Colin's posts

Upon hearing this, Vincent's heart sank, and the colour vanished from his eyes.

"...excuse me?" he asked.

"The sword and scabbard are as one... but they, as well as Kelly, alongside Merlin... are at Vanessa's beck and call now." he said.

Sariel just nodded in response.

"Wonderful." Vincent growled.

"As if Vanessa didn't already have enough power." he spat, venom in his tone.

Vincent paused as well, before it clicked.

"Sariel?" he asked. "The ARCHANGEL, Sariel?" he asked further.

"Oh... okay... then." he then said, coming to terms with this.

"And on behalf of a woman from my history?" he asked her.

"That... that really doesn't narrow it down a lot, but it must be important for an archangel to come to be about." he then said.

A surprisingly short amount of time later... as in, literally, seconds, Vincent appeared before her using his mana. And he looked... almost scared, but more shocked and surprised than anything else.

"I'll question who you are, how you got in, and why you are here later. Or not at all." he said. "Odds are I'm about to learn." he said further.

"But I know better than to keep ANY lady waiting, let alone one with the immense power you have, given what the sensors say." he then reasoned.

With that, he cleared his throat lightly, and regained his composure, somewhat.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

Zeke was a little surprised by the hug, but returned it.

"That's scary to think about." he said.

"And all right. I will." he told her.

"You... you take care, as well." he then said. "I mean, that's probably a dumb thing to say, given what you are, but... I dunno, Encrae seems to have so much power under her control now, it's frightening." he went on.

"But... yeah, I'll go see Angela now." he finished.

"...." again, Zeke was silent.

He wanted to argue with her, but he knew better. If nothing else, he felt like, perhaps, spending some time with Angela might calm him down a little more.

"...sure thing." he said quietly, sheathing his sword.

"I... damn it..." he cursed in a whisper.

"I still can't believe I couldn't do anything." he said.

"I could only watch..."

Zeke blinked a couple of times, before sighing quietly.

He looked to his own sword, laying beside him, before grabbing it and standing up as well.

"Yes." he replied.

"I did." he told her.

"She seems like she's under Encrae's control, but is being allowed to retain enough of herself to know what she's doing. Even though she can't say no." he lamented.

"The dark elf's cruelty knows no limits." he sighed.

"...huh?" Zeke asked.

"What do you mean you're 'not so certain this is reason to get completely out of sorts'?" he asked her.

"Vanessa Encrae has Kelly now. And Excalibur. And Merlin's under her control...!" he went on, before shaking his head and calming down... though that was probably more because of HER.

"Immediate problems? To understate it." he then said.

"But why is this not such a huge deal?" he asked her.

"...as least, less of a deal than I seem to be making it."

"...." Zeke was silent again, but the sense of clarity and serenity that she brought him caused him to calm down immensely, and he no longer felt like he was going to break down.

So he sat back on his ass, and sighed.

"...I'm sure you already knew, but Excalibur was found. Kelly Fyrane was chosen to be its wielder." he told her.

"Kelly and I were training here, as she wanted to become more proficient with it, and someone approached us." he said further, before telling her everything. The woman's name, her title, the scabbard, everything. Even what she had said to him at the end, before they left.

"...Encrae has Kelly now. And thus, Excalibur." he said.

"And she has Merlin under her control."

Zeke looked at the woman before him, and then fell to his knees and elbows, his hands balled into fists.

"...damn it!" he cursed, pounding the ground with one of his fists.

"She's gone!" he told her.

"Kelly Fyrane! Vanessa Encrae has her now!" he said further.

"It's all my fault! I couldn't do anything!" he cried out, as tears fell to the ground below him.

"..." he was then silent, before she heard him sob silently.

"...I could only watch them take her away..."

All Zeke could do was watch them go. The three of them walked away, and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't move, couldn't use his mana, couldn't even call out to Kelly. He could only watch as they disappeared, out of sight.

Sure enough, what Caelia said was right, and a little bit after they left, he found himself able to move, though his mana was in some confusion, as he found himself unable to properly use it.

He fell to his knees, what had happened earlier replaying over and over in his mind, as tears of frustration began to fall down his cheeks. He grasped at his hair and tried his best to stop himself from doing anything stupid or foolish... but he decided he had to try and follow them.

He started to run in the direction they had gone... but it seemed like his body was just that little bit out-of-sorts, still, as he collapsed to his hands and knees, unable to really move forward.

Then it all came out.

He reared his head back, and let loose a scream. A yell. A holler. It was angry, it was frustrated, and it seemed to shake the very forest itself and almost rend the air asunder.

"N-no..." Zeke managed to get out, before he fell to the ground. His body wasn't working properly, his mana wasn't working properly, but the worst part was that he was still conscious.

He knew what was happening. He could see it.

He watched as a male wood elf emerged from the woods, and approached Kelly.

"Excellent." the newcomer laughed, before taking the cell phone out of his pocket.

"You." he told Kelly. "Stand. Now." he ordered. "And follow me." he then added, as he started to walk away from them.

"Madam will be CERTAINLY tickled to hear THIS bit of information." he laughed again.

"Used to be?" Ryker asked.

"You're not fine now?" he asked him.

"And yeah, sure, we'll grab them some clothing." he went on.

"You want me along when you grab it, or just want it to be the two of you?"

"...." again, Zeke was silent.

"Right..." he said.

"Right, I've heard that 'Merlin' was essentially a title given to a special mage." he remembered, before pausing again. "Supposedly one whose purpose was to guard the scabbard and lead it to Excalibur." he went on.

"Huh." he muttered.

"I admit, not sure what I was expecting, but... okay, I guess." he said further.

"I think she's on the level." he told Kelly.

When they looked over, they saw an unfamiliar female standing there, and she had a scabbard in her hands.

One whose inlaid gems were glowing.

"..." Zeke was silent for a moment, looking at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"And why do you have that scabbard?" he asked her further, narrowing his eyes.

He wasn't sure if this person meant any harm, so he wasn't taking any chances until she answered him.