A Castle Of Crystal

24. Blending in

"Yeah, alright," Jude sighed as he lowered the phone. I'd dropped into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and so had Asher, Kane having disappeared down the hall momentarily while we adjusted. "Jules said she's going to drive up and grab you three, doesn't want you walking anywhere this time of night."

"It's ten degrees outside, you'd better not be walking anywhere," Kane scolded suddenly as he returned, clothes in hand, "shirt might be a little odd here, this is pretty big on me so it might fit you alright."

"Shit mate, thanks. Pants are alright?"

"The pants should be just fine, they look close enough to khakis," I chuckled, a small tug on my hand distracting me before I moved to let Scylla climb into my lap. She gurgled and hummed, almost like a type of purr and it soothed the tension in my limbs as I wrapped my arms around her, resting my cheek on her crown of white hair. My animus. I've missed you so much.

"Bathroom's the first door on the right if you want to wash up," he told him and Asher got to his feet, scanning the room with a curious gaze while he walked. Kane took a spot beside me, placing the rapier on the table with a loud sigh. He'd been roughed up alright, there was a mottled bruise already running along the left side of his face and I gently ran my thumb over his cheekbone while he leaned into the touch.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, "getting caught was the last thing I wanted to happen."

"It's okay, this was all incredibly out of our hands and we had no way of knowing," he let out a soft, tired chuckle before reaching into his coat and producing his phone. I winced when I saw that the case had been partially broken, the entire lower half of the screen shattered and black while he was just barely able to put his passcode in. Guilt washed over me; I knew how expensive these were, Jules certainly bitched enough about it the last time she had to get a new one.

"I might be able to get some money to help replace that," I suggested, "it's partially my fault you were there in the first place—"

"Oh God Nova no, please don't blame yourself for this," he laughed, a little more lively this time, "like I said, I've been needing a new one for a while anyway. I think it shattered when Kristoff kicked me, either that or when Kabala took me down finally." A more prideful smile crossed his face, smug even. "I'd almost made it to Enoki Lake by the time they actually caught me. Gave them a pretty good scare when I lit off a spell."

"You managed to light one off while you ran?" I chuckled incredulously as he moved to hold his hand in front of himself.

"Incendium," he whispered, just a tinge of an accent peeking through that made me bite back a smile before his whole hand sparked to life. Jude let out a cackle from the couch and ran over to take a look for himself before Kane shook it away.

"I knew you had it in you." I grinned, laughing just as Asher returned from the bathroom. His poor eye was practically swollen over and I could see the skin missing from his knuckles, if he was going down it wasn't without a fight. It was a little shocking to see him in Terran clothes, some type of black sweatshirt, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"I can admit this is refreshing compared to Alchemian fabrics," Asher said, rubbing the back of his head with a laugh, "I'm definitely ready to fall asleep though, that cure-all is kicking in."

"Once we get to Jules' place the bed's all yours," I told him, followed seconds later by the sound of a knock on the door. Jude did the honors and Jules let herself inside, her hair down and looking like she was half-asleep herself before she put her hands on her hips and looked at each of us like a scolding mother.

"Got captured by the Guard, did we Kane?"

"Took Kristoff's sword," he said sheepishly as he held the item up and she cracked, letting out a loud laugh and hunching over as Scylla got up to run to her.