he two walked easily from the swamp with an easy gait and a comfortable silence.  The dark and mysterious bayou shifted to endless fields of multicolored flowers and long summer grasses.  Now, the air grew warm and heavy with dappled sunlight, and Mephisto spread her wings from time to time, allowing the summer wind to play in her feathers and bring much-needed cooling and respite from the heat.  Onward they climbed, toward the city and its people, nearing the place with each step as Mephisto’s own trepidation grew.  After all, she couldn’t know what they would think of her returning… but this time, at least, she brought a friend and felt less alone than before.

”I have no family”, she offers honestly.  At times, Mephisto would admit that she wished she had some ties to this world more than the loyalty she offered to her home.  She wondered some if she would have made a good mother, a mate to someone.  But then, the mare cannot picture herself beside a man.  She cannot picture herself as subservient to anyone, or having to answer to another creature.  Still, there were days where it seemed like the fantasy could bring her peace and happiness.  Mephisto had never really allowed herself to dream of such things – thus far, it just hadn’t been in the cards.

”There are those who consider the court to be a family… perhaps not of blood, but a family you choose.”  In time, she would be one who thought such things… but now, Mephisto was as much of an outsider as Aoife.  She hadn’t been in the Dusk Court long before her warg powers had seized control of her and stolen away her free will, leaving her in an endless state of confusion over the last few months.  Now, she had to wonder if they would even accept her back after deserting the Halcyon ranks.  She hoped they would, but it wouldn’t be the first time that she’d rocked the boat.

As they breached the borderlands, Mephisto’s wings folded tightly around her once more, and she clears her throat to offer an explanation.  ”Welcome to the Citadel.”  It was a grand thing, with its dark stone against the noonday sky, rising toward the heavens in an impressive display of grandeur.  Cobbled streets formed through the grass, and as they neared the capital, the two passed several smaller buildings.  They were greeted casually by those they passed, offering quiet pleasantries in return, until at last Mephisto and Aoife stood on the capital steps.

”They will meet us here,” she whispers, ”Marisol or her council.”  And so, the warg waited for what would come next for the painted mare from a foreign land, wondering all the while what it must be to see this place through Aoife’s eyes, for the first time.

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here was an ease to Aoife’s presence, which Mephisto appreciated.  She liked the candor of the mare, and was even charmed by the way she seemed to fluster over answers.  It was refreshing that the painted mare didn’t feel entirely comfortable talking about herself.  This meant, at least in the warg’s mind, that she was a humble sort of creature.  The Pegasus didn’t have much respect for those who were boastful – they tired her with their preening and constant self-adulation.  Instead, Mephisto preferred the quieter and more reflected individuals she’d met.  For in humbleness, there can be found a willingness to embrace change and learning.  Adaptation was key in finding peace in one’s life.

They stop in the shadow of the citadel, and Mephisto is once more taken by the grandeur of this place.  There were times when the mare would wonder, how such structures must have been built in the field of nothing, facing the west in testament to the dying sun.  She would be lying if she admitted she wasn’t impressed, but still, the bustle of city life was not one which suited her well.  Instead, Mephisto would have been much more comfortable in the shadows of the trees, the brackish waters of the swamp, or even the tall and lush grasses of the fields.  Still, today they had a purpose in coming to this place.  The two needed to make introductions, so as not to be seen as outsiders to Terrestella.

It didn’t take long for Marisol’s council to approach, and Mephisto’s cerulean eyes focused on the approaching kelpie with little more than quiet curiosity.  Anandi was as much a stranger to her as anyone else here, for even though Mephisto had come to this place some time ago, she had only really seen the Halcyon barracks and the king.  So much had changed since then, and she hadn’t even a notion of what she’d missed.  Still, Mephisto finds a slight sense of relief that it isn’t Marisol who greets them, unknowing of how the queen would treat her absence.  Would they believe her a deserter, or would they be willing to listen to her strange and wildly confusing circumstances?  Only time would tell.

“Anandi,” she lets the name roll off the tongue with a lilting sort of tone.  “Well met.  My companion and I have traveled from the swamplands.  She is new to this place… and I… well, I haven’t been around much either.”  Simpler to leave the circumstances be for now.  “I am Mephisto.  We have come so my friend can offer her services to Terrestella.”

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ephisto knows the questions are directed at her friend, but it would be helpful, she decided, to make her own responses to the emissary.  Having met very few in her short time here, the warg knew it was time to branch out from the comfort of her solitude, if she were ever to make this place a true home.  It had been too long since she’d had a place to call hers, and as she thinks back to the broken land she’d grown to love in the Riftlands, a pang of sadness wraps around her heart.  

War was never pretty, but seeing the blood against the snow of her home was enough to steal away her breath.  Since the war, she hadn’t ever felt at home.  Not until now, she decided, taking the resolve to move forward.

“I took an oath to the Halcyon – before Marisol became the queen... and I shall remain loyal to that oath for as long as she will have me.”  How long that was, exactly, remained to be seen… but Mephisto knew she had something more to offer to the warrior queen now.  In time, she’d grown to understand hew new talents more, and she’d begun to see them as an advantage, when spun in a certain light. With time, she would learn to hone her craft.  With time, and with patience.

“Before coming to Terrestella, I came from a land known as the Winter Court.”  It seemed a lifetime ago now – a lifetime since she’d spoken the name aloud.  Asterion had been a remnant of that life, a memory of the father who’d been so instrumental in her life.  Gabriel held her alliance, always.  

She notes the subtle amusement which Anandi expresses at the swamp, and offers a half smile in return.  “Though I must admit… the most interesting of things can be found in the swamp – it’s worth exploring.”  Not the least of these interesting things was Mephisto herself.  For in the last several months, the warg had hidden away in the shadows of the bayou, while honing her craft and learning more about it’s strange ways.

In the darkness and the brackish waters, she was able to hide away unseen, ignored by all by the occasional healer and the heron who seemed to find Tinea’s newest occupant most-interesting.  Still, it was good to be back in the land of the living, finding her way once more in the strange new world that was the Court.

---

here was an easiness between the three mares which brought a sense of relaxed peace over Mephisto.  She manages even a smile as she listens to the small mare ask about fighting, nodding approvingly to Anandi’s reply.  It was good, she decided, that the Emissary welcomed the newcomer with a suggestion of helpfulness instead of a scoff.  This was what drew her to Terrestella in the first place – the acceptance and the openness of its people.  Without question, Asterion had welcomed her here, what seemed like forever-ago now.  So too, she would repay the favor to those who came to this land in the future.

Her thoughts drift back to the swamp as the kelpie mentions its mysterious flower.  “Every ten years?  I’ve never heard of such a thing…”  Her incredulous murmur holds a sense of appreciation, even as she wonders aloud, “Is it a coveted thing?  Perhaps it offers healing properties or some benefit that the smell masks?”  It was curious thing to wonder about, though Mephisto wasn’t sure that she would ever be lucky (or unlucky?) enough to witness the blooming with her own eyes.  Still, she filed the bit of information away with all the rest, continually learning about this place she called home now, continually surprised by things which had yet to be discovered.

As the two engage in discussions about rank, the dark mare gazes toward the sea, her mind wandering to the battalion she’d left behind.  Would they wonder where she went?  Would they offer a welcome to her routine?  Marisol hadn’t thrown her out, so that was something… but how would those she trained beside handle the news of her new power?

Mephisto shakes away the thoughts, catching the last bit of Anandi’s question as she offers a soft and appreciative smile.  “I actually need to attend to something at the barracks,” she offered quietly, nodding to Aoife with reassurance.   “It seems you’re in good hands now – but you know where to find me.”  With that, the dark Pegasus turns away to leave the two to their exploring.   “Thank you, and I look forward to catching up again soon,” Mephisto offers, before swallowing her self doubt and beginning the long walk toward the Halcyon barracks once more.

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