Hours later, Nina arrives at her nest, sensing several ageless presences in the surrounding area. One appears to be separated from the others – closest to her, and actively growing closer.
'Hopefully, that's Ciri realizing she needs my help after she didn't find Mizuki here.'
Nina quickly shifts back to her human form, and takes off running towards the presence in question. She hops over fallen logs, dodging through the thick brush of the forest. Eventually, she can feel the presence almost on top of her, and she begins straining her eyes and ears.
"Goddess Nedonera?"
Nina turns around, surprised to find a familiar young woman with dark blue hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes staring at her. Yona – the Greater Spirit Mizuki once met in Nina's nest. Nina's eyes widen, her voice becoming urgent.
"Yona, have you seen a woman around here? A female Elder Dragon, named Cerilia?" (Nina)
Yona's eyes widen, and she nods fervently.
"Y-Yes...Goddess Cerilia! Her power was terrifying! I was worried that she was going to hurt Mud or the other forest dwellers." (Yona)
Nina's briefly caught off guard, her expression puzzled.
"Mud?" (Nina)
Yona smiles, nodding.
"Yes! The earth dragon that Tchar'jee gave to us to feed and protect. The one born of your magic, Goddess! That's his name – Mud!" (Yona)
Nina opens her mouth, then closes it. She shakes her head, remembering why she's here. She directs a serious expression at Yona.
"Where did Ciri go? Did she hurt anyone?" (Nina)
Yona shakes her head.
"No, she was just looking for Tchar'jee. She thought he was here, for some reason. I told her that he must have already returned home to the elves' lands." (Yona)
Nina feels her blood run cold, her voice a strained whisper.
"You told her where we live?" (Nina)
Yona tilts her head.
"Yes? She said she was his mate, just like you Goddess. We did not know that Tchar'jee had so many goddesses as wives!" (Yona)
Nina's heart constricts, unable to keep the rising panic out of her voice.
"When, Yona!? How long ago was this!?" (Nina)
Yona cringes away, her expression becoming fearful at Nina's tone.
"A f-few hours, G-Goddess!" (Yona)
Nina doesn't hesitate. She immediately shifts into her dragon form and takes flight, crushing all the trees in the vicinity. As she speeds away towards the Elven Kingdom, she tries reaching out to Mizuki through their Bond.
[Mizuki!? Mizuki, I'm so sorry, I might have messed up! I think Ciri – the Elder Dragon of ice – she's on her way to you! She's so much faster than I thought, she might be there any minute!] (Nina)
Silence...no reaction through their Bond.
'Is he asleep?'
That's the only explanation that makes any sense to her. Even if Ciri wanted to hurt Mizuki, she couldn't. And if Mizuki is asleep, no amount of thought-shouting is going to wake him prematurely.
At this point, all she can hope is that it takes Ciri a while to find Mizuki's location within the Elven Kingdom, since Yona nor Ciri should know the mansion's location. Enough time for her to make up the distance, or for Mizuki to wake and hear her telepathic messages.
Unfortunately, that's not going to delay Ciri for more than a few hours. There are only two ageless presences in the Elven Kingdom right now – Mizuki and Alto – and they are presumably both at the mansion. Ciri will be able to sense them from a fraction of the Kingdom's breadth, but paired with her speed, it's enough to track them down.
It's a race against time that Nina hopes she wins.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Teyla Zang sighs, gently falling back onto her bed.
She's just finished the dinner with Zara and Xian, which ended up going on longer than she expected. Despite her own suggestion that diplomacy be postponed until the morning, it inevitably infiltrated the dinner – Zara couldn't help herself, it seems.
Nevertheless, Teyla was pleased to hear about the new status quo for the wolf-kin, even if she's already heard most of it from her spy network. However, there were two pieces of incredibly interesting information that she got out of it.
First, Zara mentioned that she just established trade and security relations with the rabbit-kin...and took care of the dragon that was terrorizing them. Perhaps that would have surprised her this morning, but after seeing Xian get put in a time-out like the man-child he is, a regular dragon seems a matter of course.
The second piece of news, though...Zara claimed that her family name, Zuki, was given to her by an elven noble. The young wolf-kin wouldn't elaborate for Teyla what exactly their relationship with the elves was, just that they were 'on good terms'. She, of course, expected that they'd at least been to the elves' lands, given what she'd heard about Mizuki's adventuring party. But Zara being granted the same family name as one of them is an entirely different level of familiarity.
'Just who are you, exactly...'
Teyla's thoughts drift to the handsome young man who seems to be at the center of it all, memories of intelligent green eyes staring at her swirling to the surface. She has a lot of questions weighing on her about the boy-...no, the man, behind those eyes.
Why does he look barely eighteen despite being her age? What the hell even is his magic? He toyed with Xian, and she's still not sure what spells he cast – there were never any visual cues. Not to mention the complete lack of incantations. There's also the apparent connection to the reclusive elves. What is he to them, and vice versa? Then, there's his Otherworlder status. What were his world and people like? Finally, she wonders about the man himself. What's driving him? Why did he kill Belmod? Why is he making connections with all these races?
'I wonder what kind of women he likes...'
The thought slips through, unwanted but persistent. Curiosity of a primal nature. The question elicits memories she didn't ask for – rough fingers on her lips, an infuriatingly charming smirk. A shudder runs through her body that causes her tail to twitch behind her, her breath hitching slightly. She feels the desire to corner him, to satiate every infuriating curiosity about him that's been ravaging her mind.
Then, she purses her lips disapprovingly, clicking her tongue.
"Tch...tired my ass..." (Teyla)
Her face twists into a scowl at the memory of Mizuki skipping dinner to 'rest'. The entire reason she postponed the diplomatic talks was so that they'd have time tonight to get to know each other better. Casually. Personally. And he just up and excused himself from it!
Annoyed, she stands abruptly from her bed.
'I can just talk to him now. He's our guest, it's getting into the night...of course I'd check in.'
She nods to herself, as if validating the authenticity of that claim, then walks towards her bedroom door. However, she freezes mid-step. Her eyes slowly move to the large mirror on the nearby wall, assessing her appearance.
She's still in her standard day robes – long-sleeved, floor-length, made of thick, formal fabric. Her hair is slightly tousled from all the running and erratic activity earlier. She bites her lower lip, her tail flicking nervously.
'Not an appropriate appearance...for greeting an important guest. I should be in nightwear...so he doesn't think I sleep in my official robes. I should brush my hair, too...because it's unbecoming of me as a representative of my people.'
Teyla changes her robes and spends the next few minutes fixing her appearance. Then, she once again stands in front of the mirror, admiring her work. Her hair has been brushed back to its natural, silky state. She's now donning her nicest sleep robes – a thin, short-sleeved red silk robe that stops halfway down her thighs. It also offers a more comfortable chest fit, cinched loosely at the waist and offering the faintest glimpse of a cleavage line.
She feels a faint blush creep up her cheeks when she sees her slightly provocative reflection in the mirror. However, just as quickly she remembers Mizuki's eyes lingering on her body earlier, during their little game. Her lips twist into a faint smirk, and she straightens her back.
'I'm just wearing what I'd normally wear to sleep. It's completely appropriate for me to be dressed like this right now. It'd be ridiculous of me to change into something more modest just for him. If his eyes wander, that's his problem.'
With that, she promptly walks out of her room, making her way through the building to Mizuki's guest room. She feels a touch self-conscious about her robes being seen by Xian or someone else in the hallway, but she mercifully doesn't pass anyone. Eventually, she arrives in front of Mizuki's door.
She knocks gently, her voice soft but audible.
"Mizuki? It's Teyla, I've come to check on you...as our guest." (Teyla)
She waits a few moments, but doesn't hear anything. Her eyebrows raise.
'Is he...actually asleep?'
Unable to resist her curiosity, she slides open his guest room door, gently. Quietly. She peeks inside, vaguely making out a lump under the covers inside his dark room. She can't see his face, but the thought of that normally infuriating face of his slack and mashed against a pillow causes her mouth to twitch.
'Fufufu...just a quick peek, to make sure our guest is safe.'
She quietly slips into the room, sliding the door shut behind her. Taking a step towards the bed she feels a very subtle shift in the air. One that goes ignored by her. She walks to the side of the bed, careful not to make any noise. She smirks, studying Mizuki's head sticking out from under the blankets. Then, she freezes.
Because she realizes, all that's there is the corner of a pillow. The lump she saw in the bed from the door is just a couple of pillows shoved under the blankets. Alarm instantly sets her nerves on edge and sends her heart into overdrive.
'He snuck out!? Where? Why? As powerful as he is...'
A shiver runs down her spine at the thought of what he could be up to, sneaking around in the heart of their city, completely unsupervised.
'I have to warn Xian!'
She turns and runs towards the room's door.
THUNK!
Less than a meter before the door, an invisible force slams into her and knocks her back onto the floor.
"GAHHH! The fuck!?" (Teyla)
She rubs her face, trying to quell the throbbing pain in her forehead. She stands shakily, her expression cautious and a touch apprehensive. She reaches her hand out slowly, exploring her path towards the door. Shortly before she reaches it, though, her hand presses flat against an invisible wall.
Teyla's pupils constrict to pinholes, and she's reminded of the strange phenomenon when Mizuki fought Xian, if it can even be called that. A sinking feeling develops in her stomach.
She quickly places her hands against the invisible wall, shuffling around, feeling its boundaries. After several minutes, she steps back towards the bed on trembling legs, a terrified expression on her face.
'This is bad...what the hell is this?'
As best she can tell, there's an invisible wall trapping her inside the room. It lines the walls, but keeps her almost a meter from the door.
She racks her brain, trying to come up with some way out of whatever trap this is supposed to be. Eventually, she comes to one solution.
"XIAANNNNNN!" (Teyla)
Teyla screams at the top of her lungs for help, abandoning any embarrassment she may have about being in Mizuki's room like this. She listens in the wake of her pleading scream.
Silence. Total silence.
'Don't tell me...'
Fear grips her heart again, and she screams for help, in denial. She continues screaming intermittently for over ten minutes, but...it never seems to matter. Eventually, she collapses onto the bed, trembling. Her body heavy with resignation.
'I'm trapped here...'