Succession: Rebellion

Hazuki

"Go on."

C.C.

C.C. gently patted Katie's back, giving her ward a reassuring smile.

"I'm glad we got here in time. I...I didn't want to fail you like I failed Susanna."

Katie

Katie stared at Nell for a few seconds, knowing that something was wrong with Nell right now. What, she wasn't sure though. Before she could ask anything though, C.C. began to speak. Katie wanted to reassure her friend that she had never done anything wrong, that it had never been C.C.'s fault, but instead Katie simply just smiled weakly towards the mage.

She was safe now, they all were. But Katie wasn't quite prepared to leave just yet, the girl knew as she clutched onto the dagger and looked towards Kaleb's body.
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Carlisle

Carlisle quickly channeled his way through the water, flying onto land where the six knights that had come after him and Mab charged. The Doctor pulled a wall of water out of the river without even chanting, using it to block the knight's horses from charging right through him. He had no doubt confirmed the Knight's suspicions now. They would all have to die, Carlisle decided as he flicked a pinky, sending a spear of water through one of the men's armor and chest.

The Doctor scanned the other five knights, noting how none of them seemed to have cast protective spells on themselves. One of the knights, likely the leader of this group, was shouting orders at his men. Carlisle quickly pushed a fist forward, causing a jet of water to start rushing into the man's mouth. It took a few more seconds, but the man drowned on his horse. During this time however, the other four soldiers had all jumped off their horses and were moving towards Carlisle now that there was a whole in the wall he had made. One of the quicker, more foolish men ran towards Carlisle, his blade drawn and extended over his head as he headed. Carlisle easily dodged the attack and poked the man's cheek with his index finger before muttering, "Corium ornus adficio," thus draining the man's energy and turning him to dried dust. His armor and weapon collapsed to the ground, and Carlisle turned around to face the three remaining men.

Two of them seemed to have a strategy going, as they both ran after Carlisle from opposite ends. But the third soldier was running the other way, back towards Maul's group. Carlisle quickly sent the remaining wall of water after the cowardly soldier, using it to throw the man a few hundred feet into the air. But before the Doctor could pull the water back, both of the other two knights came at him with their swords, one aiming high, the other low, forcing Carlisle to jump and angle his body. The former champion of the arena spun his body around, dodging the erratic movements of both weapons and managing to kick the Knight to his right in the face. When his body hit the ground, Carlisle instantly jumped up and lunged towards the knight in front of him, who was prepared for such a movement from the runaway, but instead of going for the Knight's face so he could drain him, Carlisle took advantage of his rival's fears and grabbed onto the hilt of the sword, pulling back and ripping it out of the knight's hands. He spun it around quickly and chopped off the knight's head before turning around to look back at the man he had kicked in the face. Carlisle stayed back as he waited for the final Knight to come at him, and come at him he did. It would seem the soldier had an emotional bond with the now beheaded Knight, either that, or he was just emotionally affected by death, Carlisle supposed as he realized that that was a human response. The thrown soldier's body hit the ground ten yards away, creating a loud clang as the last knight charged at Carlisle, trying to move around him almost before Carlisle simply blocked the knight's blow, quickly using his free hand to grab onto the knight's face and use the draining spell.

Another clang greeted the Doctor's ears as the now empty suit of armor fell to the ground. Carlisle scanned the area and was relieved to see both that there no more soldiers coming, and that that Mab had most likely not seen what had just happened either. Unless she was looking at the sky, then she might have seen that one soldier flailing about in the air, Carlisle supposed as he dropped the sword.

Still, there as no time to think about that, Carlisle decided as he dove back into the river.

Jewels grinned widely at Hazuki.

"There are many people in the Capital that are suffering. They would be grateful at a chance to join you. And I know of a woman who can help them get here and convince them to turn. A High Priestess of Apollo, Christmas.

"Also, not only is Christmas the right woman for this job, she is a Seer as well."

Mirela saw Eiden straighten at the sound out the word Seer. She turned to him.

"This is the Seer you saw before Eiden?"

"Maybe," he muttered. Then he spoke up. "But she wouldn't talk to me."

"Maybe not you demon, but I am a friend of her's."

Hazuki

"Hm. An interesting proposal. But would this Priestess really be willing to risk her life in doing this? Not many of the pious folk dare take the risk of doing subversive activities against the Empire."

C.C.

"You don't have to worry about him. He'll be out for awhile." C.C. assured, glancing at Kaleb.

"I know this woman," Jewels said. "She doesn't care for the Empire. Her duty is to her God and those in need. Chris will help if she sees that the Empress cares not for her subjects. Chris may be blind, but she is not dumb."

"So, it would seem that your Order has gone rogue. The Empress would like to hear about this," Baruti mused before laugh as he felt the sword's cold iron against his neck. He clenched his hand at his side before releasing it. Instantly, a shockwave emanated from the sorcereror, ripping through armor and flesh as Maul's men were pushed back.

"You are foolish to challenge me, Kaleesh. My power stems from the Throne itself. Only the Empress can best me," the Steward boasted, surveying the damage he inflicted upon the Order's recruits. He had already decimated a great number of them, "If you value the lives of your men, you will stand down and face the Empress' judgment."

Bakar

"Ok." Bakar got up to follow Savina on their walk.

Maul

Maul smirked again and slipped a very familiar looking stone tablet from his robes. "Remember this, Baruti? I believed Heir Caesar used this to defeat Heir Kegan in one of our challenges. You should know by now, vermin, that the Order is always prepared."

The Kaleesh pressed a center rune, and the tablet lit up, and a field of powerful magic expanded from it, covering the entire area for two miles around. Then the field moved back, and all those with any magical abilities whatsoever in the two mile area were stripped of their powers within seconds.

"Now you are nothing but a withered old man."

Carlisle

Carlisle suddenly climbed out of the water, soaked as he got onto the raft. Whatever blood that had gotten onto the Doctor had been washed off and then some by the river, but after swimming through the swift and cold current (Should have thought that part through), Carlisle was a bit fatigued. Luckily, he had avoided some magical shield of sorts that had chased after him. It had almost gotten overtaken him, but had stopped a few hundred yards back.

"Mab?" Carlisle asked, wanting to make sure that she was safe.
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Katie

"I know," Katie said calmly, looking depressed as she stared at Kaleb's body. But the girl's hand shook as it gripped onto the dagger, and Katie took a step away from C.C. and Nell towards Kaleb. But Katie couldn't lie forever. She wasn't calm, she was far from forgiving she knew, and Katie's expression became a furious one, the dagger flipped around in the her hand and she plunged it down towards Kaleb's crotch, falling with the blade to make sure it would hit it's mark.
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Savina

"Yeah, we just need to go south a bit," Savina replied as she helped Bakar out of the wagon. But as the Soldier began to walk back down the path with Bakar, she heard a scream from far away, and saw a body flying into the sky. Savina simply stared for a few seconds, watching it go up before gravity reclaimed it and pulled it back. "Lets go west instead," Savina replied as she grabbed onto Bakar's hand and walked into the forest. She hoped Maul and Sunny would be ok, whatever was going on, but Savina wanted to avoid putting Bakar in any danger. And walking into a potential battlefield just to satisfy her curiosity would help no one.

But suddenly, Savina felt something go right through her, and the girl's head screamed in pain, causing her to collapse to the ground as her body spasmed.

For a moment, Baruti just stood there, apparently unaffected by the spell. Finally, however, the old man gasped as he fell to his knees, breathing heavily, as though the wind had been knocked out off him. His skin grew more wrinkled, beginning to hand from his bones. His yellow eyes glared at Maul.

"How did you get that?" he snarled, "I had it destroyed along with the rest of its kind."

Desperately, he unsheathed a knife from his side and threw it at the tablet, hoping to shatter it.

Alain didn't say much as he was carried away from Ana, but simply snuggled close to Rein. Now that all of the excitement was over, he certainly felt tired. But still he tried to fight it, to keep his eyelids open. Even though he trusted Atiya and, by extension, her parents, he still felt slightly scared. What if, when he awoke, he was all alone, in a strange place? But even his fears couldn't win out very long against sleep.

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Ana nodded her head at the messenger and then followed after him, her staff banging lightly against the ground with every third step that she took. What did Hazuki want with her? So far, she had tried to stay out of her way, to avoid her attention. After all, she didn't need conflicting jobs--especially if there was a chance she wouldn't get paid for both.

Kegan and Rein didn't seem too bad. More decent than that Tsuba woman. But she was no crusader, just somebody who took the highest bidder.

(I keep forgetting that she has that staff with her. XD)

Sunny watched as Maul did something. Since she had no magic at all, the girl was not effected. But she saw Savina come over and start to scream. Sunny ran over to her friend, worried. She lifted up the top part of Savina's unconscious body and checked for a pulse.

"Good you're alive." She saw Bakar nearby and motioned to him to help her carry Savina away from her. (Unless Bakar is also effected then I will edit this part)
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Mab nodded. A million questions ran through her mind, but she didn't say anything. If Carlisle wanted her to know what happened, he would tell her.
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Nell started to calm down, his animal instincts going back into hiberation inside his mind. He felt completely drained though and staggered a little, but he didn't fall.

"Ka...tie?"

Maul

Maul easily dodged the knife Baruti threw.

"The Order has ten of these scattered around the continent, our compounds. In the event such items are needed. We made you think you destroyed these, Baruti. I happened to borrow one myself, for an event such as this."

Hazuki

"Alright. I'll consider it. Right now, I have more matters to deal with." Hazuki stated, spotting Ana coming down from a nearby hallway.

C.C.

The Mage couldn't help but wince a little at Katie's savage attack on the groin area of Kaleb. Still, that monster did deserve that, and worse. In fact...if Katie didn't finish the job herself, C.C. would make sure that man would never threaten or rape anybody again.

((Oh and Toko, I think Savina and Bakar are too far away for either Maul or Sunny to see them.))

Bakar

"Savina! What's wrong!" the now frightened boy immediately rushed to his surrogate mother's side, trying to help her in some way.

Carlisle

Carlisle laid down and breathed slowly for a few seconds, possibly a few minutes, the Doctor wasn't completely sure as he contemplated what he had just done. It had been a while since he had had to kill someone. It felt natural to the Champion, and that in itself felt disgusting to the Doctor. Clouds rolled by overhead, weaving around through the sky, creating shadows but never really blocking the sun. Carlisle was sure Mab would enjoy this more if they hadn't just been attacked, after all, he was sure he would as well.

"Mab?" Carlisle said questioningly as he arched his neck to look at his girlfriend. The Doctor bit his lip as he contemplated telling the would be Priestess these details or not. But then, Carlisle knew she had a right to know. "I didn't kill the horses. I-i, I killed all of the Knights, six of them. But the horses are fine," he informed her calmly, matter-of-factly, actually. "I just ... you should know that," he finished quietly.
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Katie

Katie let go of the knife, her hands shaking as she stood up and stared. Kaleb would live, for a few days at least. But Caesar was no healer, and without that appendage, well, that and the heavy bleeding that was going on right now, Katie could tell Kaleb wouldn't live. But she wasn't satisfied. She still hated Kaleb, she was still terrified of him as well. But right now, Katie was just ... sad, sad and tired.

"Lets go." Katie whispered as she looked at her friends with tears in her eyes. Kaleb was done now; and, so was she.
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(Bakar wouldn't be affected, the pain is mostly happening because the spell wouldn't really stop Savina's "gift", considering it's Nex the death God giving her messages when he deems appropriate. The sphere of magic sucking may be powerful enough to affect Savina, but it couldn't take the power away, and thus there's sort of an extremely horrifying internal struggle in her body as long as Maul keeps the sphere active. Hence the spasms and pain.)

(Oh well.....then ignore that part of my post with Sunny)

Mab looked at Carlisle. For some time she said nothing. It was hard finding the right words to say to her boyfriend. But she knew she had to say something.

"I understand. You are protecting us Carlisle," she said, slowly. "I mean I don't like the idea of killing people, but I knew when I was sent off with you that I would face some situations like this."

Mab reached out and took Carlisle's hand and smiled at him. "As long as you-and the horses-are ok Carlisle. That is all that is important to me right now."

Slowly, Baruti began to grin. He shook his head, "Your Order was always a formidable weapon of the Empire, a dagger where the sword wouldn't do. I will have to reform it."

Slowly, he took a small ring from his pocket, "You know the First Law of Enchantment, correct? An enchanted object not in use isn't affected by antimagic except for its very specific counterspell."

He slipped the ring on and faded from view. Before he completely disappeared, he commented, "Empress Tsuba would be eager to learn about this."

Hazuki

"Ah, Ana. Good, you are here." Hazuki stated once Mirela and her companions had gone away.

Maul

Maul briefly scowled when the vile sorceror vanished from sight. He should have killed the vermin when he had the chance. But what was done was done. Besides, Baruti could do nothing to harm Bakar or anybody else now. That ring had likely transported him somewhere. And what Tsuba thought of this hardly concerned Maul. She would continue to use the Order as an effective secret police, despite Baruti's revelation. She would argue these had been the actions of only one rogue assassin and his allies. Which was true.

After waiting a few good minutes, Maul pressed the rune again and the field expanded once more. All magic taken from the two mile area was then restored.

C.C.

C.C. nodded and walked toward Katie, putting a comforting arm around the girl. Out of her ward's view, C.C. waved her free hand toward Kaleb as she started a silent spell. Within a few moments Kaleb's heart burst violently, giving the monster a powerful jolt of burning pain before he breathed his last.

There. Now he was dead for good. C.C. wasn't about to let Caesar miracliously save the man-child from death.

"Ok. Let's go, now."

((And thus ends the life of Kaleb. You...will not be missed.))

Ana gave a respectful nod of her head at Hazuki. "What do you wish to speak to me about?" It wasn't more babysitting, was it? Now talk about boring jobs... And it couldn't be about Tsuba and the offer she had made Ana, as there was absolutely nothing to even remotely point to that. Maybe she just needed somebody important killed. Now those were fun.

((Hazuki's a woman.))

Savina

Savina's body stopped spasming suddenly. But her eyes didn't open as the girl laid on the forest floor. She was breathing heavily, obviously in pain even if she seemed to be unconscious. The air was dead; and, Savina didn't particularly want to breath it, especially when her mouth already had the taste of ash and blood in it. She felt someone touching her though, the Soldier remarked as she suddenly opened her eyes.

"Bakar?" Savina croaked, her throat extremely dry as she looked at the young boy. It was surprising that he was still here, for a few seconds Savina wasn't even sure why she was here, or why he looked so scared. How long had it been, seconds? Centuries? No, it couldn't have been that long, Bakar was here, and he was no waiting Elf like from the stories. But it had felt so ... real. And Savina realized that that's because it was. Just not here, not now.
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Carlisle

"You wont have to face them if you don't want to, Mab. I will protect you, I'll keep us safe and hidden for now. Just ... don't watch when I'm killing every single Assassin, every single Soldier, every single Rebel, that tries to hurt us," Carlisle replied as he stared at the sky. "I wont let them go Mab, I'm sorry, but I just cannot let them live and then give away our whereabouts, thus putting us in more danger. But you don't have to watch them ...," The Doctor quieted down as he squeezed Mab's hand, glad that she was trying to understand, though he knew why she'd have trouble with it. To a Priestess, someone who vowed to serve the Gods and help their creation, killing someone just because you'd prefer not to have people know your wherabouts, going for violence as the first decision ... it probably seemed cruel, foolish, paranoid. Perhaps it was, Carlisle wondered; maybe, those three things were what defined Carlisle now. But that would not affect Mab, not if he could help it.
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Katie

Katie's eyes widened as she heard Kaleb ... or a part of Kaleb, explode, for lack of a better word. She didn't look back towards Kaleb's body, instead taking a step towards Nell and grabbing onto Nell's hand.

"I'm sorry," She whispered to him before allowing C.C. to teleport them back.

Nell looked at Katie and he felt a sudden wave of sorrow and anger. Sorrow for what happened to her and anger towards himself for not stopping it.

"It's it ok Katie. Let's not speak of this again though."
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Mab was silent again. Then she looked at the sky.

"I was 14 when I entered into service as Chris's apprentice. I was startled and a bit outraged that she was blind. I felt like I was given the worst master or something. Like the Empire was telling me I wasn't good enough.

"When I found out that Chris was a Seer, my opinion changed. I started to respect her more. Then I saw how kind and level-headed she was. How people would listen to her. How Chris truly cared for others. And I realized I could find no High Priestess better than her. But I was also curious about her gift.

"I asked her one time what it was like to see the future. Chris did not answer me for days. Then she took me to her old home. No one was living there at the time. She told me about her childhood and how it hurt to know that she could see things, but could not always stop it. Chris explained that she had to start making choices on how to act on the things she saw. That it helped shape her." Mab looked down to Carlisle and gave him a sad smile. "I must now follow her lead. I will not turn a blind eye to what you do Carlisle. Instead I will see it and make choices on what to do. I will not stop you though because I know you are doing it to protect us. But I will not play ignorant to it."

Katie

Katie looked at Nell, biting her lip nervously. She could tell he was angry, about what Katie wasn't sure. Katie wanted to tell Nell that she couldn't forget tonight, that it was something that she knew was important in her life, the closing of a chapter in it one might say. But she didn't tell Nell that, didn't tell him the truth.

"Thank you," She said quietly instead, brushing back some of her hair.
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Carlisle

Carlisle sat up slowly, looking down towards the river and away from Mab as he contemplated how he was supposed to reply. He wanted to protect Mab, and a selfish part of him didn't want her opinion of him to change either. Yes he knew that she had knowledge of what he did in the arena. But Carlisle knew it was always different to hear that someone had killed someone, then it was to actually see them do it. The Doctor pessimistically pondered in this would be the end of their relationship, or at least the beginning of it. He didn't want that, he kind of ... loved Mab, actually, even if they didn't seem ready to say it, Carlisle knew it was true.

And so he wondered, what would happen to them now?

(Technically Nell doesn't want to talk about it. He didn't say she had to forget it or she can't talk to others about it.)

Mab poked Carlisle in the ribs and started to smile. She wanted to move past this moment.

"You always seem to get into a bad mood. If you keep it up I'll have to find some way to get out all that negativity of yours."
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Chris checked over Rhys and was happy that he was healing fine. She heard a knock at the Temple door and then it opening and footsteps. She recognized them right away.

"So you are friends with the Captain after all," Jewels asked, looking down at the sleeping man. "Are you involved with him?"

"Hardly Jewels. I am married to my job. Besides he would never have someone like me."

"Aw but you're so pretty," Jewels said. Then he got serious.

"Have you thought about my offer?"

"I have and I will Jewels. I think it is only right for the people of this Empire. Now go before Rhys wakes up and sees you."

Jewels looked down at Rhys and smiled. He leaned down and kissed his cheek, then headed out of the Temple. Chris heard him leave, oblivious to him kissing Rhys's cheek.

As soon as he appeared in the entrance hall of the palace, Baruti's magic returned and, with it, his normal appearance. Quickly, he headed for the throne room, oblivious to the stares he was receiving and the outraged yells of the petitioners he cut in front of.

At last, he entered the throne room and bowed before the Empress, "I have news, my Empress. Maul has betrayed you."

Tsuba

"Hm?" Tsuba glanced at Baruti and, after what he said caught up to her, stared long and hard at him. After a minute of silence she gave a slight nod.

"Noted. Dismissed."

C.C.

The Mage transported the three of them back to her hotel room within an instant. C.C. looked nervously at Katie before glancing at Nell.

"Nell? Can I talk with Katie alone, please? Unless you two have more to say to each other."

Bakar

"Savina!" the young boy jumped on top of the Seer and eagerly hugged her. "You just dropped to the ground and started shaking! I didn't know what to do! I...you scared me."

Hazuki

"Come in, please. We have much to discuss." Hazuki moved aside to let Ana enter her chambers.

Rein

Rein smiled down at the resting child in her arms and kissed Alain on the nose. She looked over at Kegan and grinned at him.

"They're always so cute and peaceful when they're sleeping."

(Ah, sorry.)

Carlisle

Carlisle smiled weakly as he looked back at Mab, a moment of relief shining through the young man's worries and regret. The Doctor stared for a few seconds, not even thinking as his smile became more genuine. Clouds went overhead once again, this time blocking out the sun for a few minutes, though it was easy to tell without looking that it wouldn't rain. The air didn't have it in it.

"I love you," Carlisle stated suddenly, surprising even himself as he said it.
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Katie

"No ... I'm kind of tired," Katie stated in denial as she walked away from Nell and towards her bed. It was true, the girl knew. But she also knew that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep tonight, not after everything that had happened, despite how relieved she was now.
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Savina

Savina inhaled deeply and painfully as Bakar hugged her, feeling as though she was being pricked by tiny needles. Her blood had stopped circulating, for a bit, Savina could tell as she realized her body had been asleep. That must have been frightening, Savina thought as she tried to smile for Bakar's sake.

"Sorry about that," She replied while lifting up her arms to hug her ward. "How long was I ... on the ground?" Savina asked afterward, a bit curious.