by SunnyJustice » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:07 pm
"We are all glad to hear that you're fine," Gavotte told Xia cheerfully. Even though they had just met, he considered her a friend. Everyone fighting for the Sanctuary's cause was a friend to him, even those who seemed to be standoffish or impolite. They had more things in common than they had differences. The main thing they had in common; they wanted to end this war.
Well, maybe not Cadence. Gavotte was pretty sure his mother wanted more and more war. Once he caught her reading a book called War and More War. It was written by an ancient guy with anger problems called Conlan. That guy loved to fight, especially with his mother. He hated his mother for some reason- Gavotte hadn't quite read the entire thing. He couldn't fathom why anyone would truly hate their mother. Even though Cadence had anger problems, Gavotte still loved her dearly. She was his one and only mother, and would never be replaced.
Xia offered to leave, and Gavotte chuckled. "Jen is right. You and Silas are definitely welcome to come with us," He said. They were taking Anna along, so why not the others?
He turned to Jen. "You feel like Solara, is that a good thing?" He laughed and put a hand on her forehead. He pretended to recoil like he had been burnt. "Oh my! I think you are actually turning into Solara."
"That's true, Bruce!" Cilan told Mallory, trying to make up something that rhymed. It did not work. First of all, it didn't even rhyme properly, and furthermore it just sounded stupid.
"Uhh I was trying to make up a rhyme," He explained himself sheepishly. "But in all honestly, you could easily be a 'Bruce' if you were a guy. Hmmm..." He squinted at her. "Nah... more of a Cedric to be honest. No, Jett! Because you're a jet-black wolf! I am such a genius..."
---
The Prison
They were nearing the jail, an old rusty building covered with vines. It had fallen into disrepair. This building had actually been around since the first humans were created on Hesenia, but it was never used after Solara came into power. People were kind of sentimental about the place, and would constantly make repairs, since it was a historical building. Of course, now Alastair was in power and the jail was being used again. It had been newly renovated with electrical security systems, but the outside still looked just as old. Ivana did pay attention in class, which was why she knew all this.
Amber was ready, and it seemed like Solara was too. The Queen just nodded subtly. It was hard to read her expression, but Ivana felt like it was safe to assume that was a yes.
"Let's go for it, Am," Ivana said with a smile. There were actually no guards to be seen. Ivana was completely silent, but she knew exactly how powerful she was right now. She still couldn't beat her father or sister in sheer power, but there was one thing Ivana was talented at. She could electrocute someone to a crisp, and not harm a single electrical circuit around them. Once Darius was on his laptop slacking off, and Ivana zapped him. The laptop was fine. Darius on the other hand was rushed to the hospital. Even Adam always risked destroying things around him. Ivana was just skilled at avoiding collateral damage. It would be necessary here, since Solara would probably dislike being electrocuted. Ivana wasn't sure, but better safe than sorry.
She looked beside her, but Solara had gone off. Hopefully following the plan. Solara didn't exactly strike Ivana as very... bright. Intellectually of course, not literally (since she was the Queen of Light after all). First of all she was illiterate, second of all she rarely spoke. She was like a rock.
Ivana shook her head... they would just have to proceed. She knew the door was probably sealed from the security system. They would need to get past that first. Ivana stepped out of the bushes and quietly walked to the side of the building, searching for somewhere she could access the system, but all she saw was rusted walls. When she went back to the door...
"Solara," Ivana sighed when she saw the heavy metal door lying on the ground, like a piece of useless scrap metal. Ivana shook her head. Her family strongly believed that using pure muscle power to overcome problems, was an unsophisticated way reserved only for uneducated ignoramuses.
Hey, be kind to my Sunny, Said a creepy woman's voice in her head. And I get that a lot, but I am not a woman! Most know me as the moon- Can you guess who I am?
"Amber, please hurry up and disable the security system." Ivana whispered loudly. "I can't find the panel, and now King Luno is in my head."
You're colorblind, aren't you? Luno said. You walked right past the panel when you were last looking. It is red, so you must not have seen it since the walls are green.
Ivana was growing offended... Thank you, but please stay out of my head, sir.
Ah, at least you're polite, sweetie. Goodbye dear!
Ivana began to search for the security system using only her sense of touch, which was highly embarrassing. She could not believe that the Celestial Couple was actually this... unsophisticated. She had once deeply respected Solara and Luno, when she was reading about them in the textbooks. Now that she actually met them, they had not made favorable impressions on her.
She sighed when she still didn't find the panel, and now her perfectly manicured hands were covered in moss. She was beginning to slightly regret leaving home. Here she was not a heiress, here she was subject to even more limitations than the others. She was not very strong, and Luno was right. She was colorblind.
She spoke about Alastair's ugly colors of dark red and dark green, but only because she heard they were two separate colors. Once, she thought they were the same color- a dark murky brown. That was all she saw. Which did look very hideous to her. And she had just found out today, Agatha wasn't one single color either. According to Amber she was represented by dull red and green. It was almost as if that ignoramus Agatha was trying to poke fun at Ivana...
She could not believe her luck. Her face was burning with restrained anger, and she wanted to teach Agatha a lesson, but she also kind of wanted to cry. She was not used to being so useless.
"Amber, where are you?"
Inside the prison, the redheaded brothers were getting agitated. Waverly knelt beside the boy who had fallen. "Try not to move," He said quietly. There wasn't any blood, but the boy had fallen hard. If he had broken any bones, he might make it worse if he moved around. The green-eyed boy looked like he was in a lot of pain, but he was still alive. Waverly wished there was something he could do.
His brother was just acting like a chicken with his head cut off. "Sunlight! He's one of those plant dudes!" Sammy said brightly. "I'm a ginger, does that help?"
Waverly felt the blood drain from his face... this was not the right time. "Sammy, please..."
There was a loud noise, like tearing metal. Waverly flinched as a chill went down his spine. They were not alone here. "W-what's that?"
"I'll protect you guys!" Samuel announced boldly, positioning himself between the other teenagers and the weird noise.
While Sammy was confident, Waverly worried more about him because of that. If it was a threat, their best bet would be to run away and take this weakened boy with them. He could guide them, and they could protect him. But Samuel might want to just stand and fight. "Please be careful," Waverly begged him. Anxiously, he looked up at the girls. Maybe they knew something about the noise, or had a plan to get away from it safely.
---
Celestial Pinnacle
For a second, the room was quiet. The triplets looked at each other with wide eyes. Vulcana furrowed her thick brows, and Conlan scowled, really not in the mood for this load of disgrace. Tacet was beside him, and he looked calm as ever; he was probably the only one. Zelkova and Livius looked at Evan. The Governor was clearly very uncomfortable, and he looked at Kelly with an expression that read, 'What the disgrace are you trying to do!'
To Conlan's surprise, Ada actually started laughing her head off. She sounded like she was trying to say something, but she was laughing too hard to speak properly. This made the entire room even more silent.
It was Albina who broke the silence. "That kind of attitude is unwelcome here, mortal." The ice-element sister sneered, rising to her feet. "If I was to speak to my mother that way-"
"You will not be speaking to me that way," Ada snapped as her laughter immediately stopped. "Were you not suspicious that I read every wife's name first except Kelly? I wanted to test how far she would go to challenge me."
Conlan noticed that Zelkova gently let go of the mortal boy's hand. She murmured something that sounded like an apology. Typical Zelkova. She was quite unlike many others of their family. However, Conlan also noticed that she did not sit down.
"That woman should not be disrupting-" Albina started.
"You are the one disrupting!" Zelkova shouted, losing her temper- Conlan had to squint to keep track of her. She moved so fast, one moment she was standing up in her spot, the next second she was on the other side of the table and had slammed Albina against a wall. But it actually was not a wall. The clouds on the blue wallpaper was moving, because it was actually the sky. The roof above was just floating. Conlan stared perplexedly as Albina fell from the tower; she was gone so fast she didn't have time to make another sharp remark.
Zelkova returned to her seat and waited until the Soares were done. "No, Jonah, you are fine." She smiled in that gentle way of hers. "I believe my interruption was far worse, and I do apologize for that disruptance." Now she was addressing everyone. "We will not have any further issues, and I will be sure to speak with Albina separately."
Conlan could see the dark gleam in her eyes even from here. He almost felt bad for Albina, since he knew Zelkova's threats were to be taken seriously. This was only the second time she had ever threatened someone. The first time was before Conlan was even born, and nobody had told him the details.
"Focus!" Ada roared, almost speaking directly to Conlan. Furiously, he turned around, but didn't look directly at her. Ada could be very unpredictable when people challenged her. She would only laugh it off with very rare people. With most people, she would make them suffer in the Underworld. Conlan knew his great-grandmother was not very merciful.
"Sending dreams is ideal," Ada continued irritably. Conlan knew the anger was directed towards him, not Jonah. Ada was always mad at someone, but she was more tolerant towards the Soares because of whatever 'long history' they had. "You should all consult other dead people to send more dreams. This may include people you dislike. But do it anyway. If I hear you have been excluding important people because of your personal grudges, you will be condemned to eternity in the Underworld."
"I also ask you to please forgive me for what lies ahead," Zelkova said with her head slightly lowered. "For Hesenia to live, some must die."
"Don't feel down, guys!" Livius said cheerfully. "Juniper and I discussed some arrangements for some of you lucky mortals here with us today. It's a surprise for now, but you're really going to like it!"
Conlan was getting sick of this wishy washy disgrace, he didn't care about this dumb 'feelings' stuff right now. It wasn't important. What was important, was beating up Agatha. "Livius, before you do anything, you have to send me back." He rose to his feet. Conlan was actually the smallest of the council members gathered here, but that didn't mean he could be underestimated. He looked directly into Livius' bright green eyes. It was some midway between a threat and a challenge.
Livius was completely unfazed. "Sure thing, kiddo! With the amount of anger in your system, that shouldn't take all day. I'll send you back and you can keep on clobbering Agatha's-"
"Livius," Zelkova sighed.
"Butt," Livius squeaked.
"THE CHOSEN ONES LOST MOST WEAPONS," Vulcana announced. "I WILL RETURN TO THE UNDERWORLD TO MAKE MORE."
"We will find Agatha and give her a good pounding!" Aeliana laughed. "She can hide, but she sure can't run like the wind!"
"She can cry us a river then," Mariana added.
"Yes." Terentia actually seemed proud of her sisters for once.
"We will stay here and ensure everything runs smoothly," Zelkova said calmly. She nodded at Evan, then at all the visitors. Conlan noticed she did smile at Jonah. She tended to be especially kind with young men who lost their lives, and Conlan found it quite creepy. He didn't understand how Livius didn't even mind.
"I will stay here. You better send that Agatha to me soon!" Ada said angrily.
"Yes, ma'am," Said Zelkova.
"I have some discipline planned out for her..." Ada actually smiled this time, but it was not a friendly smile. It gave Conlan chills. Of course he wasn't afraid... why would he be afraid? He would totally fight her!... Actually...
... Conlan had tried it before... that was why he never went to the Underworld again.
"Motion to adjourn?" Evan suggested, finally speaking.
"You are all dismissed." Ada said. "Mortals, stay to receive your assignments. Conlan, don't disgracing slack off or I will bash in your skull."
With that, the screen went dark.
He didn't know if she was joking... but better safe than sorry.
"Let's get a move on!" Aeliana squealed as she grabbed her sisters' hands, and literally pulled them off the tower. Conlan did not understand that crazy woman who enjoyed skydiving so much. After his recent fall, Conlan decided he would never try skydiving.
Vulcana looked at Juniper with an unreadable expression before leaving first, slamming the door behind her. Intentionally or not, Conlan couldn't tell. She was just that strong. Juniper paused for a second, then went after her.
It occurred to Conlan that Juniper hadn't announced what his immediate role would be. But he had a feeling it would be important.
Tacet stood up and gathered where the other mortals stood. Evan had already produced a list ahead of time. It had all the people relevant to their cause; everyone from the Sanctuary, everyone who would go to the Sanctuary eventually, everyone influential on Alastair's side, and others important to Hesenia such as the Lin family. Conlan had already seen it. He didn't much care for most of those people; they had never challenged him to a good duel.
"Please sign yourself up, under the names of those you will directly speak to." Zelkova was explaining it to everyone. "There will be many blank names. I need someone responsible who will find the other parents, and allow them to sign up to contact their children."
"Pick Kelly," Conlan yelled at her from across the room. "She knows what she's doing." Conlan liked that little fighter... he would definitely spar her one day.
He smirked when he saw Zelkova handing the sheet towards Kelly.
"It's time to go," Livius said from behind him. Conlan spun around and almost punched him out.
"Whoa, what's wrong Connie?"
"Don't do that," He snapped. "Now let's get a move on... do we have to jump?"
"Oh yes." Livius smiled brightly. "I know you love skydiving."
Conlan's blood ran cold. "Wait. Isn't there another way? The stairs? Livius, we can talk..."
"Ah, but you hate talking things out. You would rather punch me. Don't worry! You can punch me... next time you die." With surprising strength, Livius pulled him towards the edge.
"I swear I will beat you up so badly," Conlan snarled, "Your wife will have to come collect you."
Livius laughed, getting the joke- but obviously not afraid of the threat. It ticked off Conlan so much. But the next thing ticked him off even more, because then they were falling off the edge. Hopefully none of the mortals heard Conlan screaming.
