She grabbed his wrist, looking up wildly. "Good. Good, thats good. Im glad you're okay." She blinked a few times, like she was having trouble seeing. She glanced around. "Castor?" Her voice broke as she said it, looking around and stumbling up. "Where is he? He should be- he should be here somewhere-" She looked around at the torn up dirt, where Castor should, in fact, have been. But he was not. He wasnt anywhere in sight and she stilled. She looked around, straightening up warily.

"Are you okay?" He looked around, mainly at her eyes. Did she hit her head? He'd ask later. He stood up and stared around, the dust settling. He took a deep breath, stopping short and wincing, leaning over a little. He knelt back down. "We'll find him its okay."

"No. No. Something is wrong." She whispered, looking around. "Very wrong." She reached down and pulled something up out of her boot, spinning in a circle. "'Take this." She shoved the hilt of a knife into his hand, drawing out another from the same boot and holding it tightly. She looked cornered. Trapped. Also slightly insane, seeing as she was spinning on the spot and looking at the trees around their clearing like.. well, a crazy person. "I know you're out there. Dont be a coward." She shouted into the woods, pulling her hair down out of its bun.

He looked down at his hand. He shouldn't be trusted with a weapon in this state, fight or flight being his main emotion other than worry for just about everything. He held it in his left hand, the other on his ribs for a moment, then he swtitched back. He watched Asta for a moment. What? He wanted to ask her something aloud but something about shrubs in the dark of the woods left him silent. He stood up, keeping weight off his left leg as invisibly as it allowed.

And of course, a tall man in a sweeping black cloak stepped out of the woods directly in front of her, clapping slowly. He had rich, caramel colored hair and glittering emerald eyes. D(le dude) "Quick on the uptake, huh? I was betting on at least another minute of you crying for that one." He gestured to Ethan. D "But very, very nice, Asta. Shame you left the federation. We couldve used you." Asta rolled her eyes. "Yeah, when hell freezes over, little brother. What do you want now? Didnt mommy tell you to stay away from big, bad, scary Asta?" She positioned herself between her brother and Ethan,' trying to seem nonchalant.

He swept around, prepared to throw the knife at the man who'd just appeared. His words brought Ethan great curiosity. Did he know Asta? He took a more relaxed position but was definitely tense. Little brother? What other secrets did she have- she seemed to be full of surprises. He just wished they'd be better ones.

D "We are NOT siblings." He growled. Clearly, a nerve struck. "Ah-ah- tell that to dad. We are most definitely siblings. On dads side, like it or not, Alex." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Which brings us back. Why are you here? I doubt you just came to chat about family." Alexander smoothed his hair back. A "Oh, just a little debt. You might call it revenge."

"Ugh, this again. Ain't my fault your mother hates me, Alex. It isnt my fault for anything that has happened to you. If you would see that, both our lives would be a whole hell of a lot better." She bristled starting to get riled up.

A "Sure. Sure they would, Asta." He snapped his fingers and people closed in on every side of the clearing, surrounding them. Her eyes flicked from each face in slight confusion before realization and horror crept across her features.

Ethan was utterly confused by all this family warring. At least his parents had split on kind of good terms. Christ. He'd like to be anywhere other than where he is now. He glanced around, clearly they hated each other, who needed all this talking? He wanted to leave, but realized faster than he'd like that that would not be an option, getting crowded in. He turned, back to Asta's back. Tensing up painfully.

"You got the Blackbloods, didnt you?" Alexanders only response was a smirk. "I see. You took over my organization. Im guessing most of my people didnt survive." She swallowed, it was a rhetorical question. "But I see a few familiar faces. They ratted me out, I guess." She smiled coldly. "Well played. I respect that. But... revenge?" She took a step closer to Alexander. "Revenge was always your downfall. You never got that. Emotions get in the way, little brother, and revenge is risky. It isnt a good game to play-" A "Spare me the lecture, Asta." She sighed. "Right. Let me guess, theres an ultimatum coming? My dragon for my freedom?" She tilted her head.

Ethan was utterly so lost. He'd awoken too suddenly to have gotten any benefit from what sleep he'd gotten leaning on Asta. As he thought back to his his face flushed a little pink. He rolled his eyes, as on edge as it gets but he tried to keep himself as visible calm as he could and listen to the exchange between the two. Dragon- Zeus! Is he here?