Colin's posts

"Lily..." Addison said quietly.

"I know." he said.

"I do all I can for you as well." he told her.

"For now, just relax." he said.

"Concentrate on detoxing yourself, and recovering."

Addison nodded in response.

"All right." he replied.

He was then silent for another moment, before wrapping an arm around her.

"Hey." he said.

"You're the best." he told her.

"I'm a lucky man."

"....I see." Addison replied, grabbing a bottle of ice cold water, and handing it to her. When she accepted it, he sat down beside her, and sighing.

"I bet it wouldn't be." he said.

"But... you did it." he told her.

"Things should calm down, anyway." he reasoned.

"Which is good. I don't need this guild crumbling."

Addison looked at her, and sighed.

"Thank you." he said, getting up and making his way towards her.

"Come on. Sit down." he told her, leading her to one of the couches and sitting her down on it.

"I'll get you a bottle of water." he told her.

"But you made them THAT strong, huh?" he then asked.

"That's... impressive."

Addison watched her go, and sighed again.

"Forgive me." he mumbled, looking at a picture of his mother.

"But this is a desperate time." he said.

Meanwhile, as she made her way through the halls, she stumbled upon a brawl that was happening in a nearby lounge... which ended up with one of the combatants being throw out of the door, and into her.

"Damn it!" they cursed.

"Your fault for getting in the way." they said to her, before getting up and storming back into the lounge.

Addison was silent for a moment, before he heaved a long sigh.

"I hate having to use Doll Daisies." he said.

"But I honestly don't know where Emelie is, and I'm not sure if we have the time to track her down." he admitted. "If this isn't dealt with soon, this entire guild will be in shambles." he went on.

"...so, do it." he told her.

"I'll make sure the vents are closed, and the air circulates all throughout the building." he said.

"This needs to be calmed down, NOW, by any means necessary."

Addison looked at the female that entered, and sighed.

"Not the right season." he said.

"It wouldn't be so fast-acting and sudden." he told her.

"And I don't know how it would have gotten IN here in the first place." he then added.

"But this place is anarchy right now, and I don't know how to stop it!" he finished, growing more and more frustrated.

Ash shook his head.

"Lindsay's a Fyrane, but remember, he doesn't have the tainted aspect." he told Ashley.

"I don't think he can be trapped by it, but... well... exposure to it will do nothing good for his soul." he said.

"Besides, it's best if Lindsay's left as a backup." he then added.

With that, he took a few steps back, and disappeared in a burst of black flames, aiming to stop Vicki from doing something she would regret.

Meanwhile, Addison was in his office, grabbing at his hair.

"The HELL is going on!?" he exclaimed.

"Suddenly everyone in this guild is getting into arguments and rioting!" he said to himself.

"Where did this all come from!?"

"It's still gonna hurt, though." Ash replied.

"Huh?" Vito muttered.

"But you're, like, the strongest Fyrane." he said.

"Debateable." Ash responded. "Besides, she's boosted by the mana granted to her from the staff that denotes her as Head of The Council." he reminded them.

".........oh." Vito mumbled.

"But still. I suppose I have a responsibility to try and stop her." Ash then admitted, sighing and shaking his head.

Immediately, Ash's eyes widened.

"Ahhhh hell." he said.

He then made his way to Vito, and placed a hand on his back, sucking out the remaining rune mana that was within him.

"...that's better." Vito mumbled.

"What is she doing?" Ash asked. This prompted an explanation from Vito, which caused Ash to sigh deeply.

"Looks like I need to take care of this." he commented.

After a few seconds of her last yell, the door downstairs opened slowly.

Ash stood there, his hair mussed and rough, dressed only in a pair of jeans. It was clear he'd been sleeping... odds are due to returning from a particularly lengthy and difficult bounty.

He wasn't officially a bounty hunter any longer, but he still did it from time to time. But it took more out of him. He was slowly learning to that he needed to accept retirement soon.

"....yes?" he asked, cleaning an ear out with his pinky finger and making his way towards her.

"Can I help-" he started to ask her, before pausing.

"...why do things feel vaguely... ominous, here?" he then asked.

Vito was silent for a moment, his eyes still closed... before they popped open.

Wide.

And he opened his mouth to scream, but no noise came out. He then looked around, before seeing that Ashley was staring right at him from above.

"Woah!" he exclaimed.

"Wait... I made it?" he muttered.

"Oh, thank heavens." he said.

"Vicki's going nuts with the rune!" he told her quickly.

Meanwhile, Vito had been nearby, trying to quell some fights, when he and the brawlers had gotten caught up in the rune.

'Oh...' he thought.

'Oh, shit... shit no...' he thought further.

However, he noticed that the rune dissipated for mere seconds at a time, but it was a window. He needed to close his eyes, he needed to prepare, and he needed to react quickly.

He then closed his eyes, and concentrated on his soul... on the rune. He waited until he could faintly sense the rune weakening, before he started to ready his own mana. When the rune went down, he used his mana to teleport away from where he was, not knowing or caring where he would land.

Thankfully, he landed in the Fyrane manor backyard, where Ashley was about to take off for a flight. However, just as she lifted off the ground, she saw him appear out of nowhere... pretty high up in the air... and start to plummet towards the ground.

They were all frozen.

Scared. Terrified.

All of them could only look at her, and feel their souls almost become loose, but not ripped from them. Like the frailty of their humanity was suddenly brought to view.

"Please..." one managed to beg.

"Please, don't..." they said further.

"We beg of you..." another added quietly.