Friday, February 22, 2013

Niccolo Croatoan/Marina Oswald: In Which Marina Surprises an All-Too-Arrogant Niccolo

Aretha ran off to 'deal with Rosa', exactly as Niccolo had instructed her to, and he spoke to Marina in a slightly hushed tone. "Rosa is about to stop Mallory," he told her, noting the way Aretha's given name sounded so foreign, "From punching her, and then they're going to walk into the forest. Think of this as a test; we'll see how clever you are. Rosa wants us to follow her. Stay here." Meanwhile, behind the two of them, exactly what he said would happen was happening- Aretha went in for a strike but was stopped short, and she and Rosa began their stroll into the forest.

I was not going to let this slide. This pale idiot thinks that I will let this brunette bitch drag Mallory away? Aw haeeel naw. "Excuse me dickface I'm not letting that Rose idiot drag my best friend into a fucking forest. Now please excuse me while I shoot her in the back of the head with an arrow."


"Marina," He said, his voice dark and smooth, and though she couldn't hear it, laced with magic, "Don't shoot Rosa. Don't go after them, either." And then she found that her body obeyed, even as her mind protested.

I couldn't fucking move. "Look fucktrumpet. I don't know what the fuck you are doing, but I'm 1000000% sure it's illegal. If you don't let me go I am going to file rape charges."

"File whatever charges you want- I'm already a wanted criminal. But here's the current situation; Are-" He stopped for a moment to correct himself, but then decided against it, "No, calling her by her other name is too strange. In the world of magic Mallory's name is Aretha, and that's what I'm calling her. Aretha is being physically manipulated, much like I'm controlling you now. She's been like that for several days now, during which time she betrayed several of her friends and killed her family. 

"Turns out that Rosa was the one controlling her. Basically she's a player in a war against an evil mage (that's what we call magic people) called Mevolent, and he wanted her out of the way- Rosa made her do all of that so that she would break. And break she did. I think it was really her family's screams that did it. She tortured them for hours each before killing them. Now think about this; Rosa's job originally was to get Aretha out of the picture. She's had a chance to kill Aretha- why didn't she? 

"Mevolent wants her alive, so he can use her to get to me, because if he gets near me he can control me too. That's the conclusion I'm left with. And what I'm certain of is that there's a heavily armed ambush waiting for us if we follow, and if we walk into it Aretha's usefulness will run out and they'll kill her too. They'll kill you because they have no use for a mortal who stumbled into the world of magic. So we turn around, walk the other way, and you can step in when they least expect you. We'll get Aretha back, but if we try now, the only thing we'll accomplish is more death. Now do you understand?" He finally finished. That was more than he had explained to anyone since the start of this war, and there was still plenty he hadn't told her.

I sighed. "Alright Mr. Fucktrumpet. I'll follow you, but only because my idiot best friend trusts you. Now, I decide when we are going to get her, because I am decidedly 78% more clever than you. If you do not agree to my terms, I will waltz in right now with my bow and fuck more shit up for you, because you're going to have to save me because Mallory likes me. Also, we call her Mallory, and if I hear Aretha again I will have her murder you in your sleep, loverboy. Reality check: she doesn't feel romantic attraction to people, so I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Aretha is the name that she chose, so that's what I'm calling her, and you seem to forget that you're not exactly in a position to call the shots."

I sighed. "Actually I am. Because you have no doubt in your mind that I would actually go in there and fuck everything up. So, ass-butt, you are going to listen to me before I chop your head off with a machete."

"Your threats become increasingly hollow as this conversation drags- keep in mind why this argument started. You physically can't go after them."

I rolled my eyes. "Actually," I said, walking away, "I can. Also, you are a terrible deducer." I turned around as Niccolo was making a quick decision. Probably was going to knock me out. "Now listen you little shit. I'm going to comply, but I have to have a say in this. Kapeshe?"

He paused to think for a moment, slightly irritated that she had changed her mind. He was rather eager to try his new discipline- stealing her soul and bringing it back later would have been fun. At least she was a quick thinker- Aretha had told him about that on more than one occasion. Marina was fast and clever and obviously good with a bow, and if he wanted to keep Aretha alive, he would need her on his side. "No promises," He finally responded with a sly grin, and strode quickly back to the research cabin.

I scoffed. "Like I said," I commented to myself, "he's a fucktrumpet."

6 comments:

  1. [Grins] You tell him, Marina!

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    1. Ari's biological sis... I think...

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    2. Actually, non-biological sister, but you can call us whatever you want. We've introduced ourselves as sisters before. :) In this fanfic (because Aretha's life has been different than mine) she's my best mortal friend. But then in this chapter it's revealed that she actually isn't mortal (she has a taken name). Why do you ask?

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  2. 'He was rather eager to try his new discipline- stealing her soul and bringing it back later would have been fun'?

    OUCH!!!

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