Imiel and Marshal Knox
Marshal, his mind now fully returned to the present, let out a low whistle of awe between his teeth. "Man," he said. "I thought one crappy childhood was bad enough, let alone infinite ones."
Imiel too had regained his focus, but not his sense of dignity. A literal queen of Camelot. And he'd thought about... what, asking her out for coffee? At least he hadn't made a fool of himself yet. Not fully, anyway.
Marshal had no such worries. He'd already admitted to Cait what had happened with Ginny, removing all possibility of anything more than friendship now that she knew how stupid he'd been. Just as well. He wasn't exactly the noble prince type.
His mind turning immediately to practicalities, he said, without slightest hint of sarcasm, "This is all really interesting." (It was interesting.) "And we want to hear all about your adventures over the years... at some point. But right now, it seems like we have a pressing problem with this banshee situation. I wanna help. I'm sure he does too." A gesture toward Imiel, who nodded. Marshal went on, "But I'm gonna be honest, I don't even know where to start. Point me at something, and I'll do whatever you need me to. But where do we even begin? I don't suppose you've ever seen or heard of anything like this before?"
***
Down the street, a moving truck pulled up in front of another of the near-identical suburban houses.
Welcome to the Suburbs. Population: Odd.
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Monkey Kitty
- Posts: 609
- Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 7:31 pm
Re: Welcome to the Suburbs. Population: Odd.
A ruin in the mountains
"And it was soooo easy. After the big deal everyone was making about it."
The young woman's hood was pulled back from her face as she hovered over a plate of chips. She and several others were sitting at a long table in the facility cafeteria. They made up a semi-willing audience for Agraylea's tale of how the twins were captured.
"Of course it was. You had the easy part. A simple sleep spell followed by a simple distortion spell. Any first-level acolyte could have pulled that off."
Her detractor was passing by with a tray of his own.
"Yeah, everyone knows that the big part was the preparation for the actual transfer spell."
Sensing she was losing her audience, Agraylea started back in with what she knew. "Yeah yeah. It was cool having a front seat to that."
This statement brought some jealous glares from a few of her table mates. Bingo.
"The beast - you should have seen how fast her skin could knit back together. The drugs barely kept her under long enough to cast the spell. And Tian..." She whistled, "Woo, he had the royal bee all in a tizzy. Haha."
The man in question frowned at her and made to give her a quieting motion. She kept going.
"And can you imagine her poor little kiddies the next morning when their mommy comes back all messed up?" The woman's laughter rang out for a short moment before a deafening silence descended on the room. Her mouth stayed open for a few seconds before she realized she couldn't hear anything coming out of her throat. A terror gripped her as she slowly turned her head toward the door.
Dressed in a long purple gown with gold trim, hood pulled low over her face, stood their master. The woman's elegant frame was all too obvious under the fine silk, but the dangerous aura was what attracted everyone's attention. Wide eyes stared at her from every corner of the room.
"Children? Adopted, I assume, as if they were born of her flesh someone would have told me about this important development."
Silence. Tian whet his lips. Agraylea swallowed hard.
"Master, we observed children calling Rhiannon 'mother', but we do not know for certain if they are blood." Tian spoke calmly, bowing his head with respect as he did.
"Are you serious, Tian? They look just like hrrrkk"
Agraylea had not learned the lesson her partner had tried so hard to teach her. That there was a time to speak and a time to be silent. As the woman's lifeless body fell to the ground, her head at an odd angle, he thought that it only appropriate that she went out while talking. He knew he was still at risk, of course, but he could only hope that his manner would keep his Master's anger at bay.
"Well. This is troubling news. You...walk with me. I want details on this little family before I pay them a visit."
Tian nodded and stepped quickly to catch up with the powerful woman. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. He spoke as they walked.
"Well, the children appear to be twins around eleven or twelve years of age. A boy and a girl. The boy is sight impaired..."
He could only hope that he'd have opportunity to amend his error.
"And it was soooo easy. After the big deal everyone was making about it."
The young woman's hood was pulled back from her face as she hovered over a plate of chips. She and several others were sitting at a long table in the facility cafeteria. They made up a semi-willing audience for Agraylea's tale of how the twins were captured.
"Of course it was. You had the easy part. A simple sleep spell followed by a simple distortion spell. Any first-level acolyte could have pulled that off."
Her detractor was passing by with a tray of his own.
"Yeah, everyone knows that the big part was the preparation for the actual transfer spell."
Sensing she was losing her audience, Agraylea started back in with what she knew. "Yeah yeah. It was cool having a front seat to that."
This statement brought some jealous glares from a few of her table mates. Bingo.
"The beast - you should have seen how fast her skin could knit back together. The drugs barely kept her under long enough to cast the spell. And Tian..." She whistled, "Woo, he had the royal bee all in a tizzy. Haha."
The man in question frowned at her and made to give her a quieting motion. She kept going.
"And can you imagine her poor little kiddies the next morning when their mommy comes back all messed up?" The woman's laughter rang out for a short moment before a deafening silence descended on the room. Her mouth stayed open for a few seconds before she realized she couldn't hear anything coming out of her throat. A terror gripped her as she slowly turned her head toward the door.
Dressed in a long purple gown with gold trim, hood pulled low over her face, stood their master. The woman's elegant frame was all too obvious under the fine silk, but the dangerous aura was what attracted everyone's attention. Wide eyes stared at her from every corner of the room.
"Children? Adopted, I assume, as if they were born of her flesh someone would have told me about this important development."
Silence. Tian whet his lips. Agraylea swallowed hard.
"Master, we observed children calling Rhiannon 'mother', but we do not know for certain if they are blood." Tian spoke calmly, bowing his head with respect as he did.
"Are you serious, Tian? They look just like hrrrkk"
Agraylea had not learned the lesson her partner had tried so hard to teach her. That there was a time to speak and a time to be silent. As the woman's lifeless body fell to the ground, her head at an odd angle, he thought that it only appropriate that she went out while talking. He knew he was still at risk, of course, but he could only hope that his manner would keep his Master's anger at bay.
"Well. This is troubling news. You...walk with me. I want details on this little family before I pay them a visit."
Tian nodded and stepped quickly to catch up with the powerful woman. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. He spoke as they walked.
"Well, the children appear to be twins around eleven or twelve years of age. A boy and a girl. The boy is sight impaired..."
He could only hope that he'd have opportunity to amend his error.