ANEW ||

Field Trip

He leaned up against the door, arms crossed over his chest. He watched her clamp the new cuff onto her wrist curiously. She eyed it in the darkness of their room, spinning her arm around so it caught the light at a better angle.

"I'm excited to try it out," Mari replied finally letting her hand fall down to her side. She turned her gaze to his, eyes watching his expression.

The cuff around her wrist was Alaric's latest contribution. With the council being so strange, most of the traditional clothing for the island didn't work for them. Even more so for Mari. Certain pieces had to be completely fire retardant or have the ability to shift out of visible light at just a thought.

Alaric spent countless hours putting together materials that would work for them, and even then he wouldn't stop. The cuff on Mari's wrist was her suit, completely designed and tailored to fit the exact needs of the dividend. It could withstand the insanely high molten temperatures, morph around the sapphire and ebony scales, blend in just as her own skin would, and so much more. It was Mari's own DNA, her skin, but manufactured.

Elijah watched her curiously. "And where will the wind take you tonight?" His tone was mocking, playful even if he hated these kinds of nights.

She shrugged before sitting on the bed. "Where ever I am required I guess."

He pushed off the wall. "Mare, you're not going to France are you?"

Mari dropped her head. "No. As much as I would like to, no. I made a promise to you and to her. She will be fine. She is fine."

Elijah didn't pause before he guided her up into his arms like she weighed nothing. "You don't have to go tonight." He tried but he knew she would go anyways. Didn't matter how he asked or how he phrased it, she always went.

"I know I don't." Her same usual reply.

"Don't let me keep you waiting. I'll be here when you get back," he said caressing the side of her marred face.

Mari smiled. "Right here." She pointed to the floor. "And naked."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Please," she added sweetly.

He groaned and removed himself from her arms. "Oh fine." He said it like it was a chore.

But it wasn't. In fact, the statement itself made his blood bubble with desire.

Mari raised her hand. "Well here goes nothing."

With a carefully calculated flick of her wrist, the cuff shifted. Black fabric rolled up her arm and over her shoulder. It kept crawling over her body, covering her feet in black and then finally to her other wrist. There were seams running down the front of her body, the collar high, the little zipper not done up all the way.

And then, just like she had asked, a piece of black up her neck. It covered her mouth and nose and ... scars. The only part of her face left exposed was her eyes, dark gemstone blue.

Elijah could tell she was grinning behind the black fabric, behind the mask.

Black plates shifted as she moved.

Then she unleashed her wings, black feathers rushing out from her shoulder blades in a blinding rush. The suit let them through effortlessly. Fluid.

"I love you," she said as her fingers reached for the floor to ceiling window and pushed it open.

"I love you too," he said as she fell from the tower.

Down, down, down, she fell until finally, she let her wings catch the wind and carry her over the tops of the trees and towards the edge of Olympus.