The trials. Again. Holy hell a third time this year…

He was so tired of this year. Lavender had passed them, Mara too but had vanished. Now Dahlia wanted a go at them, even though he was hesitant to put her through them. She was Copia’s wife… and she just had the twins a few months ago by no means was he wanting to throw her into arguably one of the most hellish things he does to peoples minds in the name of ‘education’. Diving into her brain to pull out her nightmares, using them against her? Yeah ‘Frater Imperator’ would be up his ass for sure.

Whatever, if she insisted because she wanted to expand her practices then so be it…

Sitting in his office, he was sitting in the dark with his head in his hands. A mild migraine had settled itself in this afternoon after a morning…

Eris has always enjoyed the autumn. It was her favorite time of year. The beautiful colors of the trees, the crisp of the air, the scent of the season. She would awake everyday in the arms of her husband. Their face buried in her hair or her neck. If they were intimate the night before, usually their face was nestled against her chest. She would softly play with the short black hair until they awoke and both together would get out of bed and begin their day. 

  The medication was slowly coming back into effect. Still she would sigh before swallowing the tablets down with water or the morning cup of coffee. With the love of her life, her physical scars completely gone and her true beauty finally visible, a found family that loves her, a mother in law that loves her and she loves in return, a beautiful blonde…

Mara sighed, tears already welling in her eyes, as she kept her face down on the walk to Klaus' office. The nutrigrain bar was smushed now, her having stepped on it after it fell out of her hands- apparently, she actually couldn't walk and text.

While she wasn't necessarily trying to stall to see her father figure, she wasn't exactly sprinting either. Rather she kept a neutral pace, mentally and physically preparing herself for prolonged screaming and however hard the man could hit, knowing damn well she deserved it from their point of view. She felt small again, like she was 10 and had accidentally spilled water on the carpet on the way to her room. Erin gave her an earful that night, and a good ol' smack to set her straight. Mara be damned if she ever did that again.

Soon enough she was outside his office, and trying…

Mara woke up with a start, jolting up, surprised to find herself in the same chair in Secundo's office that she had started in. She looked around, grounding herself after seeing that the Papa too was also in his usual seat. He had a small bit of smeared blood under his nose. And Mara found that she too could still feel the aftermath of the first few parts of the trials, her back and body still aching from chains no longer there.

She took a sip from her water bottle nearby, and clutched her pendant, focusing on her breathing. “With all due respect, sir, dick move.” She grumbled, though her spirit was oddly high, and she was flashing him a genuine smile. “But you're right: I'm out of practice, and definitely out of shape.” She gave a weak laugh, her lungs still hurting a bit, and continued to drink h…