Bradley lay in the dark hallway trying to breath. It was not so easy. He could hear the sobs and moans of pain from the other students. It was reassuring. It meant they were alive. There had been so much suffering already, and he'd been too far away to help. Not this time. This time he made it before it was too late. He thought he could hear crackling. The lab might still be on fire. But he couldn't trust his ears. They were still ringing from the explosion.
Mel and Ace port to the lab mere seconds after the alternate Vai left.
but before she could say anything the blast goes off and Mel is thrown to the floor as a spray of sparks explode from her datapad.
she scrambles to toss the devices and crawls to them and looks in disbelief. I feel like I've lost my best friend
then around Mel is a flash and the same scene repeats. followed by a flash and the scene repeats again.
continuing over and over.
Ehos feels the electric tingle as his datapad shorts out, causing him to drop it instictively. As the Sim room functions begin to die around him, Ehos freezes.
>> Not again dear gods please. <<
Ehos doesn't move a single muscle. He's not even breathing, holding his breath for fear of causing an explosion of sound. He could /hear/ his own heartbeat. Something was horribly wrong. He doesn't even dare communicate telepathically, just out of fear.
Elsewhere in the school... all is calm in the aftermath of the explosion. Not even the thrum of machinery disturbs the quietness.
Tami pulled out some powdered phospherescent moss and rubbed it on the back of her hand so the glow could illuminate the room.
"What happened?"
Well, when she return I will try to help her...
"Could someone assist me in discovering the culprits that demolished the infirmary? help me find the guards on duty at the time perhaps?" Yrrin asks
All signs thus far point to the attacker which just ransacked this laboratory - she even left a parting gift of an EM burst, as the Champion of Light.
"Not...sure...Ehos are you okay? Your face is turning red..." She looks at the datapad which has gone blank and starts to make the connection.
"Do any of you know how to cast silence? Because he'll start breathing again when he loses consciousness and that might very well kill all of us," she said frantically. "I don't think his bracelet is working."
Ephebe walks towards the temporal anomaly and keeps walking around and around Melody as she unravels it. It takes her four or five trips around before she gets to Melody and time starts running normally again.
"When the small blue dragon reappears don't attack her please. I sent her outside of time to keep her safe. She is the one from our timeline and none of this was her fault," she said as she worked.
"And we'll be happy to help you, Justice. But as you may have noticed everything has gone to hell in a handbasket here so it may take a while before we can catch her."
"Also, anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with a Patron who has clearly lost his godsdamned mind? I mean other than Madness Tarka. He's supposed to be crazy. Kronos isn't. Which doesn't appear to have stopped him in the slightest. She didn't get here without help, and it wasn't from me."
"Um... Maybe i could talk to him? I smack sense into madness on a regular basis."
she pauses.
"Stop whining, madness. I'm having a conversation."
roel comes to the lab, attracted to the noise.
"What's going on here?"
"I....I think I can," Ginni says uncertainly. "I haven't really in a long time...and I never had the best control over it..."
She walked near Ehos and starts singing the opening line of a lullaby.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word." she sang and concentrated as hard as she could on the music, on bringing the magic through it. Telepathy was easier, but it wasn't going to help her now. She needed to use this. It was important.
"I'm sorry," she said, almost in tears as the magic sputtered out and failed to take shape. "Let me try again."
"Hush, hush, don't you cry," she sang, trying even harder to channel the magic.
She bit her lip. "I don't think I can do it."
"Not...sure...Ehos are you okay? Your face is turning red..." She looks at the datapad which has gone blank and starts to make the connection.
"Do any of you know how to cast silence? Because he'll start breathing again when he loses consciousness and that might very well kill all of us," she said frantically. "I don't think his bracelet is working."
Phaezeriel comes flying into the lab with barely enough time to see darth-Vai vanish. Then the EMP destroys all the electronics, and the lab is plunged into darkness. In the silence that follows, a silence all the more profound for the lack of the background hum being gone, Phaezeriel slowly flutters to the ground staring at the spot where a much larger blue dragon teleported in a way that only Vai teleports.
After several heartbeats, he looks around at the gathered people, ::Who was that?! Has anyone seen Vai?::
"Critical failure. . . ."
Hermes slumps forward until Arthur wakes him.
He stands and small wers and clicks of start up are heard.
"But what if he tries to homicide you. . . ."
The small dragon slinks into the room, its smaller front claws holding each other.
"Eh? Why did the lights go out? You alright?"
the anthro lion doesn't respond for a moment, but after a second or two, says
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
"Kill, jabby. The term is kill. And don't worry, i don't care."
::Phaeze! Help! The power went out and we're trapped in the SIM room and ...I don't think Ehos's sound-suppressing bracelet is still working. He can't hold his breath much longer.::
"But I care. . . . "
"Don't worry, jabby. Since when can talking kill people?"
"Magic people do a lot of talking to kill people.. . . ."
As the anaomly ends. Mel just sits there a moment and picks up her datapad.
looks like I'll have to start all over. but on the bright side that time file is finally deleted. she muses to nobody in paricular.
looking around the room the apparent immediate danger gone.
the lights out, power gone, datapad fried. hmmm.
mel pulls out her sonic device and checks it for function. it activates shedding some light around her. well you still work. is anyone hurt? anyone need some help? wait...the Sim room, anyone know if the Sim rooms are down?
"What's broken, Mel?"
"uh rather often, espically when talking to mages and gods and stuff, my dad had a saying "never let a mage talk unless he's on your side odds are he's casting a spell""
she glares at you, giving you an impression of "why on earth would you say that!?"
"What's broken, Mel?"
Mel looks toward the voice Oh hey Roel, looks like the girls had a wild party after all. she jokes trying to lighten the overall dismal mood.
looks like my datapad is fried. and my hair is probably a mess also.
when she hears the comment about mages magic isn't real, at least the way i understand it
"If you say so. Hand me the data pad and watch magic do it's job."
"What's broken, Mel?"Mel looks toward the voice Oh hey Roel, looks like the girls had a wild party after all. she jokes trying to lighten the overall dismal mood.
looks like my datapad is fried. and my hair is probably a mess also.
when she hears the comment about mages magic isn't real, at least the way i understand it
Ephebe rolled her eyes.
"Okay, so if you have more time problems, come talk to me, don't just let them keep running and running out of control like that."
::Mom?::
::Mom?!::
"Krays, I think something is really wrong. Not only is the power out, but Mom isn't responding. With all her electronic devices, she could have been seriously hurt...."
Arthur sighs "please tell me you aren't here to attack too, cause really that would suck" he says in a half hearted attempt at a joke.
Nala knelt over the unconscious form of Professor Sunwake. She'd had a hard time getting to her. First she had to cast a light spell and then make her way across the infirmary without breaking any vials. But she'd made it and she cast Heal.
"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay," she whispered.
|
"uh rather often, espically when talking to mages and gods and stuff, my dad had a saying "never let a mage talk unless he's on your side odds are he's casting a spell""she glares at you, giving you an impression of "why on earth would you say that!?"
arthur's helmet folds back and he looks at her as if to say 'what what did I say'
she strokes jabby behind the frill, still looking at you like your an idiot.
Ace surveys the scene right after Bad Vai teleports away. Then, everything goes dark.
::"This is so not good. Jaiye, I can teleport back there, and silence Ehos, but I think I can do more good here. None of the girls can help him??"::
Casting a minor spell on his scimitar, Ace illuminates the room some.
"Give me ten minutes, and I should be able trace that teleporation effect, at least sorta. Also, I can probably help restore the schools systems, if I can see Mel or Prof Sunwake do to it first."
"If you say so. Hand me the data pad and watch magic do it's job."
she starts to hand him the datapad then stops wait, are you going to drip acid all over it?
she eventually yet reluctantly hand Roel the datapad and her attention is diverted a bit.
Mel just nods and avoids eye contact she apparently does not want to upset her any more than she already has
Mel looks up at Arthur were you saying something? I don't think we met. and at least you have your clothes on. the last time I met someone new to the school he was naked and apparently proud of it. anyway I'm Melody but most just call me Mel for short
anyway we need to see what we can do to get these syetems back on line.
at this point Mel is still siting on the floor using her sonic device for light.
"Ginni, I'm all out of the ingredients for silence. And neither Morrivan or Raelle can cast it at all. You have to try again. Come on, just calm down. You can do this. It's important. You need to help Ehos. And all of us too. Just give it one more try," Tami said , trying to be encouraging.
In only a few moments, the datapad is back on and running. He hands it back.
"Magic."
In only a few moments, the datapad is back on and running. He hands it back.
"Magic."
she takes her datapad back.
misunderstood scientific advancement she retorts then sticks her tongue out at Roel playfully.
::Phaeze! Help! The power went out and we're trapped in the SIM room and ...I don't think Ehos's sound-suppressing bracelet is still working. He can't hold his breath much longer.::
Phaezeriel looks around wildly for a moment as if he could visibly find a way to not have to choose between his friends. Finally, since Vai was not there and Ehos was, with a silent snarl he turns to the broken door and disappears.
As he fades from sight his thoughts answer Melody's question, ::The sim room is as dead as everything else is.::
Appearing in the sim room, and not hindered by the darkness, Phaezeriel locks his glowing red eyes on Ehos and almost savagely bends reality around Ehos so that sound waves cannot propagate within 5 feet of him. ::Ehos, you are safe. You will not hurt anyone with sound now.::
"I don't know how i do it, i just do."
::Thank you, Phaeze,:: Jaiye said, nearly crying with relief. ::He'd never forgive himself if he hurt us.::
"Does this mean that we don't have to worry about Ehos's problem for now?"
"I'm sorry I was so useless. I just....I don't really know what I'm doing and I couldn't make the magic work."
Ehos visibly relaxes, striding forward and hugging his demonic friend. ::Thank you Phaeze. Thank you. I couldn't bear it if I had hurt people again.::
Ehos shakes his head at Ginni and promptly hugs her as well, in an effort to show how thankful he was that she had even tried.
"Ephebe, is there any way i could talk to Kronos?"
Naturally, right after Phaezeriel had left, the smaller blue dragon form of Vai Sunwake returns to the timestream.
Unfortunately for those present, being removed from the timestream doesn't dispel enchantments. However, with both Fei and Melody present, Vai's true self once again attempts to break free.
The Blue roars in defiance as she finally breaks free of the grasp that her other self had on her mind.
Almost instantly, she's the half-elf girl again, slumping down on the floor next to her beloved. Her meldanya. She can taste Tamina's blood still in her mouth, that sickeningly sweet, almost intoxicating taste.
"Fei..." she clings to his leg, shaking uncontrollably. It was her worst nightmare, and she had done it... she had /wanted/ to do it.