Colin's posts

Ash paused for a moment, looking around.

"Right." he said.

"I can help. I know where you all can go for some protection." he told her.

"It's the San Diego branch of the Unit. You know, where Kiah works." he then said further, before stepping closer towards her.

"I... listen, I don't want anyone to hear this, or possibly tap into telepathy, so I'll whisper it to you." he continued, getting close enough and putting his mouth to her ear, cupping his hands in such a way that the sound wouldn't travel.

He then whispered to her why the Unit would be safe, before stepping back.

"Yes. I'm serious." he finished.

"Two things." Ash said.

"The first piece of information is that I know why your daughter's acting like she is." he continued.

"The second one is that I know of a temporary solution." he went on.

"I'll tell you the first one first." he then said, pausing for a moment to briefly reflect on what he said... before shaking his head slightly.

"Anyway." he muttered.

"Vanessa's at it again, and she's found a way to infiltrate and corrupt the bond between familiar and owner." he informed her. "So familiars are now essentially remote access points for her control." he lamented.

After a bit, she felt a familiar presence nearby, and wasn't surprised when Ash stepped into the clearing.

"Hey." he greeted her.

"I heard about what happened." he said.

"No fun." he mumbled further.

"Heard you might come here, so I came looking." he then told her.

"Listen, can we talk?" he asked. "I have some info to share."

"...drained." Vincent replied.

"Very, very drained." he reiterated.

"Well, I'm taking Casey to OLA so Rene can make sure she doesn't die while she has her little impromptu nap." Ash told them.

"Tell Lindsay when he's finally fully rezzed." he continued.

"...oh, and if Ashley comes back from the flight she's on while I'm away, fill her in." he added.

"Can do." was all Vincent said.

"...and thanks for the help." he then told the three of them.

As Cass placed her hands on Vincent's shoulders, she felt Addison place his hands on her back.

"I think I'm faring better than you are. Hope this help." he echoed, as he sent some of his own mana into her.

"...heh, like mother, like son, it seems." Vincent chuckled.

Meanwhile, as Lindsay started to regenerate again, Ash rushed into the room and placed his hands over Casey's forehead and chest. He then pulsed some mana into her, causing her to fall into a deep sleep, kind of like a coma.

"That should stop her control." he muttered, as he carried her out of the room.

"Right, I know Casey needs to be taken to the hospital." he commented.

"Anyone else?" he asked.

Ash looked back at Vincent, as his eyes suddenly turned pure white, and seemed to glow with an almost ethereal aura.

"Now!' Vincent yelled.

Ash responded by sending a pulse of his special mana into the room, which broke all the quartz there... and immediately, the mana started to flow out of the room. Vincent responded by extending his arms forward, palms out, and fired the pure mana right at it, as Ash dove out of the way.

The pure mana pierced right into the room, and it seemed like the necromantic mana was ready to swallow it... before the pure mana started to grow and overtake it quickly.

"...just... a little... more..." Vincent said to Addison and Cassandra.

"Just one... more... pulse." he finished, before the two of them gave one more burst of mana to him, which caused one last blast of pure mana, eradicating the tainted mana that had been in the room.

"Holy hell, the whole house shook from that." Ash muttered, as Vincent fell to his knees from the effort and strain.

Vincent just sighed.

"I will." he said.

"You sure?" Ash asked.

"I have various reasons." Vincent responded. "Let's just get this done." he said further.

Ash nodded in response, before making his way to the divide, while Lindsay was reborn and killed over and over again inside.

"All right, everyone get ready." he told them, as Vincent positioned himself.

"As soon as I break the quartz, you've got mere seconds to blast the mana."

Lindsay just sighed.

"I'll try it, then." he said.

"If something goes wrong, I'll come back from it." he reasoned.

He then made his way up the stairs, pausing at the literal divide between the necromantic mana, and the rest of the house. He sighed once more, before bracing himself, and stepping through it.

He DID manage to step through it, but the mana seemed to immediately swarm him, covering him like a swarm of micro-organisms, and the group watched him age 100's of years, until he turned to literal dust.

"...holy shit..." Addison got out.

"And every time he's reborn, the same thing's gonna happen, again and again." Ash muttered, before looking at Cass.

"Well, there's your answer." he then said to her.

"I'm fine." Ryker responded.

"And our ally is a dragon, apparently." he said.

"She's the one that's been keeping this blizzard going, so no undead dragons can fly in and get close." he explained further.

"....what was her name...?" he then wondered aloud.

"Ah!" he said, snapping his fingers.

"Arissa!" he remembered.

Addison did, indeed, follow his mother, but he lagged behind a little, mostly because he struggled a bit with the sheer oppressive nature of the mana.

"It is." Vincent responded, as Addison looked at Casey, and the room.

"Holy shit..." he muttered quietly.

"It is impressive, in the worst possible way." Vincent said.

"...what are we supposed to do?" Addison asked.

"We need to combine our mana to override the tainted necromantic mana and neutralise it." Vincent explained.

"...but what about the quartz?" Addison asked in response. "Surely that's there to contain the mana, as well as protect it from being attacked, yeah?" he asked them.

"That's where -I- come in." Ash chimed in. "Due to... reasons... I'll be able to pulse mana in, and shatter the various pieces of quartz." he explained. "But once I do, you'll only have a few seconds before the mana starts to overflow towards us." he warned.

"So this will essentially be like a coordinated assault on the necromantic mana." Lindsay summarised.

"Pretty much." Ash confirmed.

".........." Addison was silent, before sighing heavily.

"Fine." he said.

"All right, all right." he said further, taking her hand.

"Let's go." he told her.

"I'm ready." he finished.

With that, they were gone in a flash, and appeared in the Fyrane's back yard.

And when they arrived there, Addison almost felt himself be metaphorically crushed by the sheer necromantic power that was there.

"...wh... what the hell...?" he asked, his tone hushed and quiet.

The conversation was ended, and Vincent looked a little confused.

'Eh?' he thought.

'That was... oddly quiet...' he thought to himself, before shaking his head and sighing.

'Whatever. Bigger problems to worry about.' he added, looking back towards Casey.

Meanwhile, Addison was laying on his bed, reading a book, when he looked over towards his mother.

"Huh?" he muttered.

"My mana?" he asked, setting the book down.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked further, getting up into a sitting position.

"....I need your pure mana." Vincent replied.

"I'm at the Fyrane manor." he told her, before filling her in on what he was witnessing.

"Cassandra, I know I won't be enough for this." he then said.

"My mana is powerful, but not powerful enough to overcome all this." he went on.

"I need you to help back me up on this, and use your mana as well." he continued.

"Can you do that?" he asked.

The brothers looked at each other, before they grabbed the door and forced it off its hinges. When they did, they were greeted by a horrifying sight.

Casey was sitting in a circle of quartz, and the necromantic saturation in the room was... alarming. It almost felt like it was going to creep out and suffocate them.

"....Ash?" Lindsay said.

"Yeah?" Ash responded.

"We need help." Lindsay said.

"We do." Ash agreed.

With that, they called Vincent and explained the situation. Vincent was there in an instant, and was almost floored by the concentration and strength of the mana there. He made his way up to where Casey was, and stopped when he saw the sight.

"...I'm going to need backup." was all he said, before taking out his phone.

He then dialled Cassandra's cell number, and awaited her to pick up.