.:Les Trois Hors-la-Loi Rouges:.

[Ϛ Cylo]

There was no way Cylo was going with the rest of the rebellious types to wherever it was they were headed. Aside from the fact that the majority of them probably hated his guts now, he had his own family to attend to. The sooner he saw his mother, the sooner he could prevent her unholy wrath from being unleashed. For a fae, the woman could be vicious, especially when it came to the safety and well-being of her children.

But the ex-professor Karmine had been pretty insistent on grilling Cylo about the goings-on in that damned lab, and Cylo was in no mood for making more enemies. So he'd made a compromise; picked a time and a place to meet the faerie to set the record straight, or whatever it was he wanted to do, and thus enabled himself to leave the rest of the group on the best possible terms.

To be quite honest, all the negativity made Cylo feel sick to his stomach (strange, considering he isn't even human) and if not for the fact that he had a lot to do, he probably would have curled up into a ball and simply willed it all away.

As it were, he ended up going for another long run, this time to a much more familiar and welcome place. He'd carried Kirien again, and the demoness had fallen asleep in his arms on the trip. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that he'd drained so many people that day, Cylo would have been out cold long ago. It was nearly miraculous the guy had all his limbs intact, let alone the fact he was able to run, carrying someone, all the way home.

Upon reaching his new house, where his whole family had moved when the Academy had come to America, he was surprised to find the place almost completely empty. It was almost as if his family had never lived there. There was still furniture around, but the place had been stripped of anything personally identifiable. After setting the still-sleeping Kirien down on a couch, he'd explored in more detail, only to turn a corner and find himself surrounded.

Surrounded, however, by friendly faces. His uncle Trevor, a mountain of a Lycan who Cylo was still convinced to this day was invincible, and his twin siblings Andrew and Marianne, the best older brother and sister anyone could ever ask for, were sitting around in the hallway as if waiting for him. Which turned out to be exactly what they were doing.

His mother, apparently, already knew about the kidnappings and such, and had freaked out, yelling things like, "If the Academy can't prevent four poor little children from being kidnapped right under their noses, there is no way I'm letting my babies stay there!" In fact, all the Buckham children had already left the Academy. His mother even knew about what Cylo had done, though much to his surprise, she apparently approved of his actions, and would probably have gone herself if she'd known where they were headed.

She'd even prepared things for her 'outlawed hero son', uprooting the whole family and moving them somewhere more secure. Cylo, needless to say, was a little stunned. Cylo explained events as quickly as he could, picked Kirien up again, and the five of them left for their new home, the location of which Trevor refused to say, for some reason.

When they finally reached the place, Cylo had time for nought but a change of clothes and a bone-crushing hug from his tearful mother before he had to head out again to meet Karmine. Unfortunately, Kirien had woke up at this point, and after gathering what was going on, demanded to come. Cylo knew this was an argument he wouldn't win, at least not without sticking his family with a pissed-off demoness, so he'd agreed, on the condition that she be blindfolded for the trip. Kirien had, obviously, not appreciated the insinuation that she couldn't be trusted with the location of their 'secret hideout', but the alternative of staying behind was even less appealing, so she'd begrudgingly agreed.

So it was that Cylo and the recently-unblindfolded Kirien had come to the edge of the woods near Cylo's former home to wait for their ex-professor and whatever it was he had to say.

* * *

Cylo checked his watch and then looked at Kirien, grateful not only for the accessory and the fact that he was wearing clothes in general, but also for her company. Being naked and/or alone wasn't terrible, but he preferred being clothed and in good (if grumpy) company by a long shot.

"He should be here any moment now."

[Kirien Melantha]

'Grumpy' was not the best word to describe Kirien. No, she had passed the point of grumpy long, long ago. Now, she was furious.

Her redheaded knight-in-shining armor was stealing her spotlight since the show started, whisking her out of harm's way, or getting himself shot or blown up, and keeping her from having any fun in the process! While she appreciated the gesture, deep, deep, deep down, she had crossed the land of grumpy and the bridge of frustration, into the realm of Really Pissed Off.

She clamped her hand around his arm and squeezed, hard, throughout their journey, spacing out each assault on his arm so as to seem less suspicious. But when he put her down, and removed her blindfold, she mercilessly swung a punch straight for his face. She tried to shout something at him, some explanation for just how mad she was, but all that came out was a low, threatening growl.

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! I don't care what Karmine does! He deserves it! I hate him!

[Ϛ Cylo]

'Punch in the faaaaace!' wasn't generally the sort of reply Cylo was looking for, if any, to his statement. In fact, it wasn't the sort of reply he expected to anything he ever said; he usually went into thing expecting the best. That's not to say, however, that he wasn't prepared for it. He usually just relied on his speed to make up for any lack of foresight.

In this case, he did indeed see the punch coming, literally if not figuratively. However, instead of simply dodging it as he might normally, he let Kirien hit him.

Hell if he knew why she wanted to hit him, beyond the fact that she had violent tendencies in general, but she'd been squeezing his arm like a fiend the entire trip, so he figured he should probably let her blow off a little steam. And he didn't think dodging a punch she threw would be a good way to calm her down. He still moved with the punch to reduce the damage it would do, sure, but if he didn't he wouldn't be speaking with Karmine any time soon. That girl threw a hell of a mean punch.

He rubbed his jaw and spat gold-tinted crimson on the ground, wincing as he noted he'd have to regen a tooth or two. His expression was curiously absent of the usual grin; he looked nothing but genuinely concerned as he turned to her, his one eyebrow questioningly raised.

"Need to do that again? We probably have a minute."

And until just a few minutes ago, he'd thought Kirien was the only one on his side in this mess.

[Kirien Melantha]

Kirien had her fist pulled back, ready to take another swing, even before Cylo's query, eyes narrowed, brows furrowed, teeth clenched tight together. But the red-gold legion she had spilled didn't escape her, and she stopped, startled. She saw way too much of that in their last few adventures, and this time, even though it was only a little bit, she spilt it.

She dropped her hands to her side and drew nearer to him, examining the damage that she caused in her rage. But though she regretted lashing out at him, she was no less angry than she was before.

"I'm not helpless, Cylo!" The demoness growled harshly, clenching her fists tight, until her nails dug into her palms. "Stop babying me! I could have taken Spikey, and the other one that you stole! And you're making me wear stupid blindfolds, too?!"

Just how weak do you think I am?

She shook her head, hissing a sharp exhale that was meant to calm herself. She meant to ask if he was alright, and to apologize for hitting him, but the words never came. So she stood, threatening despite her short stature, and alarmingly close.

[Ϛ Cylo]

Cylo had a pretty quick mind. It breezed right by things like school, like the lessons were going in one ear and out the other, but when it came to being logical and making deductions, he was no lightweight. As soon as Kirien made the helpless comment, he put the pieces together. It would make sense that a girl so oriented toward winning would take being made out to be weak as sort of the ultimate insult. Of course, that wasn't what he was trying to do.

"I know you're not helpless. Believe me, I know." He pointed to his knocked-around face for emphasis. "But I knew even before you knocked a couple of my teeth out. I've known since the moment I met you you were anything but helpless."

You really only need one good look at the demoness to figure out she can handle herself. That is, one good look if she isn't currently going for the whole 'cute and innocent' thing. The point being, you'd have to be dead to not realize the strength she possessed if she wanted you to see it.

"I don't do this because I think you're helpless, or weak. It's not misguided pity or anything like that. It's far more stupid and inexplicable than anything like that." It was at this point that a hint of familiarity crept into the situation; his grin returned, if a little less bright than usual. "I do it because I care about you. I like you. Heck, I've even briefly entertained the idea that I might love you, but I think that's a little hasty, even for me."

Perhaps even more disconcerting than the weight of this news was the fact that Cylo didn't seem at all fazed by discussing it. Now that he was smiling again, he could have just as easily been talking about fighting, or his family, or some other light subject.

"I know you're strong - stronger than me, even - but I still have the urge to keep you out of harm's way. Stupid huh?"

He wiped a bit of legion from his mouth and spat again, but the 'bleeding' had apparently stopped already.

[Karmine de Arcadia]

"And why don't we pause this lovely teenage romance right there..." Came a very familiar voice from above as Karmine glided down from above. He liked sneaking up on people, and it hadn't exactly been hard.

Kirien was never the most observant outside of fighting.

And Cylo was a little preoccupied.

Which left him very able for a dramatic entrance. And he smiled as he touched down, arms crossed around his chest. In his hand he held one thing out of the ordinary, a bottle.

"'N'eer did get ta have tha talk ya wanted." He said to Kirien. "So ah figured why not now, eh?" He said waving the bottle. "And you." He said glancing at Cylo. "Cylo right? Yeah well, ya got a story to tell, but s'pose it can wait. No sense startin off on a bad note."

He sat down on the ground, pulling the cork from the bottle and taking a sniff. "Hmm, not bad a tall, girl knows her drink. So how ya been lass?" He inquired to Kirien, not starting a conversation with Cylo, yet.

[Kirien Melantha]

Kirien had a silly smile on her face before he even got to the part where he was stupid, and launched into a fit of giggles once he did.

He said he likes me! He said he likes me! Was on repeat in her head, and she was so giddy that she felt like dancing. Someone likes me! No one's liked me before! He liiiikkkeesss meeee! She felt like bragging, bragging to the whole world! 'Hey Karmine, guess what?! Cylo liiikkeeesss meeee!' She'd say. And then, she'd tell everyone in that house they were in before, and everyone who was part of their rebellion, and everyone at the school, if they ever got back there again, and...and that tree over there! Why, she was so happy she'd brag to a tree!

She enthusiastically threw her arms around Cylo's middle, engulfing the other in an apology hug, and promptly pressed her lips to his cheek.

The kiss was awkward, because she was a good deal shorter than him, and had to stand on her tippy-toes to reach him. Because she moved in too quickly and made contact too firmly. Because, for some reason, her nose decided it wanted in on the action, and pressed uncomfortably against his cheek. But she didn't seem to care.

Karmine didn't even get a look from her.

_{(I don't like how this turned out...>> I'm going to assume you're fine with this form of powerplaying, but if not, I suppose I can edit. :P)}

[Ϛ Cylo]

Yours is fine if mine is

Cylo's thought process was actually eerily similar to Kirien's. He'd originally winced when she'd come at him again, and he half expected her to grind his bones to make her bread or something for being such an idiot, but no, she kissed him.

She kissed me! She actually kissed me!

While it wasn't a first for Cylo, it was pretty close; he'd been kissed once before in his life (apart from family, of course) and the girl who had kissed him was dead now. A bit of a worrying thought, really, especially with how he was when it came to Kirien's safety, but that really wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. All his cockiness amounted to nothing in the end, and the simple peck on the cheek basically paralyzed him. Apparently the awkwardness didn't bother him. As soon as the shock wore off, though, he turned to Karmine.

"Just gimme a second."

Smiling devilishly, he turned back to Kirien, inclining his head to bring himself closer to her height. And then he kissed her back.

Granted, his return-gesture landed on her lips instead of her cheek. And it maybe lasted a little longer than a kiss should politely last in company. But it was a kiss nonetheless, and as Cylo pulled away, still smiling, he couldn't shake the feeling he was going to pay for being so bold.

He decided it was worth it, any day.

"What's this about a bad note?" Cylo asked Karmine, trying really hard to wipe the smile off his face and look serious. He wasn't getting much of anywhere.

400th post; a memorable one, if not top-notch quality. Three cheers for teen romance?

[Karmine de Arcadia]

Karmine was a little shocked at Kirien showing a sign of affection, and even more so by Cylo's reaction. Oy. He forget what kind of hormone driven kids he was dealing with.

"Every species teenagers are the same, young dumb and full of...oh are you done?" He said observing the obviously infatuated couple. "As funny as it is to watch someone who I trained to kill people go all kissy face there are more important things to go into, like what are you going to do now?" Karmine asked, hoping the two were ready to listen.

"Nia ain't tha type ta take this lying down, and she will send people after ya. Ya may have strength here, but they have stronger. If they think tha people here are harboring criminals, they'll bust tha doors down ta find ya. And strong family or not, the Academy has more bodies. Hell, tha only reason they ain't gone afta the other group is because of two fold reasons. They got a very well connected fae there, a Lycan Alpha, an one o' the most famous families in this world. They couldn't move 'gainst em easily. But you both are here, meaning ya don't have that political luxury protecting ya, so I ask again."

He paused from his lecture, and took another draw.

"What are ya plannin on doing?"

[Kirien Melantha]

He moved away from her and she forgot how to stand, legs wobbling, knees buckling, and she fell into him for support. She hid her face in his shirt, and smiled that same silly smile, thinking, 'If that was a second, what's a minute like?'

Before, kissing was a strange process, in which two parties smashed their faces together, but no one seemed to gain anything from it. It was an act with no purpose, and she scoffed at people who did it, and thought they all must be very stupid, spending so much time doing something pointless. But oh, it was like electricity coursing through her! It was like a great awakening, like she'd been missing something all her life and never knew it until then. It was like nothing she'd ever felt or imagined before, and she knew she was addicted. She'd kiss him all day, audience or not!

Everything else had gone hazy, and quiet, and though she saw Karmine's lips moving, she had to strain to hear his words. A great amount of it was lost in translation, but she could gather enough to tell what he meant, and to her surprise, she found herself replying. Her words came slower than usual, light and nonchalant, and she sounded like someone else entirely. There was nothing about her that was rough, nothing intimidating, not at all like her usual self, but something about her said she was even more dangerous than before, and not to be messed with.

"They might not have found us yet, 'cause we were moving around, but it's not safe here. They'd look to families first, and if they find us with them, they're in trouble, too! We gotta go somewhere no one's gonna look, or go with people who can all fight." She looked up at Cylo, uncertain. "We should have stayed with the other people, but I'll go wherever you go."

And don't think that's an option!

[Ϛ Cylo]

It was really difficult for poor Cylo to concentrate on serious business with Kirien so near and so dear. He didn't like the lack of confidence in him and his own at all, but at the same time, he was incapable of being even mildly upset after the recent developments. He thought, somewhat morbidly, that the Agents could kill them all and he would at least die happy.

"Hey, believe me, I know all this," Cylo said, and it would have sounded defensive if not for the dreamy tone and look on his face. "My family isn't dumb; they've already moved to a more secure place which I am not at liberty to discuss in such an unsecured environment." He said all of this in a silly imitation of a lawyer's tone, or something close to it. "And trust my, my family can fight."

He looked at Kirien and barely managed to contain himself from attaching his face to hers more permanently, instead just giving her an affectionate squeeze. "But hopefully it shouldn't come to that. You know this political stuff you're talking about? Well, my parents happened to be widely liked, and when you've got," he held up a hand and began ticking fingers off of it, "a demon, three Lycans, a few fae, a dragon, and a bunch of crossovers between them on top of some Gifted Ones (and a lot of them children), the Academy stand to piss off just about the whole supernatural community if they try anything. And all because I knocked out two Agents? The most they'd do under normal circumstances is expel me, and Kirien didn't really get to do anything before I carted her out of there. Heck, I even saved a couple of them from that sun-bomb thing."

Clearly, he'd been counselled on the subject by his family; he may have been a quick thinker but a lot of that simply wouldn't have occurred to him without a little help.

"But if they want a fight, that's their problem. They'll have to find us first, though, and then deal with a family more close-knit than any highly-trained armed forces could ever hope to be."

He shrugged as if the whole situation was no big deal, really, and there was still a smile plastered on his face. As far as he was considered, they were set. If the Academy wanted to make a stupid move and lose a heck of a lot just on the principle of the matter, then it wouldn't matter where he went anyway.

"Besides, I'd just cause trouble if I went with you guys. I killed a man in front of the poor kids, and they're traumatized because of it. Trust me, they do not want me around."

[Karmine de Arcadia]

Karmine just lowered his head and sighed. He then glanced up at Cylo as if his gaze was supposed to reprimand the boy.

"Tell me...do you know who runs the Academy? And no it isn't Nia, she's just the senior agent, but I suppose we can start with her. So we have a Fae who is doubtlessly in a much better position to deal with Minerrva, that's Corrigan, Queen of the Fae if you aren't up to date, then I am. Had a War Dragon in her servitude, so probably has some big guns at her command, had Lycans and Demons fighting for her as well. If you give her a reason to direct her forces here, she will. And as powerful as your family is, and yes they might do some damage, if the Academy decides to come here, you're screwed, and the blood is on your hands. Yeah your family might be high and mighty, but they rule the world kid, they have political power that they can use to crush people easily, so the key is staying off their radar, and right now you can't do that easily."

Karmine ticked his fingers.

"Meanwhile, we have two of the most famous families in the gifted world, a 'legendary' retired Agent, a global star who also happens to be one of the most powerful Lycan's in the mid west, and a variety of other people with very nice connections. Not to mention they are currently hiding out in a rather bumble fuck town, which means the Academy can't use the kind of force they'd have to if they wanted to combat us. To do so would reveal themselves to the public, and Nia doesn't have the authority to risk doing that, making it relatively safe. Not to mention a political nightmare to deal with, if the gifted population catches wind of them killing so many famous people in the supernatural world in one go, the backlash would be unimaginable. But a family of powerful, and rather unknown, beings of various species? They could just say they were a crime syndicate and sweep it under the rug easily enough. And with Kirien and your track records in the school..." Karmine added with a glance to both of them.

"Most people won't have a problem believing that, ya follow?"

It was a long drawn out explanation, and if they couldn't pull their minds out of each others crotches long enough to hear it he was going to start getting angry.

[Kirien Melantha]

They were both being childish, vulnerable and isolated and arguing over who had the best hiding spot, and she grew tense, sensing that Karmine was growing angrier. She knew that if Cylo didn't respond amiably, the two's arguing could easily get out of hand, and the last thing they needed was to fight amongst themselves.

She gave a great sigh, rolled her eyes at the others' antics, and pondered the possibility of pleading to Cylo, as if her words could somehow persuade him that they should listen to Karmine. But she recognized that the decision was not hers to make; her family wasn't at risk. So she didn't say a word, waiting, hoping that he would make the right choice.

Impatient as ever, Kirien swayed from side to side, shifting her weight from foot to foot. A moment later, she was touching her lips to his cheek again, sweeter and more genuine than before. Somehow she thought it could comfort him, because when they were so near, she was at peace. Enchanted, she found it difficult to pull away, but no, there were other things that demanded their immediate attention, and her lips left his skin as soon as they had come. She caught his gaze and held it, offering an unspoken promise that no matter what he decided, she was on his side, and she would stand by him.

She backed away from him slowly, and put herself between them, standing so that neither could get past her without her eyes seeing them. She smiled, calm and confident, and looked to Karmine. The eyes she showed him could have said a lot. They could have said that she didn't appreciate his referencing Kirien's records, his assumption that Cylo had quite the record himself, and his insistence that Cylo's family was nothing special. They could have said that she didn't think it was his place to decide what they did, and that they could handle the consequences of their decisions. But one message was unmistakable: if he tried to force them, no matter how much faster he was, or how much more experienced, she would run him into the ground.

[Ϛ Cylo]

Cylo was becoming a little upset despite himself. Karmine really didn't seem to get the point. Cylo's family wasn't about to advertise their location, yet Karmine seemed to think they were incapable of remaining hidden. Cylo had perhaps been an average student grades-wise, and had never actually gotten in trouble with the staff, but Karmine made it sound like he was some punk the administration had a grudge against. And last but certainly not least, he consistently talked about his family like a bunch of nobodies.

Still, Kirien lips being once again pressed to his cheek managed to calm him. He was suddenly struck by the strange and out of place thought that one could make a fortune if they could figure out how to bottle her kisses.

"I don't know what record you're talking about," Cylo began, "because I've been a pretty decent student, I'd say. But that's not really important anyway."

He paused as he met Kirien's eyes, more grateful than he could ever express with words that she was just there for him. He tried to imagine what would have happened if he'd gotten into this mess without her, but it wasn't a very pretty picture and he had more important things to be thinking about.

"What's important is that the Academy doesn't know where we are. They don't even know we're not with you. Hiding is the best option and it was our first option. But you still haven't explained why the Academy is so gung-ho on finding us. So we've got if they even want us, they have to find us first. I don't care how little faith you have in us, that'll be no easy task. But, assuming they do find us, we don't even know what they want. Do they want to kill us? Or just talk to us? Maybe lock us up? If they want to talk, I'm up for that. If they want to lock me up, on reasonable terms for my very short list of offenses, all the power to them. I'm no anarchist, and Kirien didn't even get to do anything before I dragged her out of there. If they just want to kill us, then, first of all, that's incredibly stupid. Killing us would serve absolutely no purpose, but I'll go down fighting if I have to. I'd rather be dead than live in a world where even the good guys go around haphazardly killing everyone anyway. So, assuming they want to find us, and do, and decide that killing a whole family, men and women and children of human and supernatural background, former orphans for crying out loud, is the only course of action to make up for my non-existent crimes, then I doubt they'll care which big names you guys are hiding behind. And we'll make sure to at the very least give them a hell of a time."

Cylo took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair, turning his look, which had been quite serious, into a warm smile.

"I really do appreciate the gesture, though. But think about it; what purpose would having someone with you who everyone hates and doesn't trust serve? It'd only serve to make everyone's life suck. Plus, there's no way my family is going to let me leave them, and there's equally as little chance that you can fit seventeen more people in your secret hideout, let alone seventeen people related to a 'killer demon'. So my final answer is thanks, but no thanks. Kirien is welcome to go with you, but something tells me she's staying with me."

He looked down at her as he said this, and sort of smiled, but he also raised his eyebrows a little. He couldn't complain that the girl wanted to be with him, but he wasn't sure he liked the fact that the choice she made was so heavily influenced by him. He sort of wanted her to make an educated decision, but then again, he would do the same if their roles were reversed.

[Karmine de Arcadia]

Karmine raised his fingers to the bridge of his nose, rubbing it. Somewhere, he knew Riana was laughing at him now.

"If you aren't going to listen, I ain't gonna force you. That would be incredibly hypocritical of me, but you really are putting too much at risk, let's just hope they don't call your hand. And about location, you are aware that they do employ telepaths right? A chain only as strong as it's weakest link and all that, not to mention that I am willing to be the Academy has a very in depth record on all of it's students and any gifted they want. You think you're family is smarter and more clever then an organization with powerful members of every race, that's been around for ages and ages, well then that's your right. I don't know your family, I'm not able to make that decision. But you pissed off the wrong people, and right now you really are going to wind up with two choices. Go back to them and apologize, serve whatever minor punishment they got in mind, and continue your lives as they were, or continue down this path. Where it goes, I got my guesses, you got yours, you wanna see who winds up being right, that's fine."

The liquor was leaving a bad taste in his mouth now. It rather bothered him, perhaps it wasn't what he expected it to be at all. He really didn't like this Cylo kid, he just rubbed him the wrong way.

Willing to kill in front of children...

Reckless and arrogant...

Run by his sex drive, ok so a teenager.

Karmine snapped his fingers, and set the bottle aside.

"Ah right, before I forget. About the whole incident. You killed someone, that's fine, I killed a whole lot of someones that day, I won't say anything about killing someone in a battle. It's the end result of battle more often then not, but what I will say."

Karmine had second thoughts about this, Kirien was probably going to flip out, and he didn't really want a fight right now. Even so, he drew his sword like a flash and leveled it at Cylo.

"If you ever do what you did the other day again, murdering someone in front of children then I swear to some god you believe in I'll slice every single legion making up your body in half."

As quick as he drew it he re sheathed it and turned to Kirien, his gaze was hard and, for once, difficult to read.

"And you. If the time comes, I'd like you to keep the promise you made me a while ago. Though hopefully you won't have to." Karmine said glancing at Cylo for a moment.

This was a rather sour meeting, oh well, he supposed that was the way it had to be. If Cylo lived, he was going to make a large sequence of mistakes.

"Kid, your gonna make a lot of mistakes on your immortal life, I can only hope you have a more sturdy companion for it."

He turned from the pair, and took a step away, his business done. If they had more to say, then now would be the time.