Succession: Heir to the Empire

((Can I have a summary please?))

(Basically, there's been a rebel assassination attempt on the Heirs and the Heirs are fighting the Rebels.)

(Actually only Nebi, Caesar, Carlisle, Brighe, and Syrien are fighting the rebels. They're about half an hour from the castle with Kegan and Rein. Meanwhile Epiphany, Clara, Maul, Tsuba, and Baruti are still dining together in the castle.)

Carlisle/Brighe

"What...how does he?"Carlisle muttered to himself as he saw the now drained bodies lay there, surprisingly they didn't collapse on themselves into ash like Carlisle expected them to. "So it's not the same....Question him later, there's no time to do it now." Carlisle realized as he heard a rebel running towards him, jumping over the bodies of his fallen comrades.

"Adficio!" Carlisle shouted as he quickly turned around and grabbed the rebel, sticking the middle and index fingers on his right hand into the man's eyes and pushing him back with his left. Within seconds the man was ash and Carlisle felt a restored slightly.
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"Dorri a bantio." Brighe silently commanded as she once again touched the Earth, causing it to slowly split and sink. The small newly-created chasm grew wider and larger as it rushed towards Hazuki.

Nebi sighed as he once more engulfed a group of rebels in flames. He wrinkled his nose. The stench of burning flesh was hardly a pleasing once. With a swipe of his sword, he beheaded another rebel before turning to the others.

"Is that all of them?"

Syrien, Caesar, Hazuki, Rein

Indeed, with that final attack from Nebi, it seemed that most of the rebel hordes were now dead or dying. Only Hazuki remained standing. The rebel in question disengaged her attack and leapt to avoid the widening chasm. Looking around, she quickly saw she was outnumbered.

"Give it up, Hazuki. You've fought valiantly, but you have no more allies to assist you. Surrender, and you will not die." Syrien calmly stated. Seeing as their was no more threat, he lowered the slabs of earth Brighe had made to protect Kegan and Rein. Hazuki scowled at them all.

"If I had enough magic left I would...but it's not over, Syrien. I'll be back." Hazuki vanished into thin air. The elderly elf gave a sigh of relief.

"Good, this crisis is done with. We can all go back to the castle now."

"Nex aggredior."

Syrien twisted his head to see a badly burned, but still alive rebel, firing an arrow. The arrow was engulfed by a white energy after the spell was chanted. It was sailing straight toward Kegan. Without thinking, Rein pushed Kegan out of the way...

....just as the arrow meant for Kegan sunk deep into her chest.

Kegan/Brighe
"Oh wonderful, she can teleport as well..." Brighe muttered sarcastically as Hazuki disappeared. But instead of being rewarded with a response from anyone else, she instead heard the voice of one of the remaining rebels. She was helpless to do anything as she saw an arrow fly at her Nephew from afar, only to hit his companion instead.

Kegan stared in horror as he fell to the ground, watching Rein collapse right beside him. "Rein!" Kegan shouted as he quickly sat up and leaned over Rein, his voice cracking as his mind tried to process what was happening. "Rein, Rein are you ok?"

"An archer," Nebi muttered before cursing. He created a shield to protect him and the others from another surprise attack while checking to see where the remaining rebel was. He spoke, "Is Rein okay?"

Syrien, Rein

Syrien's eyes lit up in horror. In an instant he appeared beside the rebel archer and proceeded to rip the young man's head off of his shoulders. As soon as it had happened he appeared right next to Kegan and gathered the wounded Rein up into his arms.

"Castle, NOW!"

Syrien let out a brief burst of magic, and took everyone back to the palace. They were all back in the dinning hall, before Syrien again teleported, taking Rein, Kegan, Carlisle, and Brighe with him. This time Syrien and those he had taken with him were in the healer's room. Syrien laid Rein carefully on a table.

"Lady Brighe, get the healer and find C.C.! We may need her help. Kegan, get me something to stop her bleeding. Unfortunately, I have no skill in medical magic. Carlisle, I'm counting on you until we get either the healer or C.C. here." Syrien spoke quickly.

Brighe/Kegan/Carlisle

"Ok." Brighe replied as she turned around and ran out the room, looking both ways down the hall before turning right and running.

"Shouldn't we get the arrow out of her chest first?" Kegan asked as he reached out to grab onto the shaft of the arrow.
"Don't." Carlisle spat out as he jumped forward. "We cannot move the arrow, she'll just bleed faster and there's the chance that the arrow will splinter and simply harm her more. First things first, we need to stabilize the arrow and make sure it wont move, then we need to clean the wound to prevent infection." Carlisle explained as he carefully cut open Rein's shirt.

"I want a bowl of cold and clean water, a bowl of boiling water, a small and very sharp knife, some bandages, and hard alcohol please. " Carlisle ordered as he looked up at Kegan expectantly. His gaze then turned to Syrien quickly. "Sir, I'm going to need you to grab that towel and put some pressure on the wound. Ok?" Carlisle asked as Kegan loudly ran around the room looking for what Carlisle requested.
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Clara

"Well...so I take it everything didn't go as planned?" Clara asked Nebi and Caesar just seconds after the other five had disappeared.

"Gee, what do you think?" Nebi asked sarcastically as he dropped the shield. He frowned thoughtfully, "Who are the rebels anyway?"

Syrien, Rein

Syrien made no objections as Carlisle took over. The Elf nodded and conjured up a towel. The servant cast another spell to shield Rein's modesty, and gently applied pressure to her wound with the cloth. Rein, meanwhile, was moaning with pain, barely able to keep herself conscious.

"Don't worry Rein, everything's fine. It'll be ok," Syrien spoke softly, doing his best to reassure his adoptive daughter. He took a brief moment to send a mental message to C.C.

C.C.

As C.C. sat eating dinner with Rhys and Katie, she received a mental message from Syrien at the palace. So, he was finally back? The Mage frowned as she went through his message. She stood up and gave an apologetic smile to Katie.

"I'm sorry, but something has happened at the palace. I must leave at once."

Caesar

"Obviously someone hasn't been touching up on their history. The rebels have always existed with the Gaborian Empire. They are the one thorn in the Empire's side that has been crushed, but never completely removed. Baruti, why don't you enlighten the lad? I'm hungry." Caesar replied. Taking a seat back at his chair, the Humage feasted on what was left of the dinner.

"I know that, Caesar," Nebi grumbled as he remained standing, "I just don't know much about them. Nobody does."

"The rebels are not all one cohesive whole. There are many different factions," Baruti explained, "Non-human races, for example, that wish for independence from or more power in the Empire, nobles seeking more power for themselves, idealists wishing to reform the government so that the common people rule. Those are only a few examples."

Clara

"Essentially the only thing that all Rebel's have in common is just that they don't know when to be content with what they have." Clara stated as she her glass in her hands, drinking out of it a few seconds after she was finished speaking.
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Katie/Rhys

"Umm well good luck." Katie replied as she tried to hide her disappointment. It had been nice to talk with C.C. and simply enjoy the moment for a while. She knew that now that it was just her and Rhys again, the boring silence from before would return.
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Carlisle/Kegan

"Good." Carlisle replied before turning around to see if Kegan was almost finished. "Syrien, just keep applying the pressure, do not stop at any time. If the towel becomes too wet in blood, just put another towel on top of it and keep the pressure applied no matter what."

"I got it all. Well most of it anyways, water's still boil-" Kegan stated as he ran up to Carlisle haphazardly.
"Good. Would you please hand me the bandages and the knife Kegan?" Carlisle asked as he cut off the disturbed Half-Elf. "Good, now I want you to get Rein to drink the...."
"Vodka."
"That." Carlisle added as he began to try and cut down the arrow in Rein's chest without harming her even more.

C.C.

"Thank you, Katie. Don't worry, I won't be long. Here." C.C. withdrew a pocket mirror from her robes and handed it to Katie.

"If you ever need my help, or need to talk to me, say my name into the mirror. I have one of my own, so we can use it to communicate with each other when I'm away. However, please do not overuse it."

The Mage then disappeared.

Caesar

"Ah, and we cannot forget those who wish to see the Gaborian Empire burn to the ground. They don't care what comes next, so long as this Empire finally falls. Now, please do excuse me. I have some business to attend to."

Caesar stood up from his chair and walked out of the dinning room.

Syrien, Rein

Syrien applied more pressure to Rein's wound. Rein slowly drank the alcohol with the help of Kegan. She wince in some pain as Carlisle went about his work.

"For the love of the gods, where is Brighe with the healer?!" Syrien cursed angrily, for once showing a display of emotion.

Katie/Rhys

"Bye...." Katie whispered after C.C. had disappeared. The young girl stood in place for a few more seconds before turning around to see that Rhys was getting out of his seat.

"I believe it's time that we both retire and go to our rooms. It is getting late after all." He explained, trying to sound polite.

"Oh of course, of course. It's late." Katie agreed weakly, not exactly believing what she was saying.

"Good. Well then, I'll see you tomorrow?" Rhys asked.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
"Good." He replied. Walking out of the room immediately after as he left Katie alone so she could sit and think about what had happened to her that day.
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Clara

Clara slowly put her glass back onto the table with a bemused expression on her face after Caeesar walked out. "My my. This has certainly been an odd dinner party." She stated quietly.
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Brighe

Brighe quickly rushed down the hallway as she made her way towards the Servants quarters, ignoring the stares and confused glances of the people she rushed past. Within a few minutes she was standing in an Elderly woman's room, explaining that she needed her help immediately or that it would be very likely that a young girl would die.

"Ok sweety, ok. Lets go, no time to waste." The old healer replied as she slowly stood up.

"Thank you..." Brighe replied as she studied the elderly woman's movements and made up her mind. "I must apologize in advance for being so rude but I am going to have to carry you. In your old age you'll be moving much too slow and that could cost a girl her life."

"Very well Sweety, if you are sure that the young lady is in that much danger."

"She is." Brighe answered quickly as she helped the older woman climb onto her piggy-back style before quickly running out of the room and down the halls again.
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Susanna

"Well someone's certainly in a rush." Susanna thougth to herself as she saw a young Elf rush past her down the hallway. "Probably someone injured again no doubt. The Royal guard certainly isn't protecting anyone these days." She bitterly thought as she continued to stroll down the halls alone.

C.C., Syrien

C.C. teleported herself into the healer's room just as Brighe arrived with the elderly healer. "What's the situation?" the Mage asked Carlisle.

"Rein was pierced by an arrow while protecting Heir Kegan's life. I believe it has not punctured any organs, but I could be wrong. We're working as fast as we can to save her." Syrien quickly explained. He eyed Carlisle as he continued.

"Are you nearly done?"

Caesar

"Ah, hello Susanna. How are you doing?" Caesar asked with concern, walking up to her.

Carlisle

"She's going to be fine. Her Organs are fine, she's not bleeding too much anymore, I'm pretty sure that she'll be fine." Carlisle informed the others, trying to be reassuring. "I'm going to try and get the arrow out, then seal the wound up." He added in explanation before looking up at Syrien. "And I umm...I'm going to need you to switch places with the healer if you can. She's a bit more experienced obviously and that's going to be important...." Carlisle said as he tried not to seem rude.
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Susanna

Susanna looked up at Caesar and wondered how she was supposed to respond. Her feelings about the Humage were mixed right now, it had been a very busy day after all, and too much had happened.

"I'm managing ,Caesar..how are you?" She finally said as she decided that breaking down in the hallway wouldn't be the best idea.

Syrien, C.C.

"Of course, it is logical." Syrien said, moving so the healer could take his place. C.C. stared at Rein, frowning. Suddenly the young Humage gave out a shriek of pain. The Mage's eyes widden as she saw a dark aura spreading across Rein's body, coming from the arrow. C.C. emitted a magic pulse to make the dark aura visible.

"By the gods, no..." Syrien whispered as the aura became visible. Then the spell the rebel had uttered came back to his mind.

"This arrow...a spell was placed upon it before being fired. The arrow was not intended to kill the rebel's target....the spell was." Syrien paused before repeating the name of the spell.

"That spell....I remember hearing and using it before. It means..." Syrien paled.

"It means Death Attack," C.C. continued for the Elf, "The spell acts like a poison, spreading across the infected's body and killing her from the inside. Continuous pain is felt before the spell takes full affect...and kills the victim."

Caesar

Caesar qave a sympathetic smile. He snapped his fingers, and both appeared in Susanna's room.

"Sorry for not asking permission but...you do not look so well. I'm fine, thank you. I relieved some of my anger while battling the rebels earlier." Caesar answered.

"Very odd indeed Clara." Epiphany silently after wiping her mouh after finishing her soup. That was almost the only time she spoke during dinner. She was just litening to everyone else's conversation. Epiphany always found interest in listening to othe people's conversations. Sh believes you cn learn a lot from just listening and that it also sounds like listenin to a story. "But there will be a time where everyone will just leave the dinner table to attend to their own personal needs."

Clara

"True. But you must admit, if tonight's meal is any indication of how things are around here, then danger seems to lurk around every corner." Clara replied, sounding almost delighted with what she was saying.
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Carlisle

"N-no." Carlisle whispered in fright as he looked down at the poison advancing up Rein's body. Carlisle looked up at Syrien apologetically. "I-i don't know how to deal with this, Sir. I never finished studying antidotes, and I'd need to know exactly what the rebel had said to heal it using magic." The Heir explained as he fought back tears.
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Susanna

"Well then I take it Heir Kegan is safe then. That's good, I suppose." Susanna stated insincerely as she crossed her arms and looked up at Caesar.

Syrien, C.C., Rein

"If we were to let Rein die, it's possible I could bring her back to life." C.C. said. "But that would be too risky to do. Their would be as much of a chance of her not coming back as their would be of her coming back to life. I'd transfer the spell killing her over to me, but that's not possible either. Human and Mage magic do not mix well together, take my word for it. I may end up destroying the entire capital in an attempt to transfer the poison over to me."

Syrien stayed silent. He stared at Rein's body, which was contorted in pain. After a moment the Elf gave a weary sigh.

"Very well. I know what must be done, then. In order to save Rein...I must sacrifice my own life."

Caesar

"Yes, I suppose. Though his companion may not be as well off. A young Humage girl named Rein was with Kegan while we battled, and she got hit with an arrow. I'm not sure if she'll be alright or not. Though I suppose I shouldn't worry myself about that. Tell me Susanna...are you feeling any better? I know this must be a troubling time for you. I'd pretend to say I know how you feel, but I don't and I won't lie to you. Technically speaking, I have no family, aside from the other personalities.

The parents that gave birth to this body were Sei's, and his entire family is dead now. I don't hold any sympathy to the parents, but I remember his sister. A nice girl, she was. Katie was a lot like Sei's sister, if I remember. Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on. I have a...habit of doing that. As I was saying, how are you feeling? I'd like to help you in any way I can, Susanna. Whether you believe it or not, I do care for you. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and the only one I know who hasn't tried to kill me. For that I respect you and, on some level, care for you for being....as nice as you can be toward me. I acknowledge I haven't been the greatest person around. I have faults, and I know I have done what many consider to be terrible things. But to survive in this chaotic world, I have to be who I am.

Oh, sorry again, I just keep going on and on. I must really break that habit. What I'm trying to say is, I want to make sure you are alright. I care for you, and hate to see you hurt like this." Caesar said sincerely. At least, as far as Susanna would be able to tell. Whether or not he was actually telling the truth, only Caesar knew.

Carlisle/Kegan

Carlisle looked up at Syrien slowly in dull surprise after hearing the Elf's statement. He knew that, as the physician who had failed, that he should be the one to volunteer his life, but he just wasn't able to say anything.

"Syrien no..." Kegan spoke up. "Rein needs you, you're her Father, you raised her. I can... I'll do it."
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Susanna

Susanna stood still, breathing heavily as she looked at Caesar's confession to her. As she looked at Caesar, she pondered everything that the humage had been responsible for, indirectly or not. He had been responsible for Katie's death in the first trial, he had tortured an innocent child for his own amusement, one of his personalities had attempted to rape and kill her, another sexually harassed her every time he took control, and Caesar himself was a sadistic monster by everyone elses account.

But here he was telling her, more or less, that he loved her. As Caesar finished speaking, Susanna realized that he was the only real relationship she had left, with Katie deceased, and C.C. responsible.

"Thank you Caesar, for caring." She replied quietly before suddenly walking towards the Humage and embracing him.

Syrien, C.C.

"As a servant to the Gaborian Empire, I cannot allow you to do that Heir Kegan. I cannot allow our possible future Emperor to sacrifice his own life to save Rein's. Besides, she cares very deeply for you, Kegan. She would be most saddened if you were to give your life for her's. Besides, my sacrifice is only logical. C.C. cannot help Rein without running the risk of killing us all, Baruti would not lift a finger to save Rein, and our healer here does not have the knowledge to heal Rein. I am more well versed in attack spells, I knew very few healing spells aside from basic ones. If I take the poison into my body, then I can save Rein. Even if it costs me my life, I will do whatever it takes to save her." Syrien said.

"That may not be necessary, Syrien." a voice spoke up, coming from the entrance to the room.

Syrien and C.C. turned to see the source of the voice, which turned out to be Tsuba. The girl in question stood at the entrance, casually observing everyone.

"It would be such a waste if you were to die here tonight, Syrien. After all, I will need one such as you during my reign as Empress. Which is why, as hard as you all may find it to believe, I will help you restore the Humage scum to perfect health. The Nobles have been trained to know advance medical spells, since poisons are common methods to get rid of one's enemies. I know the spell that could heal the girl." Tsuba said. A smile came to her face.

"However, I will only do it under one condition."

Caesar

Caesar stiffened at first from her hug, surprised at her sudden action, but gradually hugged Susanna back. "You are most welcome, Susanna. I will be here for you, always. Whenever you need help, you may always count on me. And, if you wish..."

Caesar trailed off. The Humage gently released himself from Susanna's hug.

"No no, I shouldn't say it. I'm sure you wouldn't want any part in it."

Maul

"Indeed, Lady Clara." Maul said, finishing his meal. "May I ask you a question, Lady Clara? If you do not mind."

Clara

Clara looked up at Maul, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly as she looked at the Heir. "Of course, Sir Maul."
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Kegan

Kegan's hands tightened in anger as he looked at Tsuba. This girl represented every single thing that was wrong with the Empire, she would probably be just as bad as Caesar if she took control of the throne. But still. What other choice did he have but to listen to her if she knew how to save Rein?

"And that condition would be?" He asked in reply, trying to hide his anger.
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Susanna

"Ceasar, you can tell me... Please tell me." Susanna requested after slowly releasing the Humage. Her heart was aflutter right now, for she was sure that Caesar's idea was one of revenge, and she knew that if it was, nothing would stop her from helping him. After all, he was the only other person who had tried to save Katie. The only other person who still cared.

Maul

"Who do you plan on supportly, Lady Clara?" Maul asked.

Tsuba, C.C., Syrien

"Syrien, come here." Tsuba said, ignoring Kegan. Syrien walked over to her. Syrien lowered his upper body, and Tsuba quickly whispered something in his ear. Syrien stayed that way for a moment before becoming upright again. He walked away from Tsuba.

"Your condition is...acceptable, Heir Tsuba."

"Good." Tsuba simply said. The Heir strode over to Rein and placed a hand on her forehead. The dark aura surrounding Rein's body soon started to disappear, converging back into the arrow. This proved to be too much for the device, as the arrow exploded shortly after the dark aura went back into it all at once. The aura did not return.

Tsuba lifted her hand from her forehead. Rein had finally stopped moaning in pain, and was now settling down. Tsuba smirked at Kegan and Syrien before leaving the room.

Caesar

"Well, I can help you seek revenge, if you wish so. Rhys and C.C. shall not go unpunished, I will see to that. But I cannot do this alone. For me to simply kill them, no no, it cannot be done. You have more of a right to seek revenge, not me." Caesar said.