Xaviers!

She can sense Alessia's presence upstairs before the woman appears at the top of the stairs, "I'm here. What is it?"

Miriam stops at the bottom of the stairs. "I changed my mind. I shouldn't judge you before I know the whole story." she says, trying to sound forceful but landing a bit closer to desperate.

Alessia regards her for a long moment, letting the silence hang there. Then she nods and her sister closes the door. Without a word, Alessia beckons Miriam to follow her and turns from the top of the stairs.

Miriam tries her best not to be nervous, but the time it takes Alessia to response still has her heart hammering a little and a bit of tension goes out of her shoulders when she finally motions for her. She hurries up the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the cold marble steps.

Alessia leads the way in complete silence into an interior bedroom that shows some signs of being personalized. She takes a seat in one of the chairs in the room, motioning for Miriam to take another. "Why the change of heart?"

Instead of sitting down Miriam leans against a dresser before realizing she's still holding her shoes and putting them down next to it.

"I don't know... I just felt like I wasn't being fair to you. And if I'm honest, a little bit scared."

"I'm sorry I scared you," she says, "That wasn't my intention at all."

Miriam narrows her eyes curiously as something occurs to her. She feels a little stupid for buying into all this, but still.

"How old are you?"

"Physically? 22. Chronologically? More than 50." She watches Miriam closely, gauging her response.

Miriam nods curtly, having expected something along those lines. "Then surely I'm not the first to be scared off by... whatever this is."

"No, but the first to come back."

"What happened to the ones that didn't?"

"They were made to forget that I existed. A sad thing to have to do, but some secrets have to be protected."

"And the ones that stayed?"

"Most got to work for my family in one way or another. A few decided to move on and I dealt with them fairly."

"That's not what I meant... What's going to happen to me now? she asks, pushing herself off the dresser and taking a couple steps towards Alessia.

Alessia crosses one leg over the other, adjusting her dress. "Well, that depends. Are you staying or do you still want to go? Because I have worlds I can open up to you, but you have to want to see them."

"I'm here, aren't I? I wasn't planning on leaving again so soon..." she says, taking another couple steps until she's right in front of Alessia.

"Good," Alessia says, standing. She leans forward, pulling Miriam to her and whispering in her ear, "Because I have some secrets to share..."

((FTB?))