You find yourself in the airy plaza of the Tritonis quarters. Elegant ionic columns of pale, gold-veined marble frame the perfectly squared space. Between the scrolling capitals spring smooth arches, and above the arches are the creamy platered walls and square windows of the second story. Large marble urns holding fragrant miniature orange, pomegranate, and date trees rise among neatly tiled pathways, which lead to a square fountain in the center of the yard. The basin of the fountain is a mosaic in shades of gold, cream and cerulean portraying Empyreans flying through the heavens. From the center of the fountain rises a glimmering bronze statue of Pallas Athena, sparkling droplets of water springing from her outstretched palms. 
     Glimpses of personal chambers can be seen through opened doors in several archways, other archways with no doors at all leading to servants quarters and the kitchen. No visible stairs lead upwards to the second level, but none are needed for the graceful, winged occupants of those chambers. The blazing light of the torches cast dancing shadows around the plaza, darkness lingering in every archway. 
 

Though House Tritonis is still being used as an infirmiry of sorts for the wounded that arrived from Parnassus, the Plaza has become less crowded as those able returned to the Eyrie. Now, though it's still a little busier than usual, the Plaza can be used for quieter gatherings of family. Seated on a bench beside the fountain with her legs folded beneath her, Oriane smiles a quiet, almost content smile as she watches her mother and sister. 

Back to her mother and wings canted slightly to give full access to her hair, Riana bubbles away cheerfully. "...and I've almost replaced all of my chimeres and matching ribbons that got left back home. Except the purple. It's so hard to find a good purple here in Haven." She doesn't pause in the slightest as she holds up a green ribbon for Thalia to work into her golden locks. "Do you think maybe the Varati missed the purples when they burned everyplace down? When will we get to go home, Mamma? I do hope soon. The waterfalls are so pretty in the summer." 

Seated on one of the benches beside the fountain, Oriane has her legs folded beneath her and her hands in her lap. With a small smile on her face, she watches her mother and Riana. Riana's seated before their mother, jabbering away as Thalia works ribbons into the golden waves of hair. 

Thalia works with an inward smile brushed across her lips, nimble fingers weaving the ribbons in amongst the twist of golden hair. "Ah, yes. A nice purple is hard to obtain, I hear." she replies, her tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth momentarily as she ties off one of the green strips and curls a lock of hair around her finger to create a spiral. "Has something to do with the scarcity of the herbs required to make the dye." Why she goes into such specifics with Riana is a mystery. The girl will probably question what death has to do with colours. Ah well. The woman glances over at her other daughter, that soft smile hitching up into a warm, lopsided grin. It's nice to be back with her girls. 

The door to Kalypso's chambers open, a slender hound youngling jauntily stepping out before Kalypso can. Khalan, the hound, moves towards the outer gates, his feet prancing as he waits. Kaly trails slowly behind, a small smile on her face as she inclines her head to the three women assembled. 

Meeting her mother's eyes for a moment, Oriane's smile echoes the lopsided one given to her. Movement catches her eyes and with a faint rustle of black feathers, she looks towards Kalypso and the prancing pup, "Ave Kaly." The smile doesn't lessen at all. 

Darius pulls open the bronze gate of the Tritonis quarters and arrives from the inner courtyard. 

"Yes, a lot of people died in the war, so I'm sure it'll become easier to find, soon," Riana responds to Thalia in her most serious tones. Faced off to the side as she is, the girl has yet to spot Kalypso's entry, but Oriane's greeting causes her to twist in that way people do who are trying to keep their heads still while looking beyond their current range of vision." 

Darius's still adjusting things as he steps inside -- chiton, hair, wings stretching and folding behind his back. The man walks with an air of determination, and determination will surely get him far. Those servants he encounters are brushed aside with a gesture and a command: "Direct me to Dea Tritonides." 
 

Darius 
     He is neither imposing nor intimidating, but rather a retiring sort, a little shorter and narrower of build that those who might qualify for a soldier's role. Hair that matches the muted gold of sand is cut short and neatly combed, while eyes tend toward grey with the occasional spark of blue to give them life. The slight mapwork of lines at their corners, or the shine of silver amidst the gold at his temples, give away age. His features are sharp, though certainly of noble cast. 
 

The hound is still prancing near the gate, but as soon as it is opened, he slips thru. He's very fast, and it is not often that any will catch hold of his jeweled collar before he can wiggle through. 

Thalia chuckles quietly at Riana's reply, turning her attention back to the task at hand. She ties in a few more ribbons, fluffs up a curl here and there and .. voila! A golden-tressed masterpiece. The woman takes a step back, nodding a bit. "There you go." She shifts a bit, twisting enough to peer over at Kalypso. "Dea." she greets with a smile. She opens her mouth to speak further but a familiar tone across the plaza catches her attention. Eyes go there and widen, the woman's wings flaring out slightly in a gesture of muted surprise. 

That same familiar masculine tone causes Oriane to turn towards the gate as well. Seated on one of the benches near the fountain, she has her legs folded beneath her and velvety black wings arching out behind. Dark eyes widen as she blinks once, then twice, "Father?" 

Kalypso's steps pause, as she spies the man coming in the gates. Determination of late usually means the death of another loved one, and it is for that reason that she does not continue further. A couple of the servants point half-heartedly towards her, in respons to the question of Darius, but few pause to actually give directions, moving back and forth with bandages across the airy atrium. 

Holding up a mirror to carefully inspect the hairdo, Riana primps with delight. "Oh, Mamma. You always do so wonderfully with my hair. I missed you when you were far away with those mean Varati who were holding you far away, away from us." The mirror angles slightly and then freezes as she leans forward to look closer. Nose to polished silver, it's amazing that she can see anything other than herself, but still she suddenly rises and whirls. "Daddy!" is called out loudly, and then she catapults herself in that man's direction. No pauses of surprise, just sheer momentum induced motion. 

Darius doesn't thank the walking wounded, though he does give one or two a second once-over. He follows the general direction of their pointing, angling toward Kalypso. It's a brief survey of the plaza that skims over every face present, and then frowning, he plucks a bit of something off his sleeve. Thusly distracted, it's Oriane's voice, first, that draws his attention back to those gathered. The line between his eyebrows deepens, then smoothes. Mouth opened to speak, he's cut short by Riana's cry and his gaze shifts. He breaks into a relieved grin and steps forward to meet Riana's charge, stepping backward only once. "There you are!" 

There's no rushing headlong into her father's arms for the darkling twin. Instead, Oriane blinks several more times and then glances towards her mother's face, noting the expression there. Legs unfold from beneath her and she rises with a rustle of feathers as she moves towards her newly arrived father. 

Thalia's surprise is short lived, visually at least. She draws in a quiet breath and releases the tension from her shoulder, resettling her wings in close to her body. The woman watches her daughter hurtle herself at her father before skating her glance elsewhere. First to Kalypso and then to her other daughter, the latter who gets a longer bit of attention. She gives her a small smile and a little nod, a subtle gesture that she, too, should greet Darius. Then her gaze wanders back to the pair busy reuniting as her hands absently smooth her chimere. 

Kalypso continues on a path that hugs the outer limits of the atrium, moving towards the gates that lead outside. She opens one, leaving it open just enough so that the hound-pup that stands shivering outside might come slinking back in. Both, however, stay near the gates, Kalypso shifting uncomfortably on her feet, Khalan prancing with anticipation on his own, never staying still for long, either of them. 

With a remarkable lack of grace that somehow manages to still keep her upright, Riana half runs, half flies the distance from the fountain to the entrance. "Daddy, you're back!" she gets out just before colliding lightly into Darius' chest. White wings floof out for a moment before folding out of the way of her enthusiastic hug. "And look, Mamma's here too!" As if that weren't apparent since, well, Thalia was standing right beside her. 

Darius noticed. Of course he noticed. How could he not notice? At the moment, though, he seems quite pleased by Riana's exuberance. "Back? I'm not the one who disappeared, mm?" Affectionate, yes, genuinely affectionate, the finger that taps Riana's nose lightly, the smile that warms his expression. His gaze lifts, and shifts toward Oriane's approach, and he curls Riana into one arm, then offers Oriane the other. "I cannot tell you," he says aloud, "how good it is to see both of you, together, and safe." His gaze doesn't stay on Oriane, however, instead flickering toward Thalia across the courtyard. One eyebrow lifts slightly. A question? 

Oriane goes to her father and gives him a hug while accepting the open arm. The darkling girl, though, is more uncertain around her father than her exuberant, golden twin. Voice quiet as always, she pulls back a little from Darius and says, "You didn't send word you were coming, father." A faint smile forms, "You've surprised us." 

Kalypso's hand strays to pat the head of the prancing fleethound, a simple gesture telling the pup to sit, which he actually does very well. His tongue lolls out of his mouth comically as he watches the others in the Atrium, Kalypso quietly watching as well. She will speak, if she feels the need, but for now, a happy reunion seems to be underway. 

Thalia tucks a stray lock of hair back behind her ear, waiting until Oriane is settled in beside her father before she starts over toward the little group. "Dominus." she greets with a small, warm smile and a nod of her head. She's always called her husband that when in front of others. Even in front of the girls. Drawing close, she leans in to place a light kiss upon Darius' cheek and then turns to look over at Kalypso. "Dea, have you ever met my husband?" 

A small shake of the young matriarch's head responds to the query put forth towards her, as her gaze moves to Thalia. "When I was very young, cousin, perhaps, but not any time that I can recall." She inclines her head towards the man gracefully, her eyes lifting after lowering for just an instant. "Welcome to Haven, and to Palladium, Darius." While she may know the names well, faces do not always seem to match up. 

Tucking herself happily into the crook of Darius' arm, Riana beams a smile of severely goofy proportions first at her sister, and then to their mother. If she takes notice of Oriane's standoffishness and Thalia's downright public coolness, she doesn't show it. That's the way things have always been in her memory. Squeezed up against her father, the golden girl more than makes up for it with her own delighted words. "Daddy, have you come to take us back home? Dea Kalypso says the war is near to over and that means we can go back, right? I have to go soon or the flowers won't get planted at the right time in the gardens." She prattles lightly, a backdrop to introductions. 

Wincing faintly at her sister's words, Oriane's smile grows a little sadder as she glances to the floor and curls her fingers into the edge of her chimere, an habitual gesture going back to childhood. Lifting dark eyes back up, she returns her sister's smile, but glances back to her father. 

"Word? Ah. Yes, well. I didn't stop to pick up pen and parchment, Oriane. You'll forgive me that, I hope. As soon as I was able," he allows, "I set out for Palladium. It's .. a longer flight than I expected, and," he adds, letting his gaze rest again on Thalia a moment, "I'd no idea I'd be the last to arrive." Thalia's then given a nod before his attention is redirected toward Kalypso, and he uncurls his arms from both daughters to bow a bit toward the Dea. "It's good to meet you again, Dea, and you have my thanks for keeping the girls safe here." Riana's question prompts another smile from Darius, and he answers, "We'll talk about that, in time, Riana. In time." 

Thalia shifts her gaze from face to face, following the conversation quietly. As pleasantries and introductions are exchanged, she moves to settle in by Oriane's side, resting a reassuring hand on the dark girl's shoulder. The woman remains in silence for a moment or two longer before returning her attention to her husband. "Are you weary from your journey?" she asks, her lips never losing their hold on that gentle smile of hers. Before an answer can be given, she stops a passing servant, asking for some food and drink to be brought out. That taken care of, she glances look to Kalypso with a nod. "Yes, thank you for keeping the girls safe." 

Kalypso inclines her head once again towards Darius. "I would not have survived this long without your daughter, Dominus. I hope you have not come to reclaim them for yourself?" She grins briefly, her gaze sliding towards Oriane, and next to Thalia. "And they have mostly kept themselves safe, I do believe, Thalia. Oriane is quite a formidable protector." 

Dark eyes widen slightly as Oriane listens. Whether it's from the thought of being taken away from Haven -- and Drusus -- or Kalypso's mention of her being formidable, it's not clear. Glancing to her side at her mother, she furrows her brow faintly, but says nothing as she looks back to the others. The only other sign of her nervousness is the rustle of feather over feather as her wings shift slightly. 

Her questions about home having been put off or evaded for the second time in one evening, Riana puts on a briefly sulky face. But it lasts only a moment before she's beaming proudly once again in the direction of her sister. The Dea thinks Ori is formidable, and whatever that word means, it's no doubt good. Worming her way firmly beneath Darius' arm and wing, Riana rests her be-ribboned head against his shoulder. For the moment, she ceases to speak and just pretends to listen and comprehend. 

**Darius had to abruptly disconnect and the scene was cut short.  It's assumed that he went to rest right after this. :)**