Another day wound to an end and Melisande blew out a breath from between her lips as she watched the last student shuffle from the building. Arms crossed over her chest, red hair brushing against her shoulder blades, Mel closed the doors after the students and turned back into the room. It was hot in here. . .even for her. Students trying their best to do what came naturally for her and now the temperature in the room was well above the eighty degree mark. She shrugged, not really minding the heat although if one of the others were to come in then surely they would pitch a fit. Especially Tristan but perhaps the Avatar of Air would be able to cool down the heat in the room. Although Mel was sure she could have if she wanted to she did not feel the need.

Even after having been given a mortal body in which to aide those involved with MSI, Melisande had kept to herself. She had seen a few of the more important members of MSI once or twice in passing but other than that. . .she had little desire to get involved with any of them. Her job having been put back here was to maintain balance and help when asked and that was what she was going to do, short of training her students. She, of course, had to involve herself with those that came to see her for some matter or another but other than that. . .She considered for a moment going to see Alika then dismissed that thought. The other Avatar's classes always ran later than hers did. Perhaps it was just because the other woman had far more patience than she did.

Undecided on her course of action for the moment, Melisande turned with a slightly arched eyebrow when the door to the room opened with a soft click although no sound could be heard approaching on the floors. A familiar figure and Mel was undecided, again, as to whether to be happy for the intrusion upon the inner sanctum or irritated.

She had waited as long as possible to see Melisande before finally giving up and simply barging inside, pushing open the doors to the training rooms within the inner sanctum where the Fire Elemental could often be found.

Her shoes hardly echoing as the white skirt she wore brushed against her knees, Danae shut the door silently behindher and surveyed Mel for a moment before sliding a subtle smile into place and advancing forward.

"Terribly sorry to intrude," she began, pushing her hair back over her shoulder and nodding in inclination before stepping up to Mistress Pryor. "I waited until your students took their leave, but I'm afraid this is of some importance...It could wait no longer."

Danae hsd dealt with Melisande plenty of times before...The Avatars acted as defense for the battle of Light and Dark that took place all over the world of Nebula. They were not frontline warriors such as the Mendecants had become, nor were they gatherers and informants like the DreamWalkers. Instead, they were the balance, the justice league within the world, using their powers only to restore the neutrality on which Earth's axis rested.

"We've a hoard of beasts on the Southern coast. They are attracted to Water and dwell within the Earth. Air has no effect, so I see no other option but to ask you and your best to join us at dawn for the expedition. We'd leave well enough alone, but you see, they've begun to attack the neareast village, leaving enough traces for undeniable identification...I've exhausted all resources at MSI, but as you know, we cannot harness uninhibited flame in a bottle...That would be where you come in."

It seemed, most often, that if it were not to Tristan that Danae went for aide, it was to Melisande. The two had an understanding, beyond the Alliance and the feuding and the darkness that threatened to fall. Respect lingered between them and Danae admired the Avatar for her abilities...A simplistic relationship, but a valued one all the same.

"So, Mel...Will you help us?"

Danae Walker. . .Of all the people that could have walked through her doors Melisande could have predicted that it would be the woman standing in front of her. Head Resourcer. . .Danae usually didn't visit unless she needed something and Melisande realized slowly that nobody but the other Avatars visited unless they needed something. Keeping to herself so much had made it nearly impossible to have a social life at all, if that was what she wanted. And it never had been but realizing how little she knew about those around her in any real sense had made her second guess her decision to remain so reclusive.

And of course. . .something that would elude the powers of her brethren Avatars requiring that she gather her forces and herself to aid the greater good. Not that she minded. Any excuse to cause damage to something other than targets and empty air. . .Melisande turned to regard the other woman more fully and crossed her arms over her chest, her bare arms hot to the touch even to herself. It was a constant reminder that she was not human, the little differences, the things that she could do. Was it fair to think that she could get attached and get used to being human, only to be taken away from that life later? Whether it be tomorrow or two hundred years from now. . .That was why she refrained from getting too close to anyone. They would meander and die, all except for Drake, and she would remain. She and her brethren.

"Absolutely not . . .I was planning to light some buildings around here on fire," Mel told her, a slight eye roll accompanying the statement when Danae had finished with her rapid-fire explanation. "Of course I'll help. Does this really require the aid of my forces, as you so eloquently put it? Some of them are far from morning people."

A smirk curved her lips before she shook her head in mild amusement, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, you do realize that the last time you decided to pretend to be a human flame thrower, we had to replace an entire city block..." Danae joked, glancing around the inner sanctum before turning her gaze back to Melisande again.

"But yes, you and your forces are needed. Even though your power is substantial, it is more than likely that you'll be outnumbered, even with our forces," she told her, shrugging her shoulders as she clasped her hands behind her back, pacing back and forth.

They would need to get on with the journey if they were to make it before nightfall and so, she turned to Mel again, offering up a slight smile. "Just your two most skilled students should provide enough backup for you..."

The woman standing before her now had Melisande's deepest respect as far as a mortal could go. Strong willed as she was, Danae held authority with grace and Melisande could never find it in herself to argue that much although a tease tossed in never hurt anyone. Bringing a smile to other's peoples faces even if the humor was dark or sarcastic often helped their days along just a little bit more and if nothing else than Melisande saw no harm in doing such. A part of her wanted to reach out to the woman, wanted to ask her to stay and talk. . .but that was a fool's errand. Getting close meant loss and that was something that her human heart had avoided for the most part. . .although not entirely. Melisande chose not to think of that time and place, that person that she had held so close to her mortal heart only to have it break.

"My two best students. . ." Melisande echoed. "Very well. If you think that will be enough then that is what it will be. And I do not pretend to be anything, my dear Danae. I am a human flamethrower, among other things."

A snarky grin and a slight wink tossed in the brunette's direction and Melisande dropped her crossed arms to her hips, hands sliding into the pockets of her jeans to keep from fiddling. Like the flame from which she came Melisande found it hard to be still. Even in motion she felt as though she wasn't quite moving fast enough and serenity, peace, tranquilty were concepts that were difficult to come by for her. Action. That was what was needed even if that action had to be within the confines of relative neutrality. The balance. . .Mel absolutely hated the confines that were placed upon her in the moment.

Agreement with a side of snark. It was the usual poison when dealing with Melisande Pryor. A slight smile in return and Danae gave a short nod, intent on studying the carved wall just to her left before she made her way toward the exit.

"Very well...Round your students...I'll come around at dusk with Lorcan and Trellan to lead the way to the village," she said, and some small part of her wished that it was not all business when dealing with the Avatars. There had been no rule that there could be no friendships, but it seemed that they all, save for Tristan, wished to stay away from the mortals of the world...

Stopping with her hand on the door, Danae glanced back over her shoulder and cast a sincere smile toward Mel. "Anything else before I disappear for a while?" she asked, as if she could feel the unspoken words hanging in the air.

Why hide for the sake of never being hurt? It was pointless. . .she had been hurt already. Deeply and with enough force to throw up walls forevermore and be content to live alone with just her thoughts and her own kind. And she barely even managed that, speaking only in length to Alika when the other Avatar had the time. It was a lonely existance, being there only when somebody needed a laugh or a release of stress and then diving back into her sole existance. And yet. . .wasn't it necessary? What gain would friendships bring her when she was only destined to lose them in the end? Melisande nodded to Danae, barely hearing her words and knowing that she would remember them later, the time of departure. . .it wasn't important.

The woman paused in the exit and Melisande turned to her, seeing in her eyes that Danae recognized unspoken words when she saw them. This was. . .Mel didn't really know what to say or how to even begin bridging the gaps that she had so carefully put into place. And she could see that they needed to crumble because she cared already, deeply, more than she had ever let on. Never would she let any harm come to those humans that had invaded her life and her human heart. . .but she tried her damnest to keep them seperate from her feelings because that would lead only to disaster in the end. Still. . .she could not continue this charade forever. And she could practically see the wondering behind the woman's eyes, wondering why the Immortals held themselves away from them and did not partake in the friendships that could be laid bare.

"It is because you measure your lives in decades, Danae. We measure ours in eternity. . .To care for a mortal in any way is to suffer the inevitability of loss that will follow when their decades have ended. Being put on earth, in human forms. . .has made retaining any kind of aloofness difficult. I have been thinking on it a lot actually. . .it seems rather self-destructive to engage in friendships that will only end some time or another. And the way you people throw yourselves headlong into the fire, so to speak. . .it seems more likely sooner."

Danae's lips curved only slightly, a sad, ironic smile taking her face, dousing the fire that dance in her green eyes. A slight shake of her head and she shrugged her shoulders in response to Mel's reply.

"Loss is inevitable, love, whether you be mortal or immortal. I watched my parents die and I watch the ones I care about fall deeper and deeper into their own darkness every day."

Turning back, she shut the door once more and crossed the distance she had put between Melisande and herself. Stepping up to the redhead that stood a few inches above her, Danae tipped her head back to look into her eyes and a quiet smile graced her lips. Reaching out, she touched Melisande's arm boldly, her hand closing around the appendage gently, ignoring the blazing heat that met her palm.

"There are only two constants in this world...Death and Change, Mel. You cannot escape them, no matter who you are. To live is to change...To change is to live...and to live, unfortunately, is to die."

Danae had come to believe that destiny was a truth and coincidence only the hand in which it was dealt...She had learned to not fear loss long ago. The fear of loss meant the fear of living...And Danae Walker would never fear life nor death...but only silence and stillness because it was only then that true existence ceased.

She could hardly believe that she had spoken those words to the other woman but now she knew that there was no taking them back. Not in any way, shape, or form and she did not miss the slight smile that crossed Danae's fair features. She knew that the other woman had questioned her decision to remain so seperate from those around her that were not her own kind and now she had an answer as to those reasons, although that answer did not seem to suffice. It was in her eyes. . .The green sparks went out for a moment before she was crossing the room and Melisande had to make herself stay put rather than take a step back as she wished to do.

Danae was bold, indeed, laying a hand against her arm. If Melisande so wished that very arm could burn her palm badly although that she would never wish. Even so. . .such bravery in a mortal seemed to be a rare quality, a soul that shone like a candle in the darkest of nights with neither ill intent nor underlying motives. Danae wished only to better the world for the sake of doing so, because it was the right thing to do and no other reason. Melisande had always admired that quality about her but she had admired quietly and distantly. . .now all she could do was look down at the hand on her arm and attempt to douse the heat within her own body so as not to hurt the other woman.

"But I am not mortal, Danae. . .not truly," she finally said, her voice crackling slightly. "I do not fear to die because. . .I cannot, although sometimes I wish that I could. Eternity seems an endless thing on days when thought carries me there. I . . .fear that I will care to much and too deeply and you mortals measure your spans in decades. Eternity is also a long time to carry pain of any kind."

Danae listened to the Elemental as she spoke, her head tilting in curiousity, in consideration before she offered a slow nod, her hand remaining firmly against Melisande's arm.

A slight smile crept in, but it held no joy...Only sadness, regret, and somewhere along the line, there had been loss, if only that of a parent, for Danae had never fallen in love, had never dared to dream such a thing. Though each day, as the nights grew darker and the days more hazed with evil, Danae felt as though she had already lost. Ah, the secret of the resourcer...She was damned and she knew it, but the smile that she cast during the day said so much more...

"There is the theory," she began, pulling her hand away as she turned away from the woman, heading for the window that stretched from ceiling to floor and showed the world the way it should have been. "The theory...that no soul ever fades. Pain, remorse, contentment...All things are felt and known and in that, each and every one of us will forever carry pain...If that is the case, should we all cease to love, to live?"

Turning back to Mel, hands folded in countenance behind her back, Danae shrugged her shoulders, showing a side of herself that none had ever seen. She was the light one, happy, bouncing and free, but in these days when all seemed lost, she found a strange comfort that she could share her brooding troubles with the woman before her, the woman who felt the same, even if intensified.

Melisande had known Danae for quite some time and had seen her as most had. She seemed to strive to be the glass half full, to be the one that could not be suppressed or beaten down and while that was surely true now Melisande could see the side of her that she showed less than often. It was apparant that this was a topic that Danae had given some thought to, that it was not the first time that she had considered such things and Melisande had to wonder what the driving force behind those considerations were. What made the young woman think so much about life and loss, about going for it when it seemed lost and doomed?

Raising an eyebrow Melisande turned to the younger woman and crossed her arms loosely over her chest, considering her words. Spoken in truth Melisande could not deny them and yet part of her wanted to. She knew that the young woman was right. There was no reason that she should run from the emotions of humanity and at that moment she was having difficulty holding up her bars and barricades in the face of what she saw in Danae's eyes. Concern, brief but there, washed through her own mercurial blue eyes and she took a step closer, tilting her head silently as she regarded the brunette before her.

"And what is it, then, that makes one so young think of such things? she asked. "I agree with you, to an extent. It is more a matter of personal fear of becoming too attached and therefore losing the attachment then anything else. I do not believe that philosophy will rid me of that fear."

So young...Danae nearly laughed, the sound of a cynic who had seen far too much to ever be young again. While youthful in appearance, within her skull, she was quite certain, rested the mind of an ancient, for all the troubles she carried, the knowledge that beared down on her shoulders, and the truth that often clouded her emerald eyes.

"Fear is constant and inevitable, Melisande," Danae replied quietly, looking at the woman before her and seeing something in her eyes that she had never witnessed before. Not to be mistaken, Danae said nothing and dwelt on it no more, but just the same, it had passed over piercing blue eyes...and it had been real. "Nothing will ease fear...but fear will cripple it all. Fear is both weakness and strength, depending on which side you choose to stand. If you stand by and do nothing, then fear had paralyzed you. If you fight for the things you desire, for those you love, then fear had empowered you. In the end, it is a matter of simple decision. Will you fight or will you lay down and die?"

Danae already knew the answer, but then, perhaps it would take far more time for the Elemental, so removed of human emotion, to come to the same conclusion. Those who lived for the Light could only fight for justice, for honor...for love. And Danae would fight to the death...a fate that she knew even she could not escape.

Melisande regarded the young woman next to her with a critical eye, her own frost blue orbs shifting over her form, her facial expressions, her eyes. . .The eyes, they said, were the windows to the soul. It was not hard to see the secrets that Danae held within her soul, locked tight within her emerald faceted orbs. Although Melisande could not actually see those locked away secrets she could tell that much weighed on Danae's mind and a part of her that was previously untapped wanted to help, to know what weighted her so heavily, to aid if it was possible. She took another step closer without realizing it, her hand raising to rest against Danae's shoulder soon after she had stopped speaking.

It never ceased to amaze Melisande the truth that could come from voices so comparably young. . .Innocence, however much an illusion, always seemd to hold the most truth when it spoke aloud. Melisande could not say that Danae was innocent but certainly centuries had not tainted her mind and soul, had not laid a hand on that which lit the flame within her. Even now Melisande could see that flame continuously burning bright despite the internal weights and the odds that might lie outside her reach. Melisande's face softened from its severe expression and she seemed to visibly drop a guard for just a moment. . .perhaps more. . .it was difficult to tell.

"Come, Danae. What is on your mind? I see internal war within your eyes and, as you say, war is not to be fought alone, I think. Or so I have heard."

The touch laid to her shoulder was most certainly not expected and the quiet confusion glistened in Danae's eyes before she blinked it away, looking up at the woman before her once more. A slight frown did take her face, but it was only in the efforts of contemplation. Melisande seemed to see straight through her, into her soul...It was a common feeling when facing an ancient, and yet, Danae did nothing but stand there and let herself be seen...For once.

At the question, Danae could only laugh, softly, almost bitterly, shaking her head in response. What weighed on her? Too much, all foolish things when she considered them. A rumor passed about through the halls of MSI, something about Antony...about her. Or so it seemed, the whispered tones and shaded glances cast her way. And then, there was her partner, the vampire investigator that seemed to break the mold. And her heart with every chance meeting. Biting into her lip, Danae merely shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

"You'd think me a fool if I told you, Melisande...For all the darkness in this world that weighs on me, it is the typical bearings of life that counterbalance it all. A love denied, however mutual...A rumor whispered, holding truth that I fear. A dark creature weaving his way into my presence...Combined with the rest, it makes for a long day and an endless night..."

And after it all, she only smiled. What did it matter, the taint that the world had put on her? She carried her burdens, and while a war could not be fought alone, Danae had no choice. None could carry her shield and none could weild her sword. This she knew and accepted, only to wonder why her sword could have been a simple blade, rather than the weight of Excalibur.