Secret Preparations (Teo, Merry, Adele)

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Agatha had woken up that morning, closely cuddled up against Teodora, as she hadn't even realized when she had fallen asleep, but feeling a whole lot better than before, and even feeling how the cold had seemed to subsided, even besides her having gotten her own strength back. On the way towards the Brigade, she had caught and gotten some food for herself, as she was starving and needed something to eat to gather her strength. She did always make it quick, when she went hunting after living animals, even though it was part of her, but with her being able to talk to animals, she respected them a lot more.

Having gotten her strength back more, Agatha took Teodora more towards the Brigade, even having sent a message to Merry ahead of them by bird. 'Merry, I know by now both you and Adele must have realized and heard about my short dissapearance, and if you have not figured it out, I will explain when we see you. We have a plan, and I need you to trust me. I need you to meet someone who's plan it is, and it will be best if we can meet you at your home, talk with just the three of us.' She had written quickly on a note that she tied to one of the feet of the bird. She was already trying to imagine if Adele had also heard and figured out what had probably happened and how she had gone in alone, without telling anyone yet. It wouldn't surprise her if she saw her that too, and a part of her hoped that she would. Although, the protective side of her would rather not put her in danger.

The day before had been totally crazy, not just for almost dying, but even now she could still barely get the tingling sensation off her lips, or out of her head, thinking of how amazing kissing Teodora had been, and her kissing her back as well. It had strangely enough been one of the best rests she had in a long time. All of this only made her that much more determined in what their goal was. After her saving her life, Agatha knew more sure than ever that she could completely trust Teodora, and someone getting THIS close, and closer even, was something new, scary but incredible at the same time.

When they had made their way into the Brigade, they came to the residences and that of Merry, after she had made sure that they weren't exactly followed by anyone else, but making sure she didn't look suspicious either. She looked at the house in front of her and then at Teodora for a second, before she eventually knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

[Teodora]

The Celestial moved with a sort of lethargic energy about her in every step. Her thoughts were constantly going a mile a minute and kept her from resting. The war that was going on took a toll on her due to her empathy, she could feel the pain, suffering and sure joy of others. The intense influx of emotions was more than she had ever felt all at once even when stacked against the sheer intensity of Samael's wrath. She tried to focus on the feelings coming from Agatha and that worked for a while but it was only a way to dull the ache.

The night previous had been a good one, never before had she felt anything like it. Laying beside Agatha, someone she was sworn to protect and the feeling of love? Maybe that's what it was, she was unsure herself how to describe it but when she touched her warm flesh her heart skipped. It was hard to be near her without her mind becoming clouded by all of the strange emotions she was feeling but she had an obligation to endure it. To top it all off she was late for the unification of her people which she was sure that Samael would notice but most likely not think much of it. She wasn't exactly on friendly terms with anyone present.

Coming to a halt beside Agatha, she offered a short smile when she glanced over at her. She could not look long for fear of losing herself entirely in thee moment. They had a goal to accomplish here in convincing Merry to use the portals. Death and Destruction needed to be sent away to a world where they could not harm anyone besides themselves. The world would be fine without Vlad, there were others who could do his work in his absence. Yalanze needed stability, not war as the planet was only just starting to mature into an environment that they could inhabit easily.

"What should I expect of her? Is she hard to deal with?" Teodora asked, unsure what sort of person Commander Lovelace was.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

Merry had read the note over and over and was very puzzled by it. Ever the polite hostess however, she prepared tea for Agatha and her guest. Going to the cookie jar she pulled various treats and placed them on a platter. Biting her lip she decided more would be needed and pulled out the light bread that she used and made cucumber sandwiches. The light cream cheese wouldn't be heavy and it might put her guests at ease.

Covering the tray of sandwiches with a crystal clear cover she decided to use a bit of magic and refreshed the sunflowers that were sitting in the middle of the table. She'd found it odd that she could keep refreshing them without the magic weakening but chalked it up to portal bleed over and made sure the cushions were comfortable in the chairs that her guests would sit in. Her Tudor cottage was small but homey and had everything she needed. Her one concession to her rank was a large library that was off of the living room. She kept only books of good there of course, her own temperament being of s nature that the dark magics did not appeal to her. She liked her space and the fact that it was welcoming to those who came to visit.

Glancing about she relaxed. She wasn't a messy person by any means so she didn't have to stress about the state of her home. The fire was merrily burning in the hearth and she glanced down at her cobalt blue robes. Her hair was held back in a french braid that had a cobalt blue ribbon woven through it. Hearing people at the door she smoothed her robes and went to the door.

"Agatha! Come in come in!" she said joyfully as she opened the door, "Welcome, my name is Merry. It's a pleasure to meet one of Agatha's friends. Please come in and have a seat. I made tea and sandwiches so we could relax and talk." she said gently as she held the door open for her company. Agatha had her usual happy glow but the other woman was near blinding if she looked at her with mage sight. She forced herself to shut off her mage site so she could have a normal conversation without her eyes watering. She closed the door and out of respect she cast a spell so what they said would not be heard out of this room.

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The entire way here, Agatha had showed more than once that she would not let anything happen to Teo, nor would she lose sight of her within the Brigade, or did she even let anyone that looked strangely at Teodora, actually ask out loud what she was doing here and all. When Teo came to a stop in front of the house, she turned to look at her and cocked her head to the side with a calm smile on her face. "Absolutely not. The only thing she might be hard to deal with, is that she's a bit of an overachiever when it comes to getting guests." She said drily, chuckling in herself because it was kind of funny, but there was definitely a truth to it as well.

She did look around for a moment, trying to see and focus her hearing as well if she could spot Adele somewhere, but for now, she didn't think so, looking back at the door as it soon enough opened in front of them, revealing Merry who was joyfully greeting both of them already. She did throw a glance at Teodora, for a few seconds not sure if 'friend' of hers was really correct enough at this point, as she felt more for her at least than friendship at this point, causign her to slightly bite her lip and innocently look back at Merry. "We're not exactly here for that..." She started saying, before she fell quiet, a few hungry grumbles powerfully escaping her stomach, putting a hand on it and sighing. "But obviously my body is happier about you making sandwiches than I thought." She added drily, stepping in more and looking curiously at what Teodora might be thinking now.

"Merry, this is Teodora, Teo, this is Commander Lovelace, although she's probably going to tell you to call her Merry." She introduced the two of them as innocently as possible, although her eyes were warm, making short eye-contact with Teo as she did. "But we have some important things to discuss, especially after where I came from yesterday, and... What Teodora here saved me from. But this is bigger than us, and we need your help to pull off Teo's plan." She explained, knowing she was getting a little right to the point, but they could do a few things at the same time, walking in more herself, smelling and walking innocently but a little quickly towards the sandwiches.

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Adele huffed as she looked at the people in front of her that she had just broken up and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look stern. Or at least, something that resembled looking stern. She wasn't doing great. It was probably because of how tired she was. The war had taken its toll on everyone and she had barely slept the past few days, trying to keep everyone going. She knew that wasn't her direct job description, but she still couldn't help doing it. She held up a hand when one of the men complained again. "No, I don't want to hear it. Stuff it, Barnes." She said, sounding stern. She was impressed with herself and how she had been able to keep her voice from cracking.

After a moment, she noticed the people at Merry’s house and recognized both Agatha and Teodora. She looked at the men again, clicked her tongue in disapproval and headed over there, knowing she was probably a little late. She knocked on the door a moment later, smoothing down her clothes, as she tried not to be too nervous. She realized that Agatha wanted her here and yet, she had been involved with some arguments. She knew that she was late and there was nothing to be said about that, but she did hope this would be forgiven, as she would hate it if it wasn't forgiven that easily. As secure in her position as she was, as insecure she could be around her friends, which was a bad habit. She was aware of this and tried working on it.

She hadn't been able to spend a whole lot of attention to her friends though. She hadn't had the time, which she felt bad about. She should spend more attention to them, instead of only paying attention to Draven and to her tasks. Burying herself in her work had felt good though, it felt safe and she wasn't sure where that feeling came from, as she didn't usually only rely on her job. But, this was a war they were dealing with. Different rules applied right now and she didn't really know what to do with herself. So, she resorted to work and to keep working for as long as she could. She was sure that it would all make sense eventually. But, for now, it didn't seem that way.

[Teodora]

The moment the door opened it was like an assault of hospitality, if there was such a thing. Merry, who seemed to be over joyed, was quick to invite them inside. There was still much she didn't understand about humans, especially why some were so happy to welcome strangers. Giving little to no more thought she would follow Agatha inside slowly and glance around to take stock of her surroundings. It was different than the castle halls she was used to, everything seemed to be much closer together which made her wonder how humans didn't suffer near constant claustrophobia. Smiling back at their hostess, she moved towards a seat nearby the tea, whatever that was.

"Commander," she said with a slight nod of her head. While Merry might insist on her name being used, Teodora could not insult her by using such informal titles. Where she came from that was all but unheard of and to do was to show your intent to undermine whomever you were speaking to. It seemed out of character for Teodora to be so formal or perhaps it would seem that way since Agatha never saw the diplomat side of her. They had much to discuss and she feared that there was not enough time in which to do so. "..I've come in the hopes that I might persuade you to use your powers to aid my goal. The window of time we have to move on this is very small but I cannot ask anyone else." she said simply.

Taking a rather long pause, she stared at the sandwiches for a moment as if unsure what to do with them. Shaking herself from such distractions, she set her mind back to the task at hand. "There are two immensely powerful beings running amok on Yalanze and I need your help in sealing them away." she stated fairly bluntly. Her tone was rather dry, yet with a hint of distracted as if she was also watching something far away. "I need you to open a portal to the Crèche. There we will find the answers to stopping Vlad Draculea and Samael." she concluded. Using their names, she assumed they might have some meaning even if she did not know one she might know of either.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

Hearing Agatha’s stomach growled she beamed happily, “Well there is nothing wrong with eating and discussing things.” She gestured to the table and then moved so that the women could enter the home.

“Pleased to meet you, yes, feel free to call me Merry.” She assured the blond woman, inwardly wondering why Agatha was rushing through the introductions, “What has happened, Agatha? I’ve heard some commentary about how the army of the dead left Sylthanus. Does this have something to do with that?” Merry’s connection to Duvessa was not common knowledge out of respect for Duvessa more than a desire to hide the woman who was like a mother to her. “My sources did not know why they had left. Just that they had and there was damage to the Forests of Arnul that had little to do with Sylthanus.”

Peering through the door she smiled as Adele moved into the home, “Greetings, Adele. I hope that you are well. Please have a seat and relax. It would seem that there has been an altercation of sorts.” Sitting down, Merry poured herself some tea and waited to see what others had to say. She steepled her fingers and relaxed into her chair as Teodora spoke to her in a formal manner. “I do not know what this Crêche is that you speak of. Would you mind telling me about it? I cannot teleport a person individually. I do not know how.” She admitted shyly as she spoke to the blonde newcomer.

She knew of Vlad but this Samael was new to her, “Who is this Samael you speak of?” She wrinkled her brow gently and tried to think if she knew anyone with that name, “I cannot recall knowing such a person.” She said gently, moving forward, she made a cup of tea and began to sip as Teodora answered her questions.

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A soft smile escaped Agatha's lips, as it wasn't really unexpected that Teodora seemed determined to use Merry's title unless she was maybe expressly told not to by the person herself, but it was still funny and a bit cute, since so many people these days didn't give a crap about stuff like that and would just barge past it already. She took a bite from one of the sandwiches, closing her eyes for just a second as it definitely helped filling back up some of the last missing pieces of her energy.

Shortly after spotting Adele entering, as she had thought and hoped at the same time, a smile crossed Agatha, as she got up again for a moment, walking over to her friend and after a second of looking at her, hugging her with a relieved sigh. "I am happy to see you, and that you're okay." She said softly, before she let go of her mostly and looked at her. "I kind of got myself into some serious trouble, but like I know I say a lot, this time it really is much bigger than just me, or any of us..." She said, shortly looking at Teo, than back at Adele again for a moment. "She saved me, after I misjudged things a little..." She said, with a soft smile, knowing full well that it was an understatement and even Adele would probably be able to definitely see that on her face.

Slowly but surely turning back to face Merry and Teo again, she listened to the conversation and bit her lip for a few seconds. She didn't exactly know if Teo wanted to have the word here mostly and explain to Merry what she meant, especially because Agatha knew more than anyone that there were still obstacles for Teo when it came to this way of communicating. "Samael is now leading the dragons, after he basically got them to agree to unification... I tried to go there, to get in between and throw a bone in his plans for a little while longer." She told as a sigh escaped her and she looked away shortly. "I couldn't manage to succeed, and it almost cost me my life. But more importantly, it cost someone else's, and if we do not pull off this plan soon... Things will go to shit." She said, looking at Teo now and then to see if she wanted to add or change anything of how she had said it, before looking back at Adele and Merry, to see what they were thinking.

[Teodora]

There was a brief pause as she listened to the commander doubt her own abilities. She was amused to see someone so powerful yet so humble at the same time. Her people were prideful, they loved nothing more than to show off their power and their wealth and she was displeased by it. There was no dancing around the subject, dragons were a greedy people and she knew that all too well. Still she came here with a mission in mind for the good of all, not just to save her own skin. Straightening her white robe, she tried to keep a positive expression as she knew it comforted her species.

"This has everything to do with that," she started, unsure what Merry actually knew. "..my people have taken the Queen of Sylthanus yet in their haste made a grave error. Vlad's legions emptied from the cursed wood and stormed Fire-forge Mountain and many lives were lost, including Queen Draculea. I fear with that single blow the war has escalated beyond all damage control and we must gather ourselves and remove the players." she said. Crossing her hands over her lap she allowed this information to sink in before she moved on.

"This is where you come in. With my magic as a stabilizer and yours as the catalyst we can punch a hole into the realm known as the Creche. Inside we can unlock the secrets behind your portal abilities and learn of a method to send Vlad and Samael somewhere else, anywhere else." she finished with emphasis on anywhere. She did not care about the fate of either one of them when it came to saving the rest of the people who had nothing to do with this war. "I move to sacrifice two lives to save millions. Surely two lives as cost is something anyone can live with." she concluded as she looked to Agatha. She was unsure how Agatha would receive seeing her in business mode.

Leaning forward in her seat, she wiped the calm expression from her face. "Not to press but I would have your answer soon as well. There is something I must protect above all others." she added. For Agatha she would sacrifice a thousand lives to see this done if she had to.