The Woman walked around the seating which staged the center of the room. While the others noticed her in turn as she passed by, it was Liza whose attention she had truly captured. She was heading straight for Liza, but Liza could not move or speak to stop her. Liza was more comfortable with women, this much was true, but she was never comfortable being approached by others. In fact, she could not remember the last time she had been approached. To make matters worse, it seemed everyone was now looking in her direction, attention she was sure she did not want or need. Then suddenly, before the woman was within 5 feet of her, Liza vanished… or to be more accurate she disappeared. No one could see her, and they quickly began to forget what they had been looking at. Everyone except the woman that is, she remembered.

This woman that had suddenly arrived to menace her stop for but a moment before continuing her advance. Just before she pushed forth Liza saw a glow come over the woman’s eyes, but for the briefest of moments. The woman’s eyes had become a boundless black, the whites of her eye hidden from sight. For the woman however, nothing would now be hidden from her gaze, a gaze that saw all things as they truly were… revealing that which was concealed to others. To the woman, everything now had its own luminescence and tone. With theses eyes she would qualify everything as having a unique color and radiance. She could see exactly where Liza was hiding, and even had a sense of what she was feeling. Once the woman reached Liza’s position, she squatted to the young girl’s level and reached her hand out before her, stating, “My name is Arra, please… take my hand little one.”

At this distance Liza could feel something she could only interpret as a soothing warmth, or maybe it was trust. So without hesitation, Liza took the woman’s hand and could again be seen by others. In this moment, for the first time in her life, Liza was able to feel Love for someone… for this woman she could not imagine would ever be dishonest with her. Before she could stop herself, Liza blurted out in a whispered tone, “I Love you.” Confronted with this brutal honesty, this awareness of a feeling she had never known, of the overwhelming faith she felt towards this woman named Arra, her face lit up like someone suddenly relieved of a great burden. These were not romantic feelings, but true Love, tangled up with an inability to imagine ever being separated from the person of her affection.

“And I accept you as well,” Arra responded. Then she walked Liza towards the table upon which she placed the card. Liza did the same, no longer afraid, no longer worried about things she could not understand or know. Liza was for once in her life without concern or doubt.

Arra sat Liza in the chair to the left of Iya, as the man appeared and delivered his spiel. He addressed her as Ms. Morr, she was after all a lady of refinement, unorthodox though it might be. Then, as Liza sunk into the large armchair, Arra sat down upon its left arm draping her right one over the back of the chair and leaning in. She placed her left hand on the girls head, and stroked it to sooth her with a show of affection. Liza sat there contented, and though she was possibly being treated like a cat she didn’t mind it.

As Arra sat there, she turned her eye towards Cleo. She found that the girl hidden beneath the hood intrigued her, and perhaps even aroused her somewhat. Yet it was not long before her admiration was interrupted, as Leo introduced himself and the rest of the group to the tall and somewhat elegant woman. Ms Arra Morr was the kind of person to be envied and respected, she was the person she desired to be, and she was an exemplar of self discipline. Leo couldn’t help but embrace her presence, and welcome her arrival in earnest. He’d not teased Cleo, or attempted to charm the lady before him, he offered only the most careful compliment to the child she now sheltered. He’d acted as he’d imagined a gentleman might act towards a lady of such bearing.

In addition to the ability to see the truth of things, Arra had the power of empathetic projection. She could, at very limited range, impress her personality, mood, intention, or feelings upon others. As such, when Leo reached out to offer his hand in greeting, he felt a gratitude towards his kindness in attempting to make the two of them feel welcomed.

Arra had just come from a place called the Manhattan Club, it was an old time lounge styled bar and grill with live entertainment. Arra sang there, her voice and music fell somewhere in the range between that of Etta James and Billy Holiday. She’d picked a card up off the stage, not an entirely uncommon occurrence with scouts who’d come through offering her the moon. Other times she could find them tucked in the flowers she would often find left in her dressing room. However, this one was different… it had only a single bold faced word, or at least it was positioned as one word, scrawled diagonally across its surface.As she headed into her dressing room to prepare to go home, she suddenly found herself walking down the strange hallway overwhelmed with curiosity. When she reached the grand study, filled with people seemingly from different walks of life, she’d immediately noticed a young child hang off in the distance alone. The child, for all intents and purposes being ignored by the others, drew her in. She was only slightly surprised when the child, in an instant, became invisible. She’d quickly come to the conclusion that the others were somehow like her, and that they’d all been gathered here together because of it. But for now she would have to wait to confirm her suspicions.

If Arra counted herself as an occupant of one of the empty chairs, they were probably waiting for two more mysterious people to show up. So she returned Leo’s greeting with a name, and she sat there mothering over the small girl waiting.