No more than a few days upon Snow's return to Rhy'Din...

— Centered First In Teas 'N Tomes Late The Night of December 17th, 2016

With the seasons change, Snow was in her haven. Being a born Snow elf, the colder seasons made her far more comfortable. Resistance to cold allowed her to dress simply without being bundled up. Her cloak being that of a deep steel blue was draped over the arm of the lounge chair, leaving her shoulders bare with a seasonal white leather outfit, a corset style top that was a particular combination of leather and lace at the fringes, leather pants of a matching color worn like a second skin for flexibility and movement, soft leather boots with a dull low heel that matched the rest came to her knees. Her wavy opalescent tendril locks framed the round face, pinned back at the sides to keep them out of her eyes. She cradled a mug of steaming tea she very well might've spiked with absinthe from the messenger bag at the foot of the chair, sipping the heated beverage as drastically long lashes fluttered and closed pleasantly with the hum that reverberated through her throat.

In the midst of her chilly reverie, there came a gentle prodding in the back of her mind. "At last, I've found you..." Whether she'd at some point acquired the means to handle psionic intervention mattered little in the wake of the sheer potency the sinew that the distinctly masculine vocals she'd for whatever reason conjured in that brain of hers. A hallucination. It had to be. Of course, once she managed to hear the voice again a few steps further...."It's been far too long, my dear..."

She could almost feel the tug at her mind, that faint breakthrough that some might not have even noticed were it not for the paranoia of the roguish Elf. Eyes fluttered open and blinked at the voice that drawled through her mind, rapidly blinking as she wondered just how much absinthe she'd put into that mug she was holding with so much care. Pale blue eyes scanned around the room with a slow turn of her head, pallid brows furrowing with confusion until the second wave of words rolled through her mind. The familiarity of the voice had an unnatural chill trailing down her spine, had small bumps rising along her arms as her lithe frame slid to the edge of her chair, uncrossing her legs to slowly lean for the coffee table before her to rid her hands of the tea cup. Was she hallucinating that familiar voice" Confusion was apparent on those delicate features as she seemed to look for the source as if he was hiding in some shadowed corner of the room.

A moment or two's perusal would have her take notice of a silhouetted figure standing outside the newly half-opened doorway, snow billowing in intermittently as it escaped into the cozy nook. Was that the source of the voice" Nevertheless, the tall form stepped out into the swiftly-growing blizzard that began to envelope RhyDin's passageways from outside. Whatever the reason for it might have been, Snow likely would feel coerced.....nay, compelled to follow. The shade's pillowy, if not somewhat distorted timbre called unto her like a lover long since lost to space-time, itself. What's more, only minute breezes spilled forth, a very minuscule pile of snow having since gathered at the edge of the doorway. "What will you do...?" it continued, e'er urging her toward the frozen tundra that awaited her just beyond the safety of the establishment. Was this a dream' A glance in any other direction would denote an atypical lack of patrons all of a sudden.

Simultaneously, the chill of the half-opened doorway sent that cold air washing over her the moment her eyes locked on to the silhouetted figure outside. Staring blatantly, her eyes narrowed nay in a glare as it was more her trying to focus her vision. Fae had the dark vision, not her though something had the bells ringing in her head that the vision wouldn't aid her. Even though the chilled air was seeping into the cafe, it wasn't the culprit to the shivering that had her folding her arms over her chest, fingers curling around the thin biceps of her arms. It was the urge to follow the silhouetted figure, even if the bells ringing in her head that warned her it may not be the best decision. Or maybe it was the roiling of Fae's energy in her belly and mind as if she was waking from a winter induced slumber, coiling and writhing like a pit of serpents right down to the hiss that spoke from her mind and slipped between the Elf's teeth. "Calm down, Fae," she muttered to herself, only for that voice to ring true in her mind once more. It was deeper, but the voice's signature was familiar, even if the change in that tone had mild confusion springing up from it. What will you do"... Those words had her catching a pale lip between her teeth until both words and that compelling urge to follow had her slinging the strap of her messenger back over her shoulder and swinging the cloak over her bare shoulders to tie it at her throat before the soles of her boots drifted over the floor, a deep breath taken at the opening of the door, as if to steady both her and the writhing Shadar-Kai inside of her before she breached the doorway to leave the safety of Teas 'N Tomes and risk the uncanny blizzard outside.

A single step past the threshold was all it took for the blinding white of snow and sky to disintegrate instantaneously before her. In their stead, she hovered over an inhabitable and inexorably dark place from whence no light could truly emerge. There she would remain for a time, adrift amid a sea of ne'er faltering darkness. Only by a paradoxical sort of logic whereupon a palpable eternity came and went did the silhouette reappear. That having been said, it darted away from her into what could feasibly pass for a ceiling in the unlit plane of existence. Her gaze would be drawn to the point where the slightly lighter trail of movement vanished into the shade. Light of a truly crimson nature erupted from the source to frame the shadowed sky in the plane, revealing a near apocalyptic sea of obsidian clouds beset by said crimson. In its epicenter, a massive castle the size of a continent suspended itself endlessly within the shady shroud. More specifically still, at the very pinnacle of the spire-like structure served as even the sky fortress' way-marker, a plateau: a flattened surface with a throne was to be found. There would she find herself whisked away to by forces beyond her will and measure of power. No, for the moment she was a denizen of this realm and thereby subject to its rules: a slave to the whim of an uncaring despot. As her feet met with the harsh and sheer black stone of the tower, a glimpse forward would reveal unto her a simple throne at the opposite end. In it sat a man whose garb bespoke not merely of nobility and grace, but also insurmountable power. Just being in the obfuscated being's presence was like to send chills running down even the vilest of nether dregs and cretins that crawled throughout dimensions similar to this. Yet, for what 'twas worth, neither personality was capable of sensing anything or anyone beyond him and the absurdly massive sphere that further blotted out any conceivable radiance a star might have shone on this fallow world. Though she did indeed bear witness to the figure, she would not be able to glean his entirety until she neared his resting form.

The shift of scenery was almost overwhelming to the Snow Elf, having expected to be washed with the blinding white of snow to the drastic change of literally blinding darkness. For Snow, it sent a pit of fear without her vision to aid her as she felt helpless in the change. The Underdark creature she homed in her petite body was writhing ever more fervently with the change. You reek of fear, you pathetic swine. Stop restraining me before you get us both killed. The hostile growl of her counterpart tore through her mind as she violently shook her head, doing quite the opposite as she balled her fist and clutched it to her chest. "No, you'll only cause trouble," a hushed whisper barely audible that many mistook as insanity for her constant speaking to an unseen entity inside of her. Her voiced was the same soft lullaby, a sweet melody like honey on the tongue as she tried to focus on her peculiar hearing though it did little to save her from the almost numbing darkness surrounding her. That silhouette returned only to disappear once more, her eyes catching the faint shift of movement before she lifted her chin to follow the line of view. The eruption of crimson had her eyes squinting drastically from the sudden contrast of blinding darkness to sudden light, a dainty hand adorning an iron band riddled with needles lining the interior lifted as if to shadow her eyes. Through the slits of fingers, the new sight of obsidian clouds and the structure of a castle had her blinking rapidly. Questioning once more if she had somehow fallen into an absinthe induced hallucination, only able to dwell on that thought for a second or two before she was caught in an unstoppable force that brought her to the throne resting upon the plateau. She choked a whimper, the good natured Elf feeling far out of her comfort zone even if Fae was cackling like a madwoman inside of her head in pure, blissful glee. The Shadar-Kai felt no fear of death, unable to like a racial switch had been torn from their mind's wall altogether. But even she shivered under the ominous presence of the being on the throne. Where Snow's voice was smooth and soft, Fae's was harsh and grating to the ear, a serpent's hiss strangled by raking claws. Now he might be worth some time. Stop quaking in your boots, you're an embarrassment. The Shadar-Kai's harsh, hateful words made Snow let out a shaky breath, pale blues slow to drag to the being in the throne as she fought the trembling of her fingers.

Some may find his calm serenity and silence as unsettling, maybe even unnerving. Fae found it to be absolutely frustrating. Her royal lips contorted into a hissing snarl, those horse-like eyes narrowing into a glare full of hatred as tension rose in her arms that slowly uncrossed. "I. Hate. Silence." The practically visible aura around her shifted, writhing like serpents around her as it almost seemed to vibrate and grow in a haze around her. Unseen wind had those obsidian tendrils wavering as she lifted her hands, the centering of where her aura shined the brightest and thrummed like the beating of a war drum before she sent a potent blast of pure dark magic aimed in his direction. Anger thick enough to be cut with a knife oozed off her petite frame.

As the concentrated wave of pure darkness was sent barreling toward him, it would appear to slam into his left arm....Instead, it held there, as his ceremonial robe's sleeve peeled back to reveal an arm boasting the same pigment as his features. The only difference between them at the moment was most certainly the appearance of the hand. The space before it had visibly distorted considerably, arcing small tendrils of darkness away from the blast point without much in the vein of difficulty. "Pain..." Agony....Hn-hn....In that case..." The palm showed signs of visible magicked searing from the combined forces, but that was merely the precursor to the most frustrating part of all of this. He blinked. Once those hues resurfaced from their pools of reprieve, a slit of luminous goldenrod nestled itself in each one of those dull irises, completing the transitional period. Should she ever cease in maintaining that beam's duration, he would close his palm and extinguish it outright, essentially banishing it to a realm of stagnation....of his own making for later use. Casually, he would raise the same palm to his right shoulder and begin to knead the tensed musculature beneath his regal attire. A suitably sonorous cracking of the neck followed, as all the kinks in his body loosened passively....in an outward explosion of his aura. Its sheer force riddled the clearing with energy akin to gale force winds. Thankfully, it would subside in time, as his arms returned to their previous positions. "4,500 years....Such is the approximate length of the still-short life I managed to reclaim....After experiencing an ultimately splintered life, I returned to my original self and sealed myself in the past that I might observe and learn from my many errors. 1,500 of the residual years were spent honing my acquired talents. The subsequent same were spent resting....Or rather, they should have been. I am a year too early for waking. So....I must ask, interloper....What purpose was there in excising me from my dream prematurely' No....That question holds no inherent merit to the current state of things. Rather....I hope you are ready to accept the consequences of your actions..." Even though his tone remained calm, his simple, perceptible aura's weight was unreal. What was worse....was the fact that according to him....He just woke up.

Anger, hostility, hatred, darkness. All of which were oozing from the Shadar-Kai as she stood there with balled fists at her sides, much like a raging bull as her nostrils flared with each heavy breath taken with them. That aura still thumped around her, hair snaky tendrils flowing behind her in her fit of rage. When he spoke of pain and agony, her eyes narrowed into onyx slits as she kept that heady glare on him. Nearly animalistic in her snarl, the savage Underdark creature watched his every movement, right down to his banishment and she scowled as he simply just...massaged his muscles" Really' The blast of harsh winds hit her and added to the movement of her hair, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and turn her head away from it. Her hand rose to present a form of barrier in an arched curve until it subsided, her own hand lowering when it ceased. Her head was a slow turn back at him, eyes returning to him as he laid his speech on her and she fought a rolling of eyes and the urge to tell him he talked too much. Ironic, considering she'd lashed out at him for some form of reaction, only to want to tell him the shut the hell up when he did. The logic in her was...bipolar at best. Eyes narrowed harshly on him as she growled, "consequences of my actions?" She took a fearless step forward, her chin lifting as she stared up at him. She wanted to lay a verbal smack-down on him, but instead those snarling lips became snide and almost mocking. "It's been far too long, my dear." The last two words all but spat at him, repeating to him the same words that had drawn them out of their cozy little spot in Teas 'N Tomes and into this Hellish realm. "Maybe I should be asking you the same thing."

His eyes once again slipped closed as he considered his options in tandem with pondering as to whom she might have been referring to. It was fortunate for the both of them that his wits were beginning to return to him, else he might have just decided she wasn't worth the effort of addressing. This could yet be a civil conversation, at least for the time being. Alas, he was eventually furnished with a thought after another eternity of waiting....after which he peered up at the sphere again. Gods.

The fact he didn't respond, she shook her head and took a step back, a scoff laughing falling between her parted lips. "Useless," she muttered, her coal black eyes scanning the area around her as she twisted on those snow white heels. "You're boring, how do I get out of this **** place?" Her tone harsh, though it had seemed her anger had deflated. Play things were no fun when they didn't lash back at her. She was trouble, loved to pick fights, wanted to see the world burn. But when they just stood there quiet and not reacting, she lost interest rather quickly. As for civil....That was a word that wasn't in the woman's vocabulary.

"...Perhaps he has retained a modicum of his agency' Hnn....Unwieldy, but not altogether un-salvageable." At last, his attention centered and remained on the woman who had since begun to rant about his inaction. That was a fair assertion, as he'd just awoken from a rather pacifying sleep. He could use a warm up or two to get the juices flowing in his human body, true enough. At her insistence, a trio of glyphs would appear around him, forming a triangular seal alight with eldritch magics. Before either of them had any say in their effects, all three would erupt in spouts of onyx energy evocative of black and gold twisters. Finally, a fourth, larger glyph would be conjured by the joining of the outer three. The tower would show signs of quaking beneath the transformation as his form, too, faded from view, vanishing amid the torrent of black waves. Eventually, all four spouts would convene with one another, congealing into a writhing mass. Lacking any warning in its violent termination, the massive twister finally dispersed all at once, leaving a much taller figure clad in armor boasting the same onyx and luminous gold as the tornado winds that brought it. "Hn-hn....If you're so intent on bloodshed, satisfy my curiosity for a while. If you manage to pierce this body of mine, I'll elaborate further on the nature of this place. Lose, and your life is forfeit to me. Of course, the choice is yours to make," he goaded in that filtered multi-tonal pitch he now sported.

Arrogant and bullheaded, with no aid from Snow's logical deduction now that she remained dormant inside of Fae's head for once, those dark violet lips pulled into a bearing of teeth in a terrible of smile. An almost maddening cackle sprang loose as she eyed Big and Bad with a turn of her body. Bending, nimble fingers retrieved two mithral daggers from the sheaths hidden beneath the high-knee white boots as she skillfully clutched the hilts in her palms. "I've decided," in that grating serpent like hiss.