For Those Who Wish to Join

I sincerely apologize, but at this point we cannot invite any new writers to the blog. If you are already  a contributor or have published a chapter to the blog, you are still welcome to continue posting, but due to extenuating circumstances no one new can join. Again, I apologize, and thank you for your understanding and enthusiasm. It is incredibly heartening to know so many people are interested in this. Please note that we make no claim to this idea- if you want to write about this plotline, feel free to do so individually, and also note that if you still wish to read this blog and comment you are more than welcome to do so. Thank you for your cooperation.

Zafira Kerias: Intruders

Zafira lay awake. Her mind spinning. The whole entire Sanctuary was basically on lockdown. Of course they needed to be in order to protect themselves against Mevolent. Javier saw her wide awake and kissed her cheek,
"Zaf, relax. Stress isn't good for the baby. " He reminded her. She looked up at him and didn't speak. After a moment she put her head on his chest and fell asleep. Javier held her close keeping watch over her. He would die to protect her and their unborn child. He couldn't think of losing either of them. And with Mevolent out there the risk was entirely true.

Serephia Jackson bowed before Mevolent. She had some news to give,
"Kerias is pregnant. A reliable source from her Sanctuary said that she is and basically Javier vowed if anybody lays a finger on her that he will kill them." She reported. Mevolent nodded. He looked deep in thought. After a few moments he spoke,
"Then we continue taking America. I'm not killing an unborn child. Newborns are a different story but I can't risk killing her. I want her to watch America fall and be powerless to stop me. " He said. He glanced at the Redhoods around him then addressed Serephia,
"Go." He simply said. Serephia left. She wasn't entirely trusted as an ex-Elder. She figured it was worth it though.

Zafira woke up again. Smiling she saw Javier had got up. He always liked to make her breakfast before she went to work. She got dressed in her black shirt and pants. Her Elder's robes were in the Sanctuary so she figured she'd put those on later. She completely agreed with Ghastly on the robes. Well what he used to think. She went downstairs and immediately the smell of omelets was present. She laughed
"Oh Javier I thought the wife cooked." She teased. Javier turned and smiled
"Well I feel while my wife IS Grand Mage I prefer to spoil her. Maybe because I rather not be arrested for neglecting the Grand Mage." He laughed. Zafira grinned and took out her handcuffs. Javier widened his eyes
"Woah Zaffy!" He exclaimed. Laughing hysterically she put them on her belt. Javier looked at the omelets and flipped them. He turned his attention the the tv. A reporter was in Lower Manhattan. Zafira tensed. The reporter was explaining disturbances that to the mortals sounded like idiots making fireworks but Zafira knew better.
"Even the mortals are noticing. Those were mages at work probably Mevolent's. If they aren't then I guess they're young. " She sighed. Javier looked at her questioningly.
"What do you do for immature sorcerers not knowing the rules?" He asked as he put the omelets on two plates and set them down. Zafira sat down and ate her omelet and then explained to Javier,
"Well basically we have them confronted and taken to the Sanctuary. Depending what they did we have some experts to explain the rules. If I'm not busy I'll go down to visit and once they get the explaining and stuff we let them go but have an agent secretly watch them for a month. It usually always works out well. Very rarely do we have someone young actually arrested for crimes." Zafira got up and put her dishes away. Javier smiled and put his own away. Zafira turned and kissed his cheek before shadow-walking. Javier sighed. He hated when she left.

The doors to the apartment in Lowe Manhattan were bolted shut. Jayla Crowsfield glared at the two sorcerers before her.
"You idiots! Do you want to get us killed?!" She slapped the boy. Her voice carried a Dublin accent. She didn't look pleased. The boy she struck glared at her,
"Well you never told us the Sanctuary was THIS close to us." He snapped. Jayla sighed.
"Look there's a community of sorcerers within a few blocks is the Sanctuary. Grand Mage Kerias lives in the community. You two idiots are to spy on her ok? And David," she addressed the older boy. "I don't care how close you are to the Surge. Actually it may be best if you do experience it near Kerias. Go." She spat. The two boys left and went to find the gated community. Jayla sighed and sat on the couch. Why did Mevolent send her? Serephia Jackson was more prepared. Yes she reckoned as a Sense Warden she could hurt Kerias but giving her David and Joey was the worst. David was an Elemental Joey an Energy-Thrower. The joys.

Zafira was back home. Finally. Nothing actually had happened at work so she left. 11pm. A complete new record to be home this early. Javier was beside her again doing what he does best. Being loving. There was a crash outside the house. Both jumped up and went to see what happened. Two boys were standing outside the house. Upon seeing her one sent a stream of energy into Zafira. Yelling she gathered shadows and sent them right into the boy. He staggered. She whipped the shadows at his hands making him stop trying to use energy against her. The second boy used air to push Zafira into the house. Javier focused on the boy. When he went down she ran and handcuffed him. The energy throwing boy tried to run but Zafira sent a trail of shadows after him and he tripped. Javier took another set and shackled the other boy. Zafira sighed irritably.
"Both of you are under arrest for assault on an Elder." She told them. She grabbed the Elemental boy and Javier took the other. She shadow-walked all four of them to the Sanctuary. The boys were placed in the holding cells.
"I'll deal with them in the morning. I'll send a detective to question them." She mumbled. She shadow walked with Javier home. Once home her and Javier went to their room.
"Zaf are you hurt?" She shook her head. Smiling Javier kissed her.
"Can't let my wife get hurt."
"Oh Javier."

Beskjedenhet Monsun: Trickery and Lies

Beskjedenhet, Erik Stridden to nearby mortals, was sprawled on the sofa in the house that still belonged to his father. His girlfriend was standing over him, comforting the baby. He wished she would do that elsewhere so he could sleep. It was the middle of the damn night in Norway. He was tired. His half-sister was standing outside, smoking. The step-mother was probably asleep. She didn't wait for Axel to return these days. He works late, he comes home late, sometimes not at all, then goes back out, and they just all carried on as normal. "Orkan, please. Take him to another room."
"How come you never help? Like, ever?"
"I do help!" He shot to his feet, scowling. "I'm just tired." A car drew up outside. Axel Stridsoks had been even busier as of late as first Elder with the disappearance of Grand Mage Skisma. There was the slam of a car door, silence, then sounds of violence and the blare of a car alarm. Kai, the baby, gave a renewed onslaught of screams. Beskjedenhet frowned, concerned. He edged to the living room door and jumped at the sound of the front door banging open. His half-sister began calling for him. "Erik! Erik, help! They've got Dad!" Normally Sandra, or Virvelvind, could fight off anyone herself, but if they'd taken her by surprise, injured her...he ran to the front door to help her, warning Orkan to stay put and watch Kai.

Virvelvind wasn't at the front door. The driveway was empty, as was the forest path leading up to the house. His frown deepening, he stepped out and turned a full circle. Had he imagined it? No, judging by the look on Orkan's face, she'd heard it all as well. There was a creak on the stairs as his step-mother came to investigate the noises. He hugged himself, hands tucked into his armpits, and cursed himself for not bringing a jacket or dressing gown on his way out. He sensed someone behind him, turned just as they swung something that looked suspiciously like a frying pan at his head and deflected it painfully with his hand. He gave a gasp of pain and stepped back, clicking the fingers of his other hand to summon a flame. The other man swung the frying pan again and almost hit the Elder's son. He jerked back and almost tripped over on a tree root. There was a muffled screaming coming from behind him. He peered over his shoulder and saw Sandra bound and gagged. Again he gasped, and then the pan was jabbed into his stomach, winding him. The fireball hit the grass below him and set it alight. Sandra's screams became even more frantic. Wonderful, Erik thought. Now he'd started a forest fire, no doubt. He pushed at the air and the man fell over backwards. The young man took the opportunity to run to his half-sister and undo her bonds, but before he was finished both her and his girlfriend called out to him in alarm. He turned and the frying pan cracked against the side of his head. With a yell he fell sideways. As he tried to scrabble up, the pan came cracking down against his head again. The pan came down again and again until Erik had stopped moving and a little bit after that. There was one brief pause to keep Orkan and the step-mother off his back, and then the man had disappeared with Beskjedenhet and Virvelvind...

-----

Loud Lady Gaga music blared through the radio as Twist drove his car through a narrow countryside lane, unaware his car was being followed as he was too busy trying to get the in-car company to behave without using his voice. Beside him, in the front passenger seat, sat Jayden, who was fiddling with the stereo. It was as if he'd never seen one. He switched it from CD to radio, seemed satisfied for a few seconds with Wham! and then began flipping through stations, looking for something he preferred. They ended up back on the same station, then went cycling again before returning to the CD. Mortis shot him a dirty look as he gave navigating instructions. He was sat in the middle of the middle, refusing to sit up front after he had been in a car accident once. He just didn't trust windshield wipers not to stab him. He'd needed a replacement liver and everything. Garnet and B-J were either side of him and the Grotesquery took up the back seats.
"Is it safe to be transporting that thing in plain view?" The girl asked. Nobody answered. Mort slammed his fist on the seatbelt release thing and stood, pointing to the side.
"Pull in there a moment!"
Sighing, Twist obliged, parking near a big, ugly building. It took him a moment to realise he had been directed to Roarhaven and parked beside the Irish Sanctuary. Mortis nudged Garnet, wanting him to get out, and the redhead obliged with a deep sigh. He was still moving sluggishly, tired, out of it. He watched him, concerned. This was probably ordinary tiredness though. He had probably been trying to doze off when they'd pulled over. Still, it worried him whenever Dorado got tired. Ever since the hospital thing. That had just been upsetting. Jayden was up and out as well, happy to be stretching his legs. Suspicious, B-J followed the three in. "Where're you three going?"
"Justice Popularity. I may travel and kill, but I keep up with things. I have to, or I'd miss something big like this." Mortis responded in a somewhat bitter tone. They turned a corner and Garnet threw up an arm to halt his company. Justice was right ahead, 'talking' to someone through a door. It was obvious he had seen them the instant they'd turned the corner, but didn't recognise them. The three men began talking in hushed voices, making sure they left B-J out. They then proceeded to stride down the walkway, chatting amongst themselves about what they did to Dexter Vex. She felt rather sick as she heard them talk. This Popularity man, apparently now an Elder, was coming towards them, not really bothered by them. As they drew level, Mortis unsheathed Wilbur and aimed towards the Elder's ribs, but Justice caught his wrist and gave a backhand slap. Grievance seemed shocked as the Elder whistled, and in an instant the two of them were surrounded by Cleavers. He wrenched his wrist free and instantly more Cleavers were between him and Popularity. He spat out a curse and turned, trying to strike, but there was soon no room to move his arm. There was no room to manoeuvre at all. He could turn his head as he tried to strike a Cleaver to no avail, simply getting a scythe in his side instead. He gasped and caught sight of a trio of men striding purposefully towards the knot of Cleavers, one showing some kind of mark of authority to the knot, dispersing it, saying he would take charge of the prisoners. Mortis managed to turn his head and see what was going on with the others. They were fighting, Garnet and B-J to get away, Jayden to get closer to either him or Popularity. The freedom fighters were breaking free but Jayden was being cuffed. "Jay!" he screamed, trying to get to him, but being hauled back. Something hit him hard on the head and an arm locked around his throat. As he began to black out, cursing himself for not being careful enough, not following protocol, not restarting the observation, he heard some kind of administrator or something yelling 'Mevolent's here!'. He heard B-J scream to Garnet to tunnel, and the beginnings of his insistence that he couldn't. He passed out as someone pulled him away from the one with the arm round his throat and dragged him away in the commotion.

-----

Box was talking on the phone to someone, voice a little bit shaky. Gale Blaze was on his back on the man's sofa, a bag of frozen peas pressed to his forehead. Austin was upstairs in a scruffy bedroom, fuming. Awesome was on a chair in the corner of the living room, glaring at Gale in disapproval. "Don't you have boundaries?" He asked finally.
"Katharine doesn't." Gale replied with a sleazy grin. Awesome threw his shoe at him.
"I may not know you, but Austin does. You knew Kathy was out of bounds!"
"From what I've heard, Katharine's cheated on Austin multiple times before. I think by now he should just get the picture and leave her." He hesitated and sighed. "I don't really like Austin, but with a girl like that he'll just get his heart broken again and again. She's cheated on him more than he knows. She told me about it, made me promise not to tell."
"And yet you're telling me?"
He sighed. "Yeah. Right now Austin won't believe me if I told him."
"He's ended it with Katharine anyway now. Your problem is that you treat girls like meat or sex objects."
"Is that what Austin told you?"
Awesome sighed. "Austin's used to girls being in charge. He grew up with a single mother, two older sisters, constantly under the thumb of some chick named Crystalline or something..."
Gale frowned. "I have older sisters. Artemis and Niamh, I think..."
The vampire smirked. "I know an Artemis. Artemis Hunter."
"...that's the one..."
He nodded. "Cool. She's Katharine's house mate and I'm going to tell her what's happened."
"Aw! Seriously, don't! She goes seriously psycho when it comes to me!"
"I wonder why..."
"Because unlike her, I approved of Niamh's marriage." He responded snarkily. They both sat in silence, glaring at one another. "Artemis didn't like Advantageous, or whatever the hell his name was, because he was mute or something...and because of his friends. She thought they were weird...and something to do with his social station...I can't quite remember, it was a really long time ago."
Awesome Dude seemed to have lost interest.

-----

Mortis gave a low moan, or at least as low a moan as he could muster, as droplets of water were shaken over his face. He turned away so that his face was buried in a cushion on the sofa he was lying on. There was a smirk. "Well, Hiro, he's alive. I'll give him that."
An Australian voice spoke next. "You owe me, Hiro."
The first voice spoke again. Irish and somehow familiar. "And me, Hiro. I've been healing this guy for years, ever since Gar dragged me along on a stupid hike and we found him collapsed by some car wreckage. They'd met before, but I doubt he had a windshield wiper sticking in his side that time." There was a round of laughter. "Had to get an unwilling donor though. Healing started a bit late to be properly successful. God, this guy was fun. Grade A lunatic." The familiar voice's owner began shaking him gently. "Hey Mortis! Get your lazy arse off my sofa! Wilbur's in my knife block."
He shot to his knees and glared at the back of the man with the stubby ponytail and long blue pirate-like coat. He was trying to recognise him and ignore the Asian man in the 'geek' shirt and the tanned redhead. They were arguing in whispers over how much the Asian man owed the redhead. "R...Ricky Sloth?"
The brunette paused. "Yeah?"
Mortis gave a slightly insane sounding laugh. "Puh-lease, Richard, you're the lazy one, not me! You hated moving two inches if you weren't being pushed or driven!"
"And yet I never got fat...strange, huh?"
"Not really. We never had any food in the fridge. 'Course Gar and I were always out, so you and Jay were the ones who had to bear the brunt of that one."
"God, that was a painful life!" Ricky spun on his heel, grinning. "At least Hiro makes money...and didn't have to kill someone to get a house."
"No, he took Garnet's old one, I see."
The grin faded. "I'm surprised to see he's still kicking."
"I'm surprised to see you're still kicking. Thought you burnt to death. Is that a burn scar?"
"Yeah, but from a different fire. Didn't he have a tumour or something?"
"Benign."
He grinned again. "After you threatened to kill me because I couldn't cure it and all."
"Sorry about that. You're not a very good user of science-magic, you do know that, right?"
"Yeah. C'mon, get up. We have to discuss some things. Namely the capture of Jay and Gar."

-----

Garnet awoke in less favourable conditions. His cheek was pressed to a gritty, cold, soggy floor. He was adding to the soggy part by drooling in his sleep. B-J was pacing around the small cell. He didn't feel he had enough energy to so much as raise his head. He let out a low moan instead and heard B-J whimper.
"They carved something into your skin. They said it would drain your energy or something...that...that it was the best way to stop you tunnelling without killing you..."
He managed to forced himself up onto his knees, but that small change of altitude made him feel so dizzy..."I think I'm going to be sick."
"Please don't." Came a misty voice from the corner. A woman was chained up there and watching them with dark eyes.
B-J was shivering, and somehow he doubted it was with cold. Then he remembered the people here thought she was dead. "Jinx? Jinx, calm down, you look like you're about to have a panic attack." A door opened and closed. Someone was entering the cells. Serpine and Mevolent stopped at their cell.
"Oh." Serpine said, lip curling in distaste. "It's you." Garnet briefly wondered how that man had spawned such a, in his opinion, hot daughter. The man with the glittering emerald eyes opened the cell and stepped over him, going straight to B-J. He had a brainwave related to escape, but two things barred his way. The first was the complete exhaustion of a level he had never felt before, the other was Mevolen't standing in his way. Serpine was closely examining B-J's face. He wasn't sure whether to believe it was her or not, but he seemed to decided that she was her when she burst into tears. He held her close and guided her out of the cell, ignoring her protests to set Garnet and the woman in the corner free as well. He was locked back in and felt another wave of dizziness coming on.
"Looks like we'll have some time to talk." The woman in the corner said.

((Aaaaand to stay correct to what I believe to be the time frame here, I can't do anything with Jayden or Garnet for a couple of months now...apart from have them talk to other prisoners...also some stuff...and B-J has returned, but will Arachne, Prosperity and Arduous find out? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON HALF-LIFE, FULL LIFE CONSEQUENCES!...wait, wrong thing...also I'm hyper, so flippety-blip-nuggets. And I really like the murderers' trio-turned-quartet...you know what that means? TORTURE!!!(uh, mainly of Gar since he's in the perfect situation for it...)))

Persephone Grief/Adamantha Snark/Leo Whatsthename: The Lemon Kind (featuring Ricardo!)

 Persephone and her attacker hit the ground hard, momentarily knocking the wind out of her. But only for a second. The attacker kicked her in the stomach, then punched her in the mouth. Persephone bit her tongue, and yelped from the pain. She elbowed her attacker in the solar plexus, then swept her leg around, sending them crashing back to the ground.

 Leo Whatsthename  clicked his fingers, trying to summon a spark as he hit the ground with a thud. He gritted his teeth as he felt at least two of his ribs breaking. Either that or he was being paranoid. He hovered on the edge of his consciousness, flailing wildly, then his arm hit something furry. He blinked his eyes open and saw a strange white miniature elephant, only with smaller ears and a bit longer...almost a weasel? It was Ricardo. Leo didn't know how he knew this. Ricardo the hallucination. It made perfect sense. It suddenly occurred to him that he must be dreaming. Ricardo looked at him imploringly, either begging him not to wake up or asking for bananas and pickles on toast, Leo wasn't sure. Bananas and pickles on toast? Where did that come from? Leo wasn't a softie and he didn't have a sense of humor. He woke up.

"LEEEEEO! HEELLLLPPP!" Olivena screamed from somewhere nearby.

Oilvena, that overgrown brat. If she wasn't working for Mevolent, he'd leave her to die. She was technically his superior, though, in rank if not in brains, so he threw a fireball in the general direction of the screaming. 

 "None of that now." A blade pressed to his neck, drawing a spurt of blood.

For some reason, all Leo could think of was throat lozenges. The lemon kind. And sparkles, evil sparkles that would kill the invisible attacker person weirdo. Unfortunately, the sparkles were just figments of his imagination. Blood, so much blood. Leo liked blood, even when it was his own.

Persephone squinted at the attacker. Her blade was cutting into his neck, but he was just sort of
 mumbling to himself. This was slightly worrying.
 "Who are you, how did you find me, and why are you attacking me?"

Adamantha pinned back Lily-liver's only remaining good arm and formed her finger extensions into a fist. 

"You're no better than you think I am, you know." Olivena tried one last retort, but it was honestly too late.

"Procrastinator," Mantha muttered as she hit Lily-liver across the jaw with her invisible fist, knocking her out cold. That wasn't enough though, not after all the times Liver had caught her at pickpocketing (not to mention "caught" her a couple of times when she'd been doing absolutely nothing. Seriously--if she was going to get "caught" anyway, she may as well actually take things, so she could have her fun first.) Mantha lifted Lily-Liver's right hand and inspected her nails. She selected one of the needles of poison, the only one she recognized, and began to carve an "L" into Olivena's forehead.

"Ricardo the ice weasel elephant, I'm coming!" Leo exclaimed in a loud whisper as the blood oozed from his neck. After a pause: "Olivena, we don't have to like you now!" 

From somewhere in the distance, Olivena screamed. Her scream was good, it meant more blood, probably. 

Persephone's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Ricardo the ice weasel elephant?" Most people babbled right before the died, but it was usually more along the lines of "Don't kill me!"

He stared at a point a little past her left shoulder, his eyes wide. She kicked backwards, worried that there was someone behind her, but not wanting to let the crazy man go. There was no one there. Just a hallucination then, the could deal with those.

"Look, answer my questions, and you can go with Ricardo. I just need some information."

Leo vaguely heard a voice asking for information. Huh, weird. "Blood is cool," he said. "Blood is very cool. Shells are not cool, unless they have crabs in them, then they're ok. I already told Mevolent all he needs to know, whaddoyouwant?" Ricardo was right there, why wasn't he helping?

"What did you tell him?" Persephone snarled. "What did you say?"

"I told him about that healer's cabin and hideout... I'm in these woods every day, with Ricardo sometimes. I know things." Leo tried to nod proudly but couldn't remember how to do it, so he remained mostly still. "Since we've taken care of the rebel-people here, we should go get the ones in the hideout, which will be easy and see if we can get the healer to help us instead!" Leo was all ready to go!

"Do you honestly think that Ras would help you? Don't be ridiculous. He's the most loyal person I know, which is more than can be said for you. Thank you, and goodbye." With these words, Persephone leaned forwards and slit Leo's throat.

Olivena woke up in the middle of a snow drift (not that kind, the Norwegian kind!), completely unable to move. Leo Whatsthename and a weird white...miniature elephant??? were standing above her, laughing.

Fabi's note: Well... in case it isn't obvious, this is not how I'd originally planned on incorporating Ricardo. That is all.

Zafira Kerias: Javier Gets His Wish

It was rough she had to admit. Javier only wanted one thing and how could she dare ignore his plea? She was Grand Mage but she was trying to refrain from fighting unless it was an attack on the Sanctuary itself. So maybe Javier's plea was something that may keep her from fighting. For the next 9 months. Zafira didn't expect it would work especially after having her organs rearranged so nicely by Niccolo. But she still was able. Apparently THAT particular organ was untouched. Figures she doubted Niccolo knew what the organs down there were. Zafira kept working on the small pile of files. Eventually she'd get through them and go home. Eventually that is. After a few hours though it did end. The pile of papers. She got up and looked at her clock: midnight. An early night. Zafira sighed. How did the other Sanctuaries work around the world? She knew in most counties the Elders worked together in one Sanctuary policing the country but in America it wasn't even possible to do that. With such a large nation the Council each policed a different section of the country in order to keep mortals safe. It wasn't easy especially running the main American Sanctuary. It is worth it she figured. She shadow-walked home to Javier. He wasn't asleep though. She wrapped her arms around him from behind,
"Hello there." She whispered. Javier yelped and laughed.
"What have your eyes gotten better now?" He asked. Zafira just smiled
"One of the Sensitives figured something out. I can see you clearly. As for nightmares....she tried her hardest. She said the most she could do is keep them from every night but they still lurk in my mind." Zafira sat beside him on the couch. Grinning shel laid her head across his lap. He smiled seeing her close to him.
"Sleep you need it. You Elders work so hard." He murmured and watched her fall asleep. He brought her up to bed and placed her under the covers. He went downstairs. 12:30am. Plenty of time to kill the man lurking outside the window.

Javier stood outside near the fountain. A man in white robes was there. Sense Warden. Trickier to kill. Grinning Javier focused on the man. The Sense Warden fell to his knees trying to block Javier's attack. But Javier was prepared. He focused in harder and watched as the Sense Warden went and drown himself. Javier stopped focusing and left the body. Dead bodies were common now with the war. He shrugged and went into the house and back to Zafira. He lay beside her and soon fell asleep.

Zafira woke up late. She sat up but Javier held her back,
"Woah Zaf calm down. You're not going in today." He reminded her. She lay back down facing Javier,
"Damn i forgot! I am so used to getting up." She sighed. But as were the doctors orders to not go in once a week. Her body still was recovering from what Niccolo did the first time. Javier smiled and took her into his arms.
"Mmm I think I can handle keeping you captive all day. I mean if that's what you want." He murmured. Zafira nodded and Javier ran his hands through her hair. It wasn't as long as it used to be but the cells in her body were tricked to growing it faster. It'd be another few weeks until it was her original length. Javier continued to play with her hair.
"I wonder if the little one will have your hair." He smiled. She laughed,
"Maybe. I wonder what it'll be like, watching them grow up and have the Surge. And..." She trailed off. It didn't seem right.
"How do you know if I'm even having a baby?" She asked. Javier gave that sly smile,
"A friend of mine is a Sensitive. Told me what the future was for you." He told her. He looked up at the clock. Shrugging he got up and scooped her up in his arms. Zafira laughed letting him. He took her downstairs and placed her in the living room. Then went and made breakfast. She looked at the files she brought home. Fun.

Guardian Angel: War

Lest we forget

The world was at war. Again. We had just seen it come out of its last tragedy when the Japanese and Germans invaded. I remember being in Australia that day, listening to the static filled radio explain Hitler’s arrival and the attack of the Japanese. I knew what I had to do. Hell, I was going to do it anyway, even if Death hadn’t enlisted to join the army, posing as a boy.
I followed a man with dark brown hair into a side street away from the others, and tapped on his shoulder. He spun quickly and I smiled at him. “Excuse me, my good sir. I seem to have become lost. Would you help me get back to my house?”
The man smiled at me, his hazel eyes glittered. “Of course, where do you live?”
I smiled at him as he turned his back. I put my hand on his shoulder and grabbed a knife out of my pocket, slicing his neck. “Keep.” I muttered and felt new skin grow over my own. A new personality accompanied it and I pushed it down inside me somewhere.
I turned around and walked back to the enlistment tent near the bay. I signed my name and was told I was to do a medical. I knew I could pass. This new body could do anything that was desired.
I walked over to the next tent and talked to a doctor there. He passed me quickly and moved onto the person in line behind me.
I sat down and watched the soldiers-to-be line up, judging their height, weight and strength. The odds weren’t in most of their favours. I saw a young man there, he had short brown hair. His ice blue eyes seemed glued to the floor. It took me a moment to realize that I was staring at Death.
She had cut off all of her precious hair! She was wearing thick clothing and her face had stubble, very well drawn on stubble along her jaw. It took all of my strength not to get up and chastise her for what she was going to do. I knew what she would be thinking right now; something along the lines of, I need to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Who cares if I die? I have to protect the little man! That’s Death for you…
I watched her as she was inspected for her medical test. I was afraid that the doctor would realize she wasn’t a man and would kick her out. She’d throw a rampage if that happened. She’d probably yell and hit someone and glare… Killing those around her. I knew I couldn’t let that happen.
I stood up and walked over to where the doctor was standing, a small book in his slender hands, and tapped on his shoulder. He turned to me. “May I help you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
I shot him a quick smile. “I know this man. He is amazing and is more than fit enough to go to war. Please, move to the next man along the line.”
The doctor looked at me for a while longer and then sighed; stamping a sheet of paper and handing it to Death. She grinned widely at the doctor and me before walking off towards the main town district. I smiled after her as I left the doctor to inspect more soldiers.

I didn’t see her again until we were deployed.
The boat was rickety and too small for our large battalion. I could already see some people becoming terribly bored and some were throwing their large knives around. I looked around and saw Death sitting by herself and writing in a journal.
Her pan was madly scratching away. Her calligraphy would not give her away for it was as messy as it could be.
I stood and walked up beside her. “Good day, sir.” I said with a smile.
She looked up. “And to you, sir.”
“How are you this fine day?”
“Swell, I guess. I don’t have a fondness of sinking ships.”
It was a joke so I laughed. “Ah, nor do I, for that matter.”
There was a pause. “Thank you, for the medical test.”
I smiled again. “Nought a problem.”
She laughed lightly at that but it was too feminine for her act. She coughed quickly after it. “Sorry,” she muttered.
I patted her shoulder gently. “I know you who you are.” I said with a grin and left her to her own accord.

I lost her for a few days. I left the boat, all alone, and struggled up to Flander’s Field. The army had gathered there for us. Bullets whizzed past as they were fired from enemy guns and my fellow diggers cried out as they were shot at.
I launched myself into the trench, cursing as my ribs and my gun collided on the ground. My trench coat was too heavy for this fight so I slid it off, knowing that this body could be killed so much easier. I pulled out my knife from my belt and spun, stabbing the enemy behind me in the chest. I ducked under another swipe; bring my knife back up, opening up the insides of the man. Something hard cracked against the back of my skull. My eyes rolled back into my head and I slumped to the ground.

I woke as cold water was splashed on my face. My eyes flew open to a small dark room and I tried to speak. I couldn’t! I tried to figure out what was in my mouth, a gag, before remembering that someone must have been in the room with me.
My eyes struggled to adjust to my surroundings and someone spoke in poor English. “Give information. What is plan?” Whoever spoke had a thick Japanese accent.
I made several humming sounds before the gag was taken off. I spat on my interrogator. “We have no plan. We have a goal. We have already achieved that goal.” I smiled at him smugly.
“What is goal?” Something cold and sharp pressed against my neck.
“To beat you. We already have. Didn’t you hear? Your troops have either all been killed or taken hostage.”
The blade pressed harder into my neck. “No. We win. We win! Your troop all dead.” There was uncertainty in his voice.
“Go check then. Make sure I’m not lying.”
The man dropped the blade on the floor, clattering as it settled, and ran out of the room. He left the door wide open. Ugh… No fun, I thought and a pout.
My wrists and ankles were tied tightly together with coarse rope. I pulled my wrists apart to test how strong it was and decided that I would need that knife. I rolled onto my side and gasped. My rib that had connected with my gun felt broken. A burning pain shot through me and I rolled onto my back. I closed my eyes tightly and my hands searched for the knife.
I felt the coolness of the blade and picked it up. I placed the handle in my mouth and bit down on it. I started cutting through the rope. Up, down, up, down, up, down. I kept repeating that in my head until the ropes around my hands broke. I spat the blade out and started on my feet which took half the time.
I jumped up, my broken rib rioting, and walked to the door. The knife was in my pocket in case of emergency and I thanked God that I put it in there. There was someone with their back to me, talking by a small hand-held radio. I sliced his neck in one smooth motion, picked up his gun and continued walking.

I passed rooms of people screaming, people crying, and people laughing. I had to keep walking. I knew that if I stopped, someone would notice me. I walked through the corridors purposefully, as if I was on an errand. I found a way out of this camp I was in and found myself near an ocean.
Alright, I thought as I started walking the opposite direction of the sea. Time to help Death, as I had done since the first moment I had met her. I was her guardian angel.
I grabbed a stick and wrote my name in the mud, Diablo von Impurse.

Zafira Kerias: I Have Got to Carry On

( anyone notice my Jekyll and Hyde quote? No? Pity...

Zafira stood in the Sanctuary more or less in shock. She couldn't believe what happened: she had died multiple times and came back. She didn't know how to react or to even feel. Her hands shook. She had to stop Niccolo before she even attempted Mevolent. The question is how. She stayed in her office. There was a battle she wasn't in. Finally she had come to her senses to not attack. Javier was fighting though. She continued to work.

Javier yelped as he felt the dagger enter his stomach. He pulled it out and fell to the ground. One of the Teleporters grabbed him and took him to the Sanctuary. He blacked out.

Zafira nearly fell out of her chair.
"He....he,...." Zafira lost her train of thought. She barged past the Administrator and ran to the Medical Bay.
"Where is Javier?" She asked one doctor. The doctor looked up at her and sighed,
"Grand Mage....we're...working on him. I can't even say if he'll live. He came in with a wound pretty deep. We have the best doctors working on him." He told her. Zafira stared at the doctor in shock. Realizing her distress he put an arm around her,
"Grand Mage, I promise he will survive almost guarantee. I can call you when he's out of surgery. Go to your chambers and calm down." He told her gently. Zafira nodded slowly and went back into her chambers staring blankly at a wall. Slowly she took her phone out and searched for Jekyll and Hyde. She listened to Lost in the Darkness and tried to relax. Throughout the whole entire first act her thoughts whirled. For a while she watched then the words struck her. Niccolo was like Jekyll. Man is not one but two he is evil and good and he walks the fine line we'd all cross if we could. And he's waiting he's just waiting. Finally as Jekyll was getting married the doctor came,
"Grand Mage you can go see him." He said. Zafira went back to the Medical Bay and found Javier. He was awake looking up at her. Her face broke into a smile
"Javier what am I to do with you?" She asked kissing his cheek. He smiled weakly
"Love me." He laughed. He took her hand.
"Zaf my love don't fret, I'll be fine in a couple of hours." He soothed. She nodded and leaned in close,
"Okay Javier I thought about the question. If you can we can try but....I can't...guarantee it will follow through." Javier's face lit up.
"Thank you, Zaffy."