Colin's posts

"Well, it's my fault." the demon replied.

"So blame me, and don't ride him about it for something HE can't control, either." he told Eke.

"But I'll say it now... that calling song is a bloody curse, it is." he went on.

"I remember that your father hated it, too." he continued.

"Always said it was an unwanted relic of a past best forgotten."

"....hm." Hal mumbled.

"She must have gotten desperate if she actually bedded down with her little toady..." he muttered.

"But it makes sense why it's so familiar." he commented.

"...also, question." he then said.

"You never thought he'd be a problem... and it's clear you're referring to Cedric." he went on.

"...why did you think that?" he asked.

"........" Hal was silent for a moment, thinking about what he was told.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"That name sounds... familiar." he said.

"The alias one, that is." he clarified.

He then paused again, before furrowing his brow.

"...Vanessa procreated?" he asked her.

"I... never thought such a thing would be possible, from what I've heard of her." he admitted. "And not because of physical impossibilities or anything, but more because of her insanely high standards."

Almost instantly, Hal could see what was going on, and nodded.

"I understand." he replied.

"Your wish... is granted." he told her, snapping his fingers again.

This time, the mana coated her again, but it also extended off her head into a circular pattern. Then, mana started to come out of Ashley, and it felt like her insides were being wrung together.

This continued for close to a minute, before a VERY dense ball of mana was seen floating in front of her, suspended in Hal's own mana.

"....oh my lord..." Hal commented.

"That is a dense amount of drow mana..."

"....normally I wouldn't reveal this to one I'm not close to." Hal then said, seemingly randomly and cryptically.

"But these are extenuating circumstances." he reasoned.

He then held his hand up, his fingers together.

"Your wish..." he said, trailing off some.

"...is granted." he finished, snapping his fingers.

"....damn it." Hal cursed.

"Whatever you're hiding, you have a secure lock and key on it." he told her.

"Seriously. You're keeping this one HELL of a secret." he commented.

"Even our BEST efforts aren't enough." he muttered.

"Your resolve is truly amazing, though I get the sense it's not something you're choosing to do." he then added.

Hal just sighed.

"Very well." he said.

"But I warn you, we can be VERY persuasive. And that's putting it lightly." he told her.

"Regardless, let's get you to a room." he then said further.

"We have a potentially long and hard road ahead of us."

"Thank you." Hal responded.

"I do appreciate it." he said.

"Now, that being said..." he then muttered, sighing quietly. "You might want to let people know you'll be here for a bit." he told her further.

"Just so they know." he reasoned.

"......" Hal was silent as he heard that.

"Ah..." he said.

"There are two possible ways to take that." he told her.

"Neither one of them are good." he said further. "Now... I might not know you too well, but I've heard enough about you that I can reasonably assume that you would never willingly withhold something like this." he went on.

"...or... well... perhaps you would, depending on the circumstances..." he then muttered.

"Will you at least agree to let us try and... coax it out of you?" he asked her.

Hal just crossed his arms over his chest.

"So what you're saying is that you clearly have more information than you're letting on... but you're not telling us." he summarised.

"Would that be correct?" he asked.

"If so, then we may have some issues here." he commented.

"Tell us everything you know about the mana that was placed in agents Callimachi and Gardner." he told her.

"......" Hal was silent as Ashley said that.

".....is that so." he said.

"Your refusal to cooperate is noted." he told her, obviously not impressed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why, even though you know the source, can you not share it?"

Hal raised an eyebrow when she said that.

"Well, we know it's not yours, and you say it's not your sister's." he commented. "Which is... understandable, she's gone." he reasoned.

"So why the familiarity?" he asked.

"Where is this coming from? Can you tell me the source?" he asked her.

"It seems they've targeted my Unit agents, and that can spell disaster." he continued. "And we don't need THIS disaster, on top of the global movement of the trials that's spreading."

Hal was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"One last question." he said.

"What do you make of the mana?" he asked.

"You said you would be able to identify it when you withdrew it from them." he recalled.

"So what's your opinion on it?" he asked her.

"Any ideas as to the origin of it?"

Ryker nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, his irises were crimson red, indicating that the demon was in control, but it seemed less... hostile and complete.

"Yeah, it IS my fault he gets like this." he told Eke.

"But I'm essentially digging my claws deeper into his psyche." he explained.

"And before you leap all over me, it's not as sinister as it sounds." he then said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"For a relatively issue-free transition and melding into a true demon lord, I need to intertwine my mind with his. Otherwise his brain will be shattered, and it'll just be me. And then his body won't be able to contain it, and it'll collapse under the pressure." he went on.

"So I'm laying the groundwork, so to speak." he summarised. "A good foundation for a building, as it were." he continued. "Side effect is that Ry-guy will get lost in thought and start obsessing over the future." he shrugged.

"Just something you both gotta deal with."