<span style="font-family:Calligraffitti"><span style="font-size: 26px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff">Chapter Twenty Five - A Bond of Blood</span></span></span><br/><i>Three Days Later</i><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ffcc">Alexi had been worried about his sister in the days since she’d discovered Castelis rooting through the chest of their mother’s things, despite her asserting that she was fine, before spending most of the evening getting the shit kicked out of her by Lucian. He could tell she was angry when she’d asked that their mentor not use the protective ring. But she’d poured herself back into their current research project, as though she needed something to distract herself with. It had been a while since he’d seen her actually devote her whole attention to something, so in some ways he supposed it was a good thing. Lucian too, had been working on his end of things, since the twins were in no way capable of setting up the ritual needed to complete their mental bond.</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ccff99">Ayla looked up when her brother entered the room, smiling eagerly. Her hair hung loose about her face, as she prefered her hair down and loose when they were attempting something major like this. According to her, it helped prevent headaches.  Adding the last of their notes to the pile, she gathered the supplies up in her arms, having finished releasing the last of her permanent spells. The two had decided they were better off with no magics to interfere with what they were attempting to do. They’d even disabled the warding tattoos that alerted them when someone was trying to scan or influence their minds.</span><br/><br/><i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#a6ff4d">&lt;ready if you are.&gt; </span></i><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4dffa6"><i>&lt;you don’t have to hide how nervous you are…&gt;</i></span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ffcc">he hesitated for a moment, before continuing reluctantly.</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4dffa6"> &lt;I am too.&gt;</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#a6ff4d"><i>&lt;we don’t have to do this… if you don’t want to.&gt;</i></span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ccff99">  the two of them looked at eachother for a long moment, before they both left the room, side by side, headed for the Workroom. It went without saying that no matter what happened, this was something they both wanted.</span>