Felina glances around as soon as she appears. "Saea?" Vanishes again, reappears beside her brother.

The albino looks up, smiling a little, but that fades almost immediately when he senses her mood. "Nightshadow...?"

Felina sighs, and sits down on his bed, face looking exhausted. If she doesn't let herself break down a little, she's going to go insane. She lets the situation spill forth in a lengthy little bit of telepathy.

Saea's eyes widen. "Nightshadow..." he sits down beside her, and she leans on him. "Sister, what can I do to help?"

"With all the crap that's going to go down, the last thing those people and that city need right now is to lose Korliss. I need a bit of my life energy made transferrable, especially in a non-obvious way he won't guess to refuse. At least enough to make a lasting difference, a few years, and we can go from there. Depends on how fast that power type's regenerating in me."

The albino closes his eyes a few moments, then finally nods. It's a very characteristic choice, neither one that he can fault her for nor rightly refuse. He stands up despite his misgivings. "Please lie down. Rest your mind. I'll be back in a few moments."

Felina smiles wanly at him, nods, and makes her way up to his pillows, just closing her eyes.

Several minutes later, Saea returns with several implements, setting them quietly on the night stand. "You are sure that I cannot talk you from this, Nightshadow?"

"It's the right thing to do."

He wishes he were sure of that. But it's a definite "no." He nods, then shakes his head and presses her shoulder down gently when she moves to get up. "You may remain there, Nightshadow. May I borrow your arm?"

She holds it out, eyes covered again with the other.

The elder child takes it gently, turning it upside-down and presenting the soft skin beneath the elbow. Numbing an extremely localized area with a slight spell, he takes a long, hallow silver needle and presses it deep into a vein. A bit of blood drips from it and into a shallow dish. One hand on the needle, places the other on her forehead. "You will feel naseous, sister. Light-headed and disoriented. That is normal. I will stop when we reach a balance between 'adequate' and 'potentially detrimental to you.'"

She nods, uncovering her eyes partway to smile reassuringly at her brother, then closes them again.

Saea closes his eyes, and begins, the palm on her forehead glowing a faint white. Two more droplets of blood, small and then smaller, make their way from open end of the needle to the dish below. It slides aside, and a vial into its place. The next drop that begins to form is of a prismatic, gem-like quality, nearly transparent. Thick. It forms slowly, for nearly ten minutes, and then finally falls. A second follows only slightly more quickly. About halfway through the fourth, the light fades, and Saea opens his eyes. "Nightshade? are you all right?" He moves his hand gently to her cheek, disturbed by its admittedly expected coldness.

"Ugh...give me a minute. I'll be fine." Felina lets out her breath, glad that's over. Still feels horridly drained, and actually dozes off as Saea finishes his preparations quietly. The final partial-droplet is urged from the needle telekinetically, and a thin medium is added to the three precious, materialized drops of pure life energy. It dissolves them, makes them a little less than water-thin, though smelling somehow...fresher.

Saea caps the vial and puts a hand on his sister's healed arm again, waiting a moment until he has her attention. "Here." He sets the vial gently into her lax palm, and her fingers curl around it loosely. "The pure essence of your life energy. Remember that every piece of a drop is precious. It will not evaporate but very slowly, but do not take dropped sections lightly. They are powerful."

Felina smiles at her brother, sitting up though closing her eyes with the effort for a few moments, with him steadying her at one point. "Thank you, Saea." She smiles, clasping the vial more tightly and then putting it into one of her belt pouches. "Mara was excited to come with me and see you, by the way. She got tied up, but...hopefully sometime in the near future?"

Saea smiles, a little wanly. He never was good at hiding his emotions. "Yes. In the...future. Please be careful, sister."

"I will, big brother. I promise." She kisses his cheek lightly, and stands up. "Thank you again for your help, Saea. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Another smile, just a little more sincere this time. "Just please...do be careful. Is there anything that I can help you gather?"

"I think I know where everything is..." she goes through the list mentally.

Saea considers it, and then nods a little. "You may consider adding two eranden orbs. In case your energy flow is interrupted."

Felina smiles, nodding. "A good suggestion. That's why I come to you on these things."

Saea blushes just a little, and nods. Later indeed.

Felina vanishes here and there to collect this and that, then just a few seconds beside her father's grave, long enough to lay a hand on the monument. She's back by her brother's side briefly, and then, making sure she has her slowly-recovering bearings, vanishes for Korliss's Keep.

Saea sighs, closing his eyes, and gets to cleaning up in utter silence. He only hopes that this, as impossible as it seems...will be okay. He can only have faith in her. And right now, he needs it.

---

Senowin's appearance at the edge of the gardens is so sudden that even she barely notices its occurence. It hardly matters, though, for the pain that courses through her upper body right now drives anything else from her mind. She's awfully quiet, but her face is perfectly strained in misery.

She'd landed practically on top of Saea, who's more than merely a "little" startled. He spots first her injuries and mood, then his sister's cloak, and knows she must have been sent here for help. He kneels beside her, trying to shove worry for his sister out of his mind before it overwhelms him. "Are you okay, miss?" Pauses, shakes his head a little. Stupid question. "Forgive me...we should see to your injuries." He takes a few moments to block her pain as he says this.

"Where is my daughter..." Senowin looks up at him through bleary eyes, her missing arm and shoulder suddenly last things on her mind. "Where is Felina...?"

Saea's eyes are genuinely confused. Daughter...? "My sister...I am not sure. I cannot sense her, but that is not necessarily unusual in a conflict." That bothers him. Of course it does, he's worried sick. But that seems his place in life...he can only help however he can. He sets a gentle hand on Senowin's numbed injury, jumps a little when the black magic he'd been trying to dispell simply...disintigrates.

"She was with us... me and another man she called 'Radivishe Moorn'." Senowin breathes slowly, eyes focusing again as the pain finally numbs completely. "We were fighting a man."

Saea's hands falter at that, face taking several shades of white. "Radivishe Moorn...? She is working with him?"

Senowin gazes up at him. "Is that bad? He seemed so wise... and they fought together, my daughter, and he." She blinks, the sanguine red of her irises sparkling a bit with longing. "You have such beautiful eyes... and you feel so much like her."

"They have...an unhappy history together. I am...startled that my sister tolerates his presence." He just blushes at the second bit, unsure how to respond. "And...yes. She is my little sister, and our auras are similar."

Senowin smiles at him, despite her situation. "Then I have.. a son, as well? I am so happy to know this... what is your name?"

"Ehm...?" Saea, still quite red-faced, has no idea what's going on or how to deal with it. "My...name is Saea."

"Saea... how nice." The younger construct lays back her head, her lustrous golden locks flowing all around it like a halo of bloodstained light. "Then you are the one she mentioned. The one she protects, my daughter."

Saea shakes his head just a little, trying to clear it, and sets his hands along the wound's edge again, pulling them back slowly and re-knitting what should be beneath. "Your daughter is...my sister?" He's confused. "But...yes. Felina protects me...it is what she was created for." As much as he'd sometimes like to change that. Like now.

"Yes, she is... such a wonderful creature, she is." Senowin's eyes close. She's really terribly tired, but her heart sings anyway. To discover such fortune is, for her, a wonderful thing.

"Yes...she is." His brow creases a little for worry. He just works quietly on finishing the complex shoulder.

Not long after, when Saea's about halfway down the other construct's new forearm, he looks up suddenly at a note from his sister. "Oh, dear...they are coming here."

Senowin's eyes open, settling upon Saea's face. "Are you concerned?"

"Somewhat, yes." He'd forced his sister to bring him here once before. He looks up quickly, eyes on the wide side, when Radivishe Moorn steps into the gardens. Felina follows a few seconds later.

"So paranoid. I only came to collect Senowin," explains the pallid sorcerer, "and then I will leave."

Senowin sits up, despite the partial state of her arm. "Collect me? But, I want to stay here, with my daughter and son." She smiles brightly at Saea, and then at Felina. 

Moorn nods, as if in complete understanding. "Yes, I'm sure you would. But I don't think they feel quite the same way, do they, Felina?"

Senowin looks expectantly at Felina.

Felina's surprised for a moment, but glares at the sorcerer afterward. "I brought you here. That's bad enough. Don't expect me to try to convince her that you're a class act." She looks back to Senowin. "Saea and I would be happy to have you if that's what you want, Senowin. I'm sure Mara-kuru would, too. What you do now is your choice."

"Liar," Moorn says to Felina. Senowin glares at him.

"Don't talk to my children that way," she warns him, "just don't do it."

Moorn's patience has worn too thin for this. "And if I do?" he demands of her. 

"Then I'll hurt you," Senowin defiantly answers, "and throw you out."

Felina's a little surprised at that, but only a little. "Be careful, Senowin," she warns, somewhat quietly.

Senowin smiles at Moorn, the prettiness of her innocence causing him to debate whether he should slap her down or not. "I am alright, daughter. I see clearly now. Radivishe Moorn, you are so wise... you must know that you cannot take me, if I do not want to go. You said I am more powerful than you."

The sorcerer's lips twitch. "Power is nothing without the knowledge to use it. I will take you now." Out stretches his arm, its tendrils slowly forming in a very deliberate, very showy manner, obviously attempting to frighten her into submitting.

A corner of Felina's lip is tugged upwards. "I daresay you're right, Senowin."

"You have already suffered once today, Senowin. This is your last chance. Come with me willingly, or come with me in tiny pieces for my research." Moorn's head tilts. "Your choice."

Senowin holds up her hand, palm out. "Leave us alone."

"Goodbye, Senowin." The tendrils shoot out, bound for her throat.

Felina appears between the other construct and the tendrils, swinging the staff at them like she's aiming for the fences.

The pallid green whips dash outwards in either direction to evade the staff, rerouting instantly to speed towards Felina's neck instead.

Felina growls. This again. The most powerful shield she's currently capable of supporting springs up around her. Saea, take Senowin and go! The wordless implication is to the nether plane. The generally more poewrful creatures there can help protect her.

The albino, eyes wide, nods, grabbing Senowin's hand though not without misgivings.

Senowin pulls her hand free from Saea's grasp. "Felina! I have to help her, Saea..."

The tendrils, meanwhile, burn into flames to surround Felina's shield. Moorn is obviously not playing around anymore. "It had to come to this," he growls at Felina, "didn't it."

"That does...seem the...trend." Her little frame is shaking badly against the strain of maintaining her defense, fangs fully bared. She has to keep his full attention at least until Saea and Senowin are gone.

Saea's deeply torn...he knows this won't last long, not at this rate. He glances to his sister, then quickly back Senowin, relying on quick telepathy. "Miss Senowin, he's very powerful! We have allies on the nether plane, powerful ones, we can seek their aid."

Senowin gazes at him, horrified at the thought of running when her daughter faces danger. She responds to him in kind, the way he had spoken to her. "Radivishe Moorn is... he is 'evil?'" She glances at Saea. "I have to help." For the first time, Senowin allows her guard to lower completely, displaying for them the full magnitude of her raw power... power that, at a word from Senowin, flows into and reinforces Felina's shields. "Daughter, I will save you...!"

Saea's eyes widen. He'd never realized...else he'd certainly have have taken her help. He feels ill to think he'd tried to throw away his sister's only chance to live.

Felina's eyes widen too, just a little, then narrow, shield strengthening and then freeing an energy pulse aimed to destroy his fire. "She may not be able to focus it...but I can. You have one chance to leave." She extends the shield to Senowin and Saea before he gets any cute ideas in that department.

Moorn hops back, withdrawing his sorcery, eyes set so as not to convey his amazement. "So strange... I had thought her to be a weapon, like you and I, not..." He shakes his head. "All right. You keep her." The sorcerer smiles at Felina, that 'I know something you don't' smile. "I shall be in touch." He steps backwards, vanishing then to some place in the ether plane away from the gardens.

Felina narrows her eyes, shields dropping after a few moments' careful, searching defense. "Now what the hell do you suppose he meant by all..." She's cut off by a tight hug from her brother. "Thanks, Saea...I'm all right." She wraps an arm around his back. She looks up to Senowin. "And thank you. You really saved us all just now. I couldn't have held him."

She smiles at them, gives a nod. The thought occurs to her that there had been no hug for her... a reminder that her purpose probably could not be fulfilled. At least not naturally.

"He had no right," she says to them, "none at all."

"It's never stopped him in the past." Felina smiles. "But hey. Whatever just happened is all worth it...you're safe, and despite attempts to the contrary, you're you, however you want to be."

Senowin just nods. "Are you unhurt?" She holds up her arm, glancing at the partial reconsctruction there. "And... may I have a hand?"

Felina grins. Saea looks over, surprised, and nods, smiling in his understated way. "Thank you...for saving my sister." He gets to work on the hand right away.

Felina smiles at him, then to Senowin. "I'm actually trying to figure out where all the blood came from. Whatever wounds I had are closed. So...yes."

"Good. Felina, you told me that I could see my daughters all together. Is this true, still?" She stops for a second, eyes clouding with thought. "I have a daughter named Saea." She glances at the androgyn. "But you are a boy, yes?"

Saea flushes just a little at the question, but nods.

Felina grins at him a little. "Unlike Mara-kuru and I, Saea and his double have the same name. She's a she. And sure, we can go whenever you'd like."

Senowin nods rapidly, up and down. "I would like that, as soon as my hand is a hand again, thank you."

"It is done," Saea notes just a few seconds later, inspecting her fingers for reactivity a few moments before stepping back.

"Well then." Felina tilts her head. "Are you ready to go? Yes, you're certainly welcome to come too, Saea.

He smiles wanly, and nods.

Senowin nods her head. "So... how does this work, daughter? This... moving from place to place without moving feet?"

"Oh. It's called teleportation." Felina holds up her left wrist. She knows Senowin should be able to sense the crystal even though it's covered. "I'm a Guardian, so I have this thing that makes it easier, so my jumps will feel different than most people's. There are a few different methods...we can go over them some other time, if you'd like." Felina tilts her head, a little surprised by the realization that she may very well be playing the "mentor" role her father had maintained for her, very soon.

Senowin looks down at her arm, the one that hadn't been blown off. She holds it up. "Hey..." she holds her wrist out to Felina, a faint red glow pulsating under her skin. "Is that one the same as this one?" 

Felina's eyes widen, face paling just a little. "No." She manages after a few moments. "No, it's not."

The other construct looks slightly confused at her reaction. "Is this a bad thing? It was glowing green before, but Radivishe Moorn asked to hold my hand, and after that, it was red."

"No, no...certainly nothing you did wrong." Felina closes her eyes a moment. "Okay. Well...I guess we should look into what he did to alter it. And hey, if anyone knows that kind of energy intimately, I do." She smiles, trying to be reassuring. "That's from the nether plane, though...it's probably better if you spend most of your time there. The energy like that on the ether plane gets confused if nether energy's here too much...it starts to acclimate it, and that throws things out of whack." She smiles a little. "But we're headed that way anyway, to see the others."

Senowin nods again, gazing into the little glowy. "Just show me the road, daughter, and we will go together!"

Felina nods. She'd stopped using Kaies's method for opening gates a couple of years ago, having figured out her own by now. The hole slides open. Felina smiles. "After you."

Senowin lifts her chin and proudly walks into the hole, thrilled that she'll soon get to meet her other daughters.