Asher Harrington

Asher was waiting for Tristan to arrive and she glanced out her window every so often to see if he had arrived. Though she was sure they would inform her of such, she still wanted to be present for the moment. Sure enough in a second the notorious cab showed up and out came Tristan, dressed casually for the occasion. Asher didn't much care what someone's wardrobe consisted of. The only thing she cared about was whether or not they were dressed properly and maintained cleanliness. She hated jeans below the butt where one could see the man's underwear. It was tacky after all.

Asher made her way down and walked out of the main door to greet her brother. "You finally arrived,"she said softly, wrapping her arms around him. "How was your trip? Are you excited to be in the city?" She guided him towards her place, making small notes of where everything was. "I had your bedroom prepared. Why don't you settle in and then we can talk about what you would like to do?"

Asher knew she was capable of handling both her father's legacy and her family. She had been made head of the household after all but that didn't mean it was an easy task. Arsen had made it extremely difficult at times to keep it all running smoothly. He was difficult to deal with and the way he blew off steam whenever he felt overwhelmed was not in the least bit healthy. In fact, Arsen had managed to create chaos out of pure boredom and Asher had been there to bail him out every single time.

Like that one instance when he was stuck in Spain and she had to go bring him back after a night of debauchery and sin. Or how she was no in a first name basis with the NYPD and had sent Christmas presents to the chief's family. Arsen could be stubborn and ungrateful and more than that, it had proven a challenge to manage to keep his name out of the press. She never had the opportunity to lose control and honestly, she sometimes wondered how that would even go.

"That sounds fun, but how did you manage to get access to the penthouse suite?" Asher had a nagging suspicion she knew the answer to her own question but she still wanted to know. She wanted to see just what he could come up with and just follow along, not caring about the rules or the law. Just living. "I do like the idea of a toast. After that boring affair, I just want to relax. Shall we?"

Asher oftentimes felt like she carried the weight of the world in her shoulders and in a sense she did. For instance, she had had to keep her father's business going and it was up to her to continue that legacy that allowed many people to continue having the life they lead. She was responsible for their well being and then the well being of her own household. While her aunt was self-sufficient and she worked in her father's company, she still had Arsen to think about and keeping her twin brother on the right path had proven at times difficult, if not impossible. She was the youngest one after all but it seemed that had not mattered.

She realized then that she missed having someone to take care of her and be there for her for whatever she needed. She wanted someone to put her needs and wants first and make sure that no matter what happened, she was okay. It was exhausting to be brave and strong for everyone but alas that was just the way things were and Asher had learned to live with it. "I've always done things out of duty," she said, meeting his gaze. "If I don't, no one else would but I understand what you are saying. There is just a lot to take into consideration and my brother isn't exactly the more reliable person." To put it mildly, she thought and chuckled for a moment.

"Yeah, I think we do make a good team. I had fun today, despite the way things started. Who would have thought?" Asher chuckled and she turned to look at him with a smile that was genuine. "I am not quite ready to go home yet so are there other things you can come up with? I want to see all your tricks."

Asher had never taken the time to really get to know her siblings. She knew it was not a good thing since they shared a common lineage and after all, who better to understand what they were going through than they themselves. So she had started to get better, showing a genuine interest in their lives and even opening up to them. It wasn't easy for her to display emotion around others and even so to share things about herself but Tristan had managed to do so and she had to admit he was quite the special character.

So she invited him over to spent the holidays with her, Arsen, and their aunt. He had told her bits and pieces about his home life and honestly if she could find a way to get him out of that environment and into a better one she would do so. Maybe she could offer him his own place wherever he wanted, but she wasn't sure if he would take it well. She just wanted to take care of him and having the resources to do propelled her to think seriously about it. 

She waited, tapping her fingers over the kitchen counter until he arrived. She imagined he would want to do the tourist stuff so she had planned a whole list of place the two of them might enjoy. This trip really was for him.

(I just saw you replied. Sorry)

Asher nodded and while Akemi spoke her own mind wondered. She couldn't imagine having to wait three years to harness and develop an ability. Well, she could imagine it had she started earlier in life but now, in her twenties, it seemed to late and too much of a risk to wait that long to become good at something as important as that. "Why did you pass out so much? Too much exersion? I am just trying to understand the process. Tristan says it is emotion driven and I have never been good at emotions so I don't know to even go about it. I think logically with a step by step process. I guess that is why I never got it, but there were times, instances even when it came out."

The more Asher hung out with other demigods, the more she realized that most of then had had a really tough childhood. Some of then, including some of her half siblings, had had a very difficult family life and childhood. She was beginning to notice a pattern between demigods and foster homes and it wasn't precisely a pattern that she was happy about. In fact, it was quite angering. "I see," Asher said, never really knowing what to say to these kinds of things. She could be empathetic but at times she truly had no idea what to say. Besides, deep conversations that regarded personal details about oneself always made her nervous. 

"My dad died when I was a teenager," Asher said. "They said he had problems with his heart but I think he died of a broken one. He loved my mother deeply and when she left, he never recovered. He was a good dad though, managed to set my brother and me for life but I miss him. Anyway, when he died we inherited his money and his business. My brother was never good at business and he is very irresponsible, so my dad made me head of his empire. I guess I just do it because that was what he wanted for me. What he expected. I suppose it is the same as when someone inherits the crown. You just do it out of duty." 

Asher shrugged. She had always taken her role in her family very seriously and she had worked tirelessly to keep it together. She had dealt with the exploits of her older brother and managed to expand their business to ensure it would survive past a few generations. No one had told her if she had wanted to do it but she also never thought of doing anything else. It was just her role in life and looking at life from a logical point of view, that was just the way things were.

When her father had died prematurely, Asher had not been one to go to therapy. Though her aunt greatly encouraged it and her brother had agreed to go, Asher opted to deal with her grief in the only way she knew how. She did this by going to school and finishing her education. By excelling in extracurricular activities and getting into top notch colleges. To her, honoring her father was through achievements and academic excellence. She didn't know how else to please him. So she had never allowed herself to fall into the self discovery that came from therapy and the fact that she was starting to recognize a pattern brought forth by the people that surrounded her. James was not the first one to seem to want to push here into a different life and a different way of thinking. He told her she wouldn't regret it and this made her think that perhaps everyone simply saw her as stiff and unable and perhaps unwilling to be flexible.

"Is that how everyone sees me?" Asher said, her tone softening. "Like this stiff and rigid person incapable of having fun and displaying emotions that are not stoicism and seriousness?" Despite her words, Asher's tone was not accusatory. It was curious and it was serious in the way that asking a serious question was. She wanted to know because she could be so oblivious and if people didn't tell her what was wrong, she wasn't about to guess it on her own.

Asher was not oblivious to the ancient trope of dating below someone's means. She had seen it amongst her friends at school and during the summers. Girls that would go off on vacation and date townies and guys from the wrong side of the track, and fall head over heels over their rough edges and the fact they behaved and acted opposite of what was expected of them. It was something they enjoyed but they seldom stuck with it, opting with time to date whoever their parents deemed appropriate and embark in the even more ancient trope of arranged marriages and dating. Asher, however, did not have this pressure bestowed upon her because she had enough money on her own to do whatever she wanted and not have to worry about continuing a family legacy. Though she had never asked her father, she liked to think that he would be okay with her marrying whoever she wanted, regardless of convenience.

So now, hanging out in a place that she would deemed sketchy, she understood the allure of the bad boy with the mysterious smile and piercing blue eyes. She hadn't even bothered to think about the noise when he reassured her if was fine if she made a lot of it. All she was focused on was to destroy this appliance and feel the adrenaline rush course through her veins. "A natural at destroying things? That hardly seems like a compliment." She chuckled, this time allowing her emotion to display naturally. "Tell me, how did you end up settling in here? I want to know more about you. In turn, you can ask me anything."

Asher looked at Theo with intrigue. No one had ever called her rough around the edges. In fact, no one besides her family had ever pointed out her hard demeanor. It was like they preferred to be on her good side. There were very few people that wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear and while it was hard to hear the truth some times, she didn't want advisers or people around her that were deceitful. If she didn't know how she was acting, how did anyone expect her to change? She watched him grab a dress jacket and raised an eyebrow. It was clear it wasn't his but she didn't say anything else. She didn't stop to think who that probably belonged to and simply allowed herself to be amused by the situation unfolding. 

She grabbed his arm, albeit reluctant at first and followed him out into the nice New Orleans air. She wondered if people would notice or miss her presence but she was young and certainly no one could expect a young woman like her to stick around in such a boring setting. As she walked by his side, she noticed he was taking her to places she wasn't familiar with and when they reached an alleyway, all alarms went off in her head. A man leading a woman into a deserted alley never ended well. She let go of his arm, keeping a small distance between them as she narrowed her eyes. 

But Theo didn't stop. He simply went inside the building and so Asher, filled with curiosity, followed him. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but surely not what she found. She grabbed the pair of safety goggles he gave her and put them on despite her instincts letting her know to be cautious. "You know, for a moment I thought you might live here. You are certainly not what I expected in. In fact, it is almost charming that I don't know what to expect with you." She grabbed the bat he handed her and smiled. She walked over to an old television and smashed the screen with one swift swoop. The adrenaline that came across her was amazing and she giggled, doing it again, putting more strength behind each swing. "You are right. This is almost as fun as going to a shooting range."

Alias: Mar
Characters you are Keeping: Asher Harrington, Arsen Harrington
Characters you are Making Inactive: N/A
Characters you are Retiring: N/A

The more stories that Asher heard about Tristan's life the more she felt an immense feeling of guilt for not being there for him. While there was no way for her to really know what was going on in his home life, she still felt somehow responsible for being there for him and the fact that she had neglected those duties are his sibling made placed a weight on her chest that she couldn't quite let go of. However, that was not much she could do about it now but move forward and be there for him now. "I see. I don't know if I have ever told you this but I am so sorry that your life back home was so, well, so tough. I promise I won't leave you stranded. You can count on me for anything." She took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders for a moment. "So what triggered it? Needing to feel protected? Did you feel threatened? What did you feel when it happened? I am just trying to understand more about it." 

Asher chuckled. Being a person that didn't say much had become part of her reputation. She was observant, she listened and when she said something, it mattered. Besides, people couldn't often read her so they didn't know what she was thinking until she shared her thoughts. That had given her an advantage in many ways and that was how she preferred it. "When you speak your words can be used against you. I prefer to listen and talk whenever it is important." She took the same advice from politicians in that matter. She never wrote or said something she didn't want displayed on the front page of the news and besides, being who she was meant she could be in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. 

She was not irresponsible. At least, not in a way that had ever drawn attention to herself. Asher knew how to party and she knew how to get herself lost in the moment, but those instances were very well contained and they were few and far in between. She knew how she could get so keeping herself centered had always made her feel in control. She never wanted to see how far off the edge she could go because she knew there were few things that would stop her. But what Theo suggested did intrigue her and she looked at him for a moment, weighing her options until finally she sighed. 

"I know exactly what you mean but I am not one to take off my clothes for anyone, so if you want me to hold a baseball bat and not break your face with it, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself and stick with your first option."

Asher didn't think of herself as a newcomer to mental illness. She had witnessed it with her father and how he slowly deteriorated over time. It wasn't that he had let himself go or he was reckless in his behavior but she could see that he wasn't happy and over time, the weight of his grief over losing her mother was too much for him. She always wanted him to find someone that would provide him with that same love and assurance that she assumed her mother had provided but he never did. He was always in her shadow, which was ironic and Asher never quite had the heart to ask him what it was about her mother that hade made her so special. Why he couldn't just let her go?

"I see," she said, not knowing how else to add to the conversation because regardless of having witnessed such behavior, Asher was never good at dealing with it. It wasn't that she walked away when things got tough. On the contrary, she was the type of person that would hang on even when it proved detrimental to herself. She just never knew how to be loving and compassionate though she displayed it in her actions with little details that seemed almost irrelevant. Before she could even figure out what to add though, Theo continued and she almost sighed in relief. "I never thought about it as a wall. It is just the way I am."

She shrugged and frowned for a moment. It wasn't the first time someone had told her she looked at the world in black and white and it certainly wasn't the first time someone had made the observation that she was in fact, unapproachable but she never thought of it as a bad thing. She had always been this way but maybe now she was beginning to question whether this was truly who she was or did she learn it? "I am going to regret asking, but what skills? What do you even suggest? Do you really think that I need your assistance?" Perhaps she did but that was a little too much to admit, even to a stranger and perhaps more so to him. 

Asher felt like she was ecstatic but she couldn't tell if it was the adrenaline of going so long without sleep or the fact that she had finally managed to break through on something that felt almost impossible not so long ago. While Asher was not the type to celebrate small victories, she was indeed relieved and proud. She was the type of person that would have waited until she became a master to celebrate but considering how long it took her to really get this done, she would take victory where she found it. "You never told me how you got yours," Asher said, feeling the tingling in her fingers once more. "Did you always know it was within you or did something happened that triggered it?" She was beginning to understand that this skill had a lot more to do with feelings than thoughts. There was no step by step plan. It was all feeling based and for someone that didn't do well with expressing feelings and emotions, she wasn't sure how she was going to go about it.

Asher had spent many days thinking about her charts with Tristan and Akemi. They were both skilled at Umbrakinesis. Both had inherited the ability. Both knew how to manipulate it and how to conjure it. But the way the two of them approached it, it was so different. Perhaps it had a lot to do with their personalities. While Tristan was more open and lively, Akemi was reserved and liked to watch everyone from a distance. The fact that she was closer to the former was astounding to her. She had always related more to people that were quiet and reserved and looked at the world in rather the same way. It was rare for her to have friends that were like Tristan, emotional and at times maybe even needy. Asher didn't display many emotions. She always had them buried. A trait she wasn't sure where it had come from, for no other member of her family ever approached things the same way. Maybe it came from her mother but Asher being who she was and her mother being who she was, left the question unanswered.

But an exercise in existentialism was not part of the task of the day. In fact, the only thing Asher could care about at that moment was finally cracking the code to the thing she knew deep down was a part of her. She just never knew how to bring it forth. She had gotten as far as she had ever with Tristan and that little flame made of shadows in her hand. It hadn't been an enchantment. She had felt them at the tip of her fingers, like a tingling at first at the tip of her fingers. Akemi had said that the shadows spoke and the darkness was like this bittersweet melody that whispered in her ear and possessed notes of temptation and power. It was easy to lose yourself in it, she had said and Asher believed her without second guessing her words. It wasn't a hard notion to digest. Asher knew how easy it was to fall into temptation. She had seen it in her brother and how easy it was for him to fall for addictive habits. She knew herself she could do the same and standing at the edge always brought her this sense of adrenaline. One day, she was sure, she would let herself get a little too close.

But she pushed all that aside because she wasn't as advanced in her knowledge to deal with that yet. She just wanted to understand why it was taking so long for her to fully develop it. She felt like she was trailing behind. She had always felt a bit weird. Her fingers were always uncharacteristically cold. She always felt at ease in the darkness, not opting to light up her room with candles or artificial light and though she had never thought of it as unusual, her twin brother had remarked it was no normal. Asher never thought to question what he meant by normal, for the twins themselves were certainly not normal and the fact that she was more comfortable, even at ease in the darkness was something familiar to her. It had never occurred to her that Arsen didn't feel the coldness at the tips of her fingers or that he had a hard time adjusting his vision in the darkness. He didn't have the vivid dreams dancing around with the shadows in the middle of the night that made her wonder if it had been a dream at all. 

Not one to leave questions unanswered, Asher kept thinking about it. Ever since learning who her mother was, she wasn't surprised by the new things she was learning about herself but she had always used her brother as a point of reference. If they both shared the same abilities and the same skills, then she knew it was normal for someone of her background but this was different and he wasn't exactly complaining about cold fingers and shadows dancing around in his dreams. She hadn't even thought to asked him and why she hadn't bothered to do was a question she couldn't quite answer. Maybe it was because she was afraid of what she might find, that perhaps this was not normal and she shouldn't be feeling this way. 

Realizing there was no one to ask, especially not her mother since she had long ago decided her kids weren't important enough for her to be around, she went the only place she could think of. The New York Public Library was an iconic landmark in the city and a place she had gone many times, both for leisure and social events. If there was a place in the city that would have the information, it would certainly be here, in the classical section where all the old and rare books are located. Her family had been patrons of the library for what seemed like generations and Asher had only to give her last name to be granted access to the archives, but not without the reluctant and watchful eye of one of the librarians. She started the only way she knew how and it was through old books that talked about mythology. Hecate wasn't a topic that she found easily, especially considering that most books reference the major gods but what she did find was detailed. "Regarded as the goddess of magic, Hecate is a Titaness of the third generation and daughter of Asteria and Perses. A lover of solitude, she expects people to engage in their own decision making and resents the Olympians for treating her a minor goddess. She is described as having he powers of a Titaness and a goddess, which include mist control, mystiokinesis, necromancy and umbrakinesis·

Asher frowned at the last part, reading it repeatedly. Having a private school education had meant that she was familiar with Greek and Latin roots. It was easier to understand what some words meant when you know the root of the word and umbrakinesis was Greek for shadow and kinesis for motion. Motion of shadows. Asher knew that her abilities were stronger at night and she knew from seeing portraits of her mother that she was often depicted as having three heads, morning, noon, and night. But the rest of the text didn't really go into specifics of what her abilities entailed but she knew that the children of Hades could do both of those as well. Leaning back against her chair, Asher sighed, more frustrated than ever as to why there wasn’t a straight answer to the things that were happening to her.

There wasn't much point in sitting around waiting for the answer to magically fall from the sky. That night, she sat on her window nook watching the rain fall over the deserted road on 74th street. She wasn't bored exactly, but there was no other way she could describe it. She had been looking down at the empty street wondering why it was so lonesome when she began picturing the dozens of people that walked by every single day. Mothers with strollers and kids walking to school. Business men getting into their townhouses and joggers. She didn’t make the connection with what she was reading earlier. She was zoned out, watching, imagining and creating without realizing what she was doing. She had always felt at ease when it rained and she had always managed to lose herself in the soft noises of falling water. 

But the silence that followed was as piercing as the hissing that came afterwards. The children of gods were not unfamiliar with danger and there were many creatures after them but Asher had never had to deal with an overwhelming amount of them and even when she had been in danger, she had always been with her brother and the two of them had been able to find their way out. But this time, she was alone and the hissing lasted only a moment before her window shattered. Asher closed her eyes and turned her head around, feeling the glass cut her skin. When she could open them, she saw a feather laying on her floor and it only took her a moment to know what she was going up against. Naturally, Asher ran, down the stairs and out her townhouse. She didn’t want the stymphalion inside and if she had learned anything it was that it was much easier to fight off a monster when she wasn't confined by her surroundings. 

She knew stymphalions were birds that travelled in large flocks and their large feathers, like the one that had broken her window, were toxic. It was only a matter of time before this one would be joined by the rest of its flock. It was hard for her to move out of the way as the bird launched feathers at her, and she knew it was a lot easier than fighting off the beak, but as she tried to move past two that were sent her way, her knit sweater go caught on the feather, and she ended up hitting the ground. Asher grunted feeling the pain of her skull against the concrete and looked at how close her wrist had been from getting pierced by the feather. But if it had been sharp enough to get stuck in the concrete of a New York City street, it would be easy for it to tear through her flesh. 

Asher panicked, unable to move and watching as the stymphalion quickly made her way towards her. She felt like screaming, but no sound came out and when she was sure the bird would rip through her face, she shielded herself with her spare arm. She waited, and when it seemed like the creature was taking longer than it should, Asher dared to open her eyes. There was a shadow of a man with a sword fighting off the bird. Another shadow wrapping itself around the neck of the bird. One by one it seemed the shadows from before were slithering around her, manifesting themselves on the ground and fending of the bird and the flocks that were approaching behind it. Asher thought she was hallucinating. She was sleep deprived surely and what was happening in front of her was certainly not real. But the more she focused her vision the more vivid the shadow figures in front of her became. It was like she could imagine them one by one and they would materialize. And then when she started thinking too much about it, wondering why they were there, if she was going crazy.

But thinking she was going crazy was not the most prominent feeling inside her. Asher felt her heart beating fast against her chest and the panic and fear she felt didn’t subsided. But she continued to see the shadows defend her, some shooting arrows at the flock and others choking them as they wrapped themselves around their bodies like anacondas. She had lost track of time and when the rest of the flock left, the shadows left with them, coming back into her own body. Asher felt like she had been hit with a shock of cold air and her blood pressure dropped. It was a few seconds before she lost consciousness.

When she awoke, she had been laying her room, her window back to normal and her brother sitting at the edge of the bed. When she asked her brother what he was doing there, he explained he had found her on the street, the bird feather holding her down, and only a small amount of blood from a superficial wound in her head. She instinctively touched the back of her skull, not feeling anything except a piercing headache and the need to get some water. She looked at her brother and then at the feather laying a few inches from her window. If what had happened to her the night before had been real then why had it never happened before and why was Arsen different? They were twins. Surely, he would be able to do the same. After her brother left, leaving her alone with her thoughts and allowing her to rest, Asher got up and picked up the stymphalion’s feather. If that was real then everything else surely was. She wouldn’t have survived a stymphalion’s attack by herself. So, she kept it. Surely camp would have the answers she needed and if there ever was a need for evidence she could look back at this feather for reassurance. She wasn’t a faithful person but she knew that until she was proven otherwise, she had to trust her memory. 

It's not a spell, she kept thinking. Not a spell. She took a deep breath, needed to clear her mind. She closed her eyes, focused on what she could sense around her. She could smell the crisp winter air and feel the wind from the lake against her skin. She could hear the soft rustling of leaves and the crickets, nature moving around her. She could feel her feet planted firmly in the ground and feel the slight need for water at the back of her throat. She extended her arms, a few ways away from her and took another deep breath. It took a few moments but she felt the tingling in at the tip of her fingers, like an intense cold in the middle of a blizzard. She never thought to ask if Tristan of Akemi ever felt it. When she had first made that little flame, she felt it heavy and cold to the touch. The coldness made sense, as there was no light and therefore no warmth but the heaviness from I was interesting. She supposed it made sense as black holes had the most density out of any other form of matter in the universe and they were pure darkness.

Focus. She thought again. What do you feel? Heavy. She kept thinking but that was when Asher opened her eyes and felt it. It started in her hand. Her pale skin covered in a black, almost sheer glove that slowly made its way through her body. She felt watched, almost haunted and though there was a moment of panic at the back of her mind, Asher stood still. If she moved she might stop and she didn't want to. As the shadow wrapped itself around her body, Asher felt like she was laying down a weighted blanket, yet the feeling was comforting rather than suffocating. When it stopped, the darkness having covered everything to the tip of her fingers on her left hand, Asher took a step back. It was odd to see a shadow in the middle of the night. One that was the same height and built as her, looking back as a reflection of herself. It stood still, like a mannequin and it was only when Asher reached to touch it it that it moved to meet her touch.

When her hand touched it, the shadow of her own body morphed and Asher kept thinking, imagine it turn into a million different shapes. The moonlight made it easy for her to see it, first a circle and then the shape of a star. Asher felt the darkness in her hands and all she could think about was what she wanted to turn the shapes to next. Finally, though, she brought it back to the palms of her hands, slowly the shadows smaller, feeling the resistance, the density of the matter in her hands until she finally snapped it close in her hands. She had her palms wrapped over each other, feeling the coldness and the heaviness fade away slowly and when it was gone, Asher opened her hands to reveal nothing but the palm of her hands staring back at her.

Asher would be lying if she didn't admit that the only reason she wanted to learn how to use the ability was for whatever it was she needed. She wanted to be more powerful and after being able to do whatever sort of magic she wanted, the next step was learning how to control the darkness and the shadows. She had always felt naturally drawn to the night as she was a child of Hecate but there was more to it than that. She felt like they were inviting her in. Almost like a calling and it was hard to resist not wanting to just embrace the whole thing. "I see what you are saying. I just had never thought of it that way. I am barely breaking through. I think I can be good at it but learning it has been hard because I didn't know where to start." She shrugged.

That had been her biggest struggle was knowing where was the starting point. After that everything was easy but she struggled on figuring things out from zero. "I can do very small castings but Tristan is helping with that. Do you guys talk about it? He is also an umbrakinetic."

Asher was left speechless when Theodore spoke but she naturally didn't let that show on her features. She knew she as extremely lucky and privileged. Anyone in her position would have made that remark a long time ago but it was when she heard about other people's lives that she truly understood what it entailed to be her. After all, she had grown up on a fancy townhouse on the Upper East Side. She had gone to private school, she had a trust fund and she had been loved. She had some of the best education in the country, if not the world and there was nothing she needed that she couldn't get. She didn't have her dad anymore but she had never been anywhere close to the foster system. She couldn't even start to imagine what that was like.

She kept thinking about his words and an idea sparked in her mind. Certainly someone with his particular skills could be useful. "You suffer from depression?" She asked, surprised herself that that was what she chose to ask him. "The corporate life has not snuff out my joy. I like doing what I'm doing but you are right, it is all I've ever known so I guess how would I really know there aren't other things I like doing if I don't try them." She shrugged, though she knew that was easier said than done. "Break the rules how? What do you have in mind?"

Asher had never been the most social person in the traditional sense. She had learned how to network from her father and as a result she was always present where things happened. She talked to people and show genuine interest in them. She could be charming, carefree and endearing with a natural ability to show like what the other person was saying was the most interesting thing in the world. Was it hypocritical? It could be but there were far worse things one could be doing in her opinion. 

She nodded, wanting her opinion on the matter. She had a feeling Nyx and Hades kids would have them beat in that domain but a part of her thought that mixing both tools they could be better at it. After all, there didn't seem to be anything their magic couldn't do. It was just a matter of exploiting it. "You asked for its help and you got it," she said. "I would have never thought about it that way but honestly I think that is the best way to describe it. I have been trying to learn it but there is something that blocks me. Maybe it is trying to gain control rather than flow with it." She bit her lips for a moment thinking. Maybe that was the true key to it all. Tristan had certainly never told her that. 

What her half sister said next did spark her attention more than anything else. "What do you mean? Can you heard them? What do they say? I think we are all predisposed to being intrigued by that. I may be more curious than it is wise." But she did want to know and Asher had a small habit of standing just too close to the edge of the cliff for anyone's taste. She always wanted to see just how far she could get, taste the adrenaline. Honestly, it was a matter of luck she had never ventured too close to sun.

Asher simply chuckled. He certainly had a very precise set of skills and while she didn't have use for him now, the same couldn't be said for the future. It was good to have an array of favors to cash in. While she never used them for harm, at times she had found those favors to prove handy and do provide a certain advantage in different situations. As she shook his hand, the conversation trailed to a different topic and she raised her eyebrow at his answer. Not an answer that she expected but she wasn't surprised. When she saw what he had gathered with those light fingers of his, it seemed it was going in a very obvious direction. "This may sound obvious, but why not just get a job? Seems it would bring you less trouble going forward." She shrugged thinking the answer there was pretty clear but then again, she had learned nothing was truly what it seemed. "Well, as you may know there are times when you have to be present if you want things to go your way. Besides, most of these people are double my age. If I want to set myself up correctly in this world I have to be present. I don't want anyone to just think of me as a rich heiress and that requires certain interactions." She shrugged. "Besides, I enjoy it. I grew up in this world. It feels familiar." She stopped for a second because it seemed that was a question everyone kept asking her lately. What did she do for fun? She never knew how to answer that so she might as well be honest. "I don't really have time for that. Everything I do has a purpose and a reason behind it. I guess, I have no idea."

Being a woman and being a young woman at that, Asher had learned how to stand her ground. how to be direct and ensure no one around her could underestimate her. It wasn't easy. Most older businessmen looked at her and assumed that she was an heiress trying to make sense of her father's business. That was not the case. She had learned, observed and was incredibly bright. That being said, he had learned that perhaps the best leverage was being owed a favor. There was nothing that Theodore could give her that she couldn't acquire herself but the fact that he owed her, that was priceless. "I will not reveal your secret or what you are up to. In fact, you can keep your little souvenirs for all I care, but in return, all I ask is that when I require a favor, you comply." She was about to add, no questions asked, but that felt like she would be opening herself to more questions and she didn't want to continue down that road. "What is your job anyway? Do you sell these just to make a profit? Or do you do it because it is fun?"

Asher tilted her head to the side and chuckled. She actually looked at him like he was an amusing personality and she was about to captivate the attention of a child. Usually, when she was annoyed, she would just be direct. Say what she needed to say, how she felt it was important to say and have that be the end of it. But the situation was so ridiculous and his excuse so outrageous, not to mention patronizing, that she just couldn't think of how else to talk to him. "You are absolutely right. How could I have disregarded your attendance and priorities at this event? Next time, I will be sure to check the schedule for petty thieving going forward." 

Then her expression changed. Went back to her serious demeanor because the situation had stopped being funny. "Look, I do not care what kind of jewelry and watches you want to steal. But if I were you, I would not mess with my business and my reputation. There are very few things I care about but that is the most important," she said, getting close to him. "So, before you threaten me, I would think twice about it. Besides, there is not much I want in terms of physical things. What do you offer?"

Asher was immediately curious, which she had to admit, was not something that happened easily. When her half-sister said the shadows helped fill that need to become invisible, she wondered what she meant or why she meant it. "Why did you feel the need to be invisible? Invisible from what?" Asher had never herself felt the need to hide. She knew she drew attention to herself whenever she walked into a room but she could never tell what kind of attention she was attracting specifically. She knew there were many reasons why someone would want to come up to her, but it took her a bit to understand what the intentions were. Perhaps that was also a reason she didn't trust people easily. She never knew what they were truly up to and she knew she was in a position people would want to take advantage of.

She looked down at the shadows she casted. It would be easy to share with Akemi why the interest in her abilities but it wasn't in Asher's nature to be the one that shared. If she was asked, maybe she would consider it and do so but never out of her own accord. It always felt like such a weakness to do so. "How long did it take you to control it? That is, assuming you can control it? Do you ever feel like you could beat one of the children of Hades and Nyx at it?"

Asher was not the type of person that was continuously smiling but every once in a while she did. Especially when something she was working hard on was finally paying off. She looked at Tristan, then down at the palm of her hand and thought about all she could do with it if she just managed to allow herself to be creative. Granted, as her half-brother had said, it was all just a matter of practice. She closed her palm and snapped her finger before she turned to look at him. She was captivated by the little shadow flame that sparked at the tip of her thumb every time she snapped. She could have done that for an eternity. It was very entertaining.

Asher nodded and placed her hands together. She focused, noticing that there was nothing else she could think about when she wanted to conjure a shadow. She had to be present and that, she admitted, was at times harder to control than anything else. She began rolling her hands together, feeling the familiar coldness and density of the darkness forming in her hands. Almost like she was shaping a sphere. It was interesting how heavy they could feel. "I just made a ball," she said. "I suppose at this point it is all about getting creative? Picturing what I want to do with it?"

Asher looked at James for what seemed like the longest time. She thought about what he was saying and the idea that he had planted on her head. She had been an adult for as long as she could remember and it wasn't even that she had made the switch and immediately started doing other responsibilities, but rather, she had always been this way. Her father had groomed in her a sense of maturity that she had always followed. Even looking back at her younger years, she had never quite been a kid. She was always on the race to be an adult and take on those responsibilities. So now that the opportunity arose to be different and embark on what was a childhood experience, she was intrigued. To allow herself to just have fun and do childish things, that was not something she had ever imagined. 

"I mean, wow. I don't even know what to say. It sounds really fun to be honest. I can't remember the last time I did something just because it sounded fun. I am down." She smiled to herself. Normally the idea of walking around wearing mouse ears on her head and eating cotton candy would have made her cringe at the thought. Her brother was the one that did the reckless, irresponsible and childish things, not her. But the more she thought about it, the more she genuinely wanted to do it. "It could be a lot of fun. What do you think you would like the most about it?"

Asher had developed the subtle art of looking straight at someone and revealing nothing about her sentiments and thoughts. That often made people nervous and could be intimidating. She wasn't the type to answer their questions either. She was not an open book. If you asked her something point blank, she might choose not to answer. It all depended on her mood and what she deemed reasonable to share. For most things, it wasn't even that she cared about what she was saying but rather the principle of privacy. She wasn't ashamed or embarrassed of the things she chose not to share, but rather she simply felt it was well within her right not to share if only because she didn't feel like it.

Asher was known for giving straight answers and "no, I don't want to" was one of them. No further explanations, not sugarcoating things. No was a full sentence. She looked at this kid and she couldn't quite place him but when he grabbed her arm and told her to follow him, all alarms went off in the air. No woman ever had a happy story that followed a "don't freak out" and involuntary arm grabbing. She was about to smack him over the head when he lead them to the employees' only lounge and he spoke. "What was that?" She said, the first sign of any emotion being annoyance. And then he explained and his explanation wasn't all that better. "I knew you looked familiar. What do you want? This is not the sort of place you should be working at." Yes, she knew what he meant by that and she wasn't pleased.

"Look, I don't care who you are here to scheme, but if that is the case then I cannot be seen with you. You think this was a good idea? To corner me in a room with you as the only witness? I should have you escorted out."