Once she was gone, Jin looked at Alina. "She is Night Fae." He said in an almost accusatory way. "Changeling or no, she is Night Fae and belongs to my court." His eyes were slightly narrowed. "Were you aware of this fact?" His eyes challenged her, flashing as he stared directly at her.
Morrigan stood at attention beside Jin. While she didn't have any visible weapons, she had many hidden throughout her clothing, strapped on everywhere, in case she needed to protect him. "She is Night Fae. What class, i do not know. But she is definitely Night Fae." She confirmed, watching Alina for a moment, before looking around the room, on the alert for attack.
Alina blinked once, shock flashing across her face, and then some sort of understanding. "Oh." She said softly, looking to the door Miyaki had just left from, and then back to Jin. "That-explains quite a bit, actually." She sighed, glancing up at the high ornate ceiling above them, almost cathedral like in appearance, except for the many windows allowing natural light in.
"How is it my mother managed to pick a Halfblood, out of any humans she could have chosen?" Shaking her head, she looked back down, dipping her head in an apology. "She may very well be a Night Fae, but she is a changeling of my Court. I would gladly keep her here, if I could, but I do not really think that is up to either of us." Jin's accusatory tone and looks didn't seem to phase her, as she stayed just as calmly sure of herself as ever.
Jin shook his head. "Your highness, she belongs with her own…kind. In this case, the closest thing would be my own court. Not yours. If she is indeed a creature of shadow and night, then she belongs with me. With us of the Night Court. You know as well as I that darkness and the light does not mix well." He said, referencing their own arguments and disagreements
Morrigan was silent, her sharp, pointed chin angled high as she looked around.
Jin shook his head. "Your highness, she belongs with her own…kind. In this case, the closest thing would be my own court. Not yours. If she is indeed a creature of shadow and night, then she belongs with me. With us of the Night Court. You know as well as I that darkness and the light does not mix well." He said, referencing their own arguments and disagreements
Morrigan was silent, her sharp, pointed chin angled high as she looked around.
((hghfhgg you sent it twice?))
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, does she really belong anywhere?" Alina asked, arching an eyebrow and motioning around her. "She is partly human, that much is for sure. Meaning no matter where she is, that is what she will be seen as. Only partly something." She clasped her hands in front of her, sighing. "Maybe Miyaki would have an easier time with you Court. I will not order her to go, though, and I will not give you the authorization to do so either. She must decide to go on her own."
(ahhhh shoot, im on my phone and it does that sometimes…sorry!!)
Jin inclined his head. "What you say is true. However, i am not going to hide that part of her heritage from her. I will tell her that she is Night Fae." He replied, watching Alina unblinkingly. "I will not hide that from her." He had phrased it to give himself some wiggle room. Yes, he would tell her that she was Night Fae. But he would not tell her who he suspected her parent was. That he would leave for later. If ever. He glanced to Morrigan, signaling something, then looked at Alina. "Now. I am weary of travel, and would like to go to my rooms and rest. Where are they?" A half lie. He wasn't tired, though he was weary of traveling. He just wanted a chance to speak to Morrigan without ears listening kn to their conversation.
"Tell her what you must. She deserves to know the truth." Alina's soft spot for the changeling was obvious, the one weakness she showed in front of anyone. Which was perfectly fine, as that meant everyone knew she wouldn't let anyone harm Miyaki. "Ah, yes, your rooms." She raised a hand, signaling to a guard standing by the door. He approached, listening to Alina's question, before turning to Jin.
"The first floor of the West wing, your highness." The first floor was for important guests, and the second was for Fae of importance as well, but those who lived there, and were a part of the Dawn Court.
"Would you like Mika to accompany you, or would you prefer finding them on your own?" Alina asked, accepting the key the guard handed her, and raising an eyebrow at Jin.
Jin shook his head. "I can find it. Do I need a key?" He replied, looking at Alina, face blank.
Morrigan took out a knife, sharpening it nonchalantly, as if she wasnt standing in the entrance for the Dawn Court. Her red hair was still in the braided crown, with a few strands falling into her face.
Jin glanced at Morrigan, hearing the rasp of the blade being sharpened, and shook his head slightly, then looked at Alina again.
"That is what this is for." Alina said, handing over the elegant skeleton key. She motioned to Morrigan, tilting her head just slightly. "Will you companion be staying in your rooms, or should I have one of the other guest rooms prepared as well?" She asked, clasping her hands back in front of herself again.
He took it, tucking it in his pocket. "Morrigan needs her own room, yes. Preferably right next door so she actually sleeps." He gave Morrigan a look.
Morrigan's lips twitched in a smirk, not looking up from the knife. "It isnt my fault you have a habit of leaving your room." She replied.
Jin shook his head. "Morrigan, hush." He replied, looking at Alina again. "So if a room could be prepared for her beside mine, that would be lovely."
"Of course. Mika, would you mind?" The guard nodded, leaving the room to presumably set that in motion. Alina bowed shortly, flashing that same polite smile once she had straightened. "Both of you, feel free to find your rooms and go about your business." She turned, heading for a door by the throne. "But never forget, should you break the rules of my hospitality, I will not hesitate to enact the judgement my Court is known for." And then she was gone, leaving behind the scent of morning dew and jade, and a certain air of not-quite, but definitely somewhat, threatening meaning.
Jin nodded, and he and Morrigan headed to the West wing, where they located his room, going inside.
"Jin, there is no way you are right." Morrigan said immediately, turning to look at him. "She cannot be. Night Fae, i grant, is true. But your other suspicion? Impossible."
"I know what i saw, Morrigan. And there is only one person i have ever known who was like that." Jin replied. "I am very sure i am correct." He told her, taking off his cloak and setting it on the bed.
"No. You know what that could mean. What that…" Morrigan shook her head.
"I do know. Which is why we need her on our side. I need to speak with her." Jin replied calmly.
It took Miyaki around ten minutes to finally find the local inventor, who was sat at a table in the informal dining hall, gadgets and papers and tools spread out on the table in front of him. Shaking her head with a laugh, the changeling crept up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Kenathius-!" Aster spun around, his ears twitching and eyes wide, only to relax as he caught sight of Miyaki. "Dammit, Miyaki, you scared the shit out of me. Was that really necessary."
"Absolutely." Miyaki quipped, hopping up on to the table and poking around the metal bits, picking up a strange looking half-finished device. "Alina wants to know your process on her music box, and I'm just here to get away from the High Lord. Night Fae are strange, that's for sure."
Jin and Morrigan talked for a while longer, before Jin sighed. "I'm going for a walk, Morrigan. Don't tail me, or I shall have to send you home. I value my privacy."
Morrigan rolled her eyes. "Fine. Leave, then, High Lord." She said, sharpening her knife again.
Jin winked, and left, walking through the hallways without a destination in mind. He looked extremely out of place in the golden, sunlit palace.
"So that's what was going on, huh? Is her Lady entirely sure that's a good idea, inviting them here?" Aster asked as he sat back down, returning to the fiddling he had been doing.
"She said she was." Miyaki said with a shrug, grabbing a small tool of the table to tweak something, before pulling off an entire piece. "I'm not so sure about it, though. The High Lord seems like a man with plans and things to hide. And I don't like it."
"You're wary of everyone." The male Faerie pointed out, glancing up. "Hey! That took me forever to get on!"
"Maybe because it's in the wrong place. You need it over here to get the desired effect, Az." She said, setting the device down to pull her hair up into a high ponytail, before continuing her work.
Jin sighed softly, and continued walking through the hallways and tapping on his pant leg. Interesting…Night Fae, raised in the Dawn Court. At least for a while. Does she have any idea? Any powers or abilities like ours? Or is she as powerless as any other human? I shall have to find out. He shook his head slightly as he turned down a corridor. I cannot simply ask straightout, though. She would likely not answer me. I must gain her trust.
“Just don’t break it, goddammit.” Aster shook his head, eyeing her disassembly and reassembly of the device for a moment before going back to his own tinkering.
“I know what I’m doing. Learned from the best, didn’t I?” Miyaki said, batting her eyelashes innocently at him and earning a laugh in response.
“If you say my brother, I’m going to beat you with this wrench. No High Lady can threaten me enough.” He joked, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.
Jin kept walking, folding his hands behind his back. "Hm." He walked into the garden, examining the flowers, which were beautiful colors, like the sky and the sun itself. He didn't like it here. It was always too…bright and cheery. He liked the dark far better. The dark hid many things, and made others shine all the brighter. To the sun, all things were the same. But not everything deserved the light.
A few minutes later, Miyaki humped up, holding the completed device up in the air triumphantly. “Got it! Fucker took a bit, but it’s done!”
Aster blinked up at her, before a bright grin split his face. “Holy shit, are you serious? We have to go test it!”
Miyaki eagerly agreed, and they made their way out into the gardens after cleaning up a bit.
“Okay okay, on the count of three, toss it into the air.” Aster instructed, after holding his palm over the sphere like structure to power it with light. Miyaki took the sphere, waiting for Aster to count down, before tossing the sphere as high into the air as she could.
Where it exploded, like a small flash grenade.
Jin jumped when something flew into the air and exploded, and headed in the direction of the explosion quickly. He looked like quite the sight, as well. He didn't belong in these beautiful gardens of orange and red and blue, dressed in white, silver, or black, looking like the night incarnate trespassing in the day's territory. Which was perhaps in truth what he was. He rounded a corner, now in full view of Aster and Miyaki, though he hadn't yet noticed them.
"By Kenathius-Aster, it worked!" Miyuki jumped up and down a few times, the light colored fabric of her skirt swirling around her feet as she did. "I told you I knew what I was doing!" It was the closest thing to magic she could get, using other people's in items like this. And she loved it.
Aster slapped her shoulder, looking up at the fading light as the changeling caught the sphere before it hit the ground. "Damn, you really did it! General Urei is going to love these! Way to go, changeling!"
Jin's eyes snapped to them, and he cleared his throat. "Next time you feel like testing…whatever that thing is, could you warn the others wandering the garden first? I do not know if it was your intention to startle me, but nonetheless, you did." He walked over to them. Miyuki, and someone else. He wasn't sure who this male was, and he didn't particularly care. "Miss Miyuki, a pleasure to meet you again." He added, looking at her.
((Afafasas autocorrect changed her name when I typed it rip))
Aster jumped as Jin spoke, whirling around to bow and almost falling. Miyaki, however, fiddled with the sphere a bit before even turning, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I’m sure. In any case, the gardens are usually empty right around now, which is why we save any testing for Eveningfall.” Miyaki pointed to the sky, where the sun had reached a point that would make it evening. “We weren’t aware anyone else would be here. My…deepest apologies.”
(lol oof)
Jin nodded, then arched an eyebrow. "Are they really your deepest? I don't see you bowing and scraping, which would be your deepest." He replied, looking at her with all the cool blankness one would expect of the night. He chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "Miss Miyaki, i need to speak with you." He added, ignoring the male and focusing on the changeling. Night Fae…she does not look it, quite. But there is something in her eyes. And i know that what i felt wasn't wrong. Like calls to like. I know who the citizens of my kingdom are. Who has Night blood. And she has it.
“The deepest I can manage then.” Miyaki amended, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Because I don’t bow or scrape, for anyone.” She handed the sphere back to Aster, whispering something as she placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, before letting go. With one last look between the two of them, the male Faerie left, heading back towards the informal dining room to continue working.
Miyaki turned back to Jin once Aster was gone, crossing her arms under her chest. “High Lord, might I ask why exactly you need to speak with me? I’m not exactly a high priority Faerie, after all. Not one at all.”
