The Watchers (Rated T)

(Sorry for the double post, but this is important)

Hey, I've got some bad news. Plaguewalker's internet is down and he doesn't know how long it'll be out. However, if I'm allowed, I'll post up his posts for him.

(No problem Shadow Moonseye)

IC: Chance

Chance did as he was told, pulling out his orb and stashing it away inside his shoe.

"I'm not going to let them take my Power Source, Alec," he muttered, looking down at the guards.

"This is wrong, I know it is, and it's driving me crazy that no one else thinks so."

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IC: Arcane

A weight was pressed down upon Alex's head as soon as he entered the room. It was like a five ton block was balancing upon his head. He was lifted by an unseen force and slammed into the wall several feet off the ground.

Arcane had not moved from his place on the couch, but he was glaring at Alex.

"Alex..." he said, the pressure on his head now spreading to his throat, choking the air from his lungs.

"If I hear one more news reporter tell about 'irregular weather patterns', and 'unexplained surges of lightning'...I'll kill you."

The pressure on him vanished and the unseen force dropped him to the ground.

"Idiot. Speaking of which, Ren, go get Nex and Carn before I tear them down through the ceiling."

"I agree, but now is not the time to discuss it." Alec replied as he tried to shun any anger or curiosity to the depths of his mind where the Security would not be able to sense anything.
The Watcher simply motioned his head to tell Chance it was time to go before he climbed down the stairs to see the security.

"Ah Sophronius. As you have heard by now the Elders have decided to prohibit travel to Earth for the realms safety and it is our job to collect everyone's power orbs." The guard informed them before sticking his hand out to receive the orbs.

"Of course Roger. Security agent Summers has already spoken with us and collected our orbs not more then thirty minutes ago down over by district thirty-seven." Alec replied as he tried to, and succeeded, at remember where the other guard patrolled.

"Correct, Chance?"
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Ren nodded in reply as she left the table and began walking up the stairs, a small delighted smile coming to her face as she remembered watching Alex in pain.
The girl took in a deep breath before opening the door and walking out onto the roof. "Sean has summoned us all, and he's getting impatient." Was all Ren said before she turned around and began walking back down the stairs.

The forsaken raised his head, the red of his eyes focused on Nex's figure before him.

"It will not do to keep Lord Arcane waiting, Mistress Nex."

Nex nodded. "Yes, of course."

She turned, coming face to face with Ren, who promptly informed the pair that Arcane was waiting on them none too paitently. After imparting her message, the weakest of the forsaken turned her back and left quick as she had come.

In one fluid motion Carn rose to his feet and turned in time to watch Ren depart.

"She pays you much disrespect, Mistress." He hissed, but he made no move towards the door.

"The opinion of the worm matters not to the bird." The crimson haired forsaken started forward, "Come, Carn. Arcane awaits."

With a silent nod the robed figure followed her into the house.

IC: Chance

Chance's face had gone blank and emotionless as soon as they approached the guards. He nodded dully to the Security Personel.

"Yes Sir, Agent Summers confiscated my Power Source along with my friend's."

The guards nodded.

"We have no reason to doubt you both; you are responsible and trusted Guardians."

They moved past the two and Chance turned his head to watch them move deeper into the Library.

"Security will start using Sensor Sticks eventually," he said to Alec.

"Then there will be no way for us to hide our Power Sources. We either give them up, or be arrested."

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IC: Arcane

As soon as the two entered the room they were lifted into the air by an unseen force.

"So good of you two to join us."

They were thrown through the air and into the couch that was across from Arcane's.

"I enjoy it when you come quickly to greet me. Do you two have something else that occupies your time?"

One of the beverages that Ren had prepared with lunch lifted from the table and floated into Sean's open hand. He took a sip, watching Nex and Carn through his eye that wasn't covered in bandage.

Alex struggled in pain as Arcane inflicted him pain.

After Arcane finished talking Alex whispered “Yes Sir”.

Then he just pulled his hood up and sat in a corner of the room in shame, lucky for him, only Ren had seen what just happened.

Nex and Carn entered the room and suddenly they were in the grasp of Arcane’s power. Alex chuckled softly, but he remembered that a few seconds earlier that was him, so he got serious again and ate his food calmly in the corner he was in.

This is stupid.

Lucy couldn't help but fume silently as she headed for her apartment. Normally she wasn't such an irritated individual, but the turn of events frustrated her.

I'm not weak-willed.

Her blue eyes flickered past the people walking around her, and instead landed on the library.

I could do it.

If she just did a little research, couldn't she find a way around the system? Couldn't she find a way to the Human Realm on her own? And couldn't she find something that would help to keep herself safe from Sean?

The more she thought about it, the more relaxed she became, until she had to fight hard to keep her smile from appearing on her face.

I will do it.

Her direction changed, her new destination being the library.

Chrysler

The Watcher lay on a beach towel under a bright sun with few clouds in the sky. The waters were rather calm, which apparently dissapointed the surfers there, and then he caught a snatchet of their conversation. "The water here sucks, it's too flat," one said, and that was all Chrysler needed to here. He cracked his knuckles, and held his hand out. He raised it, and a big wave came up. He continued to move his hands around, inconspicuously, and the waves kept on appearing. The waves kept getting bigger as Chrysler lost more and more of his control, and soon they were becoming big enough to scare people away. When he noticed, he desisted and chuckled. "Whoops, got a little too big, but whatever, they'll be back," he told himself, laying back down. "Leaving the Realm was the best decision I ever made."

Ren sat down on the floor as she watched the events before her, both pleased and slightly nervous to see Sean deal out punishment.
-/-\-/-\-
"Look we'll probably be gone by then anyways, I have the information and I know Sean well enough to believe that if he believes something, he's going to prove he's right no matter what. If he says that humans are always going to start wars then he's going to prove that's true by starting a war." Alec stated his theory as he left the library.

"We just need to gather the information, make a plan, and we can leave to earth to stop this madness, or at least get enough evidence to convince the elders to change their mind." Alec stated as he turned around and told Chance this while walking out of the library, stupidly not noticing that there was a determined looking girl walking right by them on her way into the library.

Nex's expression remained neutral throughout Arcane's rough handling. She took a moment to situate herself into a more dignified postion, before calmly answering the rather furious Arcane.

"I was merely observing the city. Making notes about weak points and the like." She crossed her legs, casually folding her arms. "So that we may be prepared in the event of an attack."

For one is bound to happen. Surely you know that.

Carn rose from the couch not a moment after he crashed into it.

"My deepest appologies, Lord Arcane. I meant you no disrespect. Forgive me."

The hooded forsaken moved to Arcane, kneeling before his lord, taking care not to block his view of the room.

IC: Chance

Chance's eyes widened, and a look of appreciation dawned over his face. Alec was willing to stop this, and he included Chance in his plans to do it. However, when a few people started giving them looks, Chance removed the emotion from his face.

He too was oblivious to Lucy nearby.

"And with Sean and the Forsaken backing it, and no Watchers there to stop it, that war could easily be the final one of humanity."

He looked over at the older boy.

"You know Sean's way of thinking pretty well, Alec. Were you two friends?"

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IC: Arcane

Sean let out a low, fake chuckle. Laughter was a pure emotion, and using it in darkness was always fake.

"Forgiveness? You insult me, Carn."

He turned his head towards Nex.

"Now then, Nex, you were observing the city? Do you truely expect an attack from The Realm?"

Alec stopped in place for a second and sadness came over the boys face for half a second, only to be replaced by the emotionless expression of the other watchers around. But his eyes, his eyes still contained the expression in the end. "He was my friend, intellectual partner, and a person I could confide in as well." Alec explained with a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"I didn't know it at the time, but I actually helped him construct his argument for why the Watchers should let humans be....I didn't know that he would actually....actually use the hypothetical situation we made up and believe it." The Watcher finished as he looked up and realized that he was standing right next to a girl close to his own age.

"You fool! You ignorant fool, after all this planning you go and screw it up the day before you intend to leave!?" Alec mentally shouted at himself as he began walking away from the library towards an alleyway, hoping that the girl was a stupid one or simply lost in thought.

Lucy would have just remained completely oblivious to the boys as well, had it not been for the conversation that they were having, and for the fact that one of them (wasn't his name Alec?) stopped right beside her. Then he took off, as if realizing that he and the other boy weren't alone.

Can I trust them? Lucy thought as she watched them start away.

She hurried after them, still unsure of the answer to that question.

But they could possibly be of help, and that was worth the risk.

"Alec, right?" she said as she drew up alongside them. The other boy looked slightly familiar as well, but she couldn't immediately place him. "I want in."

Nex inclined her head to show that she did indeed think such a thing.

"It is my thought that surely there are those few out in the Realm that will come, seeking to put an end to us. Provided the knowledge of us is well know."

The forsaken casually examined her nails, before returning her gaze to Sean.

"Not that I think they will prove to be much of problem, should they even come, but it is always better to be prepared. Have a plan of attack ready, so to speak, so that in the event of an attack we will not find ourselves in an...unsavory position."

Carn remained silent throughout the ordeal, keeping to himself.

"Excuse me?" Alec asked, surprised to hear someone asking him about joining him of all things. The watcher quickly studied the girls face and realized that she had been in touch with her emotions for a while, he also realized that she was none other then Lucy Mabel, the famous painter. The watcher dropped his emotionless facade as he sighed.

"Fine Lucy, you can join us. It's probably better that we have more then two people anyways, it is a big task." Alec decided after realizing the girl was determined, and that this was probably the best way to keep her from telling others about the plan.

He didn't have to tell her everything until he was sure what she wanted to do, but he knew that she was powerful enough where she certainly wouldn't be a hindrance.

"Now can we please get to my apartment before the plan is actually ruined?"

IC: Chance

"Lucy," said Chance, stepping up beside Alec, "Lucy Mabel? I've heard about you. You're the only person in The Realm with those painting abilities."

He looked over to Alec and nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, lead the way."

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IC: Arcane

"And how do you believe they will get here?" asked Arcane.

"That is the benefit of being a former Guardian, you know the protocal; I know the Elders well enough to guess what they will do. After the first failed attempt to bind me, they will realize the danger of sending Guardians who are so...inexperienced with their emotions."

Sean's eyes trailed around to the other Forsaken.

"Therefore they will prohibit all from leaving The Realm. Guardians are emotionless; they will not object. And even in the most unlikely event that the Elders send another team...what is to stop me from breaking them as I did all of you?"

Arcane stood from his place on the couch.

"When you first experience darkness there is no defense."

He turned quickly and held up his hand. Nex was thrown backwards and cemented into the wall, held off the ground by an unseen force. Sean slowly approached her, keeping his hand up to hold her in place.

"Anger, hate, sorrow, despair...they overwhelm you; open your eyes and free you."

He dropped his hand and Nex dropped with it. Arcane turned from her, facing the others.

"You should be hoping more Guardians do not come. I have no open positions in my Forsaken. For each that I break, someone must be...replaced."

He walked back and retook his seat on the couch.

"So for your sake, I hope you find them before I do."

Alec

"Good, no one speak or show any facial expressions until we're there then." Alec ordered before turning around and walking out of the alleyway.
The walk to Sophronius' apartment wasn't a very long one, it only took about twenty minutes to get there and the journey went by smoothly.

"Here we are." Alec said relieved as he walked up to a small hatch door in the ground. "Yeah that's right, I'm a ground dweller." The watcher said as he opened the door and climbed down, quickly running into his apartment and spreading the files he had gotten from the library on the table.

"Don't forget to close the door behind you!" The watcher shouted as he organized the files into groups on the table. "Lets see....Earth history. Forsakens Biographies, emotions and how they manipulate one's powers." Alec mouthed as he looked at everything on the table with a smile.
-/-\-/-\-
Ren

"He means you first of course." Ren realized as Sean talked about replacing people. "Sean may love me, but he isn't stupid. He knows I'm the weakest here."

Nex picked herself up, her face neutral as always. A tiny tick of a muscle in her hand caused a finger to twitch ever so slightly as she steadied herself. She brushed her gloved hands along her pants, flicking away any dust that may have settled there from her forced collision with the wall.

"As you say, Arcane." She adjusted her shirt with a small tug, "I appologize for entertaining such a notion." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and leaned back against the wall, her seat on the couch forgotten.

Carn rose from his kneeling position, before turning his red gaze to Arcane.

"Lord Arcane, if they dare to pose a threat to your plans I will hunt every last one of them down and kill them. I will go to the Realm and turn it into rubble. You need only to say the word, Lord Arcane."

In the confines of the room, even the coldest of the forsaken could feel the hate raidiating from the corrupted guardian.

Lucy climbed down after Alec without a word and then watched as he moved about, arranging his various files.

"Looks like you beat me to it," she said to him as she gestured at the files. "I was on my way to do just that."

Finally, some real action.

She had been bored for far too long.

IC: Arcane

"No...no..." replied Sean.

"I want The Realm to stay for now; I want them to watch Humanity tear itself apart. I want the Guardians to see all that they worked for turned to rubble by the very people they protected. And when the Human World is nothing but ash, we will return..."

Arcane looked down at his left hand, which was covered in the white bandage along with the left side of his body.

"After all, the only way to achieve one hundred percent darkness...is to comit the greatest of atrocities."

He looked back up at the Forsaken.

"Now then, the people have supported Core's ideal for conquest. We will have our war; but there a few tasks I would like done first."

His eyes darted to each of them.

"There are many members of the Government and people of prominant positions that are...resistant to my changes. They've occupied several cities of the Northern Lands with their own personal armies. Break them."

He stood, stretching his arms.

"In the meantime, I have a Priestess to visit."

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IC: Chance

"This place is a mess," said Chance, looking around the clutter of Alec's apartment.

He took a look at the many files upon the table. There were detailed histories, biographies, and very restricted information dealing with emotions.

"How did you get all of this?" Chance asked, picking one of the folders on emotions.

The small rectangle expanded at his touch and Chance looked over it.

"The Elders had all information on emotions confiscated and destroyed before any of us were even born. How'd you get your hands on all this stuff?"

Alec looked at Chance with a smug and knowing smile before he looked back down at the files. "The Elders have been training me for one of their positions for the past few years. That means special privileges and access to......important files, not that I'm supposed to read all of them of course." The Watcher confessed as he looked down at the file Chance had touched.

"I've copied and stolen information on emotions and how they actually effect Watchers and their abilities, I've also looked up all the biographies and powers of the Forsaken, plus other Watchers that have been missing on Earth for a few years." Alec explained as his smile went away into a more serious and thoughtful look.

"If you look at the bottom of each person's biography you'll notice that there's a section that lists emotional effects. It basically shows what I've decided could be that watcher's powers depending on how light or dark their emotions are. Because it is true that emotions not only affect the watcher, but they enhance their powers as well." Alec said as he looked at Lucy and Chance with an excited look, hoping that they would get it.
-/-\-
"Mam I'm going for my evening prayers now." The young servant of the High Priestess called from the front study of Senka's quarters.

"Of course my daughter, take all the time you need." Senka replied back loudly, trying to keep the sarcasm she felt out of her voice.
"That just gives me more free time to read." Senka added under her breath as she went back to studying the biography of Alexander Core, her potential Ally, or greatest Enemy as well if the man decided to screw up.

...enchance one's power.

The memory of the gun falling to the ground flashed through her mind. Her eyes widened and she gave a slow nod.

"So you're saying that the darker one's emotions are, the more dangerous one's power is?" It made sense with what she knew about her own powers. "And that means that the Forsaken's powers are just warped versions of what they had here.

"Which means that we have the advantage, because we can learn about what we're up against, while they have no idea of what we're capable of, or if anybody is even coming to stop them."

"I suppose one could say that we have an advantage in that department. But we do have one disadvantage as well.." Alec responded.

"We have to be able to control all of our emotions. Light, Dark, and even the absence of them. They don't have to that because they're are already corrupted if my theory is correct. So if we end up fighting them they can try and throw us off balance so Sean can manipulate us. As I said right here that would very likely be an ability of his to gain, wasn't actually myself that realized it, but it does make sense if you look at his power set." The Guardian said as he continued to ramble.

"Like...like if I slapped you right now, you would be surprised and a bit angry at me, correct? Well what you would actually have to do after I slapped you is embrace the anger, the bitterness, and the pain. Feel it, know it, but then throw it away in less then five seconds so a trace isn't left for someone to exploit it."

"Because it is true that Darker emotions can destroy and corrupt someone, but they are also very powerful and very useful things to feel. If you can balance the control that light gives someone, and the power that darkness gives someone....then you're set, in my opinion."

(New character!)

Name: Rain Vandom

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Appearance:
(Picture drawn by ryuuen on dA, colored in by me)
Aside from what’s in the pic, she has a scar on the side of her neck. Her coat falls down to about a foot below her waist, but from her waist down it hangs open, showing off her belt. She wears dark brown pants, and boots of an even darker color, which go up to just below her knees. They have retractable spikes on them, and she isn’t afraid to use them in a fight.

Watcher/Forsaken/Human: Human

Power(If Watcher or Forsaken): N/A

Weapons: She carries a pistol on each side of her belt, a long dagger strapped to her left leg (underneath her pants), and spikes hidden on her boots.

Emotions: 59% Light; 41% Dark

History: Rain’s childhood was spent as a poor girl on the streets, begging for the basic needs of life. Her mother was too busy drinking all of their money away to care, and her father had simply walked away one day when she was four, without any warning.

Rain decided at an early age that she wanted a better life and so, when the chance came at sixteen, she took it. Sadly, it was only after she was far from home and working her new job in a factory did she realize that the get rich quick talk the man had pulled on her had all been a lie. She ran away after a few weeks, only to be hit by a car—a car that the governor’s wife was driving.

After that, Rain’s life changed.

The governor and his wife took Rain in, and then helped Rain to start her own political career. By the age of 27, Rain had become a governor herself, for the northern city of Torem.

When Alexander Core started to gain power, she was one of the prominent people who opposed him. Now she has an army of her own situated in her city of Torem, and she has alliances with the others in neighboring cities that feel the same way she does about Alexander Core.

Personality: Rain is like a drill sergeant, always barking out orders. However, she isn’t followed by fear, but instead because people feel as if they can depend on her to take care of them. She’s very efficient and hates wasting anything—resources, people, or time—but she also knows when to back off and let things be (most of the time). With her, you have to earn her respect before she’ll give you any.

Other:

Ren nodded as she heard Sean's orders. "This is the part where I'm of use." The Forsaken reminded herself as she left the room. She certainly couldn't move around in a flash like Sean, Alex or Nex.
The girl picked up a small bad that she had laying next to the door to the street after walking down the many flights of stairs. Ren walked outside and went into a car she had encouraged the salesmen to 'give' her earlier.

"Lets see then....Thompson, Lyrel, Walsh...Aha, here we are. Vandom." The Forsaken noted to herself as she decided her target, and began to drive.