Asturias

You didn't walk home, You had too much to think about. Around the city you ducked and dived into the alleyways, enjoying the fresh air, pondering on Diana, on Rose and of course, on Daisy.

It was discomforting knowing that she was upset with you, Charlotte was bad enough, daddy issues or no, You were actually starting to consider that little minx a friend.

Daisy still hadn't answered any of your texts, despite her lack of knowledge on phones, You knew that she simply wasn't answering. it made you huff as You dodged out of the high street where you saw a military checkpoint... they seemed much more lax than usual, likely because it didn't seem like an attack was going to happen any time soon.

Still, you strolled far off the main city, heading east, You found yourself near Jormungandr's desolation, wandering from the ruins towards the East-side, where you froze as soon as You realised where you were.

Izzy's apartment complex was just next to you, tall, illuminated by the apartment lights. You saw Izzy's room above, the light was on...

"I shouldn't"

You should

"She hates me"

fuck it, go anyway.

"Ugh what is wrong with me? why did I come here? She hates my guts and I should just leave it alone!"

But you won't, will you?

Huffing, you stared at that window resolutely, your legs moving over into the high-end driveway, where you stood aimlessly. You didn't exactly want to go buzzing in at this time at night, it was nearly 2 AM and Ms Salvador seemed like the kind of woman who was capable of **** without her beauty sleep.

Your eyes caught on the side of the drive, looking at the pebbles by the spider plants.

Picking up a few, you weighed them in your hands. She had to be at least three floors up, it would be hard to make the shot.

Trying to picture Hilde and her coins in mind, you tossed one at Izzy's window. it hit the brick and you groaned, trying again.

You actually managed to hit a neighbours window, panicking, you grimaced, rushing into the bushes as an old lady's head poked out, rollers in her hair, no teeth the whole nine yards scowling through the ground bellow before moving back in "damn kids." She growled.

Emerging from the bushes, you sighed, going to leave, only, you took a deep breath, trying to focus, taking in a deep breath "Control, Control, control..." You whispered.

"Overdrive." it was only a tiny amount, barely a thimble full of the infinity that was Overdrive, still your heart pumped, eyes dilating, as You pivoted around on your foot, and with massive strength, accurately tossed the pebble toward the window.

Only it didn't exactly soar up gently as You planned, instead it streaked like a bullet towards the window, blurring as it approached, threatening to render the pain into shards "No-no-no-no-no!" You muttered.

the pebble never reached its destination... or it did, save, a circular, black shape appeared on the window, the pebble passing through it.

"Huh?-OW!" a sharp pain shot through your shoulder as something collided with it, You turned around to see a circular black portal opened just behind you in thin air "What the fuck?"

Much to your distress, the Portal widened, grew, broadened, and stepping out of it, was a tall, beautiful girl, in only a long hoodie, her blonde hair tied up, her face angry looking "Stop it." Izzy commanded.

You looked between her and the portal, before scratching your head "s-stop what?"

She scowled "What do you want, Guapo?"

"I uh... I d-don't know?" You admitted.

She folded her arms, her naked legs catching your eye. Izzy still held herself high, but looked you over as she licked her teeth "You want a doob?" She asked.

You smiled "Yeah, Okay?"

She nodded, rubbing her arms "Ugh it's cold, wait here." Izzy vanished back into the blackish-azure portal, leaving you alone, in the dark and cold where you felt oddly at home.

It had been 25 minutes now and it was getting boring just standing here, should you ring the bell? maybe another pebble-no that was a bad idea, maybe you should have used Forevermore to foresee your fuck up, idiot.

Ugh HOW LONG IS THIS GIRL GOING TO TAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

You cried out as You fell into the floor, swirling around in pure, soft darkness for a moment, before you fell out of the ceiling, landing and bouncing on the soft mattress.

"That feels so god damn weird, I-uuuuuuuuuh." Your eyes opened to see the smooth skin of a smooth, tanned leg, your eyes following up the perfect body, towards the unamused face who stared down, beautiful but still very annoyed. "Hello there."

Izzy scowled, "Shut up and Get up, General Kenobi." She said, shuffling back a little.

Springing up, You noticed the differences in her appearance.

She looked fresher, less tired, her hair was down across her shoulder, and her lips shone a pinup-girl red, she had a little make-up on now, and she wore deep brown stockings, though remained in her hoodie as she toked a very long, very full Blunt.

"You look... beautiful." You smiled.

She did not smile in return "I am the same as earlier. have you been drinking?"

"Not nearly enough, Iz, not nearly enough." Sitting up and sitting cross-legged in front of her, You smiled, gesturing for her to pass.

Taking another long toke, she handed you the Blunt before blowing the smoke in your face "Lovely. thanks." You said, taking an even longer toke than her.

"Whatever." She said handing you the ashtray as she pulled out her phone.

There was silence for a while, she hadn't bothered to speak, didn't even ask for the blunt back, you'd smoked nearly half and already had a good buzz going "So You and Jane are all buddy-buddy now?"

She didn't look up from her phone "Something like that. Vic seems to like her."

"What about you, water under the bridge?"

In a huff she cast her phone aside "Is that what you came here for? to talk about Jane? to smoke all of my weed!?" She took her blunt back, the cherry blazing as she exhaled the viscous smoke.

"I don't know." You responded, "I've just had, a strange day, I mean that stuff with the singing, pissing off duke, then going to my aunts, trying to figure out my magic powers, odd stuff."

Izzy smirked "Your little Powers, aren't magic. let's get that straight. it's a side effect and not always a particularly good one." She spoke with such knowledge, just how much did she know anyway.

"And what do you know, of Descendants?"

She shrugged "Only what My mistress told me, she knows a lot about you."

"Not weird at all."

"It's all weird, everything about this is weird, Your breath weird, your sleep weird, it's fucking everywhere." She groaned, before settling her eyes on you. apparently, the Green was doing its job, she relaxed a little.

"Do You... ever think that You could f-forgive me?" You stammered because you were shivering, it was seriously cold and the window was open. she rolled her eyes, drawing open the covers. You eyed her but she just frowned, taking your arm and guiding you to slip into the warm duvet. "Ah, that's better, thank you."

Her eyes kept wandering to you as she grabbed her grinder, wrapping up another blunt as she rubbed her eyes "I don't know." She answered honestly "I didn't even want to before, but now... it's just hard not be angry with you."

You nodded a little grimly "I understand."

"Oh but you're that type, oooh I understand, Isobella, Por favor perdóname y déjame follarte para siempre." She said in a grumbly tone.

"What?" You asked.

"Ugh nevermind, here." She passed you the finished result, a perfectly rolled blunt and proceeded to make another for herself.

"Isn't it a little late for this?" You asked.

"It's Friday, it's lockdown, and it's possible that a giant monster might pop out of nowhere and destroy our apartment, so no."

Well, she certainly had a point, thanking her for the lighter so that You could get started.

It was peaceful, sitting here, just smoking and relaxing with Izzy, You didn't realise how much you missed the quiet time you could have with her, sometimes it was best just to sow your lips shut and enjoy the now, especially when she started to play some quiet, Spanish guitar, which she bobbed her head too gently.

"Paco de Lucia - Entre dos aguas, 1976... I always wanted to master a craft, like He mastered the guitar... seeing you play today, it made me jealous." She spoke softly as the classy strumming played in the background. Her hand pointed up to the Brown acoustic that was hung up on her door "My Mama saved for months to get me a good one, but I couldn't every really catch it."

You nodded "May I?"

She gestured for you to go ahead lazily, as You stood, grasping at the beautiful chestnuts 6 string and plopped back down on the bed, testing it for tuning and fixing the notes "Is your mother going to kill me, if I make to much noise?"

"She's staying at some guy's place, they've been dating a while. It's not really home unless I'm sharing it with someone, know what I mean?" She said a little thoughtfully, most likely because of her high.

You shrugged "I don't know, You can do and learn a lot, when You are by..." Strumming expertly at the strings, the Guitar made the sweetest of tunes "...Yourself."

Izzy smiled, truly and honestly, it had been a long time since you had seen it.

Hugging the neck closely, you took a deep breath and recalled the hard night in Your room, playing and playing in order to master it's symphony and so you began, strumming at the chords, feeling the notes resonate through your senses, fingers jumping carefully to each extremely fast note.

Izzy's eyes widened, touching at her chest slightly "Asturias?" She asked, looking as you hit every note with a practised perfection.

Nodding you continued, using your heightened senses and increased Perception to ensure that You did not miss a single melody or connection "I tried to see it less, like playing an instrument." You spoke, while still playing. "I tried to see it more, like a story, like the great Mother of the sea, dancing amongst stormful waves. each lap touching at her heart, caressing the cheek in her bones... and with each part that I learned, the further the story would go, deeper and deeper I'd delve until...." You strummed off chord only once, brushing a little too hard on one note and stopping with a smile "...Until I could hear her story no longer."

Izzy puzzled you "You're a fucking dork, you know that..." She fiddled with her fingers "...But it was... beautiful."

"Here, look I'll show you. Come here." You gestured for her to come.

She was clearly apprehensive about getting too close, but you just smiled "Come on, You're not scared are you Chicka?" You teased.

Scowling she came, almost out of spite and you put the guitar in her hands. She held it a little awkwardly and began to strum a little, out of tune, a simple pair of notes back and forth, hypnotising, but too tight.

"Where did you learn that?" you asked with a smile.

"Back in high school, I think, Ah Pendejo!" She said, trying and failing to be more fluid.

"look-"

"I got it." She said as You tried to move in to help.

You nodded, smoking your blunt "Okay."

She tried and tried, but it was never really right, the talent was in her fingers, you could hear it, but she kept it locked up in a prison the way she strangled it close. Sighing she looked back at you, relenting a little in her silence.

You nodded, moving in, touching her warm fingers, and ushering on her shoulders "Relax, you're too uptight, she's a lady like you, needs a gentler, looser touch."

As your fingers touched hers, they relaxed a little and with behind her, guiding her posture down, she plucked gently at the Strings, producing a much nicer sound "That's it, focus less up there, think only about down here." You touched her fingers at the body of the guitar, her eyes wondered but you shook them "Focus. Come on, You know the chords, what story does she want to tell?"

Izzy closed her eyes, strumming gently, before playing a much faster, much sweeter sound, the song carrying into a thing of beauty, a sombre but cheerful tune that made you both smile as it drew to its conclusion "I did it." She whispered, looking back at You.

Her face was close... "Yeah, good enough. keep practising, and You'll do fine?"

She looked a little apprehensive, but her eyes were glued to yours, her lips were becoming a little too hard to resist "How long did it take you to learn?" She asked softly, her breath brushing your face.

"I'm still learning, always learning." You whispered.

She seemed lost, concerned, and she pulled away, placing the guitar back into your hands "I'm hungry, can You cook as well as You play?"

You chuckled "Low and steady Drake, slow and steady"

"Yeah, I'm not bad."

(Half an hour later)

"This is fucking excellent!" Izzy cried, shoving another mouthful of your childhood's signature dish, mac and cheese.

You sat down at the dining table, no plate in front of you.

"Aren't you going to eat, You made it?" She asked, mouth-half full.

You felt oddly empty, but You had no appetite "I'm not hungry."

She eyed you, poking her bowl with her fork as she thought allowed "How long have you not been hungry for?"

It was a strange question, with a strange answer "I... don't know?"

"Well, when was the last time that You ate?" She inquired in an odd voice.

You tried to remember, and was alarmed by the result "Wow... must have been... days, shit." You muttered, in revelation, touching your stomach.

She nodded "I suppose, it comes with the territory."

"What do you know about my territory?" You growled you were getting sick of this game of 'You know this well I secretly know that.'

Izzy batted her blonde hair "Well I know you're some kind of weird amalgamation of Human and something else, it's the smell, You smell sweet like Honey, but iron, almost bloody." She spoke.

Your eyes narrowed, and then You said nothing again for a while. Brining your dual nature up, it still wasn;t something you were entirely comfortable with yet. "It's not something I talk to about people with people I don't trust."

"You don't trust me?" She asked

"I don't know."

"Well, then why are you here, to teach me how to play the guitar and cook my diner for me, ogle at me: the One that got away?" She sneered.

You shook your head, standing up "I'll uh, see myself out."

She pressed her lips together as You went to walk away, brandishing that long stick from before "Ensnare the Bloodless, dark and sleek, ensnare the bloodless so we can speak."

You turned in confusion as the Chair rushed towards you, swivelling around and almost magnetically pulling you towards it "WOAH!" You cried, locked in as it slid back towards the table so that You were **** back in front of her.

She clicked her fingers, and the engraved mahogany stick puffed away into their, dissipating in gentle smoke.

"What the fuck is this?" You asked, as calmly as You could.

"Ensnarment Hex, You aren't leaving until we talk... or until I'm satisfied that we've talked." She said determinately.

Huffing you rolled your eyes "Talk then."

She wrestled with her demons, rubbing her temples "I'm confused." She started "I always thought that if I stayed here, and we didn't run away, then I'd be stuck in this weird world, hating you, hating myself but..."

"But what?"

"...It turns out, I'm stuck here in their weird world, learning... wonderful things, bettering myself, and... Caring about you, again." Her eyes watered a little, she pushed the tears away. It made you finally notice, her eyes... they weren't completely pale anymore, hints of black were creaming out from the Pupils "It's like that stupid domino affect that Vana always talks about-"

"Vana? the Hindu chick? You hang out with her?"

She shrugged "No... yes? Not really. It's not the point, the point is, You come back all different but the same in the best ways, you're smarter, ****, more attractive, all the things I held against You are being amended, with Jane and My friends, with me... and then You just show up here and hang out with me even when Millie and Vic are busy, just when I had been thinking about all of it... It's really confusing."

You nodded, looking unstirred "Are you done? 'cause I'd like to get out of this chair."

She scowled "Well then, add something, say something helpful, you say all the right things, do all the right things right up until I ask you to! I mean what the fuck is wrong with you!?"

Chuckled, you bit your lip "I don't know what you want, I tried to be good friend, but that fell apart, I tried to make things up but you clearly aren't comfortable with me, so why linger, why waste any more time on a girl I like that doesn't like me back!?"

"I never said I didn't like you back, I've always liked you back, I just hated you for a while!" she growled

"How can You like me, and hate at the same time!?" You spat back.

"I'm a woman, women do that! Ugh, you're such a Dick." She huffed, the two of you in silence again.

Izzy was like a wound, and like a wound you just expected it to close eventually, not to have remained infected and ruined as it was... still, that wound was just sterilized by tonight "Listen, Izzy, I don't know what You are, but I can guess that You are not human. And my kind hunt, your kind, all that would have to happen, is for My Judge to give the order, and I might have to face you in a way that I really don't want to."

She considered you for a moment before widely grabbing her fork and slamming it into her hand. You broke through whatever was holding you with a dark strength, launching out the chair and towards her "The Hell are you doing!?"

She looked shocked "How did you...?" She looked at the chair.

but You looked at her hand, eyes wide "What?" You whispered.

The Wound... it was wrong. where the fork would have gouged into flesh, You saw that her skin had not been cut, but had cracked like china, thick dark Red blood flowing out from the impact spot.

You took her hand, the skin was soft but... there it was, the cracks, You moved over to the sink, grabbing a kitchen roll and pressing it into her hand "What are you?" You asked softly.

Isabella looked at You deeply "I don't actually have a Papa... none of us does, we are just born, it's like an error in the code, a fault in a system, that's what we are, anomalies. Our Mother's usually die birthing us, it is his will, but not mine, thank god, and not my mistress' we are different."

"What are You called?" You inquired with a more direct question.

She chuckled "I think You can guess."

Sighing you rubbed your eyes "Vampires were bad enough, But sorceresses too?" You asked.

"Witches, not sorceresses, our is dark, it's evil, I'm a monster... I didn't want it before, I wanted to run away, before my 18th birthday, it's really set in stone after that. But now I've tasted it, really tasted it, I think I like it." She admitted, speaking in low, lustful tone "I feel so powerful, so free... but it's scary without reminders of what Normality is. know what I mean?"

"I actually know exactly what You mean, yeah." You nodded.

She seemed doubtful, okay you could play "I am Charles Roman Drake, technically firstborn son of Romulus Drake: the Legendary Black Star, Heir to the Black House of Drake, son of the undead, and executioner of the Unworthy bla-bla-bla..."

She chuckled a little matching your ominous tone "Well I, am Isobella Salvador Blair: The Petunion Daughter, Heir to the Arch-Wicken and Vessel of the Old one." She bowed slightly and You both shared laugh.

"It sounds damn ridiculous."

"Doesn't it?" She chuckled "Kinda cool though. I never really talk to anyone about this stuff."

"Join the club, ugh it's either normal or... really really fucking weird, there is no in-between." You had no idea how you were going to juggle things.

A serious look came over her "If... I were to entertain, the notion, that we could have, something like a relationship... do you think that we could, keep it on the down-low?"

You raised an eyebrow "Oh, don't want to shack up with the nerd?"

She pleaded with her hands "No! no it's not like that. I mean, ugh why is this so difficult. Look this is weird stuff, and I try not to mix it with the normal stuff, so maybe we can just keep it as this, annoying, magical thing?"

You smiled a little "You know... it might be nice, having a dirty little secret."

Head's moving onwards, lips promised to each other with their closeness, only you kissed your teeth, swerving off course "But then again..." You mused, rubbing your slightly stubbled chin "...the thing is, that I'm quite the catch now, apparently. Maybe a damaged little Witch isn't what I want?"

Izzy blinked "What?"

"Well, You know... you put me through a lot of torment. Isobella." You said earnestly "I haven't just forgotten that... You... understand?"

The Spectacular notion of you miraculously forgiving each other faded and she accepted that "Yeah, I understand."

Nodding you went to stand up, to leave, naturally, but she clutched your arm, desperately "Just stay... Guapo." She pleaded "Just stay, please? I don't want to stay here alone, not now, not without you." She said furtively, a little embarrassed.

You smiled gently "Okay, I'll stay."