“We should go and see, just to make sure …” 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.