Ambience glances about the front yard for a moment before ascending the stairs to the porch and the front door. "I wondered at first how a place like this wouldn't be at outlying risk from some of the forest beasts without any settlements nearby, but the barrier definitely explains a bit." All of this is said in passive nonchalance, like a secondhand observation. Still, he sounds at least a bit impressed. "The Fukawa family really knows their stuff."

The entryway of the household is a small corridor designed pretty much for taking off footwear and hanging up coats, with a large mat to minimize dirt on the floor. Ambience does remove his boots once inside but opts to keep his coat on, as though the chill from the outdoors hasn't quite left him yet. He opens his mouth to echo Lyll's previous courtesy call upon his entry, but stops last-minute and decides to hold back for this particular instance, not wanting Sunflash to feel like the odd one out.

"Yes, they're just on the edge enough to minimize the amount of things that could show up; but this ward certainly has some teeth behind it." The wizard looks somewhat contemplative as he follows Ambience up the stairs and inside the entryway, but it seems to be gone by the time he's taken his cloak off.

He seems to hesitate as he does, his left hand fiddling with the shoulder of his armor before finishing the de-cloaking with a brief frown. He does follow Ambience's lead in taking his boots off before motioning him onward. "I'll follow your lead if that's okay, I've felt like a fish outta water for the last week." A small almost sheepish grin flashes across his face.

Ambience chuckles at Sunflash's admission. Notably, he seems to be having to feel around a little bit to get his physical bearings and determine where the hall actually leads into the main sitting room beyond, but also seems to be honestly trying not to make it TOO obvious. Nevertheless, it comes off as apparent that not being able to physically see is, despite who he is and what he's shown to be capable of, a handicap he's still getting used to. "If it makes you feel any better, I only have the knowledge I do from my Da's side. I wouldn't have been aware of any of their customs if not for being raised in his care." Ambience's tone sounds wistful, but only briefly. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. They wouldn't have specifically asked for you to be here if they were expecting you to follow every custom. Lyll is just excited, I think."

And speaking of Lyll, as Ambience "leads" Sunflash into the main room, Hikari can be heard explaining to the beastman girl, who has been put down and claimed an armchair that is much too big for her, about the housing situation. "It's a guest house," Hikari says. "My dad's company creates a lot of things each year and some of them require thorough testing for safety and other things. So we loan that house to the people we hire to test those products, so they'll have a comfortable environment to do so." In the same room, Persephone is seated in a smaller chair opposite Lyll, herself also looking like she might be feeling just a bit out of place. In contrast to the dark clothes she tends to wear (and is wearing), her socks are an obnoxiously-bright pink.

Someone can be heard bustling around in a kitchen that looks to be on the far end of the sitting room, and the room itself is quite large and full of extra open space despite a decent supply of home decor, with a fancy stairwell leading up to a balcony overlook that looks like it might lead to other rooms upstairs, down a hallway that isn't visible from the ground floor.

Lyll kicks her feet childishly over the edge of the armchair. "Your papa sounds like he's pretty busy. Is that why he's not here right now?" It is apparent, at that point, that Kouichi Fukawa does appear to be missing from the general gathering at the moment. Lyll looks up with a happy grin at Ambience and Sunflash as they make their way inside.

As Sunny processes the conversation, he quietly finds his own seat in the room. A small nod is directed towards Persephone in acknowledging her presence before the wizard leans back, clearly trying to take a position of listening and learning; both from what the actual conversation was about as well as how the conversation was going on. He'd always found the best solution to being a fish out of water was to find a way back into the water, and the best way for that to happen was to pay attention.

"Yes," Hikari says of Lyll's question. "The busiest time for dad's company is right after the Festival of Lights, believe it or not. He and Mr. Simmons take the weeks following the festival to assess a number of different things that took place during the week of the festival itself, which they use to prepare for the following year." Hikari smiles a little, and turns to take a seat on the floor next to the chair that Persephone is sitting in, kneeling down and tucking her feet underneath herself. "Dad has asked me a number of times of my interest to be more involved in Fukawa Industries' undertakings, but I feel like I would get in the way more than I would help. So I stay home and help mom out around the house." Hikari glances back toward the kitchen, where, assumedly, Kaede is still busying herself with some task. "Mom gets lonely when she's by herself for a long time, anyway. She helps out with the company business sometimes, too, but it's all work from home." For all of her youth and predisposition for being a bursting ball of energy in most cases, Lyll seems quite interested in Hikari's explanation, paying rapt attention to everything she says.

Persephone looks down on the other side of the chair at Hikari. "You know, you can have this chair if you want." Her tone is quizzical, without what is often a subtle annoyance undertone that almost all of her speech seems to inherently carry with it. Hikari grins up at Persephone in response. "I am comfortable here, I promise. I forgot to bring out the kotatsu, though. I'll try and remember for next time, and the house is warm enough otherwise, I think."

Ambience seems to be trying to find a good place for himself to be, and takes a cue from Hikari to seat himself, crosslegged, on the floor next to the armchair Lyll is sitting in. Likewise, Lyll glances down at Ambience, but only grins at him, without an echoed offer to give up her seat. She probably knew what the response would be, anyway. "I'm sorry we missed the majority of it," Ambience says, his expression partially hidden without the visual of his eyes. "But in this particular case, I'm glad we at least showed up when we did. We'll be present for next year, I'm sure."

Kaede eventually brings herself out from the kitchen, carrying a tray that consists of a small platter of tiny sandwiches and assorted onigiri, apparently catering to different potential tastes among the visitors gathered here at this time. "Here you all go," she says, setting the tray down on a low table in the middle of the room. "Help yourselves, I'll be right back with tea!" And with that, she disappears into the kitchen again. Not unexpectedly, Lyll does indeed help herself, grabbing one of each with a self-serving grin to go with it. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" Lyll calls out to the kitchen, which elicits a giggle from Kaede therein.

Hikari looks at the snacks, then across the way toward Ambience, then Sunflash, and back at Ambience again. "Since you mention it, that was part of the reason I wanted to bring all of you here together." Hikari hesitates for a moment, as if trying to figure out the best way to bring up her next intent, but decides to just let it out. "I was wondering if you'd be comfortable with telling us your story. We're all pretty curious about where, exactly, you came from, all of a sudden." Hikari smiles. "We can claim to witness miracles all we want during the week of the Festival of Lights, but I'm sure there's more to it than that." With all the intent of being a gracious host, Hikari looks again toward Sunflash, as well. "We don't know much about you, either, other than your sudden appearance acting as an apparent catalyst to Ambience's, which makes you no less important. Anything you feel willing to share with us would be wonderful, as well."

Lyll doesn't feel left out, because she spent so much time with everyone during those two days that they got to know ALL about her and her family pretty well! Plus, her mouth is full of rice, so it would be rude to talk at this time, anyway.

Persephone leans back in the chair slightly, crossing one foot over the other. "I admit that I'm pretty curious about the blindfold," she says. "Not to be rude or anything, I mean. You seem like you can still get around pretty well despite not being able to see anything."

Ambience allows a faint smile to cross his face. "Yeah, I get that," he says. "And I don't mind. It's not like I'm trying to keep anything a secret from anyone, it's more that I'm not fully aware of exactly what's going on or what's happened, either. But I don't mind explaining what I do know, as far as I know it."

Kaede comes out of the kitchen a second time, carrying another tray with a large ceramic teapot and six teacups encircling it. "I brought an extra one out for Molly-chan, since I overheard that she'll be here eventually, as well." She places it on the table next to the snack tray. "I have to check on something, but I'll return soon. Again, please help yourselves!" And she moves through the living room toward the stairwell, ascending it with flowing steps that carry an almost-ethereal grace to them, before disappearing down the hallway.

Sunflash flashes an encouraging grin at Lyll before deciding to be appropiatly lazy and simply reach out to levitate one of the sandwiches into his waiting hand. As the conversation makes its way back around, he leans back and slows his nibbling even further to converse around politely. "Well, I'm not sure how interesting my side is. I first met Ambience here about....three odd years ago? Time is weird." A shrug is directed towards Ambience before he continues. "To condense a very long story, I made a threat to tear down the at-the-time Mana Fortress. Ambi happened to hear, asked if I could actually do it, and then asked me to go with him and another to maybe help them not die in the process." A grim smirk flashes across his face before he could stop it, although if it was at the joke or not is hard to tell. "The three of us made our way up, and apparently managed to do the job." He pauses to finish his sandwich before continuing. "I say apparently, because I...don't quite properly recall everything happened. Its better since I recongized Mollainne, but I've still got large gaps as to what exactly occured." A final shrug is given. "I basically came to somewhere south of Viorar, and managed to wander my way back to town. Been doing odd jobs, mostly chasing down weird critter sightings and similar things, since then. I heard someone talkin about the Festival, and decided to go check it out." He brings forth another of the sandwiches. Hungrier than he thought.

Ambience lowers his face as Sunflash speaks, letting his own memories flow as he recalled the events of that day. "About five years ago by now, yeah," Ambience says after Sunflash finishes his piece, keeping the storytelling momentum going. "The Sinistrals were making good on their threats... they destroyed Crysta." He pauses for a moment, caught up in himself as the picture clarified in his mind. "We organized a group to go up to the Fortress and stop them."

Persephone interrupts Ambience, curiosity too strong to withhold. "Why you? If this was four years ago, you'd have been just a kid." Again, the lack of subtle irritation that is prevalent in her normal speaking voice is not there, suggesting that she is actually interested in this conversation. On the other side of her, Hikari just smiles without saying anything, waiting for what comes next.

Ambience hesitates, and he isn't actually sure why. It wasn't a secret. "I'm... unique. The castle in the sky was the Fortress of Mana, and the entry seal on it could only be broken by one wielding the Sword of Mana. Normally, in times when the world is threatened and the Sword's use is required, someone is chosen by the Sword to wield it, but the Sinistrals raised the Fortress so suddenly that the 'natural order' of things, if you could call it that, was disrupted. However, anyone from the Mana Holyland, where I was born, can wield the Sword without restriction. It comes with the heritage, I guess"

Persephone considers this, but then prompts Ambience again. "But why you? Was there really nobody else?"

"There wasn't," Ambience said, casting a shorthand glance in Sunflash's direction. "We held a meeting about it. My mother cried over the decision, but I was their best chance. As I said before, I'm unique. I wasn't born the... normal way. I'm still learning this about myself, but I have abilities and skill that shine much brighter than anyone else in the Holyland, and they knew that. So they chose me."

"Mama and Papa are keeping it safe for now until we get back!" Lyll suddenly spouts, having finished her snack.

Ambience snaps his attention in her direction suddenly, in a panic. His first instinct is to scold her harshly for divulging that information when he'd been trying to keep its whereabouts under wraps as best he could, but he also knew that he hadn't TOLD her to keep it a secret, so she didn't know any better. "I... yeah. They are." He turns back around, gauging Persephone and Hikari's expressions to see if he should be worried or not.

Hikari gestures lightly. "I feel as though some parts of your tale were skipped. Please continue, Ambience." Her tone is soft and gentle, as if she read the panic and were attempting to downplay it for his sake.

Ambience sighs, feeling a little upended, but does continue his story. "Sunflash spoke true, I came upon him by chance and shared our mutual disdain for the Fortress, forging an alliance at that time. There was another who came with us as well, and, honestly..." Ambience trails off, recalling with a certain bitterness. "...It was kind of his fault the whole thing happened in the first place. Or, maybe, it was his fault it happened sooner than it might've. There's no way to really tell. I remember making the rounds to tell all my friends, since there was no guarantee I'd be back. I remember the disappointment and frustration in a lot of their voices at not being able to help. I remember... Molly's grief." Ambience frowns, and shakes his head. "Anyway, we were able to get inside the Fortress and deal with the Sinistrals. Erim and I were friends, at one point... it was a bit jarring, having to turn your weapon on someone you thought was your friend because of a difference in ideals. But this was... kind of a big difference in ideals."

"Who's Erim?" Persephone asked.

"One of the Sinistrals," Ambience answered. "She was, arguably, the first friend I ever made when I was a kid. But I didn't know who or what she was, at the time."

Persephone tips her head slightly. "What a wild ride. I remember the Fortress rising in the sky and hearing the Sinistrals' voices when they made their threats, but this is somethin' else."

Hikari's smile remains, but she says nothing else, clearly just intent on listening.

"We were able to beat the Sinistrals with some last-minute help," Ambience continued. "But before we could finish them off, the Manabeast came to destroy the Fortress, as she always does. We knew it was going to happen, but I think we had silently hoped that maybe we could defeat the Sinistrals and bring down the Fortress before she got there. I distracted her while Sunflash and the others dealt with the Sinistrals, and a lot of it is blurry at this point, but I remember crashing into the Fortress deck and realizing the others had escaped. I was.. glad, I think, because I didn't want their lives at risk while waiting to see if I would make it or not. But during the fight, I lost my--" Ambience stops there, realizing he left out something arguably important, but also something he didn't think was appropriate to bring up in this company without changing their opinion of him.

As Ambience's story continues, Sunny has managed to carefully pour himself a cup of the tea and occupies himself with small sips as he listens. When Ambience comes to his stopping point, the Hylian floats the tea just off to the side and leans forward a bit. "Oh, that's right. They said something afterwards, about...Ugh. Can't quite pull the details out still." He leans back with a sigh and a frown.

Ambience suddenly remembers what they said about Erim and her eternal recurrence, but that wasn't what he was most concerned about. Fortunately, Ambience is given a brief reprieve when the front door suddenly squeaks open, accompanied by a familiar female voice cheerfully calling out "Shitsurei shimasu!"

This simple arrival call is enough to trigger Lyll, who scrambles off the chair and speeds over to the siren who has just arrived. "Oppai-nee-san! You made it!"

Hikari's smile contorts somewhat as she carefully suppresses a giggle despite being unable to prevent a slight snort of amusement, while Ambience covers his face with one hand and Persephone looks between the two of them, then Sunflash, clearly not understanding what the others are picking up from this. "Did I miss something?"

Sunny can't quite help the faint smirk that slips across his face at Lyll's antics, but mostly at the reactions of Hikari and Ambi. He pulls his tea closer and takes a sip before shrugging with a somewhat serene look towards Persephone. "From what I've gathered, it's a nickname for Mollianne that is either embarrassing to poor Ambience, or something along those lines. There's a fair amount of guesswork on my end, I'm not yet up to speed on that particular language, I'm afraid." He does lean back again. Perhaps still a fish out of water, but it was somewhat relaxing to be on the periphery of such light-hearted antics.

Hikari gets to her feet so she can go greet their new guest, but before leaving the room, Hikari leans down slightly and whispers something into Persephone's ear. As Hikari leaves to help bring Mollianne into the room with the rest of them, Persephone's expression looks.. mixed. But as Mollianne (carrying Lyll, because of course she is) follows Hikari into the sitting room, Persephone's eyes take on an analytical nature as she looks the siren over, before muttering under her breath, but still audibly enough, "I guess you can't fault the kid for being right, at least."

Ambience opts to not comment publicly on the notion, and instead raises his head as Mollianne enters the room. For her part, she's apparently taken the time to do a full wardrobe change from her typical strap-and-skirt daily wear; she's wearing a very flowery, short-sleeved purple frock that flows down to her taloned toes, held in at the waist by a dark pink sash that is tied into a large bow in the back. Her auburn hair is gathered up onto the left side of her head and tied off into a short side-ponytail, and her nails are painted the same aquamarine as her eyes. Mollianne waves to the group after setting Lyll down (who quickly scrambles back up into her big armchair). "Sorry I got here a bit late, I had to make sure work did not suffer without me for a week." Her tone is playful, like she knows that wasn't actually a real concern.

"No worries," Hikari says, gesturing to the tea and food on the table. "Mom brought some refreshments, so help yourself." Hikari re-seats herself on the floor alongside Persephone. "By the way, you look super cute in that. You didn't even gussy up that much during the festival!" There is a hint of teasing in Hikari's tone, like she already knows why.

Sunflash smirks at Persephone's comments before turning to Mollianne as she enters and giving a short nod in her direction. "I take work was intact and as it should be?" He assumed as much, considering the outfit change was probably the reason why she slipped away, but might as well ask. His tea continues to be consumed as a slow pace, as if it's there simply to be doing something rather than needed for quenching a thirst.

Mollianne turns a little pink at Hikari's praise, and at that moment, as Mollianne remembers Ambience's blindfold, in the span of a full second, Mollianne's expression goes from bashful, to happy, to realization, to frustrated, to sad, to acceptance, and then levels out somewhere between happy and complacent. All of this happens in that one second and would be super easy to miss, but anyone looking at her face during that single second would be able to see the emotional transition clear as day. "You might be surprised how many clothes I actually own, considering I do not wear many of them. It just.. depends." She opts to kneel down on the floor next to Ambience, stealing a glance in his direction as her expression flickers but remains mostly even. "Work is fine, they said it has been slow because a lot of our regulars were at the festival. They actually think I am taking a nap right now, but I snuck out when they were not paying attention." And, in truth, the siren does still look a bit tired, but not as much as she did earlier.

Ambience seems to be distracted by something as Mollianne arrives and takes a place next to him, but he composes himself rather quickly. "Just as long as it won't get you in trouble, not that you couldn't wiggle your way out of it if you did."

Mollianne grins a little bit. "You still know me pretty well, huh?"

Hikari looks toward Ambience. "Before, you were saying something about something you lost..?" She seems particularly eager to hear the rest of the story, and Persephone, as Hikari speaks, also seems to perk up a little bit.

Sunny grins into his teacup, taking a longer than usual drink to compose his face before speaking. "No backing out now it seems, what with the audience we've been tricked into talking too, huh?"

Well, not after THAT comment, he can't. Ambience mulls it over, then just decides to go for it. "I mentioned that the circumstances of my birth were unique." He pauses for just a moment, glancing in Lyll's direction. "Lyll seems to think that I'm an Angel, and she's... not entirely on the wrong track, I don't think. Inside me, at least back when I was a child, I had an enormous amount of what people called 'potential,' for lack of a better word. Something happened and I lost control of myself, but the creature that had control over me was able to tap into that 'potential' and unleash it. I nearly destroyed Truce and those 'friends' I had to come to know, who banded together against me." Ambience is silent for a few moments, letting his admission sink in not only to those in his presence, but to himself as well.

Persephone's eyes widen slightly, but she doesn't say anything. Lyll squirms slightly in her chair, but also maintains her silence, waiting for the rest.

Sunflash -ssssiiiipppp-'s.

Mollianne doesn't look directly at Ambience, but she does scoot just a smidge closer to him, as if for additional comfort factor. "I was told that even the Immortals of our world, at least the ones that were aware of me, were afraid of the power that I had shown." Ambience, as well, avoids 'looking' in anyone's specific direction while speaking. "My mother and grandfather devised a device they called a 'Limiter,' which I could wear in order to keep my power down to a marginal level, but even the amount that I still retained was... far more than a child should honestly ever have access to." His face twists into a smirk that he has trouble containing. "I think it fed into my ego a little bit, sometimes. But I tried not to let it get to be too much."

"Anyway..." Ambience exhales. "Going back to where I left off..."

"During the fight, I lost my limiter. I don't know how, but it got ripped off my neck when I landed. I..." Ambience 'looks' from one spot on the floor to another. "I remember feeling everything welling up inside me at that time. The reason I needed that limiter wasn't just to quell my power, but it was because all that power drives me insane, because I can't control it all. When I felt it coming back, I panicked. I panicked really, really hard. I thought about what would happen if I destroyed the Manabeast but then returned to the world. I thought about what I might do to my friends and family. I didn't want to have defeated a great evil only to become the next great evil by accident." Ambience sounds really upset, even though these are just recalled memories at this point.

Sunny chooses this moment to speak up, and oddly enough it almost sounds like he's got a touch of grey on his voice. "Easy now. Don't confuse a memory of what may have been with a reality of what's happened, now." His tone was ever so slightly deeper and the words were almost paced, as if reciting something long practiced perhaps. Regardless, his next comment was in his more usual tone. "Take a moment to focus on the here and now if you need to. Sounds like a rough memory." The wizard waves a hand to send his cup to the table and refill his tea.

Mollianne piggy-backs off Sunflash's comment to place both of her hands over one of Ambience's, squeezing gently. Lyll, Hikari, and Persephone are on the edge of their seats, like this was some kind of epic storytime that they weren't sure of the conclusion toward.

Ambience takes a deep breath. "Sunflash, you're familiar with the 'Burst' spell, even though that's not the normal way you cast spells, correct?"

Sunny hmmmmms for a moment before nodding. "I believe so, yes. Most studies I read referred to it as an Energy spell, and probably the closest thing most people can get to my pure-Mana spells, I believe." He pauses before shaking his head with a gentle frown. "I can guess where this is going...."

Ambience smirks again. "Yeah. When I realized what hell I could've wrought on the world after I was done with the Fortress, I made a decision that everyone I knew would've screamed at me not to do, which made it easier TO actually do because there was nobody there at the time. I charged the spell, amplified it 160 times, and focused it squarely on myself. That explosion you probably saw from back down on the ground wasn't the Fortress imploding from the inside out, it was me incinerating every last trace of myself, the Manabeast, and the Fortress, just to make absolutely sure that everyone else was safe. I don't even remember feeling any pain. I don't remember anything after that." Ambience takes a deep breath. "And then... somehow, it was several years later, and I woke up to find myself in someone else's bed. Like.. no reason, no rhyme. I just 'was', all of a sudden."

Ambience glances across at Lyll, who immediately springs to her feet, standing on the chair. "It was my bed!" she crows triumphantly. "Papa said he found you out in the woods when he went to go get another tree for lumber," Lyll continues. "He said that 'bodies don't usually just show up here completely intact,' so he decided to bring you back to our house."

Hikari seems to be thinking about something, perhaps a question she is processing to propose, but Persephone beats her to the punch. "You said that 'limiter' you wear was something you wore around your neck," she points out, "and you're not wearing anything now, either. Should we be worried?"

This actually gets Mollianne's attention, who also suddenly seems to realize that, as well.

For his part, Sunflash is leaned back in his chair with his teacup held in both hands in his lap. His eyes are closed, almost wrenched shut as he seems to concentrate.

Ambience can't help but chuckle softly. "I don't think so," he says. "I stayed with Lyll and her family for close to a year before we ended up at the festival grounds, and I would like to think that if something was going to happen, it would've already. In truth, that's kind of the position I'm currently in, and where my story comes to a conclusion. I stayed with Lyll and her family for awhile, regaining my strength and trying to figure out why I came back, and what was wrong with me in the process. The premier casualty seems to be my sight; everything is just a jumbled blur of meshed coloration and I can't make anything out. It's not that I'm blind, it's that what I can see is severely disorienting, so the blindfold is there for my own sake." Ambience raises his head to look in Persephone's direction. "I'm sure there's more I'm missing, too, that I haven't discovered yet. But, going back a few paces to answer your question from earlier, I have a secondary sight that I can rely on to pick up on things and find my way around."

Hikari suddenly perks, as if she were waiting for this moment. "Mana signatures," she says. "You can see them, can't you?"

Ambience blinks behind his blindfold, shocked. "I.. can, yes. How do you..?"

"My mom can see them, too," Hikari says, her voice a little on the quiet side, as if afraid she might be divulging too much. "She was the one who suggested that it might be the case with you, too. She told me to watch how you react to people, even though you can't physically see them with your eyes. The way you can still pick up on emotions and other things means that you can see something normal people can't, and it is likely their mana signatures."

"Yes... yes, that's correct," Ambience says, still a bit blindsided (pun intended) by this revelation. "I had no idea that others could see them besides myself and my mother, as well." Ambience slowly turns his attention toward Sunflash, and beneath that blindfold of his, raises an eyebrow. He seems to be trying to figure out how to get Sunflash's attention without drawing unnecessary attention to... something.

Ambience leans in toward Mollianne and whispers something into her ear. Mollianne nods, and gets to her feet, walking over toward Sunflash, and proceeds to gently pull on his sleeve, wordlessly.

Ambience turns his attention back toward Hikari, Persephone, and Lyll, hoping his discretion works well enough. "And the rest you saw for yourself," he says. "We have Lyll to thank for me being here, since I would've missed everyone if she hadn't been so insistent on coming to the Festival of Lights."

Lyll puffs out her chest and beams proudly. "Yeah! I'm a hero, this time!"

Sunflash's eyes pop open full width for a split second before he straightens up to take a deep and quiet breath. "...Wh--Ah." He shakes his head a moment as if to clear it before taking another breath and smiling at Mollianne. A whispered 'thanks' is sent in her direction. His attention is naturally grabbed by Lyll, thankful for the distraction as he takes in more tea.

Mollianne tilts her head as she looks up at Sunflash, not really sure what she did to be thankful for, but feels like she'll know when the time is right. She offers a confused smile before returning to her seat next to Ambience, and proceeds to quite literally curl up against his shoulder, placing her chin thereupon.

Before anyone can actually progress this conversation any further, Kaede suddenly sticks her head around the corner from the second floor, smiling. "Lyll-chan! Hikari-Chan! Misetai mono ga aru node, kochira ni kite kudasai!" She waves to the group downstairs, then disappears back down the hall.

Sunny offers a smile in return to Kaede's wave, then carefully puts his teacup down and turns towards Hikari. "...I'm sorry, I caught absolutely zero percent of that one. Isss there something I should do, or?..." Back to the fish out of water impression, it seems.

Hikari looks perplexed for a moment, but then gets to her feet. In the same span of time, Lyll calls back, "Okay!" and is halfway up the stairs already.

Hikari gives the rest of the group a formal-esque bow. "Mom is requesting my and Lyll's attention, so I'd better go see what she wants. I will return, so please just make yourselves comfortable in the meantime." Hikari straightens, then ascends the stairs as well, after Lyll is well and already out of sight.

Mollianne watches Hikari leave, and then opts to peel herself away from Ambience and help herself to the tea. She pauses after pouring a cup, then fills a second cup and returns to Ambience with both cups, offering him one.

Ambience takes it, offering her a smile. "Thanks, I appreciate that."

Persephone seems to be mulling over the story in her head, looking quite thoughtful. "So just colors? That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard of. It sounds like something got all screwy in your brain when you, uh... came back."

Mollianne kneels back down into a sitting position, taking a sip from her tea as she listens. Ambience, as well, has a drink before responding. "I know. I'm sure it's not the only thing, either. Now that I'm reintegrated somewhat with some of my friends, I'm hoping that answers will start to surface." He raises his head, glancing upward. "One of the biggest things that is bothering me isn't my lack of vision, but more the fact that it's been over a year and nobody from the Holyland has come looking for me. It strikes me as uncomfortably weird that nobody up there seems aware that I've come back." Ambience has another contemplative sip. "I just hope nothing's happened, because I don't think I'm in the best shape for another world-ending confrontation, yet."

Satisfied with the answer, Sunny leans back to rejoin the conversation around Ambience. "Knowing the Cleft, it's probably a better bet to hope that it's nothing you have to deal with; as opposed to hoping that nothing's happened." The wizard sighs and shakes his head before continuing. "I know the feeling, though. I've....been expecting a visit or message since the whole ordeal, and haven't gotten anything either. Feels weird to be this directionless after all these years, I suppose."

Ambience looks more concerned on hearing that, actually. "My mother and I were connected telepathically before all of this happened, which is why this is stressful. There's also a Wood spirit that followed me around everywhere and was something of an emotional caretaker for me, but I haven't seen her around at all, either. It's almost like..." Ambience tips his head, the possibility suddenly dawning on him. "Like I've been severed from the Mana Tribe itself. Like I'm not one of them anymore."

"'Mana Tribe'?" Persephone asks, still inquisitive as before.

Ambience continues in spite of Persephone's question. "I kept the Sword safe, but I never actually tried to wield it." He sounds genuinely scared at this point. "What if I can't?"

Mollianne squeezes Ambience's arm reassuringly and opts to speak for him to Persephone. "Ambience comes from a village of people who live in the Mana Holyland. They are collectively called the 'Mana Tribe' and are more attuned to the Goddess of Mana and the Tree of Mana than anyone else." She looks at Ambience briefly, concerned. "That is probably why Lyll thinks he is an angel."

Mollianne frowns softly as she regards Ambience in his current state, trying to make her own assessment now that the shock of his return has subsided. The thing that bothered her the most was his overall demeanor; he was so.. different, now. Gone was the self-assured, headstrong, semi-egotistical confidence that drew her toward him in the first place, and it was discomforting to see him so meek and prone to pessimism. Heck, it was that ego of his that had shaken HER out of a funk or two, in the past. But... "It will be okay," she said suddenly, but whether it was to herself, to Ambience, or to Sunflash and Persephone was anyone's guess. "We always find a way to figure things out. This will not be any different." She pauses, as a small blush infiltrated her cheeks. "I am just glad you are back. Right now, before anything else, that is good enough for me."

A "Huh." escapes Sunny as he slides forward and down, bringing a hand to rest his chin on in a bemused fashion. "Ya know, the more I hear about this the more personally familiar it sounds." Whom exactly he is talking to is left up for debate, as he seems to basically stare into towards the teapot as he speaks it. As Mollianne does her share of comforting, Sunny chips in at the end. "She's right ya know. Doesn't feel like it, but it'll be okay eventually." He nods to Molly.

The Fukawa house seems to detect the dismal tone of the conversation downstairs, because all of a sudden there's a high-pitched squeal from upstairs. "Totemo gekikawa desu yo!" Kaede gushes. "Kawaii ne, Hikari-chan?"

After a momentary pause, Hikari responds. "Actually, I'm.. surprised. I didn't think my clothes would fit her that well!"

Lyll chirps in with, "Hontou nano? Boku wa kawaiku miemasu ka?"

This is followed by a brief period of odd silence, where Kaede pipes up again. "Lyll-chan, 'watashi' desu ka."

Lyll then responds, with an obvious tone of obnoxious childishness in her voice, "Boku wa!"

Hikari is heard laughing hysterically over the exchange. It sounds like a fun time, whatever it is.

Sunny, being something of a confirmed sucker, can't help but grin at the overheard interruption. "I think I caught just enough of that to be curious. How long do you suppose we have until they come back downstairs?"

Apparently not too long, because the sound of thumping footsteps suddenly comes tromping down the hallway toward the second floor landing, and a small beastman girl in full footie-pajamas presents herself at the top of the stairs. Said pajamas are striped blue and white like some sort of arctic tiger, and her head is mostly covered by an oversized hood that, itself, has cat ears poking out the top of it. Lyll strikes a pose at the top of the stairs, curving her fingers inward like feline paws, and grinning like a fool. "Mite mite! Nyaa~!" she meows out to everyone at the bottom of the stairs.

Kaede and Hikari come out from the hallway not too far behind, the former looked WAY too pleased with herself and Hikari still giggling from the earlier exchange.

Ambience and Mollianne look up toward the top of the stairs, with the former's expression being hard to read, and the latter grinning wide enough to expose both small fangs. "I should have suspected," Mollianne says. "I bet this was her plan all along with why she wanted Lyll to come with us."

Persephone rolls her eyes, but isn't able to keep from grinning, despite herself. "She's turned your little sister in her personal mannequin."

Kaede clasps her hands together, fawning over her production. "Hikari-chan has so many clothes, and I got this idea of what to do with her older ones when I saw Lyll-chan. It would have been such a pity not to!"

Sunflash can't help that laugh that comes out. "Oh dear, that's adorable. Always good to recycle!" He shakes his head with a grin. "How big a dresser am I going to be carting to her house, I wonder?" The comment is directed in Ambience's direction, although clearly is just as open-ended as the thought itself.

Ambience's expression doesn't change a whole lot, but he seems to force a smirk against the question and the incident as a whole, given that he can't actually see what's going on at a detailed level.

Hikari speaks up, however. "We'll take care of that," she half-answers. "I have a Pouch of Holding that we haven't had need of for awhile that we can send with her. But I do believe she just inherited most of my wardrobe from when I was seven and eight."

Kaede grins happily at Sunflash's comment, as well. "See, Sunflash-sama understands! We'll put them to good use, and this one will be perfect for next year!" The intent of that statement is left open-ended, perhaps intentionally.

Lyll suddenly remembers something. "Oh, but hang on! We're gonna do a trade, remember?" Lyll bounds down the stairs three at a time, the cat-eared hood of her jammies flopping off her head and flailing about her neck as she goes. "Hang on, I have it in my pack!"

Kaede and Hikari descend the stairs after Lyll, and Mollianne goes to stand up, curious about what all this is entailing, at this point.

Lyll looks between Ambience and Sunflash, not actually sure where she left her pack, since it isn't immediately visible, but then she seems to recall after a few moments of deliberation. "Mmm... I think I left it outside when I got carried in."

"Hang on again, I'll be right back!" Lyll calls out as she's halfway to the front door already, and lets herself outside to claim her lost bag.

Ambience mumbles something lightly under his breath as he watches Lyll disappear out the front door, but at her proximity, Mollianne catches what he said and looks confused. "Wait, what?"

Ambience doesn't have time to elaborate or be surprised at anyone hearing what he said, though, as a a triumphant Lyll bursts back into the house, pack in hand. "Got it! Okay, hang on ONE more time, lemme get it out."

Sunflash had clearly started to rise as Lyll made for the door, and got distracted by Mollianne's comment just long enough to shoot a confused eyebrow their direction before Lyll came bursting back in. He lets himself sit back down a smirk at her antics.

Lyll proceeds to dig heavily through her bag, with a couple stuffed animals having to come out and lie on the floor next to it before she finds what she's looking for: a CD case of some kind. With a grin, Lyll bounds back over to Hikari and Kaede, holding it up to them. "This one!"

Hikari looks surprised that Lyll would actually HAVE something like this on her person, of all things, but then she sees the stuffed animals on the floor and that confusion abates pretty quickly. Kaede leans over Hikari's shoulder as they both look upon the CD case, and Hikari's confusion returns as she determines what it is. "This song..." Hikari looks up in Persephone's direction. "Sephie, can you come here a second? Don't you have this one?"

Persephone hauls herself out of the chair and strides over to join the mother-daughter duo, leaning in to get a look at what Hikari's holding. Her expression joins the same band of confusion as Hikari when she sees what it is, and Persephone turns to look down at Lyll, suddenly curious about something. "Lyll, how old are you?"

On the other side of the room, as the others look upon the other group and what's taking place, Persephone's question gets a pretty significant grin showing up on Ambience's face, but he says nothing, and just waits.

Lyll thinks on that question for a moment, which.. shouldn't take any thought, until she says what she does. "I'll be fourteen in four months!" she says, a bit boastfully.

If there were crickets in the room at all, they'd be chirping. The silence that spans the next several seconds is significant as Kaede, Hikari, Persephone, and even Mollianne try to process what Lyll just said. Out of the corner of her eye, Mollianne's attention tracks back to Ambience, who is still grinning, and realizes he meant what he said.

Sunflash almost strangles himself as he stops an unexplainable cackle, managing to choke out a quick coughing fit after a few seconds.

Mollianne looks over at Sunflash with at least some amount of concern, making sure he's actually okay.

The wizard waves her off, a strained grin evident behind the cough before it clears up. He straightens up and clears his throat perhaps louder than he intended. "...So? Is it a good trade, then?" Oh that's a shit-eating grin on his face, right there.

Kaede regains her voice first, tilting her head. "Should I be feeling bad, right now? I literally thought she was..." She doesn't finish her thought, still baffled by the revelation.

Hikari looks at Persephone, who looks back, then at Lyll. "But..."

From across the room, Mollianne squeaks out, "But you are so LITTLE!"

Lyll doesn't even falter in her stance, still as proud as ever. "I know! I hear it from my papa all the time!" It's like it was a badge of honor or something.

Persephone looks again at the CD case. "This is one of my favorites.. I've been listening to this one since I was a teenager. Well, a young teenager, since I'm nineteen at this point, but anyway." She looks down at Lyll again. "Do you like this one a lot, too, Lyll?"

Lyll nods fervently. "It's the best! Does that mean you're gonna do it, too?"

Persephone looks unsure about that, and casts a sideways glance at Hikari, who just smiles without words. "... I guess I am," Persephone says, not sounding -too- upset about it, honestly.

"Great!" Lyll clamors, bouncing in place. "Then it's a deal!"

Mollianne suddenly seems to understand what's going on, and puts her hands on her hips in what may or may not be feigned aggravation. "Wait a minute, are you making plans for the festival next year, already!?"

A low whistle escapes Sunny. "Girl drives a hard bargain! Plays to win, too."

Persephone looks again at the CD case, considering. "Man... this is totally a 'teen' song, too. Very moody. She doesn't act even CLOSE to one."

Lyll grins at Sunflash. "I do like winning, 'cause it doesn't happen all that often. I'm still the youngest in my family, so my voice gets lost in the shuffle a lot. Mama tries to speak up for me sometimes, but it doesn't always work."

Kaede tries to appeal to Mollianne. "But, you know, when you have an opportunity like this... is it really a good idea to let it slip by?"

"It was a perfect chance, we just HAD to!" Hikari chimes in.

Mollianne, glances upwards in a half-eyeroll. "I... I guess not, BUT!" She lets one of her hands fall from her waist. "You know you cannot decide something like that without asking her parents first."

While the 'adults' are hashing out details about her future, Lyll slips out from between them and bounds over to Ambience, crawling up into his lap from where he's still sitting. "Angel-nii, you didn't even get to see how adorable I am. Look!" And she promptly proceeds to pull the blindfold up over his eyes and forehead, removing it entirely.

Ambience blinks a few times and actually has to shield his eyes as the sudden influx of light assails his already-handicapped vision. "Lyll, a warning would have been nice..." he says, having to take a moment to adjust. Ambience gradually lowers his hand as his bright red eyes adjust to the light level in the room, shaking his head slightly as he focuses on the slightly-blurry-but-mostly-visible creature in his lap, in all of her blue-tiger pajama'd getup. "Oh, cat pajamas? I guess that's to be expected. Do you like them?"

Mollianne curbs her argument with the Fukawas at that moment when she overhears what is going on upon the floor right next to her, noticing Ambience's blindfold missing. "... Wait. You can see her, Ambi?" She sounds confused and maybe a little put out.

"Only up close!" Lyll answers for him. "Angel-nii can't see things too far away, 'cause THEN they turn into color-blobs."

Sunny's eyebrow also shoots up at this revelation. "Huh, really? You----ahh. You haven't been away from that wooded place since you woke up, you said." He looks towards Mollianne. "We...may need to see if there's some glasses setup that might at least help. Wouldn't hurt anything, at least?" Thinking.

Ambience frowns slightly. "Yes, I can't make anything out that's much more than a foot away. I--" He turns to look up at Mollianne with intent to better explain himself, and only just then realizes that, at that proximity, he can see her and, specifically, notice what she's wearing. The dress, the bow-tied sash, the painted fingernails, and the small ponytail sticking out of the side of her head; it all paints a completely different picture to him than what he's used to seeing, both interrupting his statement and leaving him speechless for a moment or two as he takes it all in. This forces Mollianne into a state of self-consciousness as she realizes she's being seen the way she intended, and somehow wasn't actually prepared for it. A faint blush becomes visible across both their respective cheeks.

Kaede holds a hand to her mouth to hide a grin, as does Hikari, and Persephone merely folds her arms, looking unimpressed.

Lyll opts to be the one to break the reverie between them, not intentionally, but because she doesn't know any better. "Do they make glasses for people who can only see color-blobs, Sun-nii?" she askes, squirming slightly in Ambience's lap.

Sun-nii-ny makes a 'hmmm' sound out loud for Lyll's benefit before continuing. "They might. I don't know if there's anyone in Viorar that could do anything, but I would expect someone in Shrike to be able to. Between the sheer amount of people there I've seen with glasses, and their...other expertise, I'd almost be surprised if there wasn't someone capable there." He seemed intent on pretending the others in the room didn't exist, and accusations that he was clearly fighting a grin during his answer are probably false. Probably.

Ambience seems to regain his personal senses, and blinks a couple of times as the room and everyone in it comes back into non-focus. He frowns slightly, not having actually heard what Lyll or Sunflash said just now. Like, he HEARD them talking, but he didn't register what they actually said. "I want to see what's become of everyone, first, before anything else," he says after a moment, as the gears resume turning in his head. He looks toward Sunflash, squinting because of the color disorientation without his blindfold. "I think we need to track down Haut and Miss Jillian. Do you know if they survived?"

Mollianne takes the opportunity, when Ambience averts his gaze, to sink down to her knees next to Ambience and remain quiet, finding a very interesting spot on the floor as her blush grows a little brighter.

Persephone looks between Hikari and Kaede, who are still fawning over the moment they just witnessed. She clears her throat. "Actually, this sounds like a good time to probably wrap things up, anyway. My dad's flight leaves in the morning and I would kind of like to be on it when it takes off." Persephone doesn't sound... annoyed, really, just maybe a touch uncomfortable. Just a little.

Kaede looks up in surprise. "Oh, of course! Give me just a few minutes so I can get those clothes together for Lyll-chan before you all depart, then." She gives Hikari a small smile before turning and heading up the stairs and down the hall again.

Hikari crosses the gap between her and where Lyll is still sitting on Ambience's lap, and crouches down to offer her the CD case back. "The good news is that I know where to find this song, so I don't have to take your disc. Since it's an important song, make sure you keep it safe, okay? We'll make sure we hold up our end of the deal for next year." She gives Lyll a wink.

Lyll grins real big. "Yakusoku ne?" she asks.

Hikari nods. "Yakusoku desu."

Sunflash opens his mouth, thinks better of it, then shrugs before continuing. "As far as I know, although trusting my memory at this point is probably not the best plan." He stands and places his teacup back on the table. "Still, one step at a time I'd say. Never mind the whole needle in a haystack effect." The wizard stretches his arms one at a time over his head before nodding towards Hikari. "This was a nice get-together, thanks for the invite." Insert smile here.

Hikari stands up straight and returns Sunflash's inserted smile. "Of course. If things turn out well, maybe we'll do this again before the festival comes upon us next year." She pauses to cast a shorthand glance at Mollianne, who is still lost in her own little world, then at Ambience, and finally at Sunflash again. "Please be sure to take care of yourselves in the meantime, okay?"

Ambience starts to stand up as well, which forces Lyll to get off his lap so he can do so. He brushes off his legs briefly before giving a glance around the room with a small sigh. "Hey Lyll, can I have that back?" he says, indicating the blindfold that she's still holding onto.

Ambience's request to Lyll seems to snap Mollianne back to attention, and she looks up as Lyll passes Ambience's blindfold back to him, not saying anything, but unable to keep a small frown from showing up for a brief moment before she also gets to her feet.

Kaede eventually also returns from upstairs, carrying a sparkly purple satchel in one hand as she descends the stairs and offers it to Lyll. "There you go, Lyll-chan." She pauses, looking the beastman girl over with renewed curiosity. "Are you really almost fourteen? I still can't believe it."

Ambience glances over at the exchange as he repositioned the blindfold over his eyes, wanting, for further amusement, to mention that Lyll was technically the same biological age as he was, but decided to let Kaede off easy this time.

Sunny gives his by-now-customary half-a-torso bow towards Hikari. "I'd be honored to meet then too." He smirks at her request of safety. "We'll keep ourselves intact, no worries there." Given little reason to continue to be in the way, he'd make his way towards the entryway to await the others.

"Yup!" Lyll chirps, addressing Kaede. "Who knows, maybe this is as big as I'll get?" Lyll waves to everyone, turning to trot toward the door after Sunflash. "Thanks for everything!"

Ambience seems to realize something, 'looking' up in Lyll's direction. "Lyll, are you still wearing those pajamas?" Which she is, of course; it was a mostly-rhetorical question.

Mollianne looks between Ambience and Sunflash in silence, as if contemplating something, but remains otherwise silent, though she looks ready to go, too.

Lyll nods, not breaking her stride as she has even, at this point, already slipped her boots on over the feet-part of the full-body pajamas. "Yup! But I won't get 'em dirty. That would be rude, and I'm not rude."

"Oh, well, -okay-," Ambience says with unveiled cynicism. He turns and offers a small wave. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'm looking forward to what marvels your family will provide next year, as is, I'm sure, a whole mess of other people."

Hikari hugs her mom around the waist as they both grin. "We'll be here if you need us before then, Ambi-sama," Kaede says, the formality a bit thick in her tone, possibly with insinuation of something else.

The title gives Ambience pause for thought but he decides against arguing and turns to leave with the others. Nearby, Persephone also watches as the group heads out, her expression even and neutral.


Having exchanged their farewells, Ambience, Mollianne and Lyll convene outside on the front porch with Sunflash. "Alright," Ambience says, "I still need to take Lyll home and let her family know what the situation is. Probably answer a few questions, too, I suspect." He hesitates for a moment, forcing down some vestige of panic that tries to rise up within him. "I also need to find something out about the Sword so I'll know what to expect of it, going forward." He looks between Mollianne and Sunflash, expectantly.

For the first time in awhile, Mollianne offers a small smile. "I will return to Viorar for now. I have something I need to do, and it might take a bit of time." Ambience tips his head questioningly, but Mollianne shakes her head before he can ask. "It is a secret. But I promise you will get to see it when I am done. That is all!" She sounds pretty sure of herself.

Having shrugged back into his boots and cloak, Sunny has occupied himself with fiddling with a piece of his armor while they discussed their plans. At Molly's conclusion, he nods. "Well, that seems like a solid step one then. I'll go with Ambience and Lyll, make sure things go okay, and we'll figure out the next steps as we go. As ever, I suppose." A wry grin slips across his face at the last bit. "I meant to ask; while I'm sure theres not many places in Viorar with sirens, what's the club name?"

Mollianne hesitates, casting a sideways glance over at Lyll to see what she's doing before answering. Said beastman girl is, at this time, sitting on the porch swing and busily playing with some aspect of her pajamas while she waits for the adults to make adult decisions. Mollianne looks relieved, but she speaks low anyway, just to be safe. "'The Evening Star' is the name. Opens in the late afternoon and stays open a few hours into the early morning." She nods. "I am pretty popular in Viorar all around, so if I am not there, just ask around and someone will probably know where to find me. Secrecy is not something I get the luxury of having, sadly." She doesn't exactly sound TOO upset, though, honestly.

"I had suspected that last bit, but its always nice to be able skip the asking and get right to the place sometimes." He turns to Ambience. "Real quick, are we gonna walk or were you intending on us taking a teleport back to the cabin?"

Ambience looks up, apparently having been busy thinking about something, himself. "I think I can transport us there, if only because I got to be pretty familiar with the place over the course of a year. Hopefully I'll land on my feet, this time." He pauses. "Why? Did you have a preference?"

Sunflash shrugs. "Nah, just means we won't start walking without ya. We'll be back after I see Mollianne fly overhead." He gives Mollianne a low bow. "It's been fun, I look forward to speaking more later."

At this, Sunny's head pops up and flashes an evil grin before he straightens up and whirls dramatically to walk towards Lyll. "Lyll! Come give Oppai-nee-san a goodbye hug then meet me out in the yard!" With that, he almost bounds down the porch stairs to go find a tree in line of sight of the porch but a good distance away to wait at.

Lyll and Ambience both jerk their heads upward in response to Sunflash's exclamation, albeit with drastically-different reasonings. "Sunflash!" Ambience harps after him, looking considerably appalled that such a thing would come out of him, of all people.

This dismay is cut short as Lyll bounds her little self over and wraps her arms around Mollianne with a squeal. "Are you leaving, Oppai-nee-san? I'll miss you!"

Mollianne, for her parts, seems equal parts amused and delighted at the spectacle, and squeezes Lyll fondly. "I have a lot of work that needs to be done, just like you. You have a whole year to practice for Hikari, so make sure you do not get lazy, okay?"

Ambience looks really pissed off, glaring down the length of the yard at Sunflash. Or, at least, his stance certainly gives off that vibe without being able to actually see the annoyance in his eyes behind the blindfold.

Lyll nods. "I will! We made a promise, and I never break promises!" Lyll pulls away from the siren, and notices Ambience, spawning confusion in her little head. "What did I miss..?"

Behind them, a pair of female faces are seen peeking out of one of the windows, triggered by Ambience's shout and visibly curious at what is happening on their front porch. The size of their grins imply that it isn't bothering them in the least.

Once he felt he had escaped Ambience's easy reach, Sunny is seen slowing his bounding down to a leisurely walk; even going so far as to raise an arm in a wave without turning around before putting his hands behind his head as he continues wandering away from earshot.

Ambience scowls in dismay, but shakes his head. "It's nothing, Lyll. Just.. adults not acting their age." Lyll was already more like a tornado than a teenager as it was, she didn't need FURTHER encouragement in that direction. But then... "Or maybe I'm just overreacting. I'm still not feeling like myself these days." He exhales irritably, but it isn't obvious whether he's irritated at himself or anyone else. "Go ahead, Lyll, I'll catch up in just a second."

"Okay!" Lyll says, and offers Mollianne a last wave. "Come see me again when you have time, okay?" And without waiting for a response, Lyll clears the entire porch in one leap, rabbit-hopping her way across the yard to join Sunflash.

Mollianne takes it up on herself to reach up and pull Ambience's blindfold up to his forehead, smiling to herself as his eyes (which squint slightly in the unfiltered light) come into view. "She does not know any better, and that is fine as long as it makes her happy," the siren says quietly. "I could say the same for Sunflash, too, you know. And even if he did know and was just needling you, I work in a place where my clothes come off an average of once every other night, Ambi. Having someone refer to me by the size of my tits is not the worst thing I could hear, all things considered." She allows herself a fang-exposing smirk before continuing, maintaining eye contact the whole time. "I would not let it bother you. But, that aside, I want you to come and see me in Viorar in three days or so. I was thinking about something that I think I can help with; I have some connections and a few favors to pull, and this is a perfect opportunity for just that. So..." She leans up on her tip-talons and gently smooches him on the cheek. "...Go take Lyll home, get an idea of what you need to do next, and maybe go let some of the others know that you are safe. I will be here when you come back around." Her warm expression lessens somewhat. "Just.. do not die on me again. Okay? Please?"

Ambience takes a moment to let all that sink in, left with the visual of Mollianne's glittering, pleading aquamarine eyes once it's all absorbed. He sighs again, but nods in the affirming. "I'll be more careful this time. I promise." He lowers his eyes slightly, looking a little somber. "And I'm glad you're still here, too. Just don't overwork yourself for my sake, you know how I am about that."

Mollianne smiles, reaching up to pull Ambience's blindfold back down over his eyes. "Of course," she says. "Take care of the others, and I will see you in a few days." She turns and carefully steps down the porch stairs into the yard, proceeding to wave cheerily to Sunflash and Lyll as her massive wings unfold and lift her into the air. With a series of heavy flaps, Mollianne sails off toward the south, quickly leaving everyone's sight.

Ambience makes a face at nothing specific. "Alright... Okay." He turns and descends the stairs, moving to regroup with Sunflash and Lyll. "I think I'm good to go. Do you two have everything you came with?"

Lyll bounces in place. "And lots more!"

Sunflash makes a patting motion or two across his pockets and tugs on his pack straps. "Yup, all accounted for! You still feel up for the magic, then?" His face was about as completly neutral as his could get. Clearly he'd had his fun for now and was intending to behave. Probably.

"I think I've got a handle on it this time," Ambience said, sounding like he actually meant it. He cast one last backwards glance at the house, and the two faces that had been in the window were no longer present and, instead, had gone upstairs, including Persephone. He turned away, not intending to use his second sight for spying purposes. "Good, everyone take hold of an arm, or shoulder, or whatever else is closest."

"Sounds good to me! Sooner or later I'll hafta figure out a way to copy this, beats flying through rain and snow I think." He snags ahold of a shoulder and awaits, taking care to brace himself against a possible imbalance like last time, even if Ambience felt it wouldn't be a repeat.

Lyll wraps her arms around one of Ambience's legs, clutching the sparkly purple bag tightly in both hands. "I can't wait to show mama and papa and Roas-nii and Pochy all the neat stuff I got! This was way better than going to the market and picking out bread!"

Ambience chuckles under his breath, closing his eyes and focusing on their destination. The house in the woods... the sound of logs being split, one blow each... training dummies in the backyard, sorely in need of repair... Ambience saw and captured it in his mind, and as the magic flared up around them, a flash of brilliant light marked where they once were, but are now no longer.