Setting
- 57 posts here • Page 3 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
"Hey, Cathal, how do these papers work? I'm not going to do anything, but... like... how do they restrain our abilities? And how did you get them?" Cathal moved to the living area and sat in the love seat that rested next to the larger couch.
āOnce a circle is drawn, whoever is touching or in it is affected by it. Whatever the effects may be. This one has been created with restriction symbols in mind, using a mix of Latin and ancient magic symbols. The process of creating a new magic circle is long and difficult and requires an extensive knowledge of ancient magical writing. I drew these myself, seeing as I have a photographic memory so it wasnāt at all hard. Iām letting you know now. Unless you get some degree in use of magic circles, never attempt to draw one because the slightest mistake will end in disaster.ā
Cathal sat next to Gabriel, sipping from a beer can he had found in the fridge. It was unlike such an item to be there, but no one had claimed it. Cathal didnāt drink all the time, but an occasional can never hurt anyone. The Guild Master noticed the slight pout on the other Keeperās face but never questioned it. A young manās thoughts were best kept to the mind. Yukine had wandered in finally and sat close to the TV. It didnāt take him long to notice the rack of DVDās next to him and he began to thumb through them. If he was lucky, maybe he would find one they all liked.
āI thought they were supposed to be training today,ā the demon asked. Cathal simply shrugged. Ami was taking care of Fintan and Fintan was the new member. So he needed the most attention. But then again, there probably wasnāt much he could learn from Ami when it came to fighting. Cathal doubted the small girl even knew how to fight.
āWell Lucca did train. Speaking of which, where did Kenji go?ā
Gabriel had begun to get a bad feeling about leaving Alice alone. He wasnāt worried that she would hurt herself, but if Kenji was loose and in a foul mood ā¦ no, Kenji was still weak from yesterday so Alice would have the upper hand. Nothing to worry about ā¦ nothing at all.
āAlright, kiddos. Time for some real fun.ā The man nodded in Kenjiās direction. Two burly men peeled off and grabbed Kenjiās head, almost like they were going to squish it. Alice became sick with worry and began tugging against the hold of the shackles. āYou, boy, look forward and donāt blink. Every time you blink, sheāll get it,ā the man said, cracking the belt. āAnd if you donāt comply period, weāll kill her.ā The two men holding Kenjiās head tied a cloth around his eyes and another, smaller man stepped in front of him.
āPlease donāt touch him! Stop!ā Alice continued to wretch against the metal holding her wrists. But they ignored her straining and focused on Kenji with malicious grins. It happened so fast. The two holding Kenji dropped the cloth around his head and the man in front shot what seemed to be narrow streams of light into Kenjiās eyes. After a few seconds, they moved back to their original positions behind the head member.
āNow itās your turn to cooperate. If you donāt, he dies.ā The man stepped forward, closer to Alice now. āWhereās the hunter?ā
āI donāt know what youāre talking about,ā Alice spat.
āDo you know what we just did to him, Alice?ā The man raised his hand and covered Aliceās eyes. āThis is what we did. And if you donāt tell us where they are, we will do much worse.ā Was he referring to Cathal? But he wasnāt the Councilās dog. They had to be though. How would they expect Lone Sin guild mates to know anything? All they did was fulfill their missions. Nothing more, nothing less. If they knew where they were, they definitely knew Cathal was there as well.
āI have no clue what youāre saying ā¦ I only carry out missions. If you thought the Council would trust little kids like us with critical information, then youāre not as smart as you would like to be.ā Though they didnāt voice their irritation, Alice could tell she was treading on thin ice. With a nod, one lackey moved back over to Kenji, kicking him repeatedly in the stomach. Alice once more began to try and tear her arms through the shackles. āI donāt know! Um ā¦ the clean-up in the Pine Barrens! There might be one there but I swear thatās all I know!ā Alice felt her wrists pop and she gasped in pain. The men stared at her as though they werenāt satisfied with the information. āI ā¦ I have Hunter training. Iām a Shadow Mage ā¦ they ā¦ they planned of making me a Hunter once I reached B-Rank. If itās Hunter Skills you want ā¦ then let him go.ā
In unison, the men laughed. Of course they saw through her lie. No one knows whether they are being chosen as a Hunter until after the matter. Alice panted and stared at them, trying to look as innocent as possible. How were they going to get information they didnāt know themselves. She had racked her brain with something ā¦ anything to say when the Light Mage placed a hand on the first manās shoulder. They seemed to share a silent conversation before they all got up and left.
āWait! Arenāt you going to fix him?ā All Alice received was laughter. They had no intention of helping Kenji even if they had gotten what they wanted out of her. The Shadow Mage looked over to her Guild Mate. They had the cell to themselves once more. āKenji ā¦ Iām so sorry. This is all my fault.ā Aliceās voice cracked as the tears began to fall again. āI promise Iāll get us out of here.ā
Lucca looked around, upon being asked where Kenji went. He had kind of just... left. He had been there, looking down at the panting Lucca, then had walked off into the woods. He shrugged, just realizing that Kenji wasn't around. He frowned, looking around again as if doing a double take. Where had he gone? Where would he go? It wasn't like he could fly off somewhere or go do something... Unless he took his car, which was an option. He didn't get up to look out front, figuring Kenji was fine, just trying to blow off steam.
"I don't actually know... We were training, I was trying not to die in the grass after getting a real workout, and the he left. He walked off into the woods. Jacob went inside so I think he's upstairs," Lucca stated, seeming to reason and think back very hard on the possibilities. He looked around once more, than sighed dramatically. "Jake, where's Kenji?" Lucca called obnoxiously, too lazy to get up.
"He's probably in the forest taking a nap in a tree. I would, it was nice out there," Casey stated as she seemed to snuggle up under a blanket she had grabbed that was on the couch back. She watched Yukine look through DVDs. She wondered how their guild was funded so well that they got all the newest movies. It was a wonderful perk if they had to admit it.
"I think he's taking a walk," Jacob said as he walked down the stairs, smiling at the movies. "Oh, we should watch a superhero movie. Black Widow is so hot," He said as he moved to sit by Casey, taking some of the blanket and covering his own legs.
"There you have it, Kenji is out on a walk possibly now sleeping in a tree somewhere," Lucca said in a reasonable tone. "Now someone should go grab Fin and Ami so we can watch Scarlet Johanson being awesome with Robert Downey Jr.'s sassiness," Lucca said with a broad smile, hoping they would watch the avengers movie. It was kind of what the Lone Sin guild was too.
Kenji managed to look up when he heard the door open, hearing their footsteps. He had finally leaned back into a somewhat comfortable position, pracitcally sitting on his piece of paper. He felt gross, and really wanted to take a shower, even if it burned and hurt.
He noticed it was the same man from the clearing and frowned, sitting up. He heard the comment about having fun and nearly groaned out loud, knowing it would be anything but for the two guild members. "I think it would be better to just have a fair fight, then we both have fun," Kenji managed knowing it wouldn't really be a fair fight anyway. He saw the two men behind the supposed leader move toward him, grabbing his head and hair roughly. He tried to pull away but stopped when they threatened Alice.
He felt his rapid breathing even in it's rapid pace. He stared at Alice, trying to keep his priorities straight in his head. Pain was an easy way to get people to do what you wanted. "What do you think you're doing?" Kenji asked as he saw a blindfold going over his eyes. He kept his eyes open, looking where Alice was even if he couldn't see her against the blindfold. He didn't move, now beginning to hold his breath as he feared they would just hurt Alice anyway.
"I won't move, just don't touch her," Kenji managed in an even tone, his voice finally returning to him. One moment Kenji was blindfolded, the next, bright light was being shot into his eyes. He held his position, his breathing becoming increased in labor as he did so. When the light left, Kenji figured they were done, sinking back. He groaned, closing his eyes and tucking his head into his shoulder. They stung, they hurt so badly. It felt like someone had taken sandpaper and run it across his eyes. He was shaking now, but he didn't care. Tears streamed from his eyes as he looked up, the blurriness he had been experiencing earlier so much worse as he tried to make out the leader and or Alice.
Kenji listened, trying to focus on the words instead of the pain in his eyes. Kenji could only just make out a blurry glob of a person, not able to tell how close they were until he felt a kick in his stomach. He fell of his knees, the shackles the only thing keeping his entire body from being on the floor. He tried to curl up but found he could hardly move or focus with his eyes. He caughed, struggling for air as he couldn't draw any in.
"Just... just don't tell them... tell them anything about the others," He managed between his struggles for air. He could take getting beaten up, but if any of his friends were hurt because they couldn't take it, well... that would suck. Kenji struggled to make his eyes adjust, looking where he knew Alice was in general but not seeing her form anymore. He could see the color of her skin and the red of her clothing, but couldn't see her figure really. He wondered what they had done to him. If they had done what he thought they had... He was sure he'd be done with being a keeper in Lone Sin, but so long as they got out alive, he didn't really care.
Kenji fell asleep, everything aching too much to stay awake. After a few hours, or however long, Kenji wasn't sure, he felt his eye lids flutter open. He blinked again and again, finding his breathing increase as he discovered what had been done. "No... No, no, no, no, no," he whispered, struggling to touch his eyes but only touching his cheek, his sense of location off. He felt his breathing come in shallow gasps.
Where he might have seen the old building he and Alice were trapped in before, he saw nothing. It wasn't necessarily black, or white, he couldn't describe it, but he just couldn't... he couldn't see. He pulled against the chains as he tried to look around, ignoring the screaming pain of his back. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, tried to get them to come back, to focus, to show him something. He felt tears, dried and wet, down his face, not caring that he was crying. He was crying because he couldn't see. That was a pretty legit reason in his eyes.
Kenji heard the door open and turned to look at the door without thinking. He felt his heart drop when he couldn't see anything. "You bastards, what's wrong with you?" Kenji shouted having lost his temper altogether. He didn't care if they beat him some more, he wanted to strangle them. He wanted them to just let him and Alice go. What else could they take from him? His usually heightened senses still came, but did not give him nearly as much as he needed to know with the lack of sight. He cursed the bloodied paper another time, possibly the hundredth in the last few hours. "Just let us go, let her go, we're freaking teenagers," Kenji demanded, pulling viciously at the chains even though his already bruised wrists ached.
(Sent you some PMs Nasia. If you want to do a collab for the next post with you know who and you know what happening to you know who let me know. :)
āWe should go and see, just to make sure ā¦ā Ami stated. The Keeper and her demon held hands as they worked their way through the thickening woods and towards the fading noises. By the time the young girl managed to break through to the point where all the noise was happening, it was dead silent. Nothing seemed out of place but on closer investigation, Sammie spotted specks of blood here and there. It smelled as though Alice and Kenji had been there. Maybe they were sparring and it got out of hand. She was sure they would be on their way to the cottage to patch up. Sammie then picked up on other scents, strange scents that were unfamiliar to her.
Maybe some creature had wandered into this neck of the woods and they took care of it.
āMaybe we should head back and see if they are at the cottage. Iām sure Cathal will know what to do.ā Ami nodded and gave Fintan a reassuring look. It wouldnāt be the first time one or the other had gone off and done something like that. Alice was definitely determined to train and become the best, along with Kenji who was already plenty strong himself. The Wind Mage nodded back in the direction they came from and began moving, carefully so she wouldnāt fall.
It seemed miraculous that Ami had managed to make it back to the cottage without tripping at all. She actually felt accomplished for being able to do so. She began to think that if she worked on her balance, then she could be a rather good fighter. The cottage seemed silent. Everyone had gathered in the main room except for the two who they had been looking for. Their demons didnāt seem to have an ounce of worry about their Keeperās locations. It reassured Ami in a warm way, knowing that if something was wrong, they would know about it.
āThey have to be off training really hard. Itās admirable of them. Yesterday must have really motivated them to become better.ā Ami grabbed Fintan and Vergilās hands, pulling them over to an open spot on the floor. It had been decided apparently before they had arrived that they would all watch the Avengers, a movie Ami had personally never seen. She had heard lots about it and it had made lots of money in the theaters so it had to have been good. Cathalās demon, Yukine, had set it up and pushed play. While the movie began, however, Ami looked around at everyone. Whatever had happened yesterday seemed resolved and they once again were their abnormally large family. Gabriel and Cathal were sitting calmly next to each other. Lucca occupied the main couch with Jacob and Casey sitting in front of it. Yukine sat further away but closest to the TV. Ami sat in Sammieās lap, closer to Cathal and Gabriel, and Fintan and Vergil sat next to her. Ami looked back to Casey and slightly smiled. Casey was absolutely gorgeous to Ami, she seemed physically perfect in every way imaginable. She didnāt voice it, she didnāt want to embarrass or offend the demon, so she turned back to the TV.
āAlice ā¦ Kenji ā¦ thank God youāre alright.ā Cathalās voice sounded rough as though he had been shouting nonstop. āYou guys need to tell them where the Council sent Geoffrey. I wasnāt told, but you do know. You have to tell them, they have the others.ā
Alice stayed silent for a few moments, trying to think of something to say.
āI donāt know ā¦ā
āI knew sheād say that,ā one man laughed. She couldnāt lie. Even when she did it was terrible and obvious. No matter how much she tried, Alice had never been able to lie. It was a requirement of being a high ranking Mage but she was a mere exception.
āIām telling you the truth, I donāt know. I donāt know anything! I donāt know why you guys kidnapped us, I donāt know where Master Geoffrey is, I donāt know how in the hell you expect this to benefit you what-so-ever.ā
Come on Alice, you can do it. Just try ā¦ I know you can. Her fatherās words echoed through her mind. Alice started to breathe heavily. She felt as though her mind was going to explode. Was it really this hard to lie? If she didnāt give them an answer, what would happen to Kenji? Would they go find the others and pick them off? No ā¦ Cathal was too strong for them. Otherwise she was positive their Master would be sitting here now and not them. Alice opened her mouth, stuttering over her words, trying to form an audible sentence.
āCh-China ā¦ Master is i-i-in Ch-China. The Council sent him to c-control the Death Worm āp-p-population ā¦ā Her chest tightened as she waited for a response. Would they see through it? Would they accept it?
āThatās more like it missy. That wasnāt so hard now was it?ā The Light Mage from before walked over to Alice, putting his fingers through her belt loops on her shorts and tugging. Alice assumed he was trying to be a pervert, but she realized that if her shorts came off, her circle wouldnāt be on her anymore. He would have it. She would be able to use her powers. So Alice squirmed a bit, putting on a bashful act, but it seemed to deter him and he stood back up and walked away. Alice cursed at herself, getting more and more impatient. These freaks needed to leave so she could get rid of the damned circle. She brought her attention to the other two who had been brought in. Who were they? She had never seen them before. The Shadow Mage looked over to Kenji with worry. Her heart squeezed itself tightly making her choke on air. She never wanted to see him so miserable. All Alice could let herself believe was that it was all her fault.
Kenji heard people getting pushed around and looked in the general direction. He heard Cathal and felt himself shake as he heard the others were there. Where were they being held? They needed to get out, and soon, or their life would totally be over. He thought about Cathal, how could he possibly be here? He was the highest ranked keeper of them all.
He would have smiled at Alice's deception if so much wasn't on the line. However, when he heard the other two people, he ceased breathing. "No, no you two are in Chicago. You aren't real, you aren't here, you can't be here. Let them go, you wanted us not them they have nothing to do with our world," Kenji cried, struggling harder than ever against what held him. He wouldn't be surprised if the chains were ripped from his arms in his fury and sudden adrenaline.
"Kenji?" He heard his foster mom whisper in horror. What a sight he figured he was. Bloody, not looking directly at them, surrounded in his own blood. He was shaking as he felt someone's hand take his hair. "Look, pretty boy does cry and just so you know, they are as real as you and me," One guy said though Kenji didn't know who, just that he was very close.
"Let them go and we will tell you everything, everything you want to know. Please, please just let them go," Kenji shouted. They couldn't touch them. Kenji might go insane if he lost them. They had raised him and had been his family. How could he lose them? "Too late pretty boy, we decided we wanted to play a game. Pick and choose, how does that sound?" The guy whispered into Kenji's ear. Kenji shook his head roughly. "No, no, no, no, please just let them go, they have nothing to do with anything. Let them go," He kept going, not caring that he was begging at this point.
"Choose who you would rather live with boy, the people who raised you, or the girl you've fallen for?" The man hissed with a smile though Kenji couldn't see it. He shook his head, then heard his foster father cry out in pain as he was struck with something. Kenji cried out as if the pain was inflicted on him, not believing this was happening. "Choose or all of them die," The man threatened, tugging at Kenji's hair hard.
"Just let them go, I swear... please," Kenji begged again, struggling to go to his foster parents. "Ken, Kenji, you two, your adoptive father told us, the world needs you," Kenji heard his father manage, then heard the lash of the belt and a cry causing Kenji's tears to stream down more. "Ken, save her, we want you to live and the only way to do that is to keep things from getting worse. You are both needed, save her," Kenji heard his foster mom manage between her own tears. Kenji shook his head, not wanting to make such a decision. There was another sound of the belt and Kenji winced, dropping his head. "We love you, we wanted you to have a better life, we wanted you so badly... Just, just beat these bastards," Kenji heard his father say, his mother echoing his claim. Kenji would have smiled if it hadn't been so freaky.
Kenji shook his head again. "Kenji Ryan Nakamora, choose the girl and get out before it's too late for you two as well," Kenji heard his father shout at him. He nodded, hearing their soft and now weak proclaims of love from the hits they received. "Come on Kenji Ryan, who will it be?" The man holding Kenji whispered in his ears. Kenji shook as he turned his head, unable to keep the shaking from his voice as he managed, "Alice lives." He knew as well as his parents they were needed, but he couldn't help but be selfish and want both, want his parents he could never have and the girl who didn't seem to ever care until now.
Kenji could practically feel the guy smile as he made a movement that Kenji couldn't decipher though figured had been running his fingers across his throat in the direction of the men holding his foster parents, not Alice. There was a sickening whistle of wind, then a thump. Kenji didn't have to see it to know what had happened. He felt his empty stomach squeeze and gagged, his head being released as he realized the blood flowing toward him and raising the level of water around his feet was his foster parents. There was the sound of dragging, but there was no noise from where Kenji's parents had been.
He felt his legs give out and his knees landed in the growing puddle of blood. The fellow holding him looked down at Kenji with a smirk, then caught sight of the red paper with the symbol on it. He picked it up and Kenji could feel his heightened senses return. He stopped using the wind when he pushed it out to make sense of the surroundings, unable to take the two heads on the floor. He felt his stomach heave again and curled up, shaking more than ever. The men seemed to laugh again before leaving, the one studying Kenji's symbol with interest. Kenji waited a moment, trying to keep himself from vomiting what wasn't in his stomach, then manipulated the winds sharply. He knew he didn't have the energy or will to do anything for himself at the moment, so instead of cutting himself free, he had used his sharp winds to cut Alice's chains, not exactly sure where they were anymore and instead just cutting a large gash in the wall running five feet long, the chains successfully severed, luckily.
"When we see them again, I'm killing him," Kenji managed, his tone just above a whisper. He figured Alice would know who he was referring to. He knew as well as anyone they had no chance of fighting and winning against whoever was holding them today, the had to wait, or otherwise, they'd just die and Kenji's parent's death would be pointless and Kenji would have failed them, more so than he already had.
āAlice lives,ā he stated. The Shadow Mage screamed in her mind the same word over and over. It couldnāt be happening. Why would he choose her over the people who had made him smile far longer and more than she had? Cathal had always useless in a fight with her temper. She couldnāt even protect her family. What kind of Keeper was she to let herself get caught? It didnāt make sense.
As the men disposed of Kenjiās parents, Alice couldnāt help but feel her heart stop. She knew all too well what it was like. And even though they werenāt her parents, she still wanted to lay down and cry. Alice took in short but heavy breaths, the sound of the dragging bodies was all she could hear. The smell of blood finally reached a top and the air tasted as though it was saturated with the liquid. She couldnāt tell if she was about to cry or laugh.
Kenji wasted no time in summoning some wind to free Alice from her binds, but as though she were dead herself, the Keeper dropped to the floor. As she laid in the blood, Alice thought silently as to how she could do anything. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the circle Cathal had given her. Would ripping it up really break the seal? A surge of confidence, anger and will hit her. Alice ripped the small paper into shreds, sitting up to look around the room. Her skin was sticky and she knew she would be smelling nothing but blood for a week. Then the Keeper stood, keeping her head down as she moved over to Kenji.
āSo,ā her voice cracked, āItās my turn to be the hero ā¦ alright?ā Alice was thankful in a way that Kenji couldnāt see her. With all the confidence had come a surge of power as well and she could feel her inner demon coming out. She giggled with delight as plans ran through her head, ways to tear the men apart. Ways to make them pay. Ways to make them suffer. Alice looked around the room, the shadows were writhing in delight as her insanity began to increase. Though it wasnāt her usual different person completely, it was still Alice. She was completely awake. Aliceās eyes were a sickly dull gray with a blood red tint around the edges.
Alice used Summoner and a larger shadow in the form of a wolf appeared before her. It was a large wolf, almost as tall as herself, with sleek black fur and blood red eyes.
āWhen you get to an opening, take him out with you. Go to the cottage. Iāll be there.ā The wolf nodded, breaking Kenji out of his own chains. Alice helped put Kenji on its back before turning to the cell door than held them in. These men were about to see what Lone Sin had in store. Not only was Alice powerful, but every single member had the potential to take down armies single handedly. When they put their minds to it, there wasnāt anything they couldnāt do.
There was one power Alice always put on reserve. It was her fatherās move, so out of respect, she never used it. But this was a moment she knew only it would be able to handle. āShadow Tendril,ā she whispered, closing her eyes to concentrate. Shadow-like tendrils moved up from the ground and surrounded her. It was like they were devouring her. But once Aliceās eyes shot open, a full black now, they shot forward and bashed into the cell door, sending it flying. After the dust settled, Alice saw than she had got one with the door, his own blood sprayed on the wall behind him. Alice hadnāt thought about how many were actually out there, but if it was a Dark Guild there couldnāt be more than twenty. She could hear running coming down the halls, so she looked up, sending the tendrils up to make a large hole in the ceiling. The wolf immediately went for the opening, preparing for any attacks that may come. Alice continued forward, hoping she would draw all the attention to herself. The Shadow Mage reached into her Dimensional Pocket, pulling out throwing knives and anything else that was sharp. Once she had her sights on two men, Alice launched her throwing knives in their direction, propelling them forward with Shadow Fire and sheer force. One man got hit in the head, instantly dead while the other simply got it in the shoulder. To finish of the man, she held out her fist to encase his head if Shadow Fire, frying his brain instantly.
Alice could sense more power coming her way. Instead of rushing head on like normal, she thought about what had happened. What if she was overpowered and killed? Or captured? She had to follow Kenji and make sure no one was going after him.
āNight Dome, Dark Wing,ā she said. Everything went dark instantly, but a light broke through the darkness, coming straight for Alice. She sprouted her wings and sprang up, flying through the hole she had earlier created. Once she was up, she searched though the darkness for the wolf, instantly spotting its red eyes at the edge of the tree line. Before Alice left, she looked down to see where they had been kept. It looked like an old facility that had been shut down years ago. No doubt this was a Dark Guilds hideout.
There was a sudden pain in her back, causing Alice to fall several feet before catching herself. A light source emerged from the dark, the Shadow Keeper silently cursed herself. The Light Keeper from before was hovering in the air, glowing white wings on his back. They stared at each other for a while. āIf you fix Kenjiās eyes, I wonāt kill you,ā Alice said with an arrogant tone.
āIf you come down like a good little girl, I wonāt destroy you.ā It was obvious neither were going to get what they wanted. Alice was the first to make a move, summoning some tendrils to shoot towards him. For a Shadow mage to fight a Light Mage is a death wish. Only with a large amount of luck would she be able to beat him. All she needed to do was distract him long enough so she could make a rapid escape.
Waitā¦ Alice had a perfect plan. The man shot forward, dodging the tendrils, aiming right for Alice. With a look of surprise, Alice darted out of the way, letting him clip her shoulder with a Light Punch. Though it burned, Alice had to let him think he beat her. She span out of control temporarily before gaining her balance once more. The Light Keeper quickly appeared, grabbing her throat and squeezing. Alice dramatically clawed at his hands, kicking at him and wheezing.
What he did next wasnāt expected. She felt herself falling, but she couldnāt stop. He was flying full speed towards the ground, planning on smashing her into it. The impact was enough to knock what little wind Alice had left in her lungs out. Her back hurt and her air supply was out. The man remained on top of her, choking her. With the position he had her in, she couldnāt move at all. But she didnāt have to. Despite not having any air, Alice mustered up on of the biggest Shadow Fireās she ever hand. In no time, the manās grip disappeared and he fell on top of her. She had no clue if he was dead, but she didnāt care to check. She had to get out before anyone else could get to her. Alice pushed them body off of her, stumbling to her feet and sped off in the direction the wolf had gone.
āWe should go and see, just to make sure ā¦ā Ami suggested quietly and Fintan nodded vigorously. The ruckus sounded like a fight and it made him wince against the worry that gripped his heart. They trudged back through the woods towards the noise. Vergil was keeping a very close eye on Ami, trailing closely behind her in case she would suddenly trip and fall which she did not and Vergil was calmed. Fintan quickly reached into his shoe for the piece of paper with the magic circle on it and held it clenched in his right hand, ready to throw it away in case he needed to use his fire. However, when they broke out of the trees, they saw nothing and heard nothing. It was dead silent save for the smooth rustling of leaves in the warm wind. Fintan narrowed his eyes and stepped down onto the grass, looking around with perceptive eyes. He saw speckles of a deep red liquid on the grass and his teeth clenched together so hard, he accidentally bit down on the tip of his own tongue. With slightly trembling fingertips, Finny touched the liquid and saw the consistency matched that of fresh blood.
"It's blood," he stated stonily, trying to hide the heart that beat in his throat. After wiping his hands on clean grass, Fintan rose to his feet and turned to look at Ami and Sammie.
"But... it's possible that Kenji and Alice just got a little rough, right? I mean, things seemed pretty tense between the two," Fintan explained calmly, mostly saying this to relax himself more than his companions. After a moment, they headed towards the cottage and Fintan prayed that the two Keepers would be there shooting spitballs or annoying each other in some manner. Unfortunately when they entered and the cool AC washed over them, everyone was just watching some superhero movie which he'd seen once a couple years ago with Vergil. It was in the period after he had burned down his school and the two were ust roaming around the country because Vergil forgot exactly where he was supposed to take Finny. They scraped together a couple bucks and bought tickets to see it. Fintan loved it, Vergil wished the Incredible Hulk would've torn down a skyscraper or something. After the movie they stayed inside and movie hopped all afternoon before they got caught when Vergil was invisibly stealing popcorn. Fintan smirked at the memory. The two of them really did have some good times when they were travelling alone. Ami took the two boys by the hand which made Finny instantly grin and Vergil give her a quizzical look. They sat down together, Fintan on her left and Vergil next to him. Finny snuck a glance at Gabriel and Jacob after a minute to see if they looked concerned, but they seemed to be simply enjoying the movie. He turned to Vergil who was watching the movie with intense interest and bright eyes and a sinister grin. The Keeper shook his head with an amused smile on his lips before he looked over at the paper he still clenched in his right hand. Slowly, he opened the creased paper and studied the design with brooding eyes. If he got this tattooed on himself, would his fire powers be suppressed forever?
And furthermore, would that be so bad?
Would it be like he was normal?
No painfully built up anger?
No monsters to fight?
No mages to defeat?
A part of Finny's heart yearned for that average experience so that he wouldn't feel the need to hide from his parents or from other people in general.
That would be sublime, he decided before letting out a quiet sigh and lifting his head to fixate his gaze back on the television, watching but not really comprehending as he sat in his own thoughts.
Kenji felt himself being lifted up, not bothering to try and feel the world around him with wind to know what was touching him. He was done, he was ready, for what? He had no clue, but he just didn't feel like fighting anymore, for the moment at least. Kenji heard a giggle and a shiver ran through him. He tried to look up but fumed when he couldn't see anything.
Kenji felt himself fall entirely to the ground when the chains holding him up were destroyed. He felt the metal still on his wrists but could tell they weren't connected to anything else. Kenji felt himself getting lifted up and groaned softly, finding he was having a hard time breathing properly in the stressful situation. He could distantly hear the pounding of footsteps, then felt wind rush past him as he was lifted on something to where the cool air of the night hit his bare, wet skin.
Kenji heard Alice try to convince someone to fix him, he assumed his eyes but he didn't hear that part at the end so he wasn't sure. He heard a large thump, then the sounds of a struggle, then nothing. He frowned, but didn't move, still not finding any motivation to do so, he was too drained, emotionally and physically. He was shaking though he couldn't feel it and found that he couldn't help but feel his stomach squeeze again as if trying to vomit again. He felt that he was moving quickly, judging by the speed of the wind around him.
He didn't try to move as he was carried, wondering how much more blood he needed to loose before he died of blood loss. He let his eyes close after a few hours, too tired to struggle against the oncoming sleep. He dreamed of his parents, happy memories of going around Chicago and playing in a park and running to try to keep up with his quick father during their morning jog around the block, long enough to tire Kenji out but not his father. He might have smiled outside of his dream if his body wasn't busy rapidly rebuilding his energy reserves now that he wasn't using any abilities or trying to whatsoever.
The group had just finished the second Captain America movie, following the Iron Man trilogy and the avengers movie when Jacob jumped up. "Kenji's home," He stated as he moved to run for the door. He had missed his friend and wanted to know why he had been gone so long. He ran to the front door, throwing it open as Kenji slid off of what looked like a shadow wolf and fell to his knees. Jacob moved forward, figuring Kenji was just tired. When he got closer, he saw the blood coating his friend all over.
"Cathal, Cathal something's happened," He called as he moved to his friend. Kenji waved him off, standing but leaning heavily on Jacob. "Where's Alice?" Kenji whispered in Jacob's ear. Jacob shrugged as he looked around, holding his friend closely. There only seemed to be damage done to the boys back and face though he was soaked all down his front in blood. Jacob couldn't tell if he was hurt anywhere else.
Lucca went to the door, looking out to see a bloodied Kenji and an equally bloodied Alice. "Well, you two better make up instead of beating each other up," He said, really thinking the two had been so mad at each other over what he had seen in the morning that they had done the bloody deeds to each other. Kenji didn't seem to hear him as he dropped his head, still shaking noticeably. Jacob looked distressed as he seemed to try and get Kenji to say what happened but wasn't having any luck.
"We... dark guild. Might be coming," Kenji managed to get out as he seemed to fall asleep again, standing up. Jacob feared it was from by blood loss. If Kenji had lost as much blood as what was on him, it was a surprise he was still alive. Jacob was able to hold his friend's weight without too much trouble as he moved inside, not even going to the infirmary upstairs as he set Kenji down on the kitchen table on his stomach, looking at his back instead, unsure what to do as he looked to Gabriel for help.
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