Colin's posts

"Got it." Ash responded.

He then disappeared from where he was, and reappeared in the backyard of the Fyane manor.

When he appeared there, and stepped inside, he froze.

"....guess I should have been paying attention more." he said.

"THAT is some strong mana up there." he muttered, looking in the direction of Casey's studio... straight upwards.

His brother, meanwhile, looked VERY concerned.

"That JUST spiked as you were gone." Lindsay told him.

"We need to stop her... and fast." Ash muttered, as they rushed up to the closed door to her studio.

"CASEY!" Lindsay called in.

"ARE YOU OKAY!?"

"I know." Ash replied.

"But I don't know how to stop her." he said.

"I suppose we could talk to Zeria some more, and-" he started to say, before something else Zeria had said kicked in.

"...oh, not..." he mumbled.

"I need to check on Casey." he said.

"Kitt's been missing for weeks now."

Ash just sighed heavily.

"It's... Vanessa again." he said.

"Seems she's found a way to infiltrate the connection between familiar and mage." he told her.

"Zeria was managing to hold it off temporarily by killing herself and regenerating, but it always kept coming back." he explained further. "So I sent her to the Unit as ashes, so she'd reform and not have that in her." he went on.

"...but yeah, it's Vanessa again." he reiterated.

"Seems she's found yet ANOTHER way to screw with people."

Ash just sighed.

"She's in the San Diego branch of The Unit." he told her.

"For reasons I'm not sure I should divulge, she's safe there. There's a protective barrier around it." he continued.

"...." he was then silent, before looking away.

"And I know what was going on with her." he said further.

"She told me so, herself." he continued.

".....you're not going to like it, though..."

"Uhhh... hey." Ash replied when he got up there.

"Wow." he said, taking in the treehouse. "This... this is... just... wow." he said further.

"I never knew this was here." he admitted. "And I thought I'd been all over this forest in the years I've lived here and sparred with the animals that live in here." he continued.

"How long has this been here?" he asked her. "When did this get made?" he asked her further, before shaking his head.

"Right, nevermind that for now." he said.

"Mom, I know you must be feeling... well... strange. Different. Weird." he continued, unsure as to how she was being affected at the moment.

"But I know WHY." he went on.

"And trust me, Zeria is safe right now." he then assured her. "She is safe where she is, and isn't in any danger, I promise."

"Perhaps we should discuss this further." Hal replied.

"Come on, let's get acquainted." he suggested.

Meanwhile, Ash had arrived at the Remmington manor looking for his mother... but had been told that his mother had chosen to go to the Fyrane manor. Confused as to why she would do so, he left and made his way home... to the Fyrane manor.

After talking with his brother, he learned that their mother had been acting weird, and had disappeared into the large forested area behind the home.

Ash, now confused and concerned, made his way into the forest.

"Mom!" he called out.

"Where y'at!?"

"....a phoenix." Hal responded, looking at Zeria.

"Certainly a rarity." he commented.

"And... your cousin?" he then asked Kiah.

"Ash." Kiah specified.

"...certainly explains how he got her through the barrier." Hal muttered. "Would have been nice if he'd told me he'd be doing this." he growled, before taking out a comm unit.

"Cancel the Code Red-5. Situation under control, no emergency." he said, before putting it away and sighing.

"That was almost a fiasco." he told them.

"Now... why were you sent here?" he asked Zeria.

Ilias was... stunned, to put it lightly.

"Ah... I... that..." he stammered.

He was then quiet, before smacking his forehead.

"I could have guessed this." he said.

He then sighed heavily, and opened the door to the decontamination room.

"Please, you don't have to stay in there." he told her.

It was at that point, they heard Hal's voice calling to them.

"Can SOMEONE please explain to me why the intruder alarm is saying we have a problem here!?" he demanded.

Ilias just looked... VERY confused.

"Ah, I..." he stammered, before shaking his head.

"Fine." he told her.

"I will." he said.

"But I'm warning you, I want an explanation after this." he then told her.

"I pile of ashes just arrived here, and you're asking if this Zeria is OKAY!?" he exclaimed. "She's clearly NOT. She's... well... she's a pile of ashes!" he said further, before shaking his head.

"But... I'll go and tell him." he finished, before turning and starting to walk off.

Ash nodded in response.

"I will." he told her.

"Now, get ready." he said, creating balls of black fire in his hands.

---

"......" Ilias was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"I see." he said.

"Well, we'll find out in a few seconds." he told her as they left the room and shut the door, looking through the glass.

As soon as they did, there was a swirl of black fire... before some ashes just fell to the ground.

Ilias... looked panicked.

"Oh sweet heavens, they got BURNED UP!" he exclaimed.

"A minute." Ash responded.

"You got a minute, starting now." he told her.

"Talk to you later." he finished, before hanging up.

He then sighed, and looked at Zeria.

"I'm going to teleport you to the Unit, where Kiah will receive you." he told the woman/phoenix. "However, when I do, you'll be burned by my black fire. Which is to say, you'll be killed upon transport, and your ashes will arrive there." he went on.

"You'll regenerate there, and hopefully be free of the influence." he continued.

"But... yeah, due to circumstances there, the Unit will be a safe place for you." he reiterated. "I have no idea why that is... I mean I know WHY, but I don't know why it's THERE in specific, as opposed to other places." he muttered, shaking his head.

"Oh, you know what I mean." he said.

"Regardless, I'll teleport you in about 30 seconds. Anything you feel you gotta say before I do it?" he asked her.

"Hey Kiah." Ash responded.

"Listen, I'm gonna be sending someone to the Unit." he told her.

"Can you prep the decontamination room?" he asked. "Like... ASAP?" he asked further.

"It's where I'll be sending her." he reasoned.

"And she'll explain everything when she gets there." he went on.

"Seriously, time's a factor here, and I need you to trust me on this." he added.

Ryker paused and raised an eyebrow.

"...all right, no sweet stuff." he said.

"I can do that." he told him.

"I'll make up some hashbrowns and such, as well as fish." he told him further.

"....so how are you?" he asked.

"You LOOK better, but how are you actually feeling?"

"........right." Ash muttered.

"I'll see her after I finish up here." he told her.

"...one second, though." he then said, taking out his phone. "I need to make a call." he told her, dialling a number.

"Oh, and FYI, when I send you there, it's not gonna be pretty, but it'll be necessary." he finished, before bringing the phone to his ear.

Meanwhile, at the Unit, Ilias and Kiah were studying some equations on a whiteboard, when Kiah's phone went off.

And she recognised the ringtone as well, it was Ash.