Ash looked over towards Hazel as she said what she did, and looked immediately confused.

"Born human?" he asked.

"So... wait..." he mumbled, before growling.

"So she tried to genetically alter a human into a dark elf." he concluded. "But from the looks of it... and from how it seemed... she didn't fully succeed." he went on.

"I ran into Hazel with him in a forest." he then told Rowena. "He tried to use dark elf mana to control her, but... ah... well, it didn't quite work like he wanted it to..." he mumbled further.

"Oh. Fantastic." Ash growled.

"A TIME mage." he said, before pausing and thinking about it.

"...still... to undergo an entire species change is... dramatic." he commented. "DNA altering is one thing, but... to undergo a complete change?" he went on, shaking his head.

"That is drastic." he said.

"Seriously, dude could have died."

"Hmph." Ash grunted.

"Slimy little lick-boot. Still seems to be, anyway." he muttered.

"Whatever, not my business to concern myself with the wellbeing of her cronies." he reasoned.

"If he gets in my way again, I'll make him regret ever deciding to associate with Vanessa." he promised.

"And I'll make him spill ANY information."

Ash paused again, and just hung his head. Again, he didn't like hearing Vanessa being referred to as 'Mistress', but it was a day at a time.

He then looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he said.

"For starters, call me Ash." he stated.

"And any info on him would be great!" he added.

"...well, the short answer is 'anything and everything'." Ash muttered.

"However, let's start with 2 of the most pressing issues." he said.

"The first one being, how is my brother? Is Lindsay all right?" he asked. "...relatively speaking. Is he still ALIVE, at least?" he clarified. "To your knowledge, anyway." he added.

"The second is the same inquiry, but about Miss Encrae." he told her, pausing for a moment.

"Er... Vanessa's sister. Ashleigh Encrae. How was she, last time you saw her?"

Ash was getting quite angry with the information that Hazel was giving him, but it all shifted in an instant, to sheer confusion, as Rowena then said what she did... especially the last part.

"I... wait, what?" he asked.

"Hold on, hold up a second, there." he said to her.

"We're not?" he asked her.

"Why?" he asked. "Seriously, why can't a Fyrane be close to a phoenix?"

"...wow." Ash mumbled.

"That's... wow. I never knew that about my ancestors..." he said.

"...hold on, YOU'RE the exception?" he asked.

"Okay, why?" he asked her.

"Not to dredge up the past, but given your history, one would think you WOULDN'T be an exception. You know... the... rampage and stuff..." he went on, feeling bad about mentioning it.

"So why are YOU allowed it?"

"...a familiar? A phoenix?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, you really ARE one of the lucky mages." he agreed.

"Super lucky to have a phoenix, too." he went on.

"...heh. My brother and I used to joke that when we escaped, we'd find our own familiars..." he then said. "We didn't mean it. The familiar thing, anyway. Was nice to dream, though." he continued.

"Then again, I suppose I count as my own." he then said. "Being part animal now and all."

"Well, all that makes sense." Ash responded.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see." he shrugged.

"Anyway, Lindsay needs to be rescued as soon as possible, now more than ever." he continued.

"...but I DO wonder about Ashleigh." he admitted.

"She tried to help us both escape, and she and Lindsay were caught again." he said.

"Vanessa surely didn't take too kindly to that..."

"Damn it." Ash cursed.

"That's not good at all." he said.

"..." he was then silent for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Not much can be done about it, though. Not right now, anyway." he lamented. "Just need to keep looking. Keep trying." he reasoned with a shrug, as he looked to the crystal again briefly.

"Anyway, how are you doing, Hazel?" he then asked the newcomer to the conversation.

"Adjusting to life here well?"