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"I don't understand it either, Aidan... But he'll keep trying." She sighed and gripped her arm a bit. "I should go clean this up." Emma murmured, furrowing her brow a bit, but she paused near the door, looking back at him. "Why did you react like that, Aidan? As if I were the enemy?"
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"Instinct, I suppose," he murmured. His brows were furrowed. He hid his real thoughts. He had seen darkness. The same darkness that consumed him when his body was ripped apart in the tower to give Theodore his eyes. He averted his eyes from her.
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"...Hm." Emma looked down when Aidan wouldn't look at her, and she went to wash and bandage her arm up. Returning to her room afterward, she sat in the window, watching the night in thought. It was going to be a sleepless night.
By the time dawn came, Emma was in the courtyard, practicing her magic. It was her only outlet at the moment, and it did not vent her frustrations the way she wished it would. WIthin the Tribe, she could have fought hand to hand with someone, but now she was alone. |
Aidan was with the mages, observing each one's skill levels as Arturo taught them. While the water mage was still greatly injured, he was still good natured and masking away the pain with his smiles. Aidan had witnessed some of the abilities of the ones who were taken on Arturo's rescue mission. But there were still young, fresh faces. And their enthusiasm and power caught his attention. He needed a strong force to storm the Tribe's Hidden City.
As usual, while Danielle was summoned to the court, Danny was running around freely. The other children with whom he was told to play with were not any fun to him. They cried as he overpowered them with his physical strength. He was frustrated with his bout with Emma. A girl beat him. Crawling out from under a thick line of bushes, Danny cried out as he was suddenly kicked in the gut. He was too distracted by his anger toward Emma that he had not sensed the man's presence quick enough to avoid the attack. He was prone, grasping his abdomen and groaning. "Well well...you're a spitting image of your uncle." Danny jerked his head when he felt his chin being lifted. His eyes narrowed as he stared into the stranger's face. Silver hair. Fierce red eyes. "While you have that fiery temperament...you don't have his affinity with fire, do you? Nevertheless..." His thumb pressed over his lips. "We can't take any risks." From the inside of his jacket, he pulled out an item and removed the casing. Aidan turned his head slightly as he felt Danny's power, which had grown considerably over the past hour, vanish. Assuming Danielle was with him once more, he returned his attention to the battling mages. |
Emma frowned as Danny's power just... vanished. She'd been keeping track of him idly while he was running lose around the castle, and she found the change quite odd. After Aidan's mention of how Danny was calmed by his mother, the thought did cross her mind that perhaps he was with Danielle now and she tried to push it off in the back of her mind for the moment.
She was sitting with a rag and water, changing her bandages and making sure the wound was cleaned out well still. It wasn't bad, but bites had a nasty habit of growing infected, it was better she didn't risk it. It still bothered her though, and when her wound was rebandaged, Emma wandered the castle grounds in search of the boy--an daunting task when she could no longer sense him. At least this gave her something else to focus on rather than her own son's absence. It was getting harder each day, she was growing impatient, though she knew it took time to prepare for something like this. |
Two hours would pass. The Council convened as the members began deliberating over the issues before them. The main topic of the moment were the children they kept an eye on, either waiting for them to exhibit their first burst of magic or those whom were of questionable worth. If they displayed far too low power, they would be passed on. With so many starting to show elemental powers, they would no longer need to pick up and train every single one.
Lord Constance entered the meeting room, not a bit apologetic for this tardiness. As the Head of the Council opened his mouth to chastise him, the man opened his cupped hands at the table, letting an extremely fine powder pour from them. "What...is the meaning of this?" Lord Constance smirked. "I drained the power from a child. I suspected his strength and took the largest Halcyon we have. He filled it in a moment, causing it to crack. After pushing his limits, he completely destroyed it." The man smirked. "No one could possibly---" "I know he would have easily regenerated all of his power quickly..." Lord Constance interrupted, which caused the members of the Council to glance at one another nervously. If he didn't have his injuries to worry about. |
Emma continued to search for Danny, growing a little frustrated that she was not finding him running a muck or even finding Danielle--and she was usually not very hard to find either. "Danny?" She called now and then, searching areas she often saw the boy in , finally coming upon the area she had felt the child's presence.
She also couldn't help but wonder if the child was hiding from her, angry after their scuffle the night before. "Danny? C'mon, where are you?" She huffed, frowning. |
As Aidan began to head to the court to request which mages he wanted for his mission, his eyes caught sight of Emma's pale hair. She stuck out so much with her features amongst the others residing in Caer Elise.
"Emma?" he called out, wondering what was upsetting her so. |
Emma perked as Aidan called her name, and hesitantly she approached the fire mage, obviously upset by something. "Aidan? I can't find Danny anywhere, have you seen him?" She frowned, looking around the area a bit still as she spoke with the tall mage, sighing out in slight exasperation.
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He shook his head. "I felt his presence earlier, but it disappeared. Isn't he with Danielle?"
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"I don't think so... I've looked everywhere; I've been searching for the both of them for the past couple of hours." Emma frowned still, finally looking up at the fire mage as she stood before him. "I'm worried about him, Aidan. I didn't sense anyone, but you don't suppose the Tribe could have...?"
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Aidan stiffened at the prospect that the Tribe had already taken his nephew, a cold shiver running down his spine.
"I didn't sense them," he admitted with reluctance. He considered the possibility that with all of the magic in the area his senses were overwhelmed. But Emma...she was one of them...and she didn't sense them either? Cursing, he rushed to return to the mages. He needed their help in getting Danny back. |
Emma was quick to follow Aidan as he cursed and took off to return to the mages. She wasn't about to be left behind on this--she had been looking for Danny for hours and she couldn't deny that she was worried sick about him. Just what trouble did that boy get into today?
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She hadn't expected this.
For hours she waited at the court as instructed. There was a sickening feeling deep in her. Whatever was troubling her could not be defined. When she was summoned, it was not by the court, but by the Council. Fear had stricken her at the thought that this involved Danny. A part of her wanted to flee. To tell Aidan to take her son and go away. Far away. He was in danger. As Lord Constance took control of the Council's meeting, she stared at him in terror, clutching her hands to her chest. He smirked, the expression alone saying all he had planned on saying. "Take her away." Wrists bound, the guards began leading her to the long walk to the dungeons. She paled, fearing more for her son with every step. As they neared the mages training grounds, she pulled herself away from the guards, a move that surprised them long enough for her to reach the railings and lean forward. "ARTURO!" He heard her scream over the sounds of the elements clashing against one another. Looking up, his brow furrowed at the sight of her bound, yanked, and being escorted away by the guards once more. He commanded for the mages to stop as he rushed to catch up to them. |
Emma was right alongside Aidan, and when they made it to the mages, no one was fighting and Arturo was running off. What was going on? She heard a familiar voice from above and the mages confirmed it. It was Danielle. Emma took an alternative route out of instinct, scaling her way up to the railing Danielle had been tugged from just moments ago, hurrying after the group.
Just what was going on? |
"Let her go!"
"It's not our choice to detain her. You will have to speak to the Council," the guard replied, looking very much frightened by the angered water mage. Still, he kept his voice steady with a slight tremble at the name, the Council. Would he face any repercussions for pointing them out as the ones at fault? "I am not going to repeat myself." The guards looked at one another uneasily. The aura about Arturo grew stormy, waves of power starting to wash over him. "Arturo...please...please get Danny and watch over him," Danielle pleaded. Tears rushed down her cheeks. When they took Aidan, they never bothered the family. Or was it because she was just his sister? Now it involved her son, which meant she needed to be removed. To prevent a distraction... "I'm taking both of you with me." Aidan slowed to a stop when he spotted the scene before him. "What is going on?!" The guards swallowed. Great. Just great. Now the infamous temper of the kingdom was here too. Pleading for their case, the first guard shouted out. "By order of the Council, we are to take Danielle into detention. The reasons are not imparted upon us. The one to turn to for an explanation is Lord Constance!" |
Emma slowed to a stop as she approached them from behind, frowning a bit as she saw Arturo just barely containing his rage and Danielle crying. Soon enough, Aidan had joined them as well.
She stood back a bit, quiet; a little hesitant. Her training told her to avoid confontations that were not her problem. But this was her business, wasn't it? Danielle was her friend and they were taking her away, bound and crying. And Danny was missing--was this part of the Council's doing as well? Had they already gotten to him? Emma didn't like this at all. |
Aidan's temper exploded at the mention of Lord Constance. But unlike the younger Aidan, he made no moves to pummel the guards. He had to put his attention toward the one who was causing all of this. Racing back to the court, he knew he had to face the man. He had to free his sister, but most of all, he had to know where Danny was.
And he was beyond certain he knew Lord Constance was aware of where he was. |
When Aidan suddenly ran off, Emma gasped and looked between the guards and Danielle and then the fire mage who had so quickly taken off. There wasn't much she could do for Danielle against the guards--Arturo was there for her now.
She moved to hurry after Aidan. |
"YOU!"
Lord Constance was heading away from the court, back to his quarters. He turned, the long robes catching some of the wind and billowing out. Aidan stopped. The scent was faint. A wave of sickness washed over him as something from the back of his head tugged, yearning to be free. Some memory locked away. A memory he did not want. As it started to break free from the confines of his unconsciousness, he felt nausea. He clutched his abdomen, shocked at how it was incapacitating him in such a manner. Along with the distinctive smell the Council member had, there was blood. |
Emma was soon at Aidan's side as the man clutched his abdomen like that. "Aidan..!" She touched his back and shoulder with a furrowed brow before her eyes snapped up to the man that stood before them. She could smell it--what had triggered Aidan to react in such a way and her eyes widened a bit.
"What... What have you done? Where is Danny?!" The blood, it must have been the child's; she felt rage and energy build up within her, perhaps triggered by her own motherly instincts. Danny was a handful, but he was still only a child! |
"Perhaps you ought to find him rather than wasting your energies fighting me," the man responded, his eyes narrowing and smirk widening.
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"I've spent hours searching for him!" Emma retorted, fisting her hands up as she stepped forward a bit. She had searched! Where could he be? Her anger only built up over her previous frustrations from the past few days--she wanted a fight. She wanted to let all that anger out so badly, and this man's smirk just made her sick.
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"Then you're a worthless, useless eye sore," Lord Constance laughed. "Perhaps I did go a bit far. He's always so active and running about. Didn't think it would stop him from crawling back up and being troublesome again." His red eyes flashed.
"If you want a fight, then come. We'll make it quick." |
Emma sneered in response, that old temper of hers back full force. Her flames sparked to life and rushed at Lord Constance before her hand reached for a blade concealed within her clothes. She kept it on her in case she would have to confront any members of the Tribe, but it was good for more than that. She would tear this man apart, she swore.
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