So the duo had finally arrived. Having spaced their journey well they made it to their destination at noon. There was a bit of an additional leg still left in the journey as the two traversed through the town to reach the obscure area where the event was being conducted. 'Pretty far out...' Victor mused as he strolled down the path that was slowly being overtaken by creepers and climbers. He kicked a green vine that snaked in his way, to break it, so he could continue undeterred. At least others who had taken the same route had left a makeshift walkway in their wake. While he preferred to walk and be a trailblazer, he was also practical So, the Garrett settled for the mediocrity and stuck to the worn path to avoid unnecessary effort and inconvenience.

The peace and quiet that the outskirts of Orchidia were supposed to offer, was completely destroyed by the bustle of people. There was a lot of screaming as people set up their stalls and tried to attract customers. There were a few that yelled about the various activities one could indulge in while partaking in the festival, something about fishes and flowers... Those two didn't sit well together, the blonde had probably missed the details. Finally, all this was over the general din of the assembled motley crowd. Victor shook his head and chuckled, this was going to be an interesting study. Lucifer had had his reservations about the event, but upon laying his eyes on the collected people, he too seemed less averse to the idea of spending time here.

It was human nature to scan an area for familiarity, in this case, he found himself searching for a familiar face. Upon finding it though, he swiftly made an about turn and put his hand on the dark woman's shoulder. 'Let us go anywhere... except your ten o' clock.' he said simply and bluntly. The two had come to know each other well enough for him not to have to make excuses, although he would probably find himself explaining and for that he'd need to weave his lies carefully. He wasn't sure if Michelle needed to know about his deal. Vic found himself wondering if the vessel of the goddess had seen him already. It was never good to run into someone you'd left hanging because no strings attached rarely ever meant that... 'Is anyone coming are way?'

He rolled his eyes as Michelle did the exact opposite of what he beckoned her to do. I told you, if you let the women run wild, they will walk all over you. a dismayed voice in his head uttered a more sophisticated version of I told you so Victor tried to walk along after her with an air of panache. As though the conversation had never taken place and he'd intended to go where she took him, all along. He'd have to put the dark-skinned assassin in her place when he got the chance. Even though his lips were stretched with a smirk, his jaw was set and his teeth grit. 'Of course.' he responded, refusing to use the term of endearment in response. He wanted to shake her and ask her what the purpose of disobeying him like this was, but that'd just serve to give her some more satisfaction.

Upon reaching, Phoebe, or rather gauged him with a seemingly schizophrenic attitude. 'Clearly, you recognize me, offering my name would be futile.' Victor remarked, keeping his tone even and light. 'I'm sure an intelligent being as yourself would be able to figure it out.' he added clearing his throat. He swore he could have seen some vines flying around prior to their arrival, so of course, he was on his guard, but it wasn't like Victor could do much against the woman, in his present state, which was the reason that Lucifer and he and agreed upon avoiding the goddess for the time being. Of course, Michelle had decided to tempt fate today and so here they were.

Victor possessed a keen eye now, to notice the subtle differences in Phoebe's appearance, which gave him a clue as to who was in charge. Lucifer too was now itching to handle this himself. But of course, Michelle's presence was inhibiting that possibility greatly. Maybe, they could converse, in a manner that didn't allow the dark-skinned woman to fathom their words with ease. Would Persephone be able to follow? 'Percy, surely would not forget the warm embers... that preceded the scorching heat...'  The voice was Victor's but he was simply channeling the words of the fallen angel. Their mutual agreement had settled that the encounter would be choreographed by Lucifer. It was a joke between the nature wielding deity, to be nicknamed after a man, while ever so occasionally she was granted the pleasure of referring to the demon as Lucy, the gender swap served as something to scoff at... But today, would it serve to jog the woman's memory?

Since Phoebe decided to not be too phased by the act that Michelle put up, Vic himself decided to play a part to test out the mettle of the woman that Persephone had inhabited. 'Hot...' he said, emphatically, eyeing the woman who held the nature goddess within her. He nodded playfully though and put an arm around Michelle's waist, to tag along in this game of hers. His grip was uncomfortable though, but he couldn't tell if that was the reason why she stepped away or not as she decided to make matters worse and deliberately try and get him to slip up and decipher their code. Phoebe responded, confirming that she'd got the reference. He pinned her down with his gaze, while maintaining a nonchalant demeanor, but when he spoke again, his words were for Michelle as he decided to make things a little more obvious for the nature goddess. 'Percy, is what I call her as a joke, because she had this very strange friend by that name, he was close to this girl called Lucy...' he said, with a wink. 'Very close.' he added, smirking just a little bit.

He cleared his throat, he didn't want animosity. This was him trying to show her that they could be even tempered and tackle things together. Victor remained out of the way, so long as there were no real indication that Lucifer was about to reveal his identity to the wind-wielder next to them. 'But somehow, Lucy always pushed Percy too much, sometimes beyond his limits... It was all for a good reason though.' He added, chuckling as though there was a private joke there. He was trying to simply imply that Phoebe was very close to this Percy and that while Victor and Phoebe had history, Lucifer and Persephone had their own stories too.

'Percy started keeping his distance, but maybe one day that'll change... But perhaps, it shouldn't. Not just yet... They must grow apart, before they grow together.' he warned. This now served as a way to tell Phoebe and Persephone both to bide their times for the moment. If Persephone understood the perils of trusting a vessel, she'd understand that it'd take time for Lucifer to reach the full extent of his power and that it'd be unfair to expect him to meet her in circumstances that were any less fair than those. With that he gave the reigns back to Victor, who had silently observed how the prideful, fallen angel had dealt with the situation. Since Michelle had already made her moves, and drawn him into this situations, he thought it was best to use her own tactics for an out. H

'Well, darling now that I've stopped by and greeted my old friend you wanted to see so bad, should we take our leave? Or you could stay, but try not keep her from the festivities too long...' he prompted and nodded curtly at the two ladies, before turning on his heel and strolling away. Frankly, he did not want to be in the vicinity of either at the moment. His final decision did spark a small debate with the fallen angel, since he did think leaving them together was a recipe for disaster, but now that the deed was done, they'd just have to wait and see.

==Exit==

Michelle was a lot of things, but she wasn’t dumb. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes several times and keep up the stupid jealous girlfriend act. It was getting really difficult with the way Victor spoke in codes, thinking it was going to go over the assassin’s head. Or maybe he knew she would understand and was trying to explain without having to give her the information about Lucifer. In any case, since she already knew of the devil’s existence within the blonde man, it was obvious that this ‘Lucy’ was the entity within. Now, that brought the question… Who was Percy?

Unfortunately, Michelle had never seen Victor transform. If she had witnessed that, then she might have had a clue with the way her eye colour changed. But since she had no idea about how the transformations worked, all she got right now was speculations. It did stir up her curiosity for sure.

Just as she expected, Victor proved to be a slippery man. After his coded, convoluted explanation, he just walked away. His tendency to escape any situation that may not possibly go exactly according to his plan was worrying, to say the least. But that was not something she could change overnight. It was definitely going to take years, if at all.

The moment the man was out of their vicinity, Michelle’s demeanour changed completely. She finally rolled her eyes and shook her head. “A piece of work, isn’t he?” she asked, turning to Phoebe. “Michelle, by the way,” she said, extending her hand, before adding, “And no! I’m not his girlfriend.”

Victor had kept Lucifer a secret from this girl too, apparently. She could understand why he wouldn’t go about openly announcing to everyone about having a devil inside him, especially to Pheobe once she explained the cause for her change in appearance. Surely, Lucifer wasn’t going to be comfortable collaborating with a goddess. Or maybe they would… Michelle had no idea what the relationship was like between these beings. She took a sip of the vodka and as the fluid burned down through her throat, she shook her head slightly. It was a lot stronger than she expected. That or the fact that she was sitting next to another person who had ties with a being from another dimension finally got to her.

She truly was hoping to stay longer and befriend Phoebe. But now that she was aware of the power this girl possessed, it was no longer in her hands to decide that. Her master had given her clear instructions to not interact with anyone with special powers unless he had instructed to do so. Hanging around with Lucifer without his consent was bad enough and the young lady dreaded the consequences of that already. Hopefully, she could train Victor into gaining control over Lucifer and convince the blonde man to join forces with them, and that would please Benjamin. It was her theory; but surely it wasn’t going to be that easy. She would love to do the same with Phoebe, but that would have to wait.

“I see… Very interesting!” she said, downing the last bit of the vodka. It was now time to make an act to exit without causing suspicion, if at all that was possible. Michelle shook her head more and acted a lot more drunk than she was. “That was a lot stronger than I expected,” she said, slurring a bit. “Guess I overdid it! I better get to my tent. Thanks again for the drink,” she added, as she got off the stool. “Lovely seeing you Phoebe! I hope we meet again.” After saying her goodbye with a smile, the dark-skinned beauty left the stall and began walking towards the direction where Victor went. She didn’t wish to lose him in the crowded festival, after all. From what she had learned of him that day, he had no trouble just absconding without a word.

-Exit-

Exit.