Romina is not the sort to differentiate blood when it comes to family. She has far too many half-siblings and extended family to dive so deeply and scrutinize the ancestry of those around her. When you are family, you're family. Forever and ever, amen. Romina is weird about family, you could say. She loves them like a typhoon, a powerful force that can and will destroy anything in its path without prejudice. If she considers you family you simply are, and therefore you are awarded benefits no others receive.

Kiada is a shadow in her knowledge, a face she knows only in passing relation to Auntie Anna. When she had asked Mama what an aunt's child was to her, curious as to what the child meant to her, Mama had said they were called cousins. So while their mothers stood around talking business - ugh so boring - Kiada turned to her and asked if she wanted to escape the awkward standing around for the cool pleasurable shade of the evergreens. Romina had grinned and agreed without hesitation, the new title (cousin, cousin, cousin) singing in her head.

Romina preferred the cover and comfort of the evergreen boughs, her thin bones and Arabic nature preferring temperate climates, and her deer nature begging for flora and lush meadows that the harsh north could not provide. The girl had an odd gait, some hybrid between a jouncy trot and the bounding high-steps of the cervidae. She turned to Kiada in a flourish, long leonine tail swaying behind her.

"What's your name? I know you're Auntie Anna's daughter. I'm Romina, Mama says we're cousins." It's said with utter confidence, as if Romina could never be wrong in her whole life. She isn't sure where to start with this golden girl, family but still a stranger at this stage. She tilts her head and her big ears rotate delicately, trying to get some sort of read on the filly. Well, she could at least wait for her to start the conversation? She'd said her piece, after all.

They are the children of grace and power, royal blood running in young veins that hold such grand potential. The world is not prepared for the valkyries they will become. They are young yet, but their parents have learned the hard lessons for them, and they have a shorter path to fame than their predecessors. They flare like coy embers, and yet trail ash wherever they walk, princesses of ruination and domination. They will raze civilizations just to feel the structures crumble, something scientific and sadistic lurking behind their innocent facades.

Romina and Kiada are kindred spirits, and while Romina isn’t aware of the similar devils they will grow to become, something quiet and insistent speaks to the shadows of her mind. They are ghouls in a guise of glory. Solitary wolves signalling location in the dead of night, their pervasive presences silencing weaker creatures in their radius, they come together to form tentative ties where pack is supposed to be. Like magnets they circle one another, undeniable attraction forcing inevitable confrontation. Romina is too young and inquisitive to fight it, too loyal to family to brush Kiada aside as a potential sister-in-arms.

Romina doesn’t instinctively understand the purpose of friendship. She doesn’t crave affection or attention from anyone outside her family, and has no desire to try and make people like her. Perhaps it is because they cast her aside from her first breath, whispering behind her back about her delicate face and odd nose, her tri-toed feet and fawn spots. Why would she want to befriend people such as that? People who disregarded and judged her? All she knows is that her mother is her idol, and Romina desires to walk in her footsteps. And where there is Hotaru, there is Rexanna, especially when Papa disappears back into the wilds. Auntie Anna is a vital part of her mother's personality, and one day Romina will understand that there is a fine line between having a weakness in the guise of a friend, and the benefits of befriending other powerful individuals. As she grows older she will understand that her mother is capable of standing alone on her golden throne. But Rexanna is the silent shadow at her shoulder, a promise of faith and force, a haven for moments of weakness that nobody else has the privilege of witnessing.

Romina isn’t old enough to understand the depth and complexity of friendship, when it comes to herself. But who better to start with than Kiada? Rexanna’s daughter, just as Roma is Hotaru’s daughter? It seems like a natural progression, seeking her cousin’s friendship first.

When they are older, Romina will discover the truth of the blood between them, but it will make no difference by then. Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb, and Kiada will be her family by then. Nothing will tear the devilish maiden from her clutches then, and hopefully that loyalty will be reflected in turn.

For a moment Romina is distracted by shapes on Kiada’s back, and her orange eyes flick to them with a look of curiosity. At least until Kiada speaks, introducing herself and calling Mama by a similar moniker as Romina calls Rexanna. The excitement of returned sentiment banishes any questions that arise regarding Kiada’s magic. Family. It’s the key word that unlocks the gates to the fortress slowly building itself around Romina’s heart, and she smiles beatifically at Kiada. ”Yes! That means we’re family.” And family is everything. The be all and end all of Romina’s purpose and personality.

Of course, the straightest path to Romina’s graces is her twin brother, and she eagerly jumps into the topic with warm eyes and a broad smile. ”I do, his name is Ru’in. He’s the best, I love him. A lot of people think he’s scary because of how he looks, but if you meet him, I promise he’s not. We don’t look like everyone else, but that’s their problem,” she scoffs, pretty little face twisting into ugly contempt. It’s a phrase coined from her mother, a mantra she’d been taught since the first shocked gaze and muttered insult cast her way. Hotaru had taken her aside and spoken it for the first time with such conviction and venom that Romina had never forgotten it. She doesn’t quite grasp the meaning behind the words, but it will shape her feelings in the future. Don’t like me? That’s your fucking problem, buddy.

Her momentary flare of anger sets the growing nubs of her horns on fire immediately. Opalescent flames cast her face into odd shadows, illuminating the soft edges of her big ears. Colorful fire licks at the bone until she reigns in her emotions, trying to find balance. Romina glances away, suddenly nervous of Kiada’s reaction. ”Sorry, I can’t really control it…” she mutters, already feeling familiar bitterness over her reactive magic. But...Kiada had magic as well, didn’t she? Perhaps she wouldn’t judge Romina. Trying to distract herself - and maybe Kiada depending on her reaction - she instead answered Kiada’s last question. ”Yeah, they’re cousins too. And I’m your brother’s cousin, just like my brother is your cousin. Family is confusing,” she nods sagely, as if excusing the fact that both she and Kiada are fumbling their way through the terms she pretends to know.