It all falls into place. [invite only]

”Are you sure that everything will be ready when I arrive?” Anthony asked calmly into the sleek silver cell phone. His green eyes narrowed as the person on the other end answered, which was a good sign that he was displeased by what he heard. Anthony was not a good person to displease. Letting a harsh breath hiss through his teeth, Anthony reclined in the wooden seat he was sitting on. ”So you’re saying that a single elemental gave you that much trouble?” He asked with a tone that betrayed nothing, didn’t even betray the anger.

”Yes sir. It was more powerful than we initially anticipated.” A rough voice chimed in on the other side, sounding approximately thirty. It felt good to have someone older than you calling you sir but he had no time for that. He could tell that Anthony was not pleased and that did not reflect well on him. That and the kid had more than enough power most likely to have him terminated if he had heard of what that family he was part of correctly.

”Possibly because you…I don’t know. ….Are completely incompetent?” Anthony snapped as he let an iota of the anger seep through his lips and into his tone. ’I gave you the provisions and the knowledge on how to capture it but you failed. This looks bad not only on you but also on me. If I weren’t so forgiving you would already be dead.”

”Sir….I” He attempted to say.

”I do not want to hear it! If you fail again,I will make sure that this is your last failure Major. Do not doubt me.” Anthony said with an icy coldness that could freeze water as he clapped the phone shut, massaging the bridge of his nose. It seemed like you could not find any good help these days, especially mercenaries who were horrible when it came to dealing with the supernatural. He would give them one more chance, seeing as his father had not caught wind of this failure yet, thus giving him the perfect chance to rectify this catastrophic mistake that had been made. His father could not know that he had failed to capture a powerful elemental.

”I want a ride ready for me in ten minutes.” He spoke to a young woman standing by his door. She nodded and was off to do as he commanded while he ran a hand over his well kept, short blonde hair. In ten minutes he was out in front of his mansion and the woman had pulled up a small black car. Stepping into the back, he relaxed as the cool AC blew into his face. No matter where she ran, he would always manage to find her. His father wanted her and that was enough to ensure the end of her freedom.

The mercenaries were already on the move, following after their target. A small brown haired female running through an alleyway of the ruined city,all only holding pistols. It was all they would need to neutralize the target. There were about twelves in total with the leader in the back barking orders. She would be theirs soon enough.

The sound of gunfire rang out through the small head set. Hopefully none of those shots were lethal, or he would give them hell. Sending them to whatever hellish dimension gave Anthony a sense of pleasure that may have been considered sick to most; not that it mattered to him. The vehicle was nearing the destination at a steady pace which wasn’t too fast nor was it too slow. He would give them time to immobilize the elemental before he moved in for his part in the assignment, which was a simple one really. That was of course if he could prevent her from using her elemental magic.

He could feel a small magical signature near the elementals but it was new to him. An aura that Anthony had not felt before and it brought up curiosity in him. Had a mage come to the defense of the elemental? If so he would have to get involved sooner than he thought he would. Not that it was by a very wide margin considering the less than splendid work of the mercenaries he had hired. Anthony should have expected to act sooner than this but he was too soft on these people. They needed a rougher hand when being dealt with.

”You can never find any good help these days.” Anthony muttered shaking his head disappointed. The alleyway was only to blocks from his location and he was already preparing himself for a jump, shadows forming under him as if in preparation. A cold emanated from the shadows that chilled to the very core To Anthony it was a welcome sensation that came with his arts and he was so used to it, the cold was barely even felt. IN a minute he was ready as he fell through the shadow dimension and that way point between the two shadows.

He ended up stepping through the shadow on a wall as his foot came in contact with what seemed like the body of one of the mercenaries he had hired. More of them littered the ground and there seemed to be only one not completely dead, though the assailant was about to finish him off as well. Anthony would do nothing but let him get what was coming to him, watching the woman finish him before he would make his presence known to her, his lips stretched into an amused smirk.

”Impressive work. You took down a small squad of trained killers down easily; I have to admit I’m impressed.” Anthony said clapping. He had seen pictures of her before and knew who she was. This woman was none other than his half sister, his older half sister to be exact. ” Unfortunately you've gotten in the way of official Caster family business and that's just not good.” He said shaking his head.

The elemental looked at him with renewed fear as she heard his family's name. It was as it should have been.

”Whether if she has done something wrong is of no importance. All that matters is that she wanted.” Anthony said simply to the woman as he stepped towards her, though his sister already grabbed her and was running as the elemental was setting her ablaze and burnt flesh reeked throughout the alleyway. She apparently wanted to work out some kind of deal and that was simply impossible if he was correct about what his father wanted with the girl. Her heroism was misplaced at best and that would not do. He would have the girl even if she decided to get in his way.

”Now hand over the girl. She’s not human nor is she a metahuman. In fact shes property of the Caster family, an artificial construct and nothing more.” he kept the impassive mask on his face as he stepped forward, shadows seeming to writhe in his presence. ”Now hand her over before I put you down soldier.” he said with a bit of mockery in his tone, mostly at having said that so plainly. He was likely to start a fight but not like Anthony couldn’t take this little healer in a fair or even dirty fight.

A single serpent of shadows coiled around his arm and perched upon his shoulder like some sort of pet, almost as if it were alive. There was even a flash of red where eyes would be in slits as if it were staring at the young woman with a sort of malice that could steal her soul. ”I say we rip her pretty little neck out and make her regrow it before we do it again.” The snake seemed to hiss almost emptily. Anthony rolled his eyes at the snake.

’Now that's just excessively cruel Naga. Not like I would do that to family.” Yupp,he let it slip.

”I don’t think I misspoke. I did indeed say family. You and I share blood, that much is certain.” Anthony said with an impassive gaze as he let the shadow snake hiss angrily before she slipped back into his shadow, he could feel it reverberate across the connection that she was not pleased. Not that he went out to please his capricious familiar who was far more ruthless than he was but that was to be expected of snake spirits.

Anthony was unperturbed by the closeness of the deadly woman with deadly weapon in hand. He knew that he could react quick enough to defend himself if she grew dangerous and his magic was more than enough. So he simply looked her in the eyes as he let his expressionless lips shift into something that could be confused for some sort of emotion, when it was him simply changing his expression out of habit. ”Its good that you didn’t put up a fight.” he girl was bound by what seemed like countless shadowy threads as she was lifted into the air.

The elemental attempted to summon her fire but a shadow in the shape of a fist slammed into her stomach and rendered her unconscious. ”I assume you are curious about what I mean when I call you family.” Anthony said raising an eyebrow quizzically as if she had already asked the question. ”I may not know too much on the matter but I’m sure my….our father could shed light on the matter.” The girl was carried a respectable distance form Anthony as he waited for some type of answer from Skyler.

Anthony shook the woman’s hand lightly, knowing that she had little patience with him, and possibly even less when he revealed the truth to her. One he was done he nodded to her with a subdued smirk as he quickly made a jump to his limo which was waiting for him. He waited for the girl’s vehicle to make its way behind hers and then he stepped into the well kept interior as the vehicle took off to the Caster estate within New York or the part that was not destroyed. Anthony simply waited as the vehicle simply glided along at a steady pace.

He whipped out a cellular device and waited for an answer. ”What is it?” The voice was cold and scathing.

”I retrieved the elemental as well as a certain Skyler Snowden.” Anthony said with a level tone, not betraying a single emotion as he silently hoped for a single appraisal of his work, an acknowledgment that he was not the failure his father thought him to be.

”Good. I want both of them brought to me as soon as possible.” His tone did not lighten in the slightest but kept that cold edge to it, as if he would never be pleased with the young man; the perpetual failure that was to be the head of the Caster family.

”Of course father, I'll be home as soon as possible.” With that he closed the phone and let out a loud sigh as if getting through a painful ordeal. That was of course not true but him simply not being all too pleased with his father’s reaction. He was always this cold.

The drive only took about twenty minutes and they were at the large mansion on the outskirts of the city of New York, its large gates baring any unwanted visitor from entering. Beyond the iron was crisp clean grass that was expected from Nolan. The gates quickly opened as he drove through, followed by Skyler and were ushered into the bay where what seemed like where they held a large amount of vehicles.

Anthony stepped out with the elemental still bound and waited for his sister to stop and then he could begin the tour.

Anthony raised an eyebrow at the girl’s question involving her changing but voiced no objection, simply turning his eyes from the girl as she changed into whatever it was she was changing into. He waited until she was finished and then motioned for her to follow him, leading the way into the massive mansion. He led her through a long white hallway with simple white tile that gave the illusion that it was endless when in fact it was not. Turning at the end he lead her into an eight way hallway, branching off ad he took the hallway branching in the northwest direction as he went on without a decrease in his pace. His father’s study was at the end of this hallway and then she could have any question she wanted answered then. That was of course if she even believed the fact that she was his sister instead of thinking him a simple fool.

Once they reached the end of the hallway, Anthony opened the door as it opened into a smartly decorated office. The carpet was a soft dark color that the name of it did not come quickly to mind. A dark haired man sat next to a fire blazing in its fireplace, his cool blue eyes gazing at the young woman with an almost unnerving friendliness. He smiled as two seats turned for them to sit, as well as what seemed like a beanbag moved for the elemental to be placed upon. ”Please, take a seat.” he said motioning graciously as he waited for them to take a seat or not to.

Anthony of course took a seat and coughed somewhat awkwardly as if he knew this would not go well at all. ”Welcome to my home Skyler. I’m pleased to see that you haven’t killed your brother, though I wouldn’t blame you if you did. He can be quite course when it comes to dealing with people,he’s always been like that sadly.” Nolan Caster said shaking his head, acting as if this were just another meeting for him.He did not fear the powerful soldier that could have killed him with a quick motion, no, he sat there as if she were a kitten in his presence. He was what some would call an pleasantly overconfident man.

Nolan looked upon his daughter with that whimsical expression that betrayed nothing, an expression that very few could read as more than what it was. He had a few features that marked him as Anthony’s father but nothing more than those few, such as his darker blonde hair that fringed upon the bounderies of brown and slightly stockier body. He was Nolan Caster the head of the Caster family and one of the most powerful necromancers to have lived,even to have been speculated to have been able to defy the very forces of aging and death, gaining “true immortality”.

”I know she is,its an unfortunate fact.” He knew she was speaking of Mrs Snowden,a woman who was more than kind enough to take in a half daughter that would have had no place within the Caster family growing up. They looked down strangely upon illegitimate children, surprisingly not looking down upon Anthony who was the child of a woman with no magical talent whatsoever.

Anthony took a seat as his green eyes darted form Skyler to his father who looked poised within his own way, as if nothing could break his near perfect, yet sloppy posture. ”I can offer you a place within the family, something to call a home when you need a place to stay. Familiy is very important you see.” He kept his tone at a friendly level, his unkempt but short dark blonde hair swept by a single hand. ”I’m sure you’ve already gotten acquainted with Anthony. He can be rough but that’s just how he is.” Anthony shot him a glance before turning his eyes to the wall. The fire light played off of the wallpaper, giving the room an ambiance that made it seem mystical within its own right.

”So,what do you say? Will you accept my offer? I assure you that there will be no…”strings” attached.”

Nolan smirked as Skyler demanded to know if there was a catch,as if he would do such s thing,then again it was never beyond him to demand something of his daughter. He had no reason to blame the female being wary after everything that she was to have witnessed within her life and in fact he would not. ” I assure you that there are no strings attached to my offer as good as it seems.” He did not let his tone betray a single thing,his expression pleasant enough to anyone not privy to how Nolan Caster functioned. Anthony knew that his father could be ruthless in his dealings even with family,though why he wasn't with Skyler eluded him entirely. Perhaps it was just him feeling a small tinge of guilt for leaving her so many years ago but that was yet to be seen.

”My offer is what all Caster's are given,shelter within one of the mansions if they have no home of their own or in your case I can personally house you as my daughter. We Caster's never leave one of our own out.” Cornelius being the exception but he purposely excluded himself from the affairs of the family and hadn't been seen for years. Nolan had no time for that old fool and all of his escapades. ”You're even welcome to take for yourself a room if it suits you.” He offered running a free hand through his rough looking dark blonde hair. He of course wouldn't bring up the death of her adoptive mother or even the identity of true mother. That would be left up to times when things were not as tense as they were now.