The warlock stood outside a tiny apothecary, out of the way of busy people who rushed through the marketplace. Various pots full of plants and flowers were crammed in the window. Their leaves and flowers were stretched towards the sun, eager for what little warmth and light that came through a film of grime. Other potted petunias lined the wall of red brick outside, and rosebushes stood guard at either side of the door. Hung from a sturdy metal pole that protruded out from the bricks, not too far above the door was a wooden sign. Weather worn, and hand-painted in fancy lettering, were the words ?Emma Mae?s ?.

Simple. It had charm.

She had been told to stay away from her apartment. Twice. By two men she cared about. She?d really hoped they realized that she was lying when she said that she would. Only this trip back to her apartment wasn?t to get back into the place she?d once called a home. No. She was here today for a reason completely unrelated to that. Said reason was within the tiny little shop before her.

It was the sun, drawn like a magnet to her black tumble of hair that finally pushed her forward. Opening the door took nothing more than a nudge of her hip. The black cowbell hanging from the door jangled, loudly announcing her arrival. The sharp and earthy scent of herbs hit her nose like a truck would a wall. The bell drew the attention of a thick set, elderly woman, with bright blue eyes, and white hair, that was pulled back into a loose braid. A flowing dress draped down from her shoulders, and fluttered with every movement.

?Zynnara!?

Exclamation of her name had her eyes seeking the woman out, and a smile spreading across her face. They embraced, before the older woman stood back, and studied the younger.

?Emma Mae. Hi.?
?I was worried about you. How have you been??
?Ah. Okay. Things have just been? rough.?
?Alright. Come on. We?ll talk over tea.?

Without another word, the older woman brushed past her, dress fluttering, to the door. She locked it with a simple twist of her wrist, and flipped the sign from ?Open? to ?Closed?.Then she started herding her towards the back room. Once Zynn was settled, Emma started the process of making tea, and chattering idly at Zynn.

As time progressed, idle chatter turned to serious conversation that was fueled by Zynn. She spoke of Xehron, and all of what he?d put her through. How she no longer felt safe in the places that she cherished most, including the apartment above the apothecary, or the green house that had been built for her, and filled with all her favorite flowers, and herbs for her own uses. She spoke of the blinding bright panic that terrorized her at night, when she woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, no matter what brew she made to drink before bed. Of the mess her mind had felt like for a while now, and everything else.
The only reason she spoke of so much, and didn?t hesitate, despite how difficult it had been recalling certain details, is that in the time she?d been staying in the apartment upstairs, the woman had become a grandmotherly figure to her. Someone she was comfortable with.

By the time she said her goodbyes, and left through the door she?d come through, her eyes were puffy, and red, and the sun has sunk low on the horizon, bringing about the evening hours. With one final glance over her shoulders to the woman, she held the bag of herbs she?d been given close, and began the long trek home.

The weight on her shoulders that had been weighing her down was gone. She felt lighter, better than she had in months. She was more than ready to start putting things in motion.

The warlock had showed up a few minutes before four o?clock, just because she didn't like being late. She maneuvered herself around another customer, who looked to be a rather busy cooperate woman who was chattering away to the Bluetooth device hanging from her ear. Once the woman was out of the way, she moved forward to catch the door before it shut, and slipped inside the coffee shop. With her, she brought the scent of herbs and clove cigarettes. She glanced towards the counter, curious if her brother was behind the counter still, or not.


He was just finishing up with a customer and then stepped aside to allow his hovering replacement to seamlessly slip in to take care of the next customer as Rinn stepped away from the counter. The teen saw her and blinked, a look of surprise on his face, almost as if he hadn't honestly expected her to show up. He soon broke out into a smile though and waved, "Just gimme a minute to punch out and change and we can go." Rinn murmured and headed off into the backroom.


She shot her brother a thumbs up, when she caught his words. A smile followed, and was turned onto his coworker. There was a quiet scan of all those inside the little shop, before she moved to sink down into one of the chairs that belonged to a table that wasn't that too far off.


Rinn's co-worker was taking care of a customer and so didn't take much notice in Zynn. After about 5 minutes or so, her half-brother wandered out of the back room. He had changed out of his uniform of white shirt and black slacks into some baggy jeans with the band of his boxer shorts peeking over the belt line and a heavy metal t-shirt. With a backpack slung over one shoulder and large headphones hanging around his neck, he walked with what could only be described as a gangster wannabe swagger.


When her eyes came across her bother when he came out of the back room, a brow went up. Without a word, she pushed herself back onto her feet, and took a moment to stretch. Quiet pops sounded, before she let her hands come back to rest at her sides, and ambled towards her brother. "You're walking like you're a prison inmate that had a bout with Big Bubba last night." She mused the words softly. A smirk slowly crawled across her features.


The insult went over Rinn's head as made evident by his look of bewilderment on his face and the oh-so-eloquent 'huh?' that escaped him. She could hear music leaking out of the oversized headphones around his neck, polluting the area with his noise, "Did you wanna get some food or just head over?"


She was actually kind of disappointed that he hadn't gotten the joke. It would have been rather amusing to see his reaction if he had. She wrinkled her nose at the racquet that was coming from the headphones. Her shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. "It doesn't matter much to me. If you're hungry, we?ll go find someplace it eat. If not I can stand to wait a couple of hours."


"Alright, well...considerin' it's gettin' on rush hour now, traffic out the Lincoln Tunnel will be nuts...but if we wait a couple hours, we'll run the risk of mom havin' headed out to work so you wouldn't be able to give her a piece of your mind." Rinn smirked then shrugged.

"I can get us there another way. If you want. But it involves my specialty. Avoid both problems. " It was offered up to him, before she moved to nudge the door of the coffee shop open, and slipped out of it. If he wasn't paying attention, it may very well swing back and clock him.
He gave her that non-understanding bewildered look again then winced, "You mean that magic stuff?" Rinn knew what the door did and caught it as he followed after her, "...Is....that safe?"

"It's plenty safe." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Portals are perfectly fine. I sent a really good friend through one. Easy travel. It's how I got here." She grinned at him, and started weaving through the crowd with ease. He'd grown up here as well. She figured he'd be able to keep up.

He wasn't as good at it and would swear at people if they bumped into him, the lippy foul mouth little punk. In all honesty, the boy had grown up just outside of NYC, only recently run away to move and live in the city. He had spent a great many weekends here, certainly, but it hadn't been until recently. "....I dunno..." Rinn sounded hesitant about the idea of using magic, "You're super sure?"


Truthfully? Every time he cursed, she wanted to turn around and tell him to knock it off, and to stop acting like a teenager. Then she had to keep in mind that he was one, since she was the oldest sibling out of her mother?s three children. "Super positive. I got here in one piece. So long as you do what I tell ya too, we?ll get there fine, I'll explain it all when we get back to my place."

Rinn gave wrinkled nose, half sneer of distaste at her condition. "I don't like bein' told what to do." He muttered but he didn't argue and after a moment asked quietly, "....Will it hurt?"

"Would you rather be trapped in a limbo of space for the rest of eternity? Because that's where you'll be if you decide to rebel against big sister with this." She snorted softly, and pushed on. "No. It's instant. happens in less than the duration of a blink."

"Even if you ain't ever been there before? I mean....How you gunna know where to blink us to?"

"That's why I'm holding your hand, and you're gonna be the first to step through the portal. I'll explain it when we get to my place. I promise. "

He still didn't look too happy about the idea, but at the same time he felt a strange curiosity and so he continued to follow Zynnara.


Since he hadn't bothered responding to her, she continued weaving through the crowds in silence until she finally reached her apartment. Once she had, she dug the key to her mother's apartment out from her pocket, and set to work opening the door.

Rinn leaned one shoulder against the wall as he watched her open the door, "...How come you still have a house here if you're livin' in that Ring Ding place?"

"Because it's really hard to let this place go." She pushed the door open, and stepped inside. The smell of herbs and incense would probably assault his nose. It was left open so that he could follow after her. "This is the place I grew up in." She whirled around and faced him.


The teen sneezed when the incense assaulted his nose, "Ugh." He cursed wiping his nose with the back of his hand, "Man, what the shit?"
She arched a brow slowly at him. "Huh?"

"Just the smell, man, why are there so many?" He made a face and covered his face with the lower part of his t-shirt, "You grew up in a smelly place, Zynn."

"Herbs. I like the smell. It's so much better than the weird body sprays and deodorants that make you smell like fake flowers or chocolate." She snorted at him, and waved her hand, before she moved off to start gathering certain things, mainly chalk.

He kept his shirt up as he waited by the door for a moment, adjusting to the smell before he started roaming around the place. Rinn looked at knick knacks and photos, any personal items she may have had laying around that he could occupy his waiting time with.


There were various framed pictures that depicted different stages of her life, from five years old, all the way up to how she looked about a year ago, which looked pretty much the same. Apart from the fact that she, herself looked much... older, tired. There were crystals everywhere, and sporadic bundles of dried herbs tucked behind things, or hanging from others. There was also a couch. As he looked around, she continued to gather things and set them on the table.


Rinn looked at some of the pictures of her growing up and decided she looked happy. He then took to poking at the crystals; they confused him and reminded him of one of those hippy stores. "....So....where's your adopted mom?"


His question made her blink a couple of times, before she set the stuff she had in her arms down on the table, and took a deep breath. "She's dead. She was killed about a year ago. " There were faint notes of sorrow in her voice when she murmured this.

He turned to look at her, having inspected the curious crystals and hearing her answer. "How'd she die?" Rinn was sorry for her loss and probably should have conveyed that first, but he was a curious fellow sometimes.


"We were heading to her friend?s house one night, and there was someone waiting for us. We were completely clueless. He caught her first. Ran her through with a knife, In the chest. Then stabbed me in the stomach. I watched her die, and thought I was going to die too. When I woke up, I was in my mother's friends place, groggy, in pain, and half alive. Her friend told me that she was dead." It was said softly, before she moved towards where he was, and reached for one of the framed pictures of her when she was little and an older woman.


Rinn winced and went quiet for a moment, "...She was murdered? She wasn't a witch like you are? I mean...couldn't you have zapped them or somethin'?"


"She was a witch. I'm a warlock. There's a difference." Most of her attention was on the picture in her hands. She wished more than anything that her mother was here. And could see how far she'd come in almost a year. "I wasn't... I didn't... I wasn't able to do anything. I wasn't strong then. I knew nothing about being a warlock, and I wasn't able to save her. And it hurts." Her voice wavered slightly.


The teen shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his feet and murmured, "....I'm sorry about your loss, Zynn..." It was a little strange hearing the usually vulgar and aloof teen sound sincere, "Bad shit happens...it sucks the worst when it happens to good people..." He'd heard people say these things before, never having experienced loss like hers; he really couldn't say he understood what she was going through.


She moved to set the picture back onto the bookshelf she'd pulled it from, and not so casually rubbed at her eyes, hopefully before her brother had realized that she'd teared up. "Thanks." Finally, her eyes moved to find him. "It does, it really does. But... I feel like I'm stronger because of it." She fell quiet, and let the silence hang between them for a while, before she broke it. "I've got everything for that portal ready."



((Thanks to#1Son!))

They stood out front of the simple home in a suburban area. She could see they were across the Hudson river and the NYC skyline behind them. Rinn still had his eyes closed even though he could feel the slight breeze on his face and hear the odd car drive past.

"Hey. Open your eyes. We made it in one piece. Like I said we would. This is where she lives, Right?" Her eyes ticked towards him for a brief moment.


Rinn hesitantly opened one eye then the other and grinned widely, "Sweet." He looked around the familiar street and gave a laugh, "That's so cool!"

"Will you travel Warlock Express again?" It was asked softly, mainly because she was wary of others possibly hearing her ask.

"Fuckin' right I will, that's awesome!" Rinn tended to punctuate things, whether good or bad with expletives often. He gave another laugh then grew serious as he looked to the house he'd run from, "...Yeah.....this is the place." He murmured.


"Good." she grinned at him, then watched him for a moment, before her own attention shifted back towards the house, and she took a deep breath. "So. Do we knock? Or....what?"


He looked up and down the street then sighed, "...Yeah, we gotta knock....mom keeps the door locked. She's a little paranoid...my guess is ?cause she doesn't want the neighbours knowin' about all our dirty laundry." Rinn muttered as he approached the walkway and up the few steps to the door.


"Alright." She nodded a couple of times at him, before she moved to follow after him, and climbed up the stairs after him. Strangely enough, she seemed almost unsettled, and uncomfortable.


He even hesitated before giving a sharp wrap at the door, shifting uncomfortably. It took a moment before the door opened a crack then opened. A woman in her mid-40's with dark hair and a tired look pushed open the screen door. She looked like she once had been a lovely woman but now, so very tired and worn. She looked surprised at seeing the boy, "Rinn? What are you doing here?" She hissed but it wasn't an angry tone, there was fear in her eyes. She hadn't noticed Zynn there yet.


Rinn frowned a bit, "I need some of my stuff....and uh..." He glanced behind him to Zynn, really not sure how to introduce her, "Um...hey, mom? This is Zynn..." Probably not the best way to do it but he was pretty slow that boy.


She honestly blinked a couple of times, and stared at the woman. She looked tired, worn, and surprisingly pretty. Whatever she had initially planned on saying was lost. She stood there for a moment, and swallowed, before she finally peeked out from behind Rinn. If he looked, he'd probably note that her eyes were glamoured to look normal. No cat-like slits.


The woman winced at the mention of some of his stuff, "Your things were moved to the garage...." At the mention of the stranger's name, her green eyes to Zynn and that fear slipped back in full force.


"I ah. Hi." Her words seemed awkward, her tongue thick. She hadn't ever considered... or thought of seriously meeting her biological mother. The fear, that she could see so plainly on her face made her arch a brow curiously.

"H-hello..." She worried on her lower lip, glancing quickly back into the house behind her before closing the door quietly behind her but her hopes of keeping things discreet were shattered when Rinn shouted, "The fuckin' garage!? What the shit!?"

She eyed her brother, briefly, before she reached out to cuff him upside the head. "Shut it. You moved out or whatever. 'Least she didn't throw it away." Then her eyes ticked back to the woman, and she shifted from foot to foot, unsure of what to do now, thanks to Rinn's outburst.

"Ow, hey!" He held the back of his head and turned his glare to Zynn, "I've been gone like two weeks!...well...officially anyway." He had come home a few times because he hadn't had a job, nor a place to stay other than friends places but now he had a roommate and a job so he'd actually moved out.

Their mother continued to worry her lower lip but her attention was on Zynn instead of Rinn as he marched off towards the garage. Her lips parted a few times to say something but failed to produce words before closing again.


She narrowed her eyes on her brother, and briefly, he'd catch a glance of unglamoured eyes, before her attention darted back to her mother once again. She waited until her brother was gone, before she spoke. "Can I ask you why you left me on my own when I was five?" Her words were soft, and hesitant.


The woman winced and looked down, "I...I was afraid...." Came the equally quiet answer, "I already had two children that were....they weren't...." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Your eyes were...unsettling...and Phinn...she..." The woman rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes, "I was already pregnant again and I was afraid it would be another one....I couldn't....I couldn't handle it."


"Phinn had horns. And you managed to hand her off to someone that taught her what she was. And how to make the most of it," She almost looked like she was lost. Then she shook her head, and gave a faint growl. "I grew up calling someone else mom, because my eyes were unsettling. You left me on my own in an alley. To fend for myself, when I was five. That hurt." The last two words were nothing but a whisper. "Did you know you were sleeping with a demon?"


She couldn't look at Zynn, her eyes cast to the side, watching Rinn heave open the garage door to start rooting around for his stuff, "...With you...no....With you, I didn't know until you were born...I....I wanted to keep you....I was afraid." She repeated then shook her head, "With Phinn...yes....I knew. And with Rinn...I...I still don't know if it was man or monster....Every two years...."


She swallowed and had to pause a moment before continuing, "Every two years....things happen. Things I can't explain. Monsters, witches, strange creatures...they all come every two years, almost to the day....ever since I had you..." Her mother whispered.

"You kept me for five years." The protest was soft, and any urge to mention anything else was dropped when her biological mother continued on, and talked about things happened at least every two years after she was born. "Really? I... How come?"

"I didn't want to...I had to...but...I did and I am sorry...." The woman looked back to Zynn and her brows scrunched together in a look someone gets before they were about the burst into tears. She didn't...though she certainly looked closed to it and swallowed a few times before speaking again, "I don't know."

She flinched when a shout came from inside and the door behind her was flung open. "Meredith! Someone's in the garage!" The tall man had a bat in hand and a grizzled look to him, a hard look in his eyes, "Who the fuck are you?" He snarled at Zynn and grabbed the Warlock's biological mother by the upper arm to move her out of the way and back inside.


She would have been blind to not see the regret and the threat of tears on her biological mother's face. Of all the things she'd expected, she hadn't expected that. In fact, she'd expected to be greeted with yelling and violence. Not regret. The shout, and sudden movements of her mother and the man moving to stand in her place, had her stepping backwards, off of the front step. Though her eyes narrowed on him. "My name's Zynnara. Meridith's my birth mother."


He gripped the middle of the bat, glaring down at her. At the announcement of who she was, he growled and glanced back to Meridith, "You call her here?"

Zynn's mother rapidly shook her head, retreating further and Zynn could see the fear come to her features again.

The man spat to the side and looked back to Zynn, "Beat it, y'little freak." He turned his attention to the garage and choked up on the handle of the bat as he brought it to his shoulder, heading in that direction to deal with the little thief.


His question to her birth mother drew her attention in that direction, just in time to see the look of fear on her face. Didn't take long for her to put it together that he was the source of her fear. The warlock scowled at him, and gave a faint growl.


((Thanks to#1Son!))

The police had actually been called. Her attention ticked towards the cop car, and she absently wondered if it was too late to take off and try catching up with her brother.


The lights of the car weren't blaring, the car was simply doing a patrol but when they saw her just standing on the street, they pulled over. The passenger side door opened and an officer exited the vehicle. He looked to the address then to her and started over, "Evening, miss." The other officer turned off the car and was getting out as well.


She probably looked rather frazzled, considering she had grass and various other things in her hair, and a red mark on her throat, more than likely, from being pushed by the bat. Normal looking eyes focused on the officer. "Evening Officer."


The driver made his way to the front door while the passenger police officer remained with Zynnara, "We received a phone call about a disturbance. Care to come over here and tell me about that?"


Her arms moved again, to cross up under her chest once more. "I ah... Sure." She moved then, to amble towards the police officer that asked her to step with him. "I came with my half-brother to talk with my birth mother. While I did, my brother went out to the garage to get some of his stuff. From what I understand he's in the process of moving out. But her husband came tearing out of the house with a baseball bat, and instead of letting him clobber my brother with it, I tried to tackle him."

The officer pulled out a note pad from his belt and scribbled some things down, "And where is your brother now?" The door opened to the house and Zynn could see the man speaking with the other officer, gesturing to Zynn then down the street and then inside in an agitated manner. He cop headed inside to talk in private, the screen door closing behind them.


"I sent him back to my apartment, because I didn't want him involved in it, if things got sour. He's my baby brother." She swallowed, kept her eyes on the officer.

"Hm...alright. And your names?" He scribbled some notes that she couldn't see in the note pad before looking up to her again.
"Zynnara. My brother's Rinn." She watched as he scribbled, and shifted from foot to foot.


"Thank you, Zynnara." He scribbled again then sighed, "Unfortunately, the call was regarding you two. While you may be related to the tenants, it would seem they don't want you on the premises. Now...I'm not going to arrest you, but I am going to have to escort you away from the property and request that you not come back here." The officer was rather kind about it and as an afterthought, gestured with his pen to her neck and the mark, "Things became heated?"


"Her husband doesn't want me here. Called me a freak, among other things. I'd personally, like to speak to my mother without him looming around." She pressed her lips together when he asked about the mark. "Yeah. Bats pressed into the windpipe isn't pleasant. Like I said, he was going after my brother with the bat, and I tackled him. The throat thing happened when I was trying to get away from him."

"Do you need medical attention?" He seemed honestly concerned but his partner came to the door and gestured to him. He held up a finger in the universal 'just a minute' gesture before looking back to her, "My partner needs to speak with me a moment, please stay here." The officer told Zynnara before wandering over to the front door. The two officers spoke a moment before they both came out of the house. The driver heading to the car to talk on the radio and the other returned to Zynnara, "...Sorry about that, did you need medical attention?"


She's opened her mouth to speak, when he interrupted, and told her that his partner needed to speak with him. With a sigh, she nodded silently at him, and waved for him to go ahead. Once he finally returned, she shook her head. "Don't think so. It's just going to be sore for a while."


"Alright." He closed his book with a sigh, "...You're free to go. However, assault charges are being laid due to the condition of your mother. If you would please turn around and place your hands on the hood of the vehicle..."


"Wait. What?" Confusion bloomed across her features when he mentioned charges and the condition of her mother. "I didn't do anything to her. She was fine when she went into the house. I swear." She put her hands up, not in a threatening manner, but in a 'I had no clue' manner.


"I'm afraid both residents are telling a different story, ma'am." He took out some handcuffs from his belt and moved to take one of her arms. He didn't make a motion to turn her around, treating her as a non-hostile so she could be cuffed in front.


....Well crap. This wasn't going to pan out well for her at all. She seemed remotely calm, until the cop pulled out the handcuffs and moved to take her arm. She sort of panicked then, and jerked her hand out of his grip, took half a step back. "Please don't. Don't put those on me. I'll comply with everything. Just don't."


"Ma'am." The officer said in a stern voice but didn't move to grab her again when she said she would comply, "Let's go." He gestured to the backseat of the car, half turning to it. Zynn saw the curtain of a window move aside slightly, Meredith watching; One eye black, her lip bloodied.



((Thanks to#1Son!))

"I... Thanks." She took a deep breath, and unfolded herself from how she'd been sitting. She bit back a comment she wanted to make towards the cops, and simply followed her brother, and gathered her things when she was led to them. When they finally got into the public area, her eyes darted about quietly, and didn't have much trouble finding the woman. Without a word to her brother, she slipped off, and followed after her, in hopes of catching her, before she disappeared into the crowd.


Rinn had glared angrily at the woman and made no attempt to rush after her, taking his time, "I'll see you later!" He called grumpily at Zynn's back.

Meredith moved quickly but not impossible to catch when out in the street.


Rinn got a wave of her hand, before she disappeared out the door, and hurried after her mother's form. "Hey. Wait. Meridith!... Mom?" She seemed confused as to which one to use. She wasn't going to make any move to grab her though, because she herself had issues with people grabbing her.

She turned slightly and wilted a little at being called after but she stopped and moved aside out of the way. "...M...Meridith is fine, Zynnara...." Came her quiet response as she started to worry at her lip but winced and stopped at the jolt of pain it brought due to the cut on it.


Relief filled her when she stepped aside, out of the crowd. She weaved her way towards her. "Meridith. Right." She paused, glanced at her face, and bit down on her lower lip, before she moved to step a little bit further away from the crowd, and gestured for her to follow. "Thanks.
For dropping the charges."


"You didn't do anything wrong...I'm not about to ruin your life.." She winced, "...more than I have." She sighed and wiped her hand over her forehead then over her uninjured eye, "I.....I have to go to work...."


She took a deep breath when she said that, and a hand came up to rub at her own cheek. "I have enough to cover your day's pay, that is if you call in and come talk to me instead. Please? Right now that's all I want."

The woman flicked her eyes over the daughter she'd abandoned and looked quite hesitant. After a moment, she gave a slight nod, "...A...alright. If that's what you really want..." Meredith pulled a rather ratty looking old cell phone from her purse and called into her job to give some excuse.

After the call, she tucked the phone away and shifted uncomfortably, unable to think of anything to say.


"It is. Thank you." She murmured before she called her work and made some excuse. "Uhh. Would you like to go someplace to get food? Or maybe Chinese take-out. And we can go back to my apartment?" That way she didn't have to fully guard what she said.


Meredith was glad for Zynn's suggestions and nodded slightly, "Perhaps somewhere more private would be best...so...your apartment?"


"My apartment it is. I don't think I'm too far away from here. If you don't mind walking. And there's a Chinese place that's on the way home. I'm rather hungry. I've only had a cookie to eat today." The last bit was murmured sheepishly.


Her birthmother gave a faint smile, nodding once and followed Zynn's lead towards the Chinese food place and then her apartment.



((Thanks to#1Son!))

"Because you need help. And... I don't know." She paused, chewed on her lip, and nudged her food away from her as well. "Now, wouldn't be too late to try and get to know each other... Right?" She glanced at her, curious as to what she'd say or do. "I grew up angry about it. I thought of all the nasty things that I was going to say the day that I finally met you. And then I did. And all the anger and bitterness went away."


Meredith was speechless for a moment, her eyes growing watery, "...It's not too late?" She whispered then nodded, "....I would love nothing more." She managed then took a deep breath, "...If you want to yell at me...get things off your chest. Do it, I don't blame you."

"It's not too late if you don't want it to be." There was a faint smile offered to her, before she shifted, and shook her head. "I don't want to anymore. I'm just... Morbidly curious about everything. The past. Why you did it, What happened, You."

The woman gave a smile, nodding and her eyes were glittering with unshed tears. Meredith certainly did cry at a drop of a hat but it had been an emotional day indeed. "...I'll tell you anything you want to know. As best as I can anyway."


"Start with the beginning. Like.. uh... when I was born." That seemed like a good spot to start. At least it did for her.

Meredith took a deep breath but nodded slightly, "...I had just finished a semester at NYU and was seeing a boy who I thought was 'the one'....I was naive and eighteen...After a lot to drink at a new year's party we had sex for the first time and I'm guessing that was when you were conceived..." The woman sighed, "After a few months I found out and told him...and he promptly disappeared. I told my parents and they threw me out."


"I was able to get a cheap apartment with a roommate...and I was able to finish out the school year but when I had you, I didn't see any feasible way to continue." The woman gave a faint smile, "When you were born, the doctors...they told me you had some sort of eye condition, something they hadn't seen before...The wanted to do tests and things but I just wanted to take you home....you were healthy and happy and mine..." Meredith whispered, "...I...I wasn't afraid then. Sure, I thought your eyes were a little odd but...you were beautiful to me....you were my little girl..."


"That all sucks. Were they Christians? I know they can be really uptight about stuff like that." Then she shifted slightly, pulled her leather pouch from her pocket and moved to pull a slender cigarette from the pouch. She set the pouch on the table, and nodded at it to let her know that the offer was there if she smoked. Then she tucked hers between her lips and lit it with a touch of her finger. "And my father disappearing like that isn't surprising."


She paused, when her mother continued to speak. Then she stayed quiet for a long while. She swallowed, seemed to struggle quietly as she processed what her mother was saying. Actually, it was her turn to get teary eyed. "I grew up thinking you hated me." Whispered, before she moved to stub the barely smoked cigarette out, and bit down on her lower lip.


Meredith smiled sadly, shaking her head a bit, "...No...No I never hated you, Zynnara..." She whispered, "...It was just you and me for the first two years..." The woman sighed, "And it would appear I hadn't learned my lesson about partying the first time. I left you with my roommate to babysit for the evening and went to a house." She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, "That night was fuzzy...I was an idiot and left my drink to dance and came back to drink it. I thought it was your father that was taking me to bed but when the haze cleared a little but it wasn't...it...he changed into some sort of monster before..."


Hearing that... was like being wrapped in a blanket of relief. She swallowed, before she rubbed at her eyes to eradicate the evidence of tears that threatened to spill. She continued to listen to what she had to say, and frowned when she finally started speaking about thinking that the man was her father, and the fact that he turned into a monster of some kind. "Before?" It was prompted gently.

"Before your sister was conceived." She murmured, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, "...I remember trying to fight it off but in the end it was just too strong. I don't remember much of it....I must have blacked out a few times from the drug and pain...in the morning I was sore and didn't tell anyone what had happened...." Meredith hugged herself a bit and shivered, "...I was worried when I saw the ultrasound...Phinn had horns and the doctors kept talking about abnormal growths and that they could have been tumors or something...I was scared, more so because of the nightmares I kept having about that night..."


She considered her mother's words, before she moved to scoot her chair a little bit closer to her, so she could rest her head on her birth mother's shoulder. Gently. "I can imagine." She'd been having her own share of nightmares recently, all circling around Xerheron and his knife. She didn't urge her to talk about anything else just yet.


Meredith gave a soft smile when Zynn rested her head against her shoulder. She hesitantly brought her hand up to gently pet down Zynnara's black tresses, "...Phinn was born and I was scared...There was a nurse that helped me relax about the horns." She sighed, leaning her head against Zynn's, "...I met Terry two years after that...He was good to me and fought off the thing that attacked me that time...After I found out I was pregnant with Rinn, he started to change...get more violent and angry. Especially towards you and Phinn...." The woman murmured, "He got very drunk one night...and I...he couldn?t hit me...but he could hurt you and Phinn....I couldn't let him hurt you...but I didn't know what to do."


She leaned into her mother's touch. Drank up the attention like it was something she'd been starving for. A soft happy little sound escaped her. Like she had been, she listened closely to what she was saying, and processed. "Any clue why he was so violent over him?" It was asked softly, before she swallowed, understanding, so far, as to what led up to her mother leaving her.


"No...I don't know...as far as I knew it was his but...I couldn't know for sure because he arrived after the monster assaulted me...." Meredith certainly seemed to have a demon sexual assault beacon blaring over her head from the story she was telling, "I didn't have enough time to think of a safe place to take you...I..." The woman choked, "I told you I'd be back for you....I told you to stay there."


"From what I can tell, Rinn's... very much human." She said this softly, like an absent thought, that had hopes of being a comfort. She was quiet for several moments, and didn't pull away from her. Her head swam with what Meredith was explaining to her. It focused in on one point eventually. Her mother had wanted her. Said she was going to come back. "I don't remember any of that. I just... being left. And feeling so lost and confused. Terrified. Then Mother? The woman who raised me came along... And I remember just going with her."


"I had left to call the nurse that had helped me with Phinn. I had meant to leave you with her but by the time I got back to where I'd left you, you were gone...." Meredith whimpered, "...I couldn't do anything...when she came and picked up Phinn, I was a mess...she tried to talk to me but I just...just left. I went back home and tried to forget everything....everything I'd done."





((Thanks to#1Son!))