On why she still loves Sam, why she's willing to risk killing everyone and everything else she loves:

I know, people must think I'm... crazy. You were only nineteen, they say, you were too young. You had never been with anyone else. The majority of first love relationships don't last. You grow up and grow apart.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

to sam himself:

I don't know if I ever told you why. The real reason. I know I asked you, probably a hundred... a thousand times. Why are you with me? Why do you love me? But I don't know if I ever... answered you back. -sad chuckles- I don't remember if you ever asked.

Growing up, I --... When I was --... I... -sighs- I didn't have it as bad as some of the other kids. I knew how to protect myself. No one ever tried to hurt me and got away with it. I had some of the assholes by the balls, too. And, I mean... most of them weren't bad, just... too many broken kids and not enough time, money, or energy to help them all. I didn't want help, anyway. I sure as fuck didn't make it easy. It was easier for them to just... give up. Leave me alone.

And that's... fuck, that's part of the problem. I was so... alone. No one gave a shit about me. Orphan kid with no family.  I had no parents to be given back to, no other relatives. Unless someone wanted to adopt me I was never getting out of the system. So they didn't have to care. They just had to keep me alive long enough to age out so the state could checkmark a box and keep all its funding.

I hated everyone. Everything. I just wanted... hell, I don't know what I wanted. I never had anything 'normal' to dream about going back to. I wanted to get out, I guess. Make my own way. My whole life, no one ever listened to me. No one cared. The only one who was going to look after me was me.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: ❆. ☽ .❆ :☆ﾟ. ───

hypothetical convo after cynric and isaac meet:

Cynric: Oh, so you're the one who helped steal my sister away?

Isaac: Actually I'm pretty sure she stole us, really. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Faina: Faina would normally have some sort of reaction to Helena's attempts to look after her, with Madison nowhere to be seen - whether appreciative of the effort or suspicious, given the timing. But she doesn't really seem to *notice*. Whether lost in thought or just tired, Faina brushes off her attempts at cordial conversation and concern over her wellbeing. She does drink the water when urged to, but otherwise she is just as quiet and complacent as she was yesterday, minus the sick part.

Nothing about Helena's behavior is outwardly strange, but more so it's strangely normal. It's the same with Jack and the Iron Maiden, when the pass occurs. It's as if everyone is making an obvious and concerted effort to pretend that yesterday's events didn't happen when around her, and it is *not* out of sympathy. It's wariness. It's worry. 

Faina is not stupid, nor is she a first timer at all this. It's not like she hasn't picked up tools and tricks of the trade being Madison's daughter, having been dragged into Drucilla's sphere of influence. She worked with High Elf Guy and Anette all the time, for years. She doesn't have to be directly involved to know that there are plans and schemes being worked and put in place. She might not know *what*, but she is not blind.

Resentment is slow boiling in the void where her totem should be. If they had only let her take care of her own shit - if they had never gotten mixed into this - she should've never let Drucilla talk her into going to Alaska-- 

But it's pointless to think like that. It's not like she isn't used to life kicking her in the fucking teeth. It's about par for the course.

She's curled into a chair in Jack's office when Cynric finally shows up. Left alone. Convenient. Faina hardly looks up from the couch cushion she's fidgeting with as he settles himself into a chair nearby, clasps his hands together. They're trembling, but she doesn't comment, nor do either of them speak for a long moment.

-------------------

She interrupts before he has a chance to speak. **"What're you doing in here?"** It's flat, sharp. Cynric furrows his brow and shoots a mild glare at her. *"This is Jack's office. I think I'm allowed to be in Jack's office."*

**"Convenient, that Jack has stepped out and it's just us here."** Faina drawls, thick with sarcasm. 

Cynric snorts softly. *"Someone's fucking testy. I'm hurt, it's like you don't want to see me."*

**"I don't want to see you when I know you're here on a mission."** She still hasn't looked up from her cushion. **"What do you want, Cyn?"**

Cynric shifts in his seat, then scoffs and shakes his head. *"You are the most... paranoid and suspicious person I know. Jesus, Faina, I want to make sure you're okay."* She can feel him studying her out of the corner of her eye, though she doesn't look up. *"You're not, clearly."* He adds, dryly.

She doesn't dignify that observation with a response.

When he speaks again, there is a hard edge to his voice. *"I'm not here to interrogate you--"*

**"Aren't you?"** Faina shoots him a withering glare, and then blinks, startled, at the expression across his face. It's a hard stare, teeth so firmly clenched behind closed lips that a vein might as well be popping out on his temple, and it's not *just* from anger - his eyes are glassy as if from the effort of holding back tears.

*"I'm not."* He insists, sharp. *"I'm worried. Really **fucking** worried. And so is everyone else."* Cynric huffs out a breath as she tears her gaze away, back to her pillow. 

She gives a little shake of her head. This is sinking mighty fucking low, even for Madison. Manipulating her brother to be her inquisitor... all because Trinity won't leave things the fuck alone. She can still feel the prodding at the totem as if a knife was scraped across her conscious.

Well, it's not going to work. She's not going to let them use Cynric like a pawn. **"You don't have anything to worry about."**

*"Don't I?"* It comes out from his lips in a near snarl as his throat bobs. Faina is unfazed. *"You almost DIED before, Faina. The only reason you're even here right now is because you're Madison's daughter. I almost lost you, **again**, and I'm just… trying to understand why you're doing this. What you think you're doing with this."*

**"This,"** she sketches air quotes around the word with her fingers, **"has nothing to do with you, Cyn. I don't *need* you, or anyone else, to understand. I need you to stay the hell out of my way."**

Cynric rocks back in his seat with another scoff and a shake of his head. The emotion in his voice trembles between anger and sorrow. *"See, that too, I don't get. I don't get when your friends suddenly became your enemies. I'm not the enemy here. **We're** not the enemies here. You're acting like we're just as bad as... that fucking hotel. Why? Why all of this?"*

Faina digs her nails into the pillow and doesn't respond.

Cyn: Cynric watches her a bit. Then: **"You know they know, right?"** 

She doesn't look at him, but she doesn't have to. The tension creeps into her shoulders. *"I don't know what you're talking about."*

Bullshit. **"I think you do. I think you do, and it's got you so freaked out you've completely lost your *fucking mind* and shut down."** He rubs the back of his hand across his mouth, shifting in his seat. He is as antsy as she is frozen. **"It's so obvious, after last night, when that *monster* was calling for his *mate*, I don't know why they didn't piece it together."**

Faina looks up at him sharply. *"Don't--"* She warns, her tone and eyes equally ice, but Cynric completely ignores her and shoves on. Everyone else may tiptoe around it, but rage boils under his skin and he is immune to the look in her eyes.

**"Jack told me the Reine have someone else you know. That it's not just Sandra. So you don't have to confirm it. You don't have to even talk to me. I'll talk, and you can sit there while I prove it to you."**

*"Don't you dare--"* She tries to snarl, but he cuts over her again. He'll be the louder one, here, no matter what.

**"You've never said a word about anyone from your past outside of the Ravagers, so it has to be one of them. They're the only ones you would shove Trinity away for. The Reine's Champion called and *you answered*. So you know him. He's the other Ravager they have. It's just a matter of which one."**

Faina: **"Cynric--"**

He stares at her, *really* stares at her, and then looks down. She follows the line of his gaze to her hand, squeezed into the fabric of the pillow, and he doesn't look up from it for a long moment. When he does, there is a ghastly smirk on his lips to war with the emotions in his eyes.

*"You stopped wearing your engagement ring."*

For a moment, Faina is so startled she doesn't respond. **"What?"**

*"Your engagement ring."* Cynric repeats it in a tone that is patiently condescending. *"I haven't seen you wear it since you got pulled from the Hotel. And before that I never saw you take it off."*

An icy chill crawls down her spine. No one has even so much as commented on it since it happened... although that was probably more because they were distracted by a hundred other things she had been thrown into to worry about jewelry on a person who hardly wears any. Raising hell over her totem and her forced confinement.

**"That doesn't have--"** It's too harsh and defensive. Cynric is trying to needle her into anger, she realizes with a start, and swiftly backpedals. **"I - was afraid I could have lost it--"**

Cyn: Cynric shoots his sister a squinted glare. A warning not to treat him like he's as fucking stupid as the rest of them. **"You would've put it on your necklace if you were afraid of that. You don't have it on you *at all*. So, tell me, how do the pieces not fit - you attack the High Priestess for the Reine, get pulled from the hotel, and stop wearing your ring all at the same time... and then the High Priestess shows up with a werewolf who calls for his *mate* and *you* answer like a damn Thrall and you *don't* expect them to connect it back to the only Ravager you've fucked--"**

Faina: Faina is on her feet in a flash, hands curled into tight fists as she looms over him in his seat. **"You watch your fucking mouth, asshole."** She snarls, half raising her fists as if to hit him, all thoughts that he is intentionally trying to provoke her having been immediately driven from her mind. **"What the fuck is *wrong* with you?"**

Cynric doesn't so much as even flinch, staring up into her eyes with a glare of his own. *"What the fuck is wrong with **you**?"* He shoots back. *"What did he do to you?"*

Faina's brow creases into furrowed lines. **"He didn't do anything to me."**

*"Really? I didn't see **him** go fucking feral because you called. You were behind glass. He still scented you. He **knew** to call for **you**. And everyone seems to think you were already twisted into some sort of spell before he showed up at the Maiden."* Cynric leans forward, pushing further into her bubble, but Faina refuses to yield ground. *"So? Did he get you at the hotel? Did something happen?"*

She grinds her teeth together. **"I don't know what you're talking about."**

Cyn: They're locked in a staring contest for a long moment, glare for glare, raging tempests battling for dominance. Then Cynric falls back against the back of the chair, tapping his fingers against the arm. 

**"Guess that sorry bastard is getting tortured for nothing, then."** He says. There is a flicker of some sort of unreadable panic that passes across Faina's face, but it's too quick to really catch.

*"What do you mean?"* She attempts to say it flat, like she's confused he's suddenly changing the subject, but he can hear the undercurrent underneath it loud and clear.

Cynric half-shrugs. Aloof, like he doesn't care to explain. **I mean, if it's not Sam - "** Faina visibly recoils at the name said out loud. **"- that guy's got a hell of a lot of explaining to do to that Goddess of his. You literally pulled that shit in front of Akasha, after all. And it's their Champion. You think they're gonna let the 'Ghost of the Pit' go around bound to a spell they don't know anything about? Do you think the Reine are going to let something interfere with their control over their Champion?"**

Faina has no response ready to whip at him. It really doesn't look like she's done much thinking about that at all. That faraway look that had been in her eyes when he walked in creeps back in, the indignation fading. She takes a step back from his chair, one hand unconsciously clutching her shirt where her totem *should* be.

**"Hey. Look at me."** All heat has bled from Cynric's voice. She refocuses back on him after a moment. **"Are you going to tell me how you ran into him at the hotel? Or are you going to let him suffer because you don't want to face what happened?"**

---------------

Faina: Faina looks at her brother for a long, silent moment. Nausea threatens to climb into her throat, and she is glad there's nothing in her stomach whatsoever besides water. She takes a deep breath, and takes another step back from him. **"You don't understand."**

*"I don't."* Short, abrupt. Cynric leans his elbows back on his knees as he looks at her. *"Explain it to me. If you won't explain it to anyone else. Explain it to me."*

They stare at each other. Hard stares, jagged and unyielding. Cynric's expression is the one to shift first, soft and mournful. And he breaks the silence first. *"I get it. You know I do."* And she does, as much as she doesn't want to think about it right now. The reason he sits here now, as a dragon, because of someone he loved. *"You have people who love you. Who want to help you. Stop trying to fight for this on your own and just tell me what happened."*

Faina knows she has been backed into a corner. Her arms come up to hug across her chest, and she looks away. This is exactly the same bullshit Madison does. She hates it. Fucking hell, does she hate it. But Cynric is also right, and god fucking damn it, she knows it. 

She looks back at him, her voice flat. **"I don't forgive you."**

Cynric raises and lowers one shoulder in a shrug. *"Join the club."* He says, without a trace of amusement. That almost raises a bitter indignation alongside the bile in her throat.

**"Don't you fucking use this as an excuse to punish yourself--"** She starts, but he interrupts.

*"No, you're already doing enough of that for the both of us."*

Faina bites down hard on the inside of her cheek.

It falls silent again. Again that *itch* burns across her skin.

**"They won't stop hurting him just because I tell you."** She finally says.

*"Probably not."* Cynric agrees. *"But the alternative is, they figure out from him what happened, and they use him to hurt you. And despite what you may think, you getting hurt fucks up a lot of other people. You have family ready to go to war for you--"*

**"*No.*"** Faina cuts in, harsh, voice nearly cracking from the force. **"No. I won't do that again. I don't need others to fight my wars for me."**

Cynric blinks. A dawning understanding sparks in his eyes. *"Trinity are not the Ravagers, Faina. Taking their choice away because you lost yours isn't going to stop them from trying."* Another ghostly smirk appears on his lips. *"Pot, meet kettle."*

She skewers her brother with a look, but is otherwise quiet.

---------------

Cyn: Hit the nail right on the head with that one.

The office falls into a deathly quiet, and this time Cynric makes no move to break it. Not right now. Faina isn't looking at him, her gaze pinned to the floor. She's shivering.

After a long moment, she finally says, *"I... really don't know what happened."* A crushing sensation falls against his chest, but before he can open his mouth, she waves a hand impatiently. Her voice wavers as if she's biting back tears. *"I thought it was all... a dream. He was fading - I thought I was going to lose him again, so I..."* She swallows. *"bound myself... to... him."*

Cynric sits up straight. **"'Bound' yourself...? How?"**

Faina shakes her head. *"I - I don't know, I just... wanted to make sure I could find him again."* Her hand creeps towards that spot on her chest again, where the totem is supposed to sit. *"I promised - I made him promise--"*

It feels like she's starting this story from the end, but it's still more than anything else she's said, and Cynric latches onto it. His eyes are pinned to her hand, and he interrupts, **"Did you use your totem?"**

There is a long pause before she replies, but it feels more like she's trying to remember than trying to avoid it. *"... Yes. And his amulet."*

The breath leaves his lungs in a whoosh of air. **"You gave him possession of your totem to do this?"** A slow nod follows. **"What... did you promise?"**

Another long pause. It's taking more effort for her to speak with each word, the trembling growing worse as she hunches her shoulders. *"T-that I would… answer… if he-if he called for me. That I could find him. I made him promise to call. And I would come to him. No matter what."*

Cynric sucks in another breath, running a hand through his hair. **"... Okay. Okay."** She's talking. This is a start. **"When... did this happen?"**

Faina slowly lifts her gaze from the floor to meet his. *"... Valentine's Day."*

----------------

Faina: She refuses to mention a majority of what happened. Just that it was Valentine's Day. Woken up in the middle of the night. Hit with the love potion bubble *thing*. So when she turned around and saw Sam standing there dressed in all white, she thought it was a dream. A ghost. Not real.

She doesn't mention what they did, and Cynric doesn't ask. She doesn't mention the vows. She insists the promise to come when he called were the only promises made. She thought he was trapped in a hell she couldn't reach, so she was going to find him and drag him out herself. That's why the werewolf called for her. She doesn't know why she reacted like that when he did.

Faina eventually curls herself back up on her original chair, feeling disconnected from her own body. It's all she can give. It's all she'll say. But as Cynric goes to leave to inform Jack what she said, she suddenly stops him short.

**"I won't break it."** She meets Cynric's gaze defiantly. **"I won't. And you can't make me."**

If she was to go through all of this hell, and they refused to leave her be, well, guess they were along for the fucking ride.

---------

Jack: Jack doesn't bother to wait for Cynric to explain, and then relay the information. He calls Madison directly and puts it on speakerphone. **"Explain."** The werelion rumbles, and Cynric does, haltingly, but every word.

Jack is silent for a long moment. Then he takes the phone off speaker and puts it to his ear. **"I have the Physician on standby."** He says. He does not comment on anything Cynric said and lets Madison process on her own terms. **"Yer good ta go with the totem."**