Apparently what she needed was a nap, because the very next second after seeing Queenie was one with an aching back, bandaged chest, and much more active room. She felt a lot less in pain, though a lot more discomfort now that there was not screaming agony overriding every nerve. Glancing about the place, Kiko’s heart lurched when she saw Yeni. Mother Dearest was splattered with blood, though Kiko couldn’t see any real wounds on the woman, so it must have been other people’s.

“What are you doing here?” Kiko asked Queenie, a groan cutting between her words but not ruining them too much.

“That is our question” Yeni replied, a tone that outright stated Kiko was in trouble so deep she’d not see the bottom with a flare.

Kiko would pause for a few moments, trying to think of a way to explain. And then, she just shook her head and exclaimed. “.....You were being sneaky!” 

She wasn’t sure what to expect, but the laugh Queenie came out with was certainly not what she would have put in possible reactions.

“If there was ever any doubt, ehh?” Queenie commented, giving Yeni a smirk. Yeni did not seem to find the funny side and just glared icily. “There is a dozen Ars that’ll bang that frigid ice out your heart, darling” Queenie commented, turning to go look over one of her people. Electric blue hair and a SIR coat draped over her shoulders didn’t seem to be very regulation, but SIR was a unique branch…

“So” Yeni would comment after Queenie had left. “I was being sneaky. You, decided to follow me underground, without weapons or backup, just to see what was going on?” she asked, the sharp tone making her displeasure abundantly clear. Saying it outloud made the absurdity of the act hammer home, so with the cat out of the bag, Kiko just spoke.

“Sort of, yea. When we got to the warehouse, I thought it was all a bit too much, and if I was on my own I probably would have turned back. But Ele was with me and she was fully determined to carry on. Couldn’t just leave her to go alone, so I followed her. And….got hit by some sort of magic sword thing. Must have been special, I’ve never heard of a Sword’s Symphony in any of the books Eternia has been beating me over the head with” 

Finishing up, and with a better head on her now, Kiko would take a deep breath, cycle her Mana through her body, and pop everything back into place. 

“You wouldn’t. Bloodsoaked Orchestra is not something you’ll find in a book” Yeni replied, shaking her head. The displeasure was leaking off her as her mentality dissembled, and so Yeni was just generally irate that her daughter was being reckless.

“Bloodsoak…who makes these names?” Kiko asked rhetorically, standing up and taking off her top to untie the bandages. “And where is Ele? That one is less rhetorical. I can’t see her. Was she badly wounded?” Kiko looked around some more, but couldn’t see Ele anywhere.

“No, no. The Spidersilk prevented you two from getting too hurt. Your ribs were chipped by the sword, but the silk prevented it from cutting to your organs. Ele, is over there” Yeni replied, gesturing to the blue haired woman. Kiko would look to the woman, and then back to Yeni, and then to the woman again.

“Is this a haha joke?” Kiko asked, entirely confused.

“Go ask her” Yeni replied, looking over herself for a few moments, and then being drawn away when one of the SIR agents requested the presence of ‘Lady Ator’. Not getting a proper answer from Mum and feeling a little shocked at the formal tone, Kiko awkwardly walked over and crouched down. Staring for a few seconds, the woman was definitely different to Ele in a lot of ways. But, mum wouldn’t be so cruel as to put her in a situation like this. Queenie would nod, though stay silent for the moment.

“...Ele?” Kiko asked, apprehensive and not a little awkward. The woman looked up, eyes as electric as her hair, and gave a gentle smile.

“Hey Kiko” she replied. However she had changed physically, that voice stayed the same, and Kiko immediately recognized it.

“Ohh, shit. It really is you. How the hell does that work?” Kiko asked, sitting down from the crouch and reaching out to take one of the woman’s pale hands. 

“I’m a…” Ele would pause for a moment and look away, before looking back. “It’s a longer story than this place will support. I’ll fill you in when we get back to camp” Ele carried on. She seemed exhausted, and extremely downcast to boot, which was not a combination Kiko felt comfortable seeing, in Ele.

“What did you pay the Fae with?” Queenie would suddenly ask. Ele would look up with a raised eyebrow, surprise etched across her face. “Don’t give me that look. I’m frigging Tai’Zian, I’ve dealt with Fae before” Queenie exclaimed. Ele opened her mouth to speak, but Kiko blurted out something before Ele got the chance. 

“Your name is Tai’Zian? Like…Talia’Zian?” Kiko asked. Queenie had a coy smirk on her face to start, almost as if expecting a different question, and was caught entirely off guard by the one that was asked.

“How….do, you, know, that name?” Tai asked, her tone slow as if chewing each word before speaking it.

“Ohh. I, err…heard it, in a dream” Kiko exclaimed. Crazy to be sure, but why not at this rate?

“Huh. I’ve been given stranger excuses” Tai would comment, pondering for a moment before nodding. “Yea. Talia’Zian is the Great Ancestor of the Alatara Ars. She gave birth to a thousand warriors to solidify ourselves during the Great War and then went to sleep in Ragarus, awaiting the day she was needed again” Tai explained. 

“Huh” was Kiko’s reply. More questions than she cared to have answered here. So instead she looked to Ele. “Sorry to interrupt” Kiko apologized.

“Hey, if someone said they were in the same clan as a person in my dreams, I would also interrupt” Ele replied, with a bit of her cheer back. “As for the Fae, it was my First Kiss” Ele told Tai, exhaling and shaking her head for an unknown reason and then shifting to stand up.

“...So you snog a Fae and they make you look like someone else?” Kiko asked, helping Ele to her feet. Seeing Ele not dead and Kiko here, Tai would depart to another room. Possibly fleeing Kiko asking her why she was here…

“No. The Fae take experiences and concepts as physical things. I didn’t kiss them, they literally took the concept of ‘A Raiju’s First Kiss’ and gave me a Glamour in return” Ele explained, leaning heavily on Kiko for support. The woman was exhausted both physically and spiritually, so Kiko didn’t push and just helped her outside. 

“Going back to camp!” Kiko shouted to the gathering. If everyone was milling around like this, the hostile party would be no more, so there was no worries of being overheard. And with that, she did just as she said she would.