Re: Zania and Caius
“Of course,” Zania said. She owed Mila no favors, but helping Caius might result in a tit-for-tat later. She could never claim to have him in her pocket, but something was better than nothing and sharing information might benefit them both. “Oh, I forgot you have a gaggle of them at your beck and call,” she snickered. “Your mother. And Reagan. Mostly, your mother. Reagan just looks different today. I can’t really put my finger on why. Like, there’s a slight change in the color or something. Your mom, though, she changes colors completely sometimes. I’ve never seen anything like it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was a witch, except it’s not consistent.” Sometimes she had a gold aura, like her husband and son. Other times it burned red, like Reagan and herself. Mostly, it was white with weird purple undertones, an attribute that stuck around no matter what the underlying color.
He had been taught the value of information, and Mila’s revelation had just been a reminder to Caius of how important it was to know everything possible. If Zania learned something interesting about her, he could hang onto the intel in case he ever needed it. He wasn’t really pressed about it if Zan didn’t come up with anything though. Caius wasn’t afraid of Mila Moretti, of all people. He listened with interest as Zania described Miriam and Reagan’s auras, one brow lifting slightly. It wasn’t a shock to hear that Reagan’s had changed -- she’d absorbed the magic of another witch, after all -- but his mother’s? That was more worrisome. “I don’t know about Reagan,” he lied smoothly, tapping one finger against his glass. “But my mother ... that concerns me. I’m sure it has something to do with the time she spent in that godawful place, but perhaps we need to look deeper into it.”
For all Zania knew, Reagan wasn’t feeling well and that was the cause for her change in aura. It was something to watch, but not near as interesting as what she was seeing with Miriam. “They all look different on some level,” Zania confided in Caius. “I wish I’d had a chance to see them all before everything happened, just so I’d have something to compare to. If you figure it out, let me know. It wouldn’t shock me if there were some after effects, but I haven’t heard about any yet.” Of everyone that had disappeared, Vex was probably the closest to her, but she hadn’t heard of anything weird happening with him. At least, nothing weirder than normal. She knew Caius wouldn’t be itching to share anything related to his mother, but if something was going on with Miriam, there was a high chance that something was happening with the others too. And that was worth keeping an eye on.
Caius had been concerned about his mother still being possessed or infected by whatever had happened to her, so he’d examined her with the vision the Obscurities gave him. She’d looked normal then, but maybe he hadn’t known what else to look for. Before he could overthink doing so in public, Caius called the spirits inside of him forward and his eyes went completely black. He squinted slightly -- it was bright in there for the Obscurities -- and started looking around for the two people in the room he knew had been in that place. Miriam and Brianna McCarthy. He didn’t spot the latter, but his gaze found his mother. He couldn’t quite see auras the way that Zania did, but there did seem to be something a little different about her. “I’ll look into it,” he mumbled to Zania, brows furrowing again. Gods, couldn’t they catch a break on something? The problems and developments were never-ending. He blinked a little and focused on Zan again, and she definitely looked bright and different. He found he could see through the glamour on her eyes. Weren’t they a pair. “Likewise, if you discover anything new ... please share it. I’m trying to look out for her more these days.”