Colin's posts

Taylor froze up when he ran into Alice, and seemed to be stunned for a moment.

"A-Alice!" he exclaimed.

"I... I was just... I mean... I was headed out... but..." he stammered, before shaking his head.

"No! No, it's fine." he told her.

"It's nothing. Nothing serious or pressing, anyway." he continued.

"If you want to speak to me, I have the time now!" he assured her further with an awkward smile.

"I am in full agreement there." Vincent responded.

"Hmmm..." he mumbled.

"I suppose I ought to talk to the right people about this." he reasoned. "Get some proper information straight from the source. Might be the best course of action here." he went on.

- - -

Taylor sighed quietly as he looked at his yogurt cup, looked around at the empty cafeteria, as he was there about 10 minutes before the lunch rush would happen, and shook his head.

"You should really do it." he said to himself. "What's the worst that could happen?" he asked himself further.

"She says no, it gets really awkward between the two of you, your sadness seeps into her and triggers her empathy, it becomes too much, you make her life a living hell, and then can't live with yourself-" he started to then answer himself, before he shut up and pushed the yogurt away.

"I need to head out for lunch." he said.

"Get some fresh air or something."

"...hm." Vincent muttered.

"Well, I'm sure she'll see reason." he told her.

"She IS intelligent, and she'll listen if asked to." he reasoned.

"...then again, she DOES take after Demitra in her stubborn ways..." he then admitted.

"Regardless, I wish you the best in dealing with her." he said, clearing his throat a little.

"Though it's surreal to imagine Alice and Kiah bringing such a future forth..." he added at the end, trailing off a little.

"So this falls under the purview of time travel." Vincent then said.

"I see." he went on.

"Well, that means that someone there wanted so badly for that future to not come to pass, they resorted to pulling someone from the past there, to return with information needed to change the course of the future." he continued.

"Regardless, I DO hope it worked." he said.

"Because it certainly sounds like that future was... a harrowing one."

Savra followed, and when the two reached the station, they still hadn't found Ryker. When they looked inside, they found him still in there, drinks and snacks in his arms, looking unimpressed.

Why? It seemed like a woman was arguing with the cashier over something. And it obviously looked like the lady was the one out of line.

Ryker just rolled his eyes and leaned against the nearby wall, waiting for his turn and looking at the wall clock.

He then noticed Eke and Savra, before giving a 'sorry about this...' look.

Vincent could only stare at her for close to 5 seconds, before he looked away and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ngh." he grunted.

"That was... a LOT of information crammed into a very small amount of words, I'm guessing." he said. "So let's go through these things in terms of relevance and ease." he suggested.

"Firstly, I had not considered the possibility of my mana being so strong due to essentially living atop a weak one." he told her. "But, thinking about it, that makes sense." he admitted.

"Secondly, bombing an exam?" he asked. "Well, we'll need to speak to the professor about that, as it sounds like some VERY extenuating circumstances caused that." he told her further. "See if we can't get a do-over." he sighed.

"Thirdly, it sounds like you had some kind of vision of the future, which is very curious, seeing as your capabilities seem to be limited to seeing the past. Or, rather, parts of the past you wouldn't normally know." he commented further.

"But, from the sounds of it, it had a purpose. Have you managed to use the information you garnered to help steer the course of the future?" he asked. "More so than you already have by bringing the archangel scenario to my attention?"

"...eh?" Vincent asked.

"Well, the archangels are physical manifestations of the various aspects and emotions of God." he told her. "So when one ceases to exist, their essence would... travel back to... hm..." he muttered.

"Would they travel back to the one they came from... or ME, considering the position I'd be filling...?" he wondered.

"If it's the latter, then because I wouldn't have given up that aspect..." he went on, trailing off a bit at the end.

"Yes, that IS a good point." he admitted to Vicki. "I'll need to make sure I'm prepared if it's the latter." he reasoned.

"Thank you for calling this to my attention." he said to her. "But what brought it to YOURS?" he asked.

"Nnn... ngh?" Vincent mumbled, before Vicki smacked his foot again.

"Huh?" he muttered, waking up and looking blearily over towards her.

"Oh, hey sweetie." he greeted her, sitting up and stretching out a bit letting out a big yawn.

"Guess I fell asleep." he said.

"Anyway, barely heard that we need to talk, apparently." he commented.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

Lindsay returned the hug and held her close for a moment, before they let go and they took a step back from each other.

"Love you." he said to her.

"Love you, too." she responded.

With that, the two of them disappeared separately from where they stood, and Vicki appeared in the corner of the room designated for teleporting into. She looked around, before making her way to her father's study, figuring that's where he was.

However, she was proven wrong before she could even get there, as she heard slight snoring coming from the den.

Which mean that Vincent had fallen asleep on one of the couches there.

Lindsay laughed a little at her comment.

"That is true." he said.

"I'm convinced there's nothing she can't do, mentally manipulative-wise." he went on.

"Vanessa only WISHED she could do what Alice does." he added.

"But yes, I'm good to go home." he said. "I'll be fine." he assured her.

"And you need to speak with him? Why?" he asked.

Lindsay just chuckled.

"It's fine." he said.

"Just don't leave me high and dry if Kiah comes gunning for me over this." he told her.

"Because when she hears and/or sees that this happened... she won't be happy. To massively understate it." he muttered.

"I'll probably come back here and see about cleaning this place up." he then said further. "Once the damage has been repaired, and everything probably taken care of, that is a nice space." he commented.

Lindsay paused for a moment, and took stock of... himself. He checked around, stopped and closed his eyes to concentrate, spun around some, stretched his arms left and right, ran in place, crouched down, laid down, pretty much did everything he could think of.

He then rose to his feet, and shrugged.

"Seems like I'm all right." he told her.

"I don't feel anything." he said.

"Granted, that smell is going to haunt my dreams for a bit." he then muttered. "Seriously, when everything ignited in there, it smelled... well, I think I actually vomited." he told her further.

"However, everything is gone. It's all reduced to cinders and ashes." he confirmed. "If you want to check, yourself, I highly suggest a hazmat suit. A full one." he stressed.

Lindsay's body lay there motionless for... longer than she would have liked, to be honest. Just when she was starting to wonder if there would be a serious problem, she noticed the reviving process begin, as his body fell to ashes and clothing.

However, again, it took longer than she expected for the ashes to ignite, and it took FAR longer for her brother to re-form and rise up from the charred remains of his previous body.

She guessed the moisture and the thinner air were the culprits. But it mattered little, now. He brother was back. And naked. He sighed and grabbed his specially tailored clothes, rushing to put them back on and cover himself up. It took a minute or so, but he managed.

"Thank you." he said to her.

"I can deal with fire. I can deal with natural burns. But CHEMICAL burns? Nope." he muttered.

"Felt like napalm was clinging to my bones." he revealed.

"All right, in I go." Lindsay then said.

With that, he took a deep breath and raced in through the doors he'd pried open. A few moments after he had, she heard him screaming out in pain and agony, but before she could say anything, she saw a spark in the darkness inside the doors.

Then... like a bomb had been set off inside, she heard a massive explosion, and felt the earth beneath her rumble slightly, as a massive stream of fire shot out from the doorway, rising into the air and dissipating quickly into the snow and cold.

What was left was an overpowering stench of burning cleaner and other things, as smoke billowed out from the doorway now. She approached it slowly, before Lindsay leaped out of the area, discoloured from whatever cleaner had been being used, blackened with soot and debris, yelling as loud as he could, rolling around in the snow.

"AAAAH! AAAAH!" he voice, now unnervingly shrill, echoed around them.

"IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" he shouted, trying desperately to find relief... and failing.