The Pack Unites!

Bridgit's eyes were wide with shock as not only did Xander summon some sort of magic but it molded into a living creature... or at least something that resembled living. She grew even more bewildered when it approached her of all people presently at the table. If she hadn't already heard of Jace being struck by lightining, he and Jonathon's fight in the park, then she would have been sure she was still up in that tree dreaming her time away. But things were very real, she was sure of that much. At this point, she was the only one she was sure of being sane. And as if on cue, it happened again.

As she stared at the elemental, still reeling for some sort of explenation of how anything was possible, she began to feel dizzy. Her head grew light and her ears were ringing just as much as her vision was blurring. She placed a steady hand on her head, trying not to alert the others. These attacks were grosing more frequent, but she had never had one in front of others, it was as if what she had witnessed played a part in its sudden rise. They always came with no warning, and left just as quickly. This one, however, wasn't faltering. Her knee hit the table again as a wave of dizziness more than she'd ever experienced washed over her.

"I-I," she tried to say, "s-sorry. Excuse m-me." She pushed her chair back, glanced at the elemental once more before excusing herself from the room. She couldn't form the words to explain. Once out into an unfamiliar hallway, she leaned heavily against the wall and slid down to the floor, still pressing a hand firmly against her head. "Why now?" she murmured to herself, "why here?" Jace's words also rang in her mind: hero or villain? Her brother had said something similar, told her that he'd be a monster soon. But he was wrong, the thought almost forced itself into her mind. It was not something she had come up with. She was the villain, she was the monster. Succession? Could it be that... they were wrong? What if it's me? What... am I? The nausea was beginning to fade and her mind was growing clear once more. Just in case, she sat for a moment, taking deep breaths. She'd sit in the hall and make sure it was really gone.

"I thought seeing someone struck by lightning and shrugging it off would be the weirdest thing I'd see today..." Jonathon said, admiring the elemental. The warmth from his birth mark was becoming even stronger now, but Jonathon tried to ignore it. When Bridgit got up Jonathon noticed she was clearly upset. "Uh, I'll leave you two to continue this conversation, I'm gonna go check on her." Jonathon said, standing up and nodding to Jace and Xander. "Try not to kill each other." He left the table and went into the hall way where Bridgit went.

"You alright?" He asked, sitting down across the hallway from her. "You left in quite a hurry and I just wanted to make sure you weren't sick or something." Jonathon said, ironic considering he was feeling mildly ill right now himself from this burning feeling.

Xander watched with curiosity as the two guests departed one after the other.
"If you need the restroom it three doors down that hallway and to the right." He shouted after them. He looked back at the electric elemental who had just finished up examining the only remaining patron, Jace. "Well my new friend, while I would love to answer that question I was never aware that there were heroes and villains to all this, while I'd love to tell you that I believe my moral's to be good I'm not sure what the current standings are. For all I know the good could currently be exterminating an entire island in a "righteous" cleansing. Not to mention I would first need to know your standings on this whole side to answer in a way that would be truthful to you, how should I know who your hero and villains are?" Xander pondered among himself for a moment before looking around the room. "They sure are taking awhile, as is that tea."

Jace took notice to Bridgit the second time she banged her knee against the table. He watched her rush out and then Jonathon was soon behind her. He was about to get up and check on the both of them until Xander spoke. His words made sense but Jace knew what side he was fighting for and why. He peered up to stare him in his eyes and with a devilish smirk spoke "The villains are the people trying to exterminate the good. They want to send this whole world into darkness and we need to prevent that." He drew his Katana standing upwards. His smirk dropping and his glare pierced through Xander just like a sword would. "So. Which side will you take Xander!?"

Brigit heard footsteps enter the hall shortly after her exit, and she closed her eyes, assuming whoever they belonged to would wander past. Instead, she heard Jonathon speak and saw him take a seat right across from her. His face actually looked concerned, and she thought that maybe her assumptions about his... anger had been wrong. Looking back toward him, she forced a smile. "I'm fine," she managed to say, "at least now. I get, uh, sudden attacks. Nausea, dizziness, they always catch me off guard. They go away fast, though, this one just had no warning like they usually do, sorry for storming out. I-I think stress or something might have caused it, there's so much that just happened..."

Deciding that she was well enough to stand and rejoin the others, she shot Jonathon an apologetic look and stood, juet managing to catch Jace's words in the doorway and take in the sight of him pointing his weapon toward Xander, in the boy's own home of all places! She was oddly short tempered after her attack, and the words almost forced themselves from her. "And what dictates darkness being the bad thing? " She asked, clearly aware that it'll probably end up with her becoming a kabob. "I think good and bad are terrible terms, usually dictated by whoever wins the fight. For all you know, both sides think they're good and can declare so once they've snuffed the other out. Maybe that's why good always seems to win..." She was still hurt and confused about her own place, about what exsctly she may be. Her words weren't really there to defend Xander, rather, comfort herself. Not that the others would probably be able to tell.

"If you insist." Jonathon said, standing up with her. "I guess we'll go back in." He followed her, still ignoring the strange feeling emanating from his shoulder blade. As Bridgit snapped at Jace, Jonathon was mildly surprised having not heard the conversation before hand. Either way, he stepped forward and put himself between Bridigit and the others, just in case. "Whoa, calm down. I'm not sure what happened but I'm sure we can sort this out. No one in this room is planning to or needs to hurt anyone else. Let's just be civil."

Xander remained in his cross legged position has the dramatic event unfurled in front of him. First the boy, Jace, stood up in what Xander could only determine as a random fit of anger towards his response. And then entered Bridget and Jonathon to add to the fire. While his hands felt numb with fear he kept up his stoic face as his outreached hand placed a calm touch onto the frightened energy elemental, its electric sparks pointing up like the hair on an upset cat, its electric eyes glaring Jace down. With a sudden tightening of his grip the energy elemental suddenly disappeared, a quick wisp of blue the only trace of him as it disappeared into Xander's finger tips. The boy laid his hand on the table, the limb twitching sporadically for a few moments before finally laying at ease. He pulled it closer to himself and massaged it with his left hand before looking over to Bridget, Jonathon and finally back to Jace. "Thank you Bridget, that is much like what I said to him as well. Now, if we could all calm down a bit, like I said no horse play in my home please. Jace, I did not mean to upset you in any way I am simply not familiar with the standings of morality in this case. As far as I can tell I could do some "Good" things with my powers, however with what limited things I've done with them they seem more destructive than anything. So I more or less plan on aligning myself with whoever I like more, mayhaps if the circumstances are drastic enough I'll even align myself based on how I feel on the situation. Obviously if somebody wants me to burn down an orphanage I will turn them away, but until I see something as black and white as that I don't have a real answer for you." Xander let out a long sigh as he finished up his rant, he had forgotten to breath through most of that and it left his lungs aching for air.

Jace kept his cold glare on Xander. He then heard Bridgit and dropped his glare and stared at her. He sort of backed up shaking a bit looking worried. "I uh... S-sorry..." He looked down at his feet still shaking and he continued to back up until he hit the wall. He sloppily twirled his katana and returned it to it's sheath. "You didn't really upset me... I sort of got a little to excited... I drew my weapon in case you were to attack me..." He looked up locked eyes with Bridgit and then looked down again in fear. "S-sorry..."

Bridgit released a sigh of relief after seeing Jace calm down, and she still held quite the perplexed feelings toward Jonathon. Usually people shrugged her away and she had come to terms with the sort of treatment. Yet here he was, standing between her and Jace, and it all seemed... off to her. She didn't need saving, getting noticed was something she wasn't used to, and it all just felt like too much. She did her best at hiding her current nerves and sat back down, mumbling an apology about her abrupt exit. Trying to lighten the mood, she spoke. "So, uh, how about that tea, is it coming soon?"

Jonathon sat back down too, keeping an eye on Jace. Despite his apology Jonathon still didn't trust him 100%. Jace was either mad or just stupid to think pulling a sword at the dinner table was a good idea. "Yeah, what's taking that tea Xander? I'm starting to get thirsty." Jonathon said with a smirk. The sensation in his back had spread and now he could feel it in his whole body, as if something had changed inside of him.

Xander let out yet another sigh.
"Yes, yes, let me go check on her." With that Xander began his process of movement, placing both his feet onto the ground and using his cane as leverage to pull himself up before making his less than hasty retreat to room adjacent. He reemerged no more than two minutes later with the kindly later in tow.
"Oh sorry for the delay, I didn't want to interrupt you and your friends. But don't worry, I kept it warm." The older woman rested a silver plated platter in the palm of her hand waitress style, her comment making Xander noticeably roll his eyes as he reclaimed his seat at the table. Mrs. Letra Went person by person placing a small ornate tea cup in front of each person before pouring the brownish liquid into their respective cups. Upon completion she placed a small bowl of sugar cubes in the center near one end of the table and a small cup of cream on the other. She slowely meandered her way behind Xander's chair, who was already dropping three sugar cubes into his cup.
"Would any of you like something else? Perhaps something to eat?" The lady gave the group a kind smile with both her hands holding onto the large silver tray.

Jace continued to shake. There was now another woman in the room. He chose to not return to the table and kept his distance from them both. He stayed against the wall shaking. He attempted to contain it but he couldn't. What was it about woman that scared him so much? He secretly knew but never wanted to admit it. He thought they were fragile and didn't understand why they were thrown into this cruel world. He shook those thoughts off and stood quite looking down at the floor.

"No thank you," Bridgit said with a smile toward the woman, emptying quite a bit of the cream into her cup before throwing in two sugar cubes for good measure. She wasn't particularily fond of the taste of tea, but she didn't want to be rude. She crossed her legs, lifted the cup, and took a thoughtful sip. The warm liquid was masked enough by the sweet flavors for it to be good enough to drink, and it was far better than any other tea she's had. Xander's family sure didn't skimp out on anything. She continued sipping, and for once noticed the way Jace shook in apprehension.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, hesitant to do so due to her own fears of him. She wouldn't have brought it up, but she couldn't just look away after locking eyes and clearly seeing it. It is quite the odd group, she thought to herself.

"Tea is fine." Jonathon said, taking a cup from the tray and sipping from it. At this point he'd started to just ignore Jace and his antics. Jonathon was beginning to wonder if Jace was perhaps just looking for attention. "Ah, this is very well done, thank you." He said to the servant woman. "So, now what are we going to do?"

The woman behind Xander gave a slight bow before heading off into the maze of a house once again. Xander sipped at his tea a few more times before examining his guests one at a time, making sure to lock onto their eyes if at all possible. "Yes I've noticed it as well Jace, uneasiness, shaky, confidence dying down. Possibly a crush on Mrs. Lestra? She's a nice lady, could spend her days cooking for you, perfect wife material." Xander reported this to the boy with his trademark stoic face as he sipped his sweetened tea once again. "As for what to do, well the rain has begun to die down so you could all risk the walk home if you wish, if not then I have a few things of interest to do about here, I could give you a tour, we have a few arcade games as well as an in-home movie theater. Oh! But before that, Bridget, Jonathon, I don't believe either of you have revealed if you are uhh.." He searched for a way to put the position that He and Jace were in into words "People of interest."

Jace stood there in silence continuing to shake. Then Bridgit took notice and asked him if he was alright. He looked up swallowing his fear for a moment to meet her eyes. "You scare me. So does Mrs.Lestra..." He looked back down and continued to shake. He wanted to back up more but the wall would not allow it.

"Oh," Bridgit said in reply to Jace, of all answers she imagined, his had not been one she could have anticipated. Though, from the way he shook and backed away, she could tell that he was either an excellent actor or his words were true. "Then I guess we're both equally terrified," the statement was only half joking. In regards to Xander's question, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. "I'm, uh, I don't think I am. But I know someone who... could be. This is the first time I've heard of any of this, though, so I could be, I guess." She sounded doubtful, but she almost knew it to be a lie deep in the back of her head. She was a person of interest, it was the only conclusion that made sense. That, or she was sick with some sort of disease that made her think she was. After seeing a living lightning beast, though, the former almost became the more logical conclusion...

"So that explains it." Jonathon thought, regarding Jace's current state of psychosis whenever a female was in the room. He turned his attention back to Xander and pondered it for a second. "I'm not 100% sure, and this is the first I've really heard of it beyond the occasional online speculation." Jonathon stood up and turned around. "If this means anything to anyone though, it's felt strange since you summoned your elemental Xander." He lifted up his shirt to show the mark on his back, which now looked like a strangely and ornately drawn lion. "It's usually just a blob, so if it looks any different, tell me."

OOC:
This sort of art style, only a lion instead of a heron

Xander rolled his eyes at Jace, he was starting to get tired of this guys random quirks. He looked back towards Bridget with slanted eyes. If she had never even heard about such things like this then how would she have any idea of a "Friend" that could be, nor did he think that she would have a question as to if she were or not. His wonder over the girl peaked as his eyes kept obviously locked onto her until Jonathon rose up from his seat. He gazed as the boy began to show off a tattoo on his shoulder, claiming it used to be a blob. While Xander knew that he wasn't among normal characters he couldn't see how ink imprinted into skin could change shape from a blob to something to elegant. Without informing the boy of any change that could have possibly occurred Xander began to move his hands his very rotational flowing motions around each other, a small orb of wind beginning to grow between his hands. In a matter of moments that ball of wind had formed into a two-foot tall moving entity. while its form was similar to that of the energy elementals it was instead in the general shape of visible constantly spinning wind, its head the stereotypical sign of wind or gust, much like a small tornado with a three dimensional symbol of wind for a head. While paying very little attention to the elemental itself Xander kept a close eye on the tattoo to see if it made any notable changes.

Jace looked over to Jonathon's back. He assumed he would only see a blob since birthmarks don't usually alter. But he was wrong and to his surprise saw a lion. He then dropped his gaze back down to his feet assuming someone else would notify him. He then looked up to Brdigit and spoke in a worried tone. "No need to be scared of me... I won't hurt you..." He then dropped his plane of view to his legs once more.

Bridgit didn't seem to notice the doubt in Xander's eyes, even when his gaze lingered on her own. She had gone back to fumbling with the towel, absentmindedly folding its corners and unfolding them back as a means of keeping herself occupied. After Jonathon voiced his question, her eyes fell onto the mark. It didn't look like a blob from her vantage point, but before she could open her mouth to respond, another elemental had taken form. Glancing from that toward Xander's steady gaze falling on Jonathon's back, she could only assume that he was testing if the elemental was some sort of catalyst. It made sense, and her curiosity piqued as well.

Then, Jace spoke, and his words surprised her. She could respond to that. "I won't hurt you either, so you can stop that shivering." Were they true words? She could only hope so, but after seeing how the boy had reacted to even the chance that Xander had been 'evil', she wasn't sure if her promise could be kept. If he learned of her sudden realization of being some sort of... bad, would he waste any time in ending her? She didn't want to attack him, didn't want to hurt anyone. But if it came down to it, would she have a choice?

"I'm gonna take the silence as something happened." Jonathon said, putting his shirt back on. Turning around he sat and looked at the others. "If I am in fact a successor, then I'm still not sure who or what my ancestor is. If you have any idea how to figure that out besides summoning another elemental, I'd be willing to try." He said finishing his cup of tea.

Xander stared at Jonathon for a few blank moments as his mind raced for ways to do anything without summoning his elementals. Something caught his attention as he sat in those awkward spaces of time, or more so the lack of something. He turned his head away from his visitors and towards the door as he craned his neck to listen, was it done raining? He had thoroughly enjoyed his time with these people, despite the somewhat hostile and odd amount of time they actually spent together Xander had been loving it, even if he didn't show it the interaction had sure beat his lonely days among elementals and Mrs. Lestra. "Well, it seems that the rain has gone, I assume you all will be heading home now?" He asked them, looking between them all. "If it isn't too much trouble I would love to walk you all at least the distance to the park. Besides, I haven't quite gotten unsummoning this guy down yet so I still need to unbind him, which is, umm... A bit too destructive for the indoors." While this wasn't entirely true it sure was a lot easier to simply unbind the elemental rather than re-consume it into him like he had with the energy elemental.

Jace let out a chuckle at Bridgit's comment. "In that form no you won't hurt me. If you were a successor maybe. I'm not scared because I'll think you'll hurt me. I'm scared because you females are unpredictable and fragile. Yet for some reason you were thrown into this harsh world where death is all around us. I grew up by myself in the slums. Survival was the only friend I had. Every time I saw a woman or a girl I felt bad. They would either be dead or missing within the next day or so. So you see I don't understand why you were thrown into this world unless there is something I'm not seeing. Well aside from reproducing."

He let out a sigh. He spoke to much and felt stupid for blurting out one of his few weaknesses. He looked up at Xander and tilted his head. "We may have gotten off on the wrong foot. But you're the only other successor I know. Right now your faction is undecided so we're on mutual terms. Perhaps we could team up for a bit until you decided what you truly want to be?" Jace wasn't good with making friends but he was trying his best here.

"R-reproducing?" Bridgit couldn't help but burst out laughing. Jace's words had been deadly serious, but it seemed like the oddest of fears. Scared of women because he's scared for women? She couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea. "Erm, sorry to hear about your upbringing," she said, "I know I can't know how that felt, but I do know what it's like to be alone. Hell, I moved out of my house because my family practically acted like I was invisible. They say it was to prot-" she cut herself off, not wanting to elaborate and throw herself a pity party. "I don't talk to them much."

She stood after Xander spoke, setting the towel she had been fiddling with on the tabletop before pushing in her chair. "Yeah, I'd best be going. I have a cat that's probably... not too happy about me missing out on giving her dinner." She lingered in the room, intent on taking up the back of the group and trailing slightly behind as she did upon their entrance. It had been a long time since she spent this long with other people, but she didn't have the mustered confidence to change her usual approach to groups.