Colin's posts

"............" Hal was silent for a moment.

A long moment.

And Hollie saw a look of surprise, shock, and clear annoyance in them.

Then, before she could say anything, he pressed the button for the comm system that ran throughout the building, and spoke into it.

"If Emerald and/or Violet are in the building right now, could they both please report to my office, immediately." he said into it, releasing the button afterwards and looking at her.

He then cleared his throat, and looked away sheepishly.

Hal just sighed.

"It's all right." he said. "My curry doesn't necessarily have to be spicy." he told her.

"And thank you for going to get this." he then thanked her.

"Still... this is extremely confusing and concerning." he went on.

"Icesska was attacked, whomever it was tried to drain him, but he ended up using that to essentially dimension hop." he continued. "But that is ALL we know." he said further.

"Nobody seems to know the name of 'Adaminia' anywhere." he grumbled.

"Though, granted, our reach into parallel dimensions IS a bit limited." he then admitted.

Ciroc had made himself at home in the dorm, but he was concerned. About his home and the people there.

"...what's going to happen NOW?" he wondered to himself.

"Will they be all right...?" he asked himself further.

Meanwhile, Hal and his resources were finding nothing.

No record of anything or anyplace called 'Adaminia', or his name.

"Damn it." Hal cursed.

"This is infuriating." he growled, shaking his head.

"And concerning. He needs to be able to get home..."

"...." Ciroc was silent for a moment.

"The second question is one that will take... a LOT of explaining. I'm sure it'll take more time than I should be spending outside of my room." he admitted.

"Well, we can follow you into your room." Ash offered.

"You two can." Nate responded. "I still have work to be doing and such, and recuperating from that surge." he reasoned.

"...fair." Ash muttered.

"Anyway, the answer to her first question then?" he asked Ciroc.

"Arcane." the man replied.

Ciroc was silent as he heard that, before it really clicked in his mind.

"...that explains why I was told that my room was specially barriered." he commented.

"I should probably go back in." he added with a sigh.

"Because, yes, I am strong." he told her. "...but at the same time, I'm very weak." he lamented.

"How so?" Ash asked.

"The element I embody has no real offensive capabilities on its own. But it DOES enhance OTHER elements greatly." Ciroc explained.

Ciroc looked at what Kiah did with sheer amazement and surprise.

"Oh, my!" he exclaimed.

"Most certainly not." he told her.

"And magic is most certainly useful." he then said. "But 'nice'? I mean, it exists, and our entire world would collapse and die without it." he continued.

"But I'm guessing the people that can wield it are few and far between." Ash commented.

"To put it lightly." Ciroc responded. "Only a chosen select can use the power of the elements... and they embody a specific element each."

"Well, all right then..." Ciroc responded, still a little unconvinced, but it seemed like things were more under control, so that was enough for him. For now, anyway.

Ash, however, raised an eyebrow.

"Wait." he said. "Wait, you don't have nexuses back where you come from?" he asked him.

"No." Ciroc responded. "Well... sometimes they appear, but we call them 'Schisms', and whenever one is found, it'd dealt with and fixed immediately." he told him further.

"Huh? 'Fixed'?" Ash asked. "You make them sound like they're a bad thing." he said.

"They are." Ciroc replied. "Magic, while it flows readily and abundantly in my world, still sits on a precarious balance." he said. "Such a place would cause an imbalance in the overall structure of it, and that area would become quite unstable, perhaps even uninhabitable, depending on what elements are being bolstered." he explained further. "So we deal with it however necessary, before it can become a real problem." he finished.

"...never thought of it quite like THAT way..." Ash admitted. "A nexus here is essentially a rift in the world that actually allows our mana to flow." he told him. "...and boosts whomever happens to be near it." he then added.

Ciroc looked confused for a moment.

"Oh, I am Ciroc." he said. "Ciroc Icesska." he introduced himself.

"...you give off the same aura as a damn nexus." Ash told him.

"A nexus?" Ciroc asked.

"A natural phenomenon that amplifies mana." Nate responded. "Or... magic, I think as you refer to it." he added.

Ciroc was silent for a moment, before his eyes widened.

"Oh, goodness! My apologies!" he quickly and sincerely apologised.

Nathan accepted it and wrapped it around his eyes, sighing in relief afterwards.

"That was... intense." he said.

"And sudden. It came out of nowhere." he went on.

"Hmm." Ash mumbled, as Ciroc watched all this happen.

"Excuse me, are you all right?" he asked them as he stepped forward.

And Kiah and Ash felt their mana getting even stronger than before, somehow.

Nate was silent for another moment, before he let out a yelp, and fell to his knees, bringing his hands over his eyes.

"Ah!" he exclaimed.

"I see too much!" he said.

"I can't handle it!" he declared.

"Is keeping your eyes covered helping?" Ash asked.

"Yes." Nate replied. "It's the only thing that DOES help." he commented further.

"What the hell caused this, Kiah?" Ash then asked his cousin.

"You know?"

No more than a few seconds later, Ash appeared in a black firey blaze, and was immediately almost overwhelmed by what he felt. In SO many ways.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.

His rune then emerged from his body, overtaking and 'suffocating' Kiah's, forcing it back.

With unnerving ease.

"...what the hell..." he mumbled.

"This... why the hell do I feel so strong?"

Nate didn't get a chance to say anything, before he saw it.

The runes crawling across her skin and the floor. And her life force. He saw DEEP into it. He saw what her mana was hiding, deep within the creases and recesses of it. It was like he saw the history of the Fyrane mana, itself.

And it was overwhelming.

He was about to let out a yell, when he was silenced by the rune reaching him, and he felt his soul start to lose its connection to his body.

Ciroc looked over and saw this, concern in his eyes.

"Oh dear!" he exclaimed.

"Something's happening, here!" he called into the medical wing.

"It'll be more than we know NOW." Nate sighed.

"Seriously, we can't find ANYTHING on him." he told her, shaking his head slightly.

"But anyway-" he then started to say further, before a door opened down the hall, behind them. And Ciroc stepped out.

He'd been feeling much better, and wanted to stretch his legs a little. He also wanted to see what kind of world this was. Where it was he had been taken. He admittedly didn't consider that when he did it, it was more an act of instinct.

So he wanted to see what this medical wing was like.

"Can't think of one." Nate responded with a light laugh.

"Oh, by the way, long shot, but do you know of anyone named Ciroc Icesska? Or anyone with a name vaguely similar to that?" he asked her.

"...no. Not at all." Kiah responded.

"Figured as much." Nate sighed.

"He's our mystery man that Angela's been caring for." he told her. "His name hasn't shown up in ANY database at all." he went on.

"And he says he's from a place called Adaminia. If you've ever heard of THERE." he added at the end.