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Snippet #2628611

located in Tionchar, a part of A Knight's Duty, A Witch's Innocence, one of the many universes on RPG.

Tionchar

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rylen Wintergreen Character Portrait: Aura Testament Alessana
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Aura felt bad for taking her grief out at Rylen. She knew it was unfair to blame him for trying. He left her trying to prevent his people from getting too far in and hurting the monks. He tried.

His last words to her before they set off stung something deep inside her like an echo. "I did what I needed to."

Aura set off after him, staring at the ground with misery in her eyes, memories teasing her; just out of reach yet echoing words and screams within her ears. A few times she even clamped her hands over her ears to get them to stop... they wouldn't though, it was in her head.

As they approached the watchtower that he spoke of, Aura began to feel exhausted... It had been a long day of using her magic, traveling, and loss. She found a safe spot by some large debris, within sight of the campfire but not within its warmth. She didn't want warmth now. She needed the cool air the night was providing them with.

8 Years Ago

"AURA!" A man's voice shook her to the core as he lifted her up and patted her back hard, causing a spew of water out of her lungs. "Dammit Aura, open your eyes!"

The small child gasped for air as she looked up into the familiar eyes of a man she couldn't quite recall. As a matter of fact she couldn't tell if she was this 'Aura' he was talking about or not.

"Aura, oh my god," the bulky man hugged her so tightly to his chest for a moment she couldn't breathe. Yes. Yes she was Aura. Aura Alessana. This man was her father.

"D-daddy?" the ten-year-old whispered softly, looking up at him when he finally relaxed his stranglehold on her. All around her were books and shelves partially ruined by fire. And water, so much water. She was in a puddle of it. Had she been drowning?

"How... what did you do?!" he looked down at her with awe and fear in his eyes before picking her up off the ground like the most precious fragile object he had. "There was fire, so much fire but then dragons of water... and the fire was gone and the rebels were flooded out. Was that you?"

Aura closed her small eyes and breathed deeply for a moment, trying to collect herself. What had she done? The bad people had set the library on fire, as if punishing the books would punish the Royal Family... and that wasn't right. "I did what I had to," she whispered, opening her eyes again as he carried her out of the watery mess and into the night. All was quiet. "I had to save the books."

A deep boom of a laugh jolted her for a moment and her father smiled down at her with kind eyes. "I don't know where you learned how to do that but... I think it's time I take you to meet a friend of mine. We need to teach you how to harness that power of yours, my little parakeet," he kissed her brow, holding her as he headed off in a direction that the caravan was not.

"Daddy? Where are we going?"

"It's time you met a monk that I think will find you quite endearing. Get some rest darling, you've saved a lot of history today from burning."

NOW

Aura opened her eyes. She hadn't be out long ; there was still a small glimmer of sun in the sky and a soft smile on her face despite tears that were running down them. She looked at Rylen's back before sitting up fully. She didn't know what to say to him, yet at the same time she knew what she needed to say. Whether he wanted to hear it or not was his prerogative. "I was ten when I met him," she said quietly, carefully standing up and dusting off her dirty robes. Suddenly she found herself kneeling beside the stone he was resting on. "It was the first major magic I used. Father knew he couldn't keep traveling with me until I learned how to use my magic right. While he can use magic too, it's mostly just parlor tricks and illusions that he's good at. Ataras found me fascinating. In order to use magic you have to form contracts with the elements, and usually it takes years of training and then negotiating with the elements to even do that... I formed a contract with Water within moments in a panic to save a burning library. I almost drown myself in the process, but the books were safe."

There was a small chuckle in her voice. "Ataras is the only friend I've ever known," she said, her voice growing small with grief again. "I know he chose his fate. He could have moved on and left you behind. He also knew if you died I would too... he knew that if you were captured I wouldn't have been able to escape too far either and would have had to follow. When I cursed you I cursed myself, Rylen... Ataras knew the only way I'd get out safe and alive was if you got out with me. It's not your fault. I know you were trying to reason with them."

She reached a hand up to touch his cheek where just hours ago she had smacked him. While there was no real mark to show for it, her fingers found their exact spot of impact and she closed her eyes, murmuring words of healing. "Magic isn't a bad thing, Rylen... but when the hands of bad people control it..." there was a fire in her eyes. "We need to stop her. What she's done to your comrades... what she's done to you..." her hand gently touched the spot on his chest where the mark was. "Is unforgivable. What I've done to you is unforgivable too... But I have not- and will never- killed a person. Especially not the Duke. He was... he was a friend as well, and Ataras had set us up to meet. The Duke thought I could be an asset in showing the good of magic. Because I'm young and not intimidating, and because my magic is strong but full of goodness. I heal, I create, I provide. I don't harm. I have no reason to harm. Even when protecting myself I simply set up barriers and try to prevent from using chaotic magic on people... You're the first person I've ever hurt, and I'm sorry for that. I'm so, so sorry..."

There were tears in her eyes again, but this time not for Ataras, but for the man that stood before her. "I won't let the Midnight Lady cause more damage to this world though. I won't. And when she'd done, you can jail me as you wish, or kill me for what I have done... but I won't go for a crime I didn't commit. Not when the real threat is still out there..."

She looked down at the scroll she kept in her pocket and recalled a line that had confused her. "And you have Rylen. I know the circumstances are grim, however he needs you, and you need him more than either of you realize. What did he mean by that? She wasn't sure, but Ataras had always known exactly what she needed, even when she didn't want it from advice to medicine to training to even an alarm clock. She would trust him on this, like she had failed to trust him on many things in life... it was all she had left.