Only two sharp raps on Yuuka's door, the third was interrupted when it swung open. Maina lowered her right hand, and looked down to meet the other's eyes.
"Thank you for the invite." She said. She glanced down towards the tray she balanced on her left hand, and then back up. A silver teapot on the tray steamed from its spout.
"I brought nettle tea. Good for your back. We need cups."
Door swiftly opened amid Maina’s knocks. Angel had been expecting her, but not with kettle in hand. A pleasant surprise to accompany horrid news.
“There’s plenty here. Come in...”
Side-eyeing the entrance for any odd individuals, she allowed for Maina to enter before closing it behind them and gesturing to a small table and chairs.
After entering, she placed the tray down on the table accompanied by a small clink. Maina smooths her hair, unkempt from the wind, and takes a seat. She scooted her chair inwards to the table.
The energy in the room filled her with unease. She drew her eyebrows inward.
"Six or seven years, I want to say." She paused, straightening out a silver spoon that formerly laid crooked on the tea tray. "It's been a long time since I lived in the West." She ends there and waits for elaboration on the question.
Drawing over to the cupboards, smaller Mender reached well above her head to provide her company with the appropriate glasses. She took the time to calculate the time the two had last been settled in Tempestclan before setting the cups down and additionally taking a seat. How nostalgic. She could feel the creeping, stabbing throb of her mind's fight begin again the more she thought about it.
"It feels like no longer than a week ago-- when we were picking herbs along the border and sitting around the campfire, laughing, enjoying each other's company, regardless of the tense circumstances..."
Although her thoughts trailed off some, she left no pause for Maina and continued to speak, even should her old friend try and interrupt her.
"In Tempestclan. As absurd as it sounds, I am Yuuki. The disturbance yesterday at the clan assembly was from Apollo of Maelstromclan-- My husband. He shared with me his final words before succumbing to a massive attack on the entire clan."
She started to choke over her words, the other soul using such weakness to claw to the surface, yet still remained submerged. While her line of sight revolved in a constant state of spinning, she kept her eyes on Maina-- the only soul she knew to trust.
"I... Okay." Said Maina, not really knowing the appropriate response. That was a lot to unpack in just a few sentences, and somehow even more to digest. She watched her friend to make sure she was done talking. Not really as a courtesy, but to afford her more time to process.
She supposed that all that was easy enough to believe. With some hindsight. But let the girl talk first and ask her own questions later.
She wished she had instead brewed peppermint for her sudden queasiness. She took this moment to pour the tea gingerly for each of them, slid Yuuka-- or rather Yuuki's cup towards her.
"That's terrible." She finally spoke, and felt a bit dumb for saying this. Hopefully she had gotten across the sincerity she meant to. Terrible was an understatement, but she herself didn't feel the need to break. That would be reserved for Yuuki, who had a tad more right to burst into tears in the moment. "Were there survivors?"
Although a bit difficult to get her body to comply, she lifted the cup of tea into her hands, seeping in the warmth as glass began to heat.
The two had never been close; rather, Yuuki had been much better friends with her twin, Mai. So far, however, Maina was the only one she recognized. Unable to go to anyone else, she put all her chips on the table.
"Given the circumstances, probably not. But the timing of this incident with Maware's death-- it could spell more trouble than a situation with Lunarisclan. It could be bigger than that."
YuukiYuuka brought the cup to her lips, but hesitated, hovering the drink as she nervously continued.
"I'm unsure how to properly explain the situation, but I'm not with Yuuka of my own will. I've been trying to return to Maelstromclan, but my control is limited. With Yuuka's stubbornness not to cooperate... I need help."
"I wouldn't be surprised if something more sinister was going on." She forcefully softens her expression to one of simple confusion and took a sip of the tea, earthy and sweet. She did her best to maintain an air of coolness.
"When did this... Becoming of Yuuka begin? And why?"
As Maina commented on the situation, angel took a sip of the tea in turn. It was steeped a bit much for her host's preferences, doing wonders as the clawing stopped.
No doubt, she'd ask for seconds. Perhaps thirds.
"I don't share eyes with Yuuka, so as far as exact time, I'm again not sure. I've noticed the change of seasons, so a few months?
As for why, I'm limited to theories. Considering what's happened to Maelstromclan, it could be a roundabout way of weakening the clan. Or a grudge. It could be a higher force, even; it could be anything. For awhile, I assumed it was someone from Solarisclan itself."
She took more than a sip this time, burning her throat in the process.
"Akihito said he'd tell Apollo of my whereabouts during the commotion at the festival. Akihito is likely to return again since... Well, since he won't be able to talk to my husband."
Former Healer deeply inhaled, stress creating wrinkles on her forehead. So much to be said, she didn't know what order to speak.
Maina examined the other's face, looking for... She didn't quite know what. She wasn't fantastic at reading faces for lies or concealment. That was more so in her sister's wheelhouse.
"I'm sorry about Apollo. For what it's worth, he was a good man at his core, and especially to you." She swallowed another sip of tea and placed the cup down.
"As far as help goes, what do you need?" To the point.
"Thank you. Apollo was a great father to our kids, too."
She reminiscently smiled, staring down at the rest of the semi-cooled contents in her cup. She'd focused on the seriousness of her situation-- the entire circumstance for so long as to nearly forget to think of all the good memories she had with them.
"If my children have somehow survived the attack, they would be with Akihito-- if you recall Kirai, they are the same person. I need to go to meet him. And yet, for whatever unfathomable reason it may be because of, his demonic father Korosu remains here in Solarisclan.
I know this is a lot to swallow; it's a lot of information. I can't soundly leave with Yuuka mostly in control and a psychopath roams around clan grounds. He was found with Maware at his time of death-- that's no coincidence."
Maina blinked a few times as she listened. She was completely unaware that Yuuki had children. She glanced down very quickly at Yuuka's waifish frame, hardly believing she even have one, and then returned her gaze to her face.
Now... Names were swimming around in her mind that sounded only vaguely familiar. Akihito, Kirai, Korosu... She felt like there was a Soyo-something in there somewhere. She inhaled deeply through her nose and sighed.
"So you need an escort to get there safely. This demonic father, does he know of you here?"
Glancing over the cup as angel took another long mouthful, she noticed the mender scanning over her frame. She didn't believe that the mender would question her identity further, although she knew how odd she sounded. She should have asked for assistance much sooner-- yet, if she continued to think as such, she'd be swallowed in regrets.
"Maybe?"
Releasing a frustrated sigh, she finally set down the cup of tea, if only momentarily so. Yuuki was angered at herself for a number of reasons after her run-in with the demon, but her chances were still there.
"No, actually, he probably didn't. Considering it was only Takuto and myself in the same room as him, he didn't let loose of his charade. I think even your husband was weary of him, if just a bit."
"I hope not. If it hadn't been so long since I had seen your face, Yuuki, I would have likely made the comparison myself a while ago. That's all to say that I don't have a grudge like your enemies might."
"He's a clever one, that Takuto. Much better at reading people than I, that's for sure." She might as well have puffed her chest out with pride, but opted to smirk instead.
"Not to change the subject but... Tell me about your children."
Smiling as Maina spoke highly of her husband, she began to understand how well the two of them fit each other. And thinking of the angel's own children, those warm feelings flourished more.
"Sera and Bleu, the twins. You can tell by their looks they mostly take after their father; Bleu looks like a mini-him."
She chuckled, reminiscent of the time the two stood side by side as she fawned over the similarities.
"He's quiet, though. Sera speaks up for them both, and she's stubborn, always dragging him around everywhere. An extrovert and introvert. They're still quite young, so... Well, I hope they made out alright with our other clanmates."
Her smile faded, recalling Apollo's eerie message of the attack.
"If I was as myself and present, maybe I could've helped. Are you particularly fond of Solarisclan?"
"Twins?" She balked, muttering more to herself than as if posing a question to the other. Smiling softly at the explanation for a moment, her face soon became neutral again, and she rested her chin on her fist.
"You don't know that. Things tend to work out the way they were meant to." Stops herself. "What I mean... I don't mean to say that Maelstromclan was meant to die. But your children were clearly meant to live." She swallows. "At least, that's what I think."
"I'm sorry if that was insensitive. My intention was to be comforting." Said Maina, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"I'm particularly fond of Takuto." Was her reply. "I wouldn't be here if not for him."
