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In the middle of a very large forest was an out of place cabin. It was quaint and small, and made from stone. Smoke was coming from the chimney, which could likely be seen from a ways away. Directly in front of the cabin was a small garden, surrounded on the outskirts by birch trees. All the plants were dormant for now, so there wasn't much to look at besides the rather large fountain that was in the middle of it. It was turned off for now, but it was easily big enough for a person to sit on the rim.

In fact, one such person was doing that currently. Even though it was chilly outside, Chiara was seated on the rim of the fountain, with a mug of something steaming next to her and a book in her hand. She had on a long black coat, and grey slacks with her favorite worn black boots on. Her long, wavy, dark hair was tied back with a silver scarf, and she wasn't wearing any makeup. She wasn't wearing any gloves, but she did have on a grey scarf to keep her neck warm. Chiara wasn't a runway model, but something about her looks was attractive, even though she was rail thin with next to nothing in the chest department.

Sitting next to her on the rim of the fountain was a rather large grey cat. It appeared to be sleeping, which wasn't all that unusual for cats. The area around here seemed peaceful, and even though it was way in the middle of nowhere, Chiara looked quite comfortable and at home.
The rather quiet and peaceful ambience of the area was very abruptly cut short by a strange static sound that grew louder and louder until there was a sharp tearing noise, like paper ripping. Not more than a few feet where Chiara and her cat sat was a portal that opened suddenly , casting a bright light from it along with a rather loud and angry "TRY AND STOP ME!" shout from a female voice.

As quickly as the portal appeared, the entire thing seemed to collapse in on itself and disappear, leaving behind a bright read aura that seemed to fizzle and glow.

Upon closer inspection, one would see that this was not an aura, per say, but a light radiating from what appeared to be a woman...and a rather buxom and unearthly one at that.
Her hair, thick and wavy was fashioned into a long lose braid that ended just below her hips. At first the hair appeared to be a dark, fiery red, but there was something odd about it; it was changing, like how a soap bubble would reflect light. The red swirled with darker reds and black as the hair caught the light, and thee were even traces of orange and yellow that appeared to pulse through locks and strands at random.
Perched atop her head were two pointed catlike red ears that resembled a caracal's, the tips ending in darker tufts of hair. Each ear was adorned with two silver earrings, one on each side.
In fact, almost everything about this woman appeared catlike, from her feet to the red tail (that was rather fluffed up at this moment) ending in a tuft of long red shining hair.
It was only a moment or two after she had exited the portal that she took a look at her surroundings and covered her mouth with a hand, as if to realize she's made a terrible mistake. As she did this, the colors of her hair started to change as well.
Chiara was just getting to a good part in her book, when there was a very strange noise and suddenly a very pretty woman was yelling in front of her. Chiara didn't mind her odd looks one bit, in fact, she seemed fascinated by them. What pretty hair!

The poor woman seemed shocked, but Chiara just sat there calm as anything, as if women popping in from nowhere was an everyday occurrence for her. "Hello there. Having a bit of a spat?" Well the woman had certainly sounded angry when she showed up! Despite S'daza's appearance, Chiara didn't seem frightened either.

The cat merely cracked one eye open, let out a huge yawn and jumped off the fountain and trotted away. He soon, quite literally, disappeared, but S'Daza might not notice if she hadn't kept her eyes on him.
S'daza's ears picked up the voice and turned towards Chiara before her head did; her hair changing from hot reds to cool blues and yellows with the occasional streak of green that made it's way between the colors. S'daza's red almond shaped eyes were wide as they made contact with Chiara. Her expression seemed embarrassed that she had so suddenly burst into her world in her state...at least...where ever she was.

"Oh...I hope you didn't hear too much of that." S'daza glanced around, trying to figure out just where she was. Perhaps stomping through a portal in a fit of rage wasn't the best idea. "I...I guess you could call it that..." her ears folded back at the thought of the recent fight with her lover.
Chiara shook her head, "Just the last thing you said. You sounded pretty mad though." Chiara wouldn't pry, since the lady seemed fairly embarrassed, and then upset. Chi bit her lip, "Would you like to come in and have some tea?"

It might seem weird that a random forest lady was inviting her in for tea, but that's just how Chiara was. "I know a good strong cup of tea always helps to calm me down when something is wrong." She was only trying to be friendly, and she gave S'daza time to think about it while she bookmarked her book and gathered up her own steaming mug. "Water should even still be hot..." Her voice had a bit of a sing song tone to it, as if she were trying to tempt the woman to say yes.
"Tea?" S'daza paused for a moment to think this through. All logic in her told her this was probably not the best idea. This person before her was a human after all...at least she looked human, at the very least she guessed she was on Earth...or whatever the weird word the humans called their home turf.
The young lady seemed nice though, and there was an understanding tone in her voice that put S'daza at ease. One cup couldn't hurt, maybe she could get some information out of this girl...and figure out where she was and hopefully, how she was going to get home.

"That's very kind of you..." S'daza took a few steps towards Chiara, though demeanor was still a bit tense, and this showed in her hair as highlights of orange and gold.
"Uh..heh. Sorry if you don't mind my asking, miss. What is this place?"
Chiara smiled at S'daza, "Yes tea. You seemed upset. Or...er...do they not have tea where you come from?" Chiara really had no idea, she'd never seen anything like S'daza before. "Well...I try." She jerked her head towards the house, "Come in?" If S'daza followed, Chiara would lead her into the little cabin. It was very warm inside, given the fact that the fire was going. "As for where you are, I do believe the locals call it Nexxus."

Off to the left, was a small living area, with a couch facing the fireplace, a coffee table, a big oversized chair and a wall of bookshelves filled with books. There was an open doorway that led into a little study, and of course a table at the end of the couch that was piled with more books. There were no electronics to be seen, aside from the ones in Chiara's kitchen, which was off to the right.

It was a tiny kitchen, fairly average with a stove and fridge, and some cabinets. There was a hallway straight across from the front door, that presumably led to the bathroom and bedrooms. "Is there a certain type of tea you like?" Chiara walked in and set her book down on the end table, along with her mug. "Make yourself at home, just don't sit in the chair." She was already heading into the kitchen to get a mug for S'daza.

The cabin had a warm and welcoming feel to it, and oddly enough there was a mug of steaming tea on the mantle piece, though nobody else was around.
S'daza fallowed the lady into her cabin, her eyes scanning this way and that. It felt nice inside, just the right temperature she thought with a single nod of approval; her hair changing to a mixture of cooler blues and greens. Once inside it was apparent her hair gave off a sort of dim light that illuminated her surroundings ever so slightly.
"Oh...it's not the most popular thing, but I've had it before; I have an old friend who's very fond of the stuff." S'daza's cat-like ears flicked when she heard the name of the place. "Nexxus?...is that part of Earth?"

The name honestly sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place it so she let it slide for the time being. She had far too much on her mind right now and she just wanted to take a break from everything that had happened.

When Chiara told her not to sit in that particular chair, S'daza had to stop herself mid-sit not to touch it, which was quite the ridicules site. "Oh!" Hopping up from that position was the only way out of it and she soon found herself fixing her top in order to keep from spilling out of it; She was rather pronounced in the chest and curves department. Thankfully, Chi's back was turned when this happened to spare her any more embarrassment for the day.
"What kind?" She managed to finally answer while adjusting herself. "I didn't know there was more than one."

Flipping her braid back over her shoulder, she found a comfortable looking area to sit by the fire and sat there. This place certainly was relaxing.
Chiara noticed the changing hair color, and she was really fascinated by it. She wanted to touch the cat ladies hair so bad, but she knew that it wasn't really appropriate. "Oh, if you don't like tea I could make you some hot chocolate?" Chi would linger in the kitchen while S'daza made up her mind. "Um...sort of. I think it's like an extra dimension. If that makes sense." Chi had never really thought that hard about it before.

It was probably a good thing that Chiara's back was turned, because she might have embarrassed S'daza even more by sneaking a peek. She did turn around when S'daza asked what kind, "Oh...Earl Grey, Mint, Green, Jasmine..." She was holding up a plastic baggy with a bunch of teabags. "If you're not from here, I don't want to accidentally poison you...any of that sound familiar?"

She noticed the woman was by the chair, "It's just that...someone might be sitting there, and they don't like to be sat on." Well, either Chiara was crazy, or there was an invisible person in the cabin!
S'daza's ears perked right up at the mention of hot chocolate. Now THAT was something she knew she liked! "Hot chocolate sounds great, if you don't mind!"
Chiara was so kind, S'daza hoped she wasn't making herself TOO at home. It had only been a few minutes after all. Flicking the tip of her tail from side to side in a typical cat-like fashion, S'daza allowed herself to get a better look around the room. She never knew humans to live this sort of way, but then again, her knowledge of humans, or "Hoomans" as she often called them was rather lacking in certain aspects.

"I know what Earl Grey is, my friend drinks that one pretty often...I don't know what those others names are though."
When Chiara mentioned that there may be someone sitting in the chair S'daza's red eyes widened. "Oh...I see, excuse me." It actually didn't phase her at all. Things going by unseen were nothing new to her, her natural ability as a Spectrum demon to bend and refocus light gave her the ability to render herself and objects invisible. Though, this was no time to be nosy or a trouble maker, so she politely left her comment at that and waited for Chiara to return. All while trying to forget about that awful spat she had just had with her lover that seemed to keep creeping into her mind.

"This is a nice place you've got here. Do you live with any others?"
Chiara smiled at her enthusiasm, "Hot chocolate it is then!" She's getting out a pot to heat the milk and melt the chocolate, because if she was going to make hot chocolate, she was going to do it right. "Earl Grey is a favorite of my wife."

Chiara was rather strange for a human, and she knew it! "It's alright, I don't know if she's there or not. I don't think she is...but sometimes I'm wrong. I can...feel her presence now and then." Hopefully S'daza wouldn't think she was too far off her rocker. "My wife sometimes visits...and my husband lives here when he's not...adventuring." The house seemed pretty empty right now though. "The other animals live over in the library with my werewolf friend Balthazar, but I think he's gone out for a run today."

She would stir the milk and chocolate mixture, "Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking." She really hadn't been nosy so far! "I do love your hair. I don't believe I've ever seen anything quite like it!"
The smell of the chocolate wafting from the kitchen found itself right into S'daza's nose and she breathed in deeply. She would never admit it directly, but she had quite the sweet tooth, especially for chocolate, which was not a common commodity where she came from.

Where she came from. That WAS the question. She wasn't sure if she should be completely honest with this human or just flat out lie. Chiara was honest with her after all when she answered her question as to where she was, she could at least do the same and tell her. At this point would it really matter? She didn't seem bothered by her appearance after all, and that was usually a deciding factor for most humans who would just run or stare blankly at the site of a colorful cat-lady.

"I'm not from anywhere around here, actually." She paused for a moment, thinking this over. Vinzen would know what to say... but he was also the reason why she was up topside and NOT with him back in Hell right now. Ugh! She could feel her body tense up at the thought of him and a few streaks of red shoot through select strands of hair. "Pandemonium actually, though I lived most of my life in Dis." Probably best to keep it Vague. She was hoping Chiara had never heard of these Cities before and would just let it roll off her shoulders.

The next comment about her hair was of course, something she was much more familiar with. Though, to her it was nothing out of the ordinary. As a Spectrum Demon, ever one of her kind (and in her family for that matter) had hair like hers, and most everyone in Hell had some idea of what a Spectrum Demon was.

"Thank you." S'daza smiled a cat like grin. "Heh, I know it's not exactly an everyday site here up topside."
Chiara didn't think S'daza could be from the area, but she had been proven wrong before. She didn't even seem to mind that the other woman took her time with answering. "I'm afraid I haven't heard of those places." It was a pity she was unwilling to be more specific! They had a mutual friend and they didn't even know it.

She would stir the chocolate again, and into a mug it went, before it was offered to S'daza. "You seemed like you needed to relax anyway. Do you like to read?" She was tempted to touch the other woman's hair, but she at least knew that was way out of bounds. "Topside? It is true though, I wish my hair did something neat like that." Her own hair was very long, but usually kept tied back or in a ponytail, and the curls drove her nuts sometimes!
"That's ok. Most Hoomans haven't heard of those places. They're not exactly close to here..." And there it was; her nervous chatter. Taking the mug from Chiara she thanked her and took a sip. The chocolate was wonderfully rich and creamy, better than any she had tasted!

S'daza sighed and let her shoulders drop when Chiara mentioned relaxing. It was true; she was quite the mess of emotions and hormones, which was rather obvious the first second she came here. Perhaps this was just what she needed.
"I do. I'm kind of a sap for romance novels, tehehe."

"It's nothing special." She noted while grabbing a strand close to her cheek causing the colors to swirl and shimmer. "All Spectrum Demons have hair like this; it's just something we're all born with." She took another sip of her chocolate. It was good. Perhaps too good because she just gave away her identity and race to this "hooman" she barely knew.
Chiara smiled when S'daza relaxed, "There...isn't that better?" She really was only trying to be nice, and when S'daza mentioned liking romance novels, Chi's face broke into a grin. "Me too." She was heading over to her bookshelf to see if she could find something that she knew was good. She passed over the Lords of Satyr, not sure the other woman would even be familiar with what those were.

"Ah ha...here." She picked up a book titled Fairyville, and offered it to the woman, "Have you read this one? There are some...ah...intimate...bits, but it's a pretty good story too." Chi really had no idea how comfortable S'daza would be with 'intimate bits.'

"I see...we don't have Spectrum Demons here...or if we do I haven't heard of them. Or read anything about them in my library." She was looking at S'daza curiously though, "Demon though you say? I met a demon awhile back that I was quite fond of." She looked a little sad now, "I miss him. I hope he's doing well...or...as well as a demon can be."
S'daza took the book in her hands and cracked a smile when Chiara mentioned the intimate bits. "Oh that's fine by me. I have two kids so it's nothing I haven't heard before." She let out a laugh and turned the book over to read the back.

When Chiara mentioned demons frequenting the area, S'daza's ears sprang up. This "hooman" was pretty interesting. Most were afraid of demons or refused to believe their existence...or at least that's what she was led to believe. Chiara had mentioned being friends with a werwolf and that itself seemed unusual. To be honest, S'daza hadn't meant to bring up the demon heritage, it was just something she was used to speaking about so frequently at home.

"Oh...Er...You're not scared?" She paused and looked up from her book to judge Chiara's expression. "Heh' I'm just used to hoomans having a bad reaction to seeing demons." S'daza gave thought to the last thing she said and smiled. "I suppose some topside demons live around here then? Perhaps he'll come visit you again if you two got along so well."
"Oh really? That's great. I've never been good with kids myself." It was probably a good thing that she couldn't have them. Chiara had picked up her own mug and gone back to sipping when she was asked about being scared. "No...should I be? I figured if you were going to do something awful to me you would have done it by now." She really didn't seem concerned at all!

"Well...there are a lot of humans that are afraid of demons...we're not all the same. But up here there are a lot of demons running around doing silly things that don't make much sense...so that could be why you have had bad reactions in the past."

As for the demon she was speaking about, Chiara shook her head. "He lives in Hell. He had a fancy title...what was it...hm..." She trailed off in thought, "I do hope he manages to come for a visit again. He was quite a lot of fun."
"Oh no no!" S'daza held her hands out to immediately shoo any thought that she would harm Chiara out of her mind, her hair flashing pink in the process. She wasn't mean, far from it; Sometimes she even thought she was too nice! "I didn't mean it that way...though...I'm not so familiar with hoomans after all...I....don't exactly have a license to be topside." And with that her hand found the side of her neck and rubbed it awkwardly. The very fact that she was topside now could wind up being a problem...though she DID have a legitimate excuse...which was named Vinzen.

"Fancy title?" The change of topic pulled her back to reality...for the time being at least. "Must have been important if his business took him topside. Was he like a messenger sent by a Regent or something?" S'daza reached for her mug and took another sip of the hot chocolate. Damn this stuff was tasty! She'd had to get Vinzen to make some for her - Vinzen...

For some reason her hair was starting to flash red again.
"A license?" She seemed a bit confused about that, but then again she'd never been to hell so of course she had no idea how it worked. She really didn't seem frightened of S'daza at all, and she just calmly sipped more tea. "And if you're not going to hurt me, I see no reason to be frightened of you."

The word Reagent sparked something in Chiara's memory, "Reagent, that was it. Third Reagent, if I am recalling correctly. His name is Arlo...do you know him?" Chiara seemed a little hopeful that S'daza would, she would love to hear news about her friend.

Chi frowned when the woman's hair started changing color again, "Are you quite alright?"
There was a moment of silence and S'daza just held her cup, staring straight ahead at Chiara. This complete stranger knew Arlo? Was that even possible? ...Well...yes, actually it wasn't as far fetched as it sounded. Arlo was a bit..."free spirited" when it came to certain things....and that didn't exclude befriending random people in the woods of Earth....or where ever this place was.

The question fallowing that brought her out of her shock, and the fiery red glow in her hair dimmed down, returning it to a cool mixture of blues and greens. "Yes...sorry about that." and she cleared her throat. "I do know him, actually. He's essentially my husband's little brother..." S'daza paused again, looking a bit confused. "How did you say you knew him?"

Well, this "hooman" was quickly throwing every understanding S'daza had of them right out the window. She didn't realize, but she was essentially on the edge of her seat waiting to hear more!

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