Colin's posts

Vincent knew that any more words here were useless. At least, in relation to trying to calm Rowena down. That would be impossible. She was already being as calm as she could be, given the situation.

And he could tell her last statement wasn't a thread. It was a promise.

"...no. No he won't." he agreed.

"But Rene is the best of the best." he told her. "And Alice is resilient." he reminded her further.

"I have faith that she'll pull through."

Vincent was silent for only a split-second, before he nodded.

"Right." he said.

"I'll give you the bullet points." he told her.

"Mr. Grear attempted to... kill Alice." he said. "She retaliated with the Fyrane rune." he went on. "Victoria and that boy Nick saw him and Alice heading into the building earlier. Vicki followed and interrupted the confrontation before things got even nastier, Nick fetched Mrs. Hall and brought here there." he continued.

"Long and short, Alice in the hospital being tended to by Rene, Victoria is resting in her bed, suffering from mana exhaustion, and Grear will be brought up on attempted murder charges, at the very very least."

"........" he was silent for a moment, pondering how to choose his words.

Yes. he responded.

And I would very much not like to discuss this over text. he then sent her.

Would you prefer to talk in your work room, or elsewhere? he asked.

He then paused, sighed, and shook his head.

It was tell her now, or suffer the consequences. But she needed to be in a place she felt comfortable to receive bad news.

"...no comment." was all Vincent could say in response.

He then cleared his throat and made his way to the door, stopping at it.

"Sleep well, dear." he told her.

With that, he exited the room, slowly closing the door behind him.

"...Rowena!?" he called out after a pause.

Where are you right now? he then sent as a text to her cell phone.

Vincent nodded in response, and smiled slightly.

"Thank you." he said. "Rowena and I both appreciate it." he told her.

With that, they said their goodbyes, Vincent picked Vicki up once more, left the office, and the two of then disappeared from the waiting area, appearing directly in their home, right next to Vicki's bed.

"You need to rest, young lady." he said.

"It will take a bit for your mana to return to acceptable levels." he informed her.

"So for now, just let the exhaustion cause you to fall asleep. It should help speed things up a smidgen, at least."

Despite the heaviness of the situation, her last statement was enough to get Nick to sit up straight suddenly, his face turning a definite shade of red.

This caused Vincent to pause and chuckle lightly.

"I swear, you flirt like your Aunt." he told her.

"Regardless, I'm going to take you home so you can rest off this exhaustion." he went on.

"Obviously, neither of the girls will be at school for... obvious reasons." he then told Mrs. Hall.

"There stands to be a good chance Vicki will be returning first, if they don't return together."

"Ah..." Nick stammered.

"Well... that's... that's good." he said.

"That's... I'm glad to hear that..." he went on.

Vincent was silent, raising an eyebrow for a moment, and then leaning in closer to Vicki.

"...I believe he's asking about recent events." he said.

"Will you be all right overall, considering all that just happened."

"...I'd love to wait before there's a definite prognosis on Alice before I tell her, but... I don't think we can wait that long." Vincent said.

"If anything, trying to hide it for that long, even if successful, will probably only anger her more, regardless of Alice's condition." he then reasoned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, may as well tear off that bandaid now, and do it quick." he muttered.

"..." Nick was silent for a moment, before leaning close to Vicki.

"You'll... be okay too, right?" he asked her.

"...she will be able to in time." Vincent responded.

"...I hope so, anyway." he added quietly with a small sigh, as they approached the office.

The police were already there and had arrested the man, and statements were given from the principal, Vincent, Vicki, and Nick. Overall, it took a little over an hour, and the police left.

"Now." Vincent said.

"I'm going to need to take my daughter home to recuperate." he told them.

"...and I'm going to need to tell my wife about this..." he added hesitantly.

Vincent just shook his head.

"Very well." he said.

The next thing Vicki knew, her father had scooped her up in his arms with great ease... mostly due to using his wind mana for assistance... and was now carrying her down the hallway.

"This way we don't risk you actually passing out along the way." he told her.

"If you're going to be there at the office, then it's best you be conscious." he reasoned with a light chuckle.

"But maybe that's just MY weird thinking." he smirked.

"I'm not surprised." he said.

"A pure-aligned Fyrane rune? That WOULD take a lot out of the user." he reasoned.

"But it shouldn't be anything TOO drastic. You'll just need to take it easy for a bit." he went on.

He then thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Want something to drink?" he asked.

"There's nothing for this mana-wise, but to let your mana replenish itself, but if you hydrate, you'll at least lessen the physical exhaustion that doing that caused you." he reasoned.

Vincent watched this happen, and his expression immediately shifted to that of concern for her. He walked over and knelt down so that he was at her eye-level, and placed a wrist against her forehead.

"...mm." he mumbled. "Mmhmm..." he muttered further.

"Seems like you're suffering from minor mana exhaustion." he commented. "...well, minor to moderate." he then clarified.

"You should be all right." he assured her.

"Do you feel ready to pass out, or just have a drastic loss of strength?" he asked.

Vincent was gnashing his teeth now. She'd never seen him THIS angry before. Not once.

"...good girl." he said calmly, suddenly.

"Going down that path is NEVER the right solution." he told her.

"...it's a good thing you and that boy noticed Alice when you did, else this could have gone a LOT worse." he continued.

"Come on." he then said.

"We're going to the principal's office." he said further.

"This needs to be sorted out."

"...I'm on my way now." Vincent said.

"Where are you?" he asked.

She gave him her location, and, much like Rene, he was there within seconds. And he did NOT look impressed. The first thing he noticed, was that the air around them seemed to have some... spark to it.

And he then narrowed his eyes a little.

"...electricity in the air..." he said. "And... a feeling of... Fyrane mana..." he continued. "Vague, subtle, and fading fast... but still there." he said further, the only reason he was so good at detecting it, was his hunt for Rowena to help her in the past.

"What happened here?" he asked Vicki.