know somebody else who could take down a voidmancer as powerful as she is, he's our best bet."

[Blink]

Continuing to pace Kaida only stopped when Hildegarde addressed her. "Aeizith has a basic grasp of void magic. However as I mentioned before we are not on the best of terms. He is too caught up playing house with that damned mutt and the clone to do anything of use."

Of course she didn't expect Hildegarde to follow what she was saying. It wasn't as if the girl could even grasp the family turmoil that always seemed to pop up within the Black-Hearth bloodline. "Whoever you send they must be good at filling an ego."

Her eyes then locked on Hildegarde again before she smirked. "... nevermind. You seem to have plenty who can do that." Another jab that Kaida couldn't help.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Aeizith?" Hildegarde recognized the name- that was Kaida's older brother. She wasn't entirely sure what the dragon meant by "playing house", but it didn't bother her too much. From what she had heard, the ice dragon was emotionally unstable and violent, and she didn't want to risk her brother's safety by allowing the two to meet. "No, that would be like introducing a cat to a mouse."

When the dragon insulted her ego, Hildegarde sighed. "You know what?" she thought. "I don't have to put up with this. This girl isn't helpful, she insults me at every turn, and she's weak to the point where she can be beaten by an untrained healer." She gave Kaida a cold, dismissive expression. "I don't need you."

Hildegarde's demeanor was calm as she prepared to flood the dragon's lungs with chlorine.  She didn't need much in the way of hand gestures or incantations in order to use her magic- she'd mastered it to the point where all it took was a smile. Kaida wouldn't even realize she was under attack until it was far, far too late.

"Hey Hilda, check this out!" called Taza from the back of the room. Deciding to spare the dragon for the time being, Hildegarde turned to look at her friend, brows raised. "You were right about the opiate, whoever produced this wine clearly intended for it to be more addictive then your run-of-the-mill alcohol."

Letting out a groan, Hildegarde slumped in her chair. "This is just perfect. Like, this is exactly what I wanted to happen." She crossed her arms angrily. "When the public figures out that they're being sold addictive food, they'll be on the lookout for that kind of thing in the future- and that means that our operation will be compromised."

"Yeah." Taza said plainly. "Whoever made this was pretty stupid, it's blatantly obvious what this Bloodstone business is up to if you actually look at it close enough. Like, it's not even subtle."

Resting her head on the table, Hildegarde spoke in a bitter voice. "Taza, keep looking into that bottle, there might be something else terrible in it. When Randal wakes up, I want you two to go to the winery and find out who's supplying their opium." Taza nodded and got back to work, and Hildegarde's eyes focused on Kaida. "Anyway, no. Your brother isn't allowed to meet mine, that'd be bad. If you have no other suggestions, I'll stick with Ignatius."

[Blink]

Kaida could see the wheels turning in Hildegarde's eyes as she shot her a cold look, one that Kaida returned.

"Try me"

Both of them though had their attentions pulled towards the doorway as one of Hildegarde's lackeys returned. Of course Kaida's initial findings would be confirmed by the woman, only now Hildegarde seemed to realize the extent of the wine problem.

"I think that is best indeed" she agreed as she slowly sat back down at the table.

Bringing a hand up she tapped her fingers on the wood as she did her best to run all the possible scenarios through her mind. "Ignatius must not tell her that I am still here."

"If you do then you will have Emelia Black-Hearth at your gates." Kaida wasn't ready and she was sure she probably never would be to meet her sister again. She knew deep down Emelia loved her as a sister should, the bond the two shared far greater than one with any of her other siblings. But along with that bond came loyalty and trust, and Emelia had taken advantage of both.

It almost saddened the young dragon as she replayed the fond memories she carried of her sister, memories she had flooded with nothing but hatred as of late.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde nodded. One of the things that had been a key to her success all these years was her knack for calculating odds. She hated to admit it, but as things were, if Emilia decided to show up in Zantaric, Hildegarde could only see a 30% chance of survival for both her and the city. "Unacceptable. I need to even the odds, somehow." As she began to brainstorm ideas, Hildegarde yawned. Checking her timepiece her eyes drooped. "Shit, it's still that early? Fuck this, I'm going back to bed."

Standing up, Hildegarde stretched her arms. "Well Kaida, I need to sleep on all of this. It's been nice." She was about to head back into her room, but she stopped. After a moment she turned back to the dragon. Hildegarde wasn't quite sure whether it was the lack of sleep that prompted her to say what came next, but she felt it was a good idea at the time- the dragon seemed vulnerable.

"Say, Kaida... would you like to drop the animosity and be my friend?" she said with a blunt smile. "You seem... unhappy." Hildegarde cleared her throat. "For, ah, reasons besides the obvious one. I find that having companions helps to ease that." She outstretched her hand and grinned. "Whaddya say?"

"I can't believe I have to outright ask, you scaly cuntwad. Learn to take a hint."