Colin's posts

"....." Chris remained silent as he scanned the room, before his attention snapped back to Casey.

"Sorry..." he apologised.

"And... I don't know how to force me to tell you the truth." he said.

"Have Ashley force me to with her own mana?" he suggested.

"Listen, I know it seems like I have every reason to lie to you all, to try and worm my way into your lives so I can try and ruin them again." he went on. "But I'm not, I swear." he insisted.

"I don't know know how I would have turned out if I'd been allowed to develop on my own." he admitted. "But... but I... while what I did to your mother was the one thing I've regretted the most... seeing this room... I know one thing is for certain." he told her further.

"I don't regret bringing you and your sister into this world." he said. "The two of you were instrumental and pivotal in bringing her down, even if the final blow wasn't dealt by you." he reasoned.

"And... and... I don't... how can I 100% regret bringing someone into this world... that can create these masterpieces of art...?" he said further, scanning the pieces that surrounded them yet again.

"....how?" Chris inquired.

"How can I prove this to you?" he pleaded.

"I know actions are better than words, but... but how do I show you with my actions?" he went on.

"I haven't made a move towards anyone in this group... it'd been proven that my mana hasn't been used here." he told her. "Ashley and Miss Syraene have both said they trust me..." he continued.

"Granted, Miss Syraene is... well... she's essentially at the ready for if I DO show those colours..." he admitted.

"But what can I do? I'll do anything." he said further.

He then looked like he was ready to say something further, before she noticed he seemed to get... lost in something.

"I... I..." he stammered, as his eyes started to scan the room they were in.

Gregory just sighed.

"Never said that last part." he told her.

"Just do it." he snapped, before he disappeared.

"...I'm sorry." Chris then chimed in.

"I... this... I never wanted..." he stammered, before hanging his head.

"Oh, what's the point..." he mumbled.

"Odds are you think everything I do is part of some grand plan to still bring Vanessa's plans to fruition."

Gregory responded by getting uncomfortably close to her.

"I do not care what happens." he told her.

"If you destroy him, you destroy him, if you don't, you don't." he went on.

"Just... for the love of your mother, CLEAR THE DAMN AIR!" he yelled.

He then floated away, behind Chris.

"Whatever happens, happens. But just see to it that you are both extremely clear as to where you stand with each other." he went on.

"You're not leaving this room until things are settled, or one of you dies."

That did it.

Something seemed to snap in Gregory's mind, and the atmosphere around them grew more ominous.

"No!" he told her in an almost commanding voice.

"I will NOT buzz off!" he said

He then disappeared from where he was for a brief moment, before returning with Chris, holding him by the collar, and then dropping him on the floor.

"Wh-what's going on!?" Chris exclaimed. "I was just here for an emergency session with Dr-" he started to say, before Gregory interrupted.

"SILENCE!" he demanded, before slamming the door shut and using his mana to seal it.

"You two are going to talk, and you're going to do it NOW!" he told the two of them. "I am absolutely fed up with all this bullshit, and I do NOT need to have to concern myself with this, when there are OTHER matters that are pressing on me!" he went on.

"So you two! Clear. The. Air." he ordered.

"And I... mean... NOW!" he finished, a burst of mana shaking the room on the last syllable.

Gregory narrowed his eyes and got closer towards her.

"That's not all." he said.

"I can tell." he told her.

"I can see that you're hiding something from me." he went on.

"So how about you stop acting as though you're not, hm?" he then said further.

"Or are you going to be stubbornly persistent about this?"

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a bladed weapon... a scythe... seemed to materialise in the air. Or, rather, the blade did... as though the implement had been stuck through something. The blade sliced down, forming a slit in the air, to which a pair of hands came out from it and pushed it apart. A figure then stepped through... a cloaked figure, wielding said scythe.

Casey knew them well, it was Gregory, one of the reapers she was in regular contact with, the other being her mother.

"All right, you." he said to her, his tone... a little on the dark side.

"We need to talk." he told her.

"And it's about Jenkins... or whatever he goes by now, I'm not paying attention." he continued.

"So. Are you about ready to at least try and coincide alongside him, and not hide from him?" he asked her.

".........." Vincent didn't know what to say at that point, and merely sat down in one of the chairs in the den.

"Great." he said.

"One would think our lives would have gotten calmer after Vanessa's demise." he muttered.

"But nope. THIS has to happen." he went on.

"...how I can feel such hatred for someone, yet feel honest pity for them as well?" he then asked himself.

"This is... complicated." he finished, leaning back.

"I may need a drink."

Again, he sighed.

"I'm just saying what Syraene told me." he told her.

"She told me to bring it up with you, so I did." he said.

"Don't be surprised if she brings it up with you, should you talk to her." he continued.

"That's all." he finished.

"Now, if you're headed out, I'm not stopping you."

Vincent just shook his head.

"....Syraene asked me to see if I could help heal him." he told her.

"I tried." he said.

"And failed." he went on.

"....Syraene's may ask you to help him." he mumbled.

"Seems he's really in pain." he commented, before pausing.

"...though that probably makes you happy."

Vincent merely sighed again.

"I know." he said.

"I don't like this either, Casey." he told her.

"But... if nothing else, I trust Syraene." he then said.

"When all else fails... even if I can't trust myself... I trust her." he reiterated.

"If you want to hear it straight from her... either contact her, or she'll contact you." he finished.

"...oh, also, you really did a number on him, earlier." he added.

"I don't think anyone but yourself can heal the lingering damage done to him."

Vincent just heaved a heavy sigh.

"Right." he said.

He then proceeded to tell her what he did. What he'd heard when he went to the Fyrane manor, what happened there, where he went after, and what Chris and Syraene had both told him... sparing some of the details about Chris's life.

Odds are she did NOT want to hear them, was NOT interested in them.

"So there you are." he finished.

"Syraene is not happy with this development, but it seems that she tentatively trusts him... at least enough to let him live amongst us." he concluded.

"Whether you believe me or not, you can go to her yourself." he went on.

"Call her and ask her to meet you if you don't want to go anywhere near Kalin's home."

"Casey!" Vincent called out.

"You might not trust ME now, or Lindsay, or Ashley, or Ash." he said.

"But what about Syraene!?" he asked her.

"Do you trust Syraene?" he asked.

"A pure-blood dark elf that is dead and a member of the Order of The Sand?" he asked further.

"If I tell you what she told me, will you listen?" he then inquired.

"Or must you talk to her directly now?"

Ryker watched as Eke fell asleep again, and gently tousled his hair.

"Heh." he chuckled.

"Eke... thank you." he said.

"You started all this. You put me on the path of life being worth living." he whispered.

"Thank you." he repeated.

He then sighed and got himself positioned so that he'd be a comfortable pillow for Eke, as he was sure the dragon would sleep through the night now.