Colin's posts

Hal just shook his head slightly.

"Well, you are correct." he said. "I AM involved with someone. Have been for a while. And that IS the reason for the halfway point, as you put it." he confirmed, before sighing.

"It's Hollie Remmington, current Head of the Council of Mages, and sister to Vincent Remmington." he informed her.

"And I consider myself extremely fortunate to have her in my life." he added.

"...but looking back, I wouldn't have traded the time I spent with you for the world." he then told her bluntly.

Hal was silent for a moment, before sighing quietly.

"Jenkins." he said.

"Y-yes?" Chris asked.

"Report to the medical wing for examination." Hal told him. "We'll discuss a full briefing of what happened later." he told him.

"Yes, of course." Chris responded, before looking at Evona.

"And... you're welcome." he told her. "Thank you for everything beforehand, and I'm sorry... for the past." he apologised, before making his exit, closing the door behind him.

"...it's been a long time, Evona." Hal then said, taking his sunglasses off, allowing her to see what she'd already 'seen'.

"And yes, destroying that WOULD be problematic." he agreed.

Chris looked disheartened when she mentioned that Ayla's voice could not be repaired, but he DID smile a little when she told him there would be a way for her to communicate again, and to just give it time.

With that, he stepped forward, placed the box in her hands, and paused.

He took a deep breath, recalled what he'd just been told, and looked at her.

"I wish for your unequivocal and irrevocable freedom my own possession, and that you would have whatever freedom you choose for the foreseeable future." he repeated, just like how Angela had said earlier.

Not that he would know about THAT part.

'Did I do it right...?' he wondered anxiously.

"Pretty much." Hal responded, before looking at Chris.

"Are you SURE you want to free her?" he asked.

"Yes. Absolutely." Chris responded.

"Be completely honest. Why?" Hal asked him further.

"...well, as I said, after being kept by Vanessa, she deserves it." Chris replied. "...and nobody should be a slave, at all... I've come to recently realise that. And perhaps this is some way for me to start atoning for my past, in some small way." he went on. "And... I don't want to own her. I don't want this power. Already I have selfish ideas brewing in my head, and I don't want to succumb to them." he then admitted at the end.

"That's the first step." Hal told him. "Complete honesty." he said. He then gestured Chris to come closer, which he did, and Hal whispered something into his ear. It lasted for about 15 seconds, before Chris nodded and made his way back to Evona.

"...I just have one last thing to wish for before I do this." he said to her.

"Ayla's vocal chords have been decimated, and she can no longer speak." he told her. "I wish that she could speak again. Or, failing that, I wish she had some way to reliably and consistently communicate with others." he wished.

"....yes, well." Hal responded.

"You two know each other?" Chris asked.

"We're acquainted." Hal replied. "You could say." he added.

"...anyway, I was told that you knew the exact wish to make to free a djinn." Chris then commented.

"...ah, yes, I do." Hal responded, as Chris dug out the small box from his pocket.

"You wish to free her?" he asked.

"Yes." Chris replied. "She deserves it after being kept as a slave by Vanessa." he reasoned.

Chris looked back at her and nodded.

"Yes." he replied.

With that, the two of them split off from Jake and Roxie, and made their way to Hal's office... where Evona seemed to know where she was going. At least, in a general sense. When they got to the receptionist's office, nobody got a chance to say anything, before the door to Hal's office was opened by the man himself.

"..." he was silent as he looked at the two of them, before sighing.

"Come on in." he told them, turning and going back in.

"...well, in we go." Chris said to Evona.

"..." Hal was silent as that all was said, before smiling softly, and snapping his fingers.

"Done." was all he said.

However, about 10 seconds later, he felt something. Something VERY familiar.

AND strong.

"...it can't be..." he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, the last group, Jake, Chris, Roxie, and Evona, stepped out of the room, and towards Izzy, with Jake, flicking his tongue at her.

"Well, we're back. And we're the last of it." he told her, before accepting Roxie from the djinn.

"I'm taking Roxie to the medwing, and Chris, you're going to the boss?" he asked Chris.

"Straight there." Chris responded.

Hal read the message, before looking at Angela.

"Seems 4 made it back. Don't know who." he told her.

However, just as Izea finished sending the text, the group with Ash, Ty, Miki, and Ebony stepped out of the room. Ash was carrying Ty, and Ebony was carrying Miki.

"Yo." Ash greeted her, as Ebony showed her I.D. to Izzy.

"Got one more group comin' in after us." he told the goblin.

Chris was silent for a moment, thinking about it.

"Well... hm." he muttered.

"The ones that need medical attention should be the first to go." he reasoned.

"Uh... you." he then said to Zeke. "You and Ashleigh, Aedan, and..." he went on, before Lindsay spoke.

"Me." he said. "I can carry her with... minimal awkwardness." he reasoned.

"All right." Chris replied.

"Those three first... then the two agents that we were sent to get, as well as... Alic... Ebon... whoever's in charge right now, and Ash." he continued.

"And then me, Jake, Hazel and you, as well as the demon." he finished, gesturing to Evona.

"...will those groups work?" he asked Ebony.

"They are." Lindsay responded.

"We need fast, reliable transport, that can accommodate for so many people." Jake told them... specifically, Chris.

Chris just growled.

"I knew I shouldn't have promised that back then was the end of my wishes." he said. "I hate it when I'm a liar." he went on.

"And NO comments." he added quickly, before looking at Evona.

"...I wish all of us... excluding that pile of cronies... were teleported to the Unit in San Diego, in the special area for mana transport." he told her.

"Good." Chris replied.

"Hopefully by then, this place will be long forgotten." he said, before gently setting Hazel down. He then dug into his pocket, and took the small box out of it. He moved it around in his hands for a few seconds, before looking at Evona.

"Uh... so... how do I...?" he started to ask, before Jake sidled up, clearing his throat.

"What?" Jake asked him.

"Free her." Chris answered, causing Jake to look a bit surprised.

"Well, from what I know, it needs to be a VERY specifically worded wish, and the rules of the djinn, paradoxically, prohibit them from granting the wish to know what wish to make to free them." he explained.

"However, I DO know someone that DOES know them." he went on.

"Who?" Chris responded.

"Agent Sharp." Jake told him. "We'll take her to see him when we get back to Unit."

Chris looked over and saw that everyone was out... and all of Vanessa's cronies were in a heap off to the side. And there were a lot of them.

"...right." Chris said, before looking at Evona.

"Before anything else, I wish this complex was sealed. Completely and utterly blocked off, with no chance of getting in." he wished.

Lindsay looked over when he heard that, as he was closer, and raised an eyebrow.

"...ah-hah." he said.

"Seems like a lot's been answered." he commented.

"....." Chris was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"All right then..." he said.

He paused for a moment, before looking around.

"...damn it, might as well." he said further.

"I wish everyone still alive in this complex was teleported to the surface, above this place." he told her, before quickly continuing. "Those that were fighting AGAINST Vanessa, safely, though!" he added.

"Everyone?" Zeke asked.

"Might as well let the Council and Triad deal with the survivors." Chris reasoned.

"...fair enough." Zeke admitted.

Chris shook his head.

"No." he replied.

"Huh?" Zeke asked.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, that'd be great." he told her.

"I'm pretty sure I'm moving on pure adrenaline, anyway..." he admitted.

"Once we get out of here, we'll see that this place is dealt with quickly." Chris told him.

"Not sure when everyone here will regain consciousness, so we need to be quick."