08-04-2015, 07:34 PM
“Alive...”
The enchantress’s steel eyes hardened with the chill as the words rolled from her tongue. “Barely.”
Even death was not to be delivered to a murderer, Caira had decided and immediately her aggression had flipped to some misplaced sense of mercy. Ironic. Her fingertip thumbed against his skin, Everyone had a choice and he had simply made the wrong one. But that didn’t make it right. Her eyes narrowed. It didn't make any of it right. Still, something seemed too morally ‘aware’ with what the man had said, but then, villains weren’t always prone to wearing dark, hooded cloaks and having bright red eyes. And now through her own silver eyes, justice had lost its definition and the world had never seemed more gray.
Yet, all too suddenly, with the pooling warmth on her hands and staining her skin like crimson dye, was the thick blood of an immortal man - whose life had been thick with death - and who, by her own justice, was undeniably guilty.
They had come into this battle with the resolve to kill him. Yet now, he lay on the cobbled ground. Tempting fate’s eternal kiss. And the girl simply could not turn away.
Meanwhile, ToyBox Girl held in her hands the most innocent of all in this blood-soaked mess, a nameless child. Fallen into the destruction that was the consequence of inescapable choice and cast into slumber that was too close to becoming eternal; the child now now lay in the arms of a robot.
Dark eyebrows creased together as Caira’s searching gaze turned to TBG, who seemed to be doing a vitals scan on the little girl. Streaking before the monk’s own eyes was the blur that had happened. Perhaps uncharacteristic, and perhaps the girl had even caught a glimpse of the real man beneath the ominous cloak and elusive visage. He had saved the child’s life. And to her, those who valued life deserved to live.
Magus wasn’t fully conscious and stirred as his hand went to feel for the spear shoved though his chest. Thick goop drooled from his fingers as the reality of the plunged spear flickered in his distant eyes. A heavy breath sucked through his punctured lung as the blood dribbled in a fresh surge from his chest, and oddly in the fiery pain, his body felt numb.
Colors merged together as he drifted in and out of the intangible plane, and through it all was the pale light of familiar shadow in that girl’s colorless eyes. His ears could not perceive the sound bumbling from her moving lips. It wasn’t important, then, if he couldn’t hear it. A man too close to death could only hear the sound of either angel song, hellfire’s thrashing flames, or pristine silence.
He wasn’t at peace, and even fought to hold onto his dulled body while shadows of light escaped through his fingers. With the sound of a gently whisked breeze, the world itself turned black.
...
“I can not- I will not leave him to die.” Caira admitted to herself it would be so much easier to let death take him, moments ago they had just risked their own lives to stop him, and undoubtedly he had even come close to killing them both. “Let him live behind iron for his life instead.” The girl insisted to TBG, who had now shifted the weight of the girl over the father’s shoulders.
TBG agreed, but only for one reason, and nodded after remembering an ounce of data that had flashed to her when it all began. The Omniverse. The rules of this world had been spoken by Omni himself that assured to Primes that after death, “You will be reborn.”
A man who had emerged as though he had climbed up from hell, and had been crushed by rubble was covered in black dust. Sharp, villainous eyes stung into Caira’s flesh as her chin curved over her shoulder to see the source. A man, in an honorable captain’s uniform was indebted to them, a grateful father, but there was something more in his eyes.
“She’s alive.” TBG echoed to the man, informing him of the soft breaths taken by the unconscious child.
“Thank you so much for saving my daughter.” A repulsive formality, carried by a toneless voice, almost insouciant. Hairs shot up on Caira’s neck and with it, the fleeting touch of danger.
ToyBox Girl didn’t seem to notice, as the name of the man flashed underneath her visor. She stared at the name, and the rank assigned to him, Captain of the city guard in Minas Tirith. It was exactly who they would need to see, as bounty hunters looking to turn-in a wanted criminal.
“Captain, this is-” ToyBox Girl began to explain, only to be interrupted by the man, who intercepted her exact train of thought.
“I am on leave this month, and as you can imagine,” He held a weakened expression, promoting the sympathy of the girls by emphasizing the nonexistent heft of his daughter over his shoulder, “This is a bit much for me. If you’ll excuse me, my wife is missing.”
Perfected words chimed in their ears. Yet, his eyes suspiciously fell on Magus, the criminal who had nearly decimated an entire town and burnt down his house. Buildings had broken around him, and now the Prime had been stopped by a simple stupidly accidental spear. Popping out of a conveniently placed pocket was the unmistakable edge of a notebook. Familiar only to its owner, Heironymus Lex, whose eyes widened in a gasp and he quickly looked away. Averting his quickened gaze from the mage, Heironymus took one long look at the two girls who, after memorizing their faces, flashed decisively with malice before turning his back on both of them. And leaving Magus to die.
The formalities weren’t really relevant and to TBG that was the best the man could have done as a father and husband so as to not get in the duo’s way. Today the captain was a civilian, and she wasn’t about to argue with him. Yet, even the robot questioned the guard’s elusive behavior, she imagined he would at least want to apprehend the criminal that did this to his town and nearly killed his daughter. It seemed however, Lex had acquired something much more valuable, information, the gold of his trade and was willing to let the other guards swarm in and clean up this dying mess. It was such a small, small price to pay. The captain had other plans. And Magus, even if he lived from the ordeal, was now compromised..
Why had he felt the need to lie? Caira took a lasting look at the man’s uniformed back, almost every sentence the man had spoken seemed to be false. He did, however, seem sincere about his daughter. It was hard to tell the truths in the turmoil, and Caira was torn back and reminded to stay by her injured bounty’s side. Calling her back once more was the sound of her enemy's failing body.
Caira applied pressure to his caving chest cavity, as TBG did a scan. The robot’s schematics weren’t used to organic, humanoid anatomy and it took her twice as long to figure out the functions. Meanwhile, Caira, who could clearly sense every scrape they had caused him, and improvised a few skills while shouting desperately. “IS ANYONE HERE A DOCTOR?" She shouted to the chasms of the leveled town. “Someone, anyone...Please.”
Magus’s heart was failing just beneath the girl’s bloodstained palms and Caira couldn’t do a thing to save him.
Someone rose from the back, Caira’s attention didn’t move from the dying mage as a voice announced, “I’m a doctor.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Save him!” Caira pleaded to the very average man, who stood idle.
“H-He just killed my girlfriend. Before I could even blink, he killed her in cold blood. Her neck... Right before my eyes. Her neck... Snapped. And there was nothing I could do, no way I could even do anything... She didn’t deserve it! She didn’t deserve ANY of it. And YOU let it happen.” Ice shivered in Caira’s bones at the broken voice spoken by a similarly broken man. Sternly, his fist clenched as his tongue tasted malice, “The way I see it, he deserves to die.” The face of that beautiful woman flashed before her eyes. Caira blinked away the sorrow and forced life on Magus. But her efforts weren’t enough. And the rhythm in his chest began to fade.
“I'm going to save him. TBG I need your help, he’s... He’s going to die.”
“I won’t let you save him! Let him die, or I’ll kill him myself!” The aggression and grief-blind doctor charged at the kneeling Caira with a chunk of rock and the girl defensively swept the man from his feet, as her heel met his ankles and with his balance failing, his skull bashed bloodied and into the ground.
“Move over.” TBG spoke, commandeering the monk’s weakness and traded places with the shaking girl. Without blinking, the robot pulled the impaled spear from Magus’s chest and following the violent removal was the spray of blood that showered them both. Quickly, TBG played surgeon as the lung collapsed. Air would need to be pumped, however Magus’s body began to convulse, going into shock all while he was still knocked out from the pain. The shaking slowed, and his body began to shut down. It wouldn't be long now.
Caira held out her hand and nothing happened as the girl met the painful reality of her powers not working in this verse. TBG relied on skill, and somehow, with a little luck, together the duo worked a little “magic” and Caira held her hopes in the palm of her hand as a radiant light smoldered in Magus’s darkest hour.
Dawn.
The interrogation with the guards was over, and Magus’s condition was stable. The two had been informed that after he had been stabilized, they transported to a prison on the west side of Minas Tirith. As if that meant anything to them.
"What did you say your name was again?" The Guard asked the mysterious brunette.
"Ayryn."
"And you are TBG?" He confirmed taking another look at his last minute notes. Toybox Girl nodded. “The trial is a week from now, if you girls want to show up as a witness to his crimes.”
Caira’s eyes swept the man’s, in her world, this was not a commonplace procedure. “What will happen to him?” She was prompted to ask and TBG frowned.
“Depends what the verdict is. If you show up to testify in the court, there’s a good chance the state will banish him. He has caused a lot of trouble for the Kingdom, even killed that doctor kid, ya know, I heard he was the best in the Verse. Kid had a gift and went to some fancy school in his home world. Science supersedes magic, they say.”
Caira cringed at this, she didn’t know which was worse: The fact they were trying Magus for a death she had caused, or that she had taken a life that could give so many other people life in return. It didn't matter if it wasn't intentional, it had happened, accident or not. And a whole town had been made into rock soup. This would get the levels talking. TBG cast a glance over to Caira, seeing the reaction written in the tremors of her eyes and the despair sink into her face.
Time was like that, it made people weary. And the robot guessed Caira would never be the same. She had committed murder. It was self defense, nothing compared to the heinous crimes Magus had committed in cold blood to earn him a bounty in the first place, but still, death couldn’t be taken back. And Caira was just too human.
“So what happens next, TBG? What will you do?” Caira asked her, as the guard turned away from them both but suddenly, turned on his heels and looked back at them. “Oh yes, I almost forgot your reward.”
Caira froze as the guard shoved a heavy bag into her free hand, “There ya go! Good job kid! You’ll soon be one of Omni’s best.” A toothy grin was left etched in her blinking eyelids as Caira felt the weight of the money resemble the same nauseating lump of shame that had formed in her stomach. “Good luck in the future, girls!” The cheery man called behind him, Caira froze as TBG read the girl’s expression plain as day. The purple had returned to the monk’s eyes, dark and luminescent in color. Yet the timid naivety once very relevant in her demeanor, no longer remained.
“So what are you-” Caira tried to ask again to TBG, who interrupted with a soft smile.
“I hear Coruscant has quite a few bounties for the taking... However, I guess you won’t be joining me.” The robot could see it in Caira’s eyes. There was nothing quite like death, and similarly, nothing would ever compare to murder.
“I have something I have to do... What do you think will happen to Magus?”
“If his trial goes well, they might banish him. Which seems to be the equivalent of death to us Primes.” TBG reset her bazooka and it seemed to begin a bright charging sequence.
“Thanks Toybox Girl. Without you, I think I’d be dead.”
“We make a good team. Call me if you are having any trouble with the bounties out there, and you know I’ll come to back you up.”
“I’m only a call away.” Toybox Girl brought attention to her machine frame, while Caira mutually showed the pink-haired girl her phone. Now synced, they could message anywhere if they needed to. Trusted friends were hard to find in the Omniverse. And even harder to find was a friend like ToyBox Girl.
They each exchanged a grin before parting to go down their own path.
...
The world spun in patches of light around him. Magus saw stars everywhere he looked. “Gah- Tch." His grated teeth together as his hand reached for the hole his his chest, now vacant of any spear. He was covered in gauss and bandages which limited his movements, he rose up from his prison bed, which was less comfortable than a coffin, and glanced at his mummified bandages in the lightless room.
"I need to-" He began, only to be interrupted by an old fool.
"What, escape? That's not the most original thought for this who wake up in jail, sonny!"
Magus's eyes grew wise to the slot in the door in which he could see the old coot. "You got skills sonny, I hear you gave em' hell. But now, you are here. In my prison. Don't even think about escaping.."
The guard's voice narrated the mage's next action.
"That's right. Magic proof. Spellbound and you’re trapped. This place ain’t like thems Coruscant prisons. The walls have a barrier, so for even the most gifted mage who could travel to the astral realm, you can’t escape this room. The only way you’re gettin’ out of here... Is with this here key. I'd swallow it, but then I ain't up on me shots.” The guard said, flashing a shiny golden tooth and waving it with flaunting gleam in front of the mage’s glowing red eyes.
Sure enough, Magus submerged himself in the realm of the in between, and unable to slip through the wall, he was met with a hard reality.
"Fuck."
...
A startling bell was rung before a plate slid into the cold cell. “Chow-call.” Some voice spoke and Magus looked at it distastefully. Ravaged from his injury and lasting fight, and yet he could not bring himself to eat the food.
“Not eating it,” He voiced out loud.
“C’mon,” It was a girl’s voice, a flash of red hair flickered out of the corner slot, but he could not see her face, “It’ll help get you strong. The walls here are magic, but so is the food. ‘Sides, I made it myself.” The hospitality seemed familiar from somewhere, there was even a little pride in the voice. Taking pride in cooking for criminals was not something a usual prison guard would do. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Quickly Magus rose to match a face to the wisp of hair he had seen, but by the time it took his still-weakened body to stand, the entire hallway was empty. Even of the gold-toothed guard.
He had his doubts. Poison. It had to be. One of Lux’s henchmen had come to kill him, or free him. For a reincarnating prime, either would do. Still, it beat sitting in this cell waiting for a ‘verdict’ which could sentence him to the banishment.
Eventually and reluctantly, he succumbed to the growls of his stomach calling him to the sandwich. Squealing rats crawled from their place in the shadowed corners of the room and Magus battled with their annoying presence from his sandwich, and fed them a piece to confirm poison. Their cheeks bulged and they didn’t immediately collapse. It was good enough for him. His scarlet eyes watched the creatures for a moment before his lips met with the fresh bread. He inhaled the scent of sourdough and sunk his teeth into the savory meal, sighing into the relaxation he had earned. It was almost peaceful, a world away from those who might seek to hunt him in the future.
Magus had bitten the sandwich, chewing a bite of the surprisingly delicious blend of meat, cheese, and lettuce; only to feel his front tooth nearly break as his jaw clamped down on the sandwich and his tongue met with the cold and rusty taste of steel. It didn’t taste like poison, and yet his body elicited a gag reflex.
After spitting out the taste, and probably a piece of his tooth, the cold iron rattled to the ground, made of the same material as the door. In the shade of the room, Magus could clearly see the shape of a key had fallen before him. As his hand went to grasp the same key the old man had held up, so triumphantly, that now it seemed pitiful. A seal glowed upon the side with a name that had been etched in with magic. And lighting the pitch black cell was a name that meant absolutely nothing to him.
Ayryn.
Turning it over, he could see the glowing words, Find me, to find Omni.
[spoiler]...
The sound of pitchy whistling was heard down the hallway as the gentle jingle of keys swung around the ring carelessly in ol’ gold tooth’s boney hand. He rubbed his nose and did his rounds, opening the slit of an eye hole to check on the status of the prisoners in the morning. There weren’t many who hadn’t been executed, and there was only one Prime in toothy’s cellblock, so the surprise that grew on his face when a dim candle light revealed the very empty cell of convict two-two-nine was as priceless as the sound of his shocked gasp. The old man's protruding knuckles rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he checked again, and again... And again.
Impending doom crashed down on the guard’s shoulders, as he shook with fear. Fear of consequence for his failed responsibility, fear of what would become of his life, and the fear of death itself.[/spoiler]
The enchantress’s steel eyes hardened with the chill as the words rolled from her tongue. “Barely.”
Even death was not to be delivered to a murderer, Caira had decided and immediately her aggression had flipped to some misplaced sense of mercy. Ironic. Her fingertip thumbed against his skin, Everyone had a choice and he had simply made the wrong one. But that didn’t make it right. Her eyes narrowed. It didn't make any of it right. Still, something seemed too morally ‘aware’ with what the man had said, but then, villains weren’t always prone to wearing dark, hooded cloaks and having bright red eyes. And now through her own silver eyes, justice had lost its definition and the world had never seemed more gray.
Yet, all too suddenly, with the pooling warmth on her hands and staining her skin like crimson dye, was the thick blood of an immortal man - whose life had been thick with death - and who, by her own justice, was undeniably guilty.
They had come into this battle with the resolve to kill him. Yet now, he lay on the cobbled ground. Tempting fate’s eternal kiss. And the girl simply could not turn away.
Meanwhile, ToyBox Girl held in her hands the most innocent of all in this blood-soaked mess, a nameless child. Fallen into the destruction that was the consequence of inescapable choice and cast into slumber that was too close to becoming eternal; the child now now lay in the arms of a robot.
Dark eyebrows creased together as Caira’s searching gaze turned to TBG, who seemed to be doing a vitals scan on the little girl. Streaking before the monk’s own eyes was the blur that had happened. Perhaps uncharacteristic, and perhaps the girl had even caught a glimpse of the real man beneath the ominous cloak and elusive visage. He had saved the child’s life. And to her, those who valued life deserved to live.
Magus wasn’t fully conscious and stirred as his hand went to feel for the spear shoved though his chest. Thick goop drooled from his fingers as the reality of the plunged spear flickered in his distant eyes. A heavy breath sucked through his punctured lung as the blood dribbled in a fresh surge from his chest, and oddly in the fiery pain, his body felt numb.
Colors merged together as he drifted in and out of the intangible plane, and through it all was the pale light of familiar shadow in that girl’s colorless eyes. His ears could not perceive the sound bumbling from her moving lips. It wasn’t important, then, if he couldn’t hear it. A man too close to death could only hear the sound of either angel song, hellfire’s thrashing flames, or pristine silence.
He wasn’t at peace, and even fought to hold onto his dulled body while shadows of light escaped through his fingers. With the sound of a gently whisked breeze, the world itself turned black.
...
“I can not- I will not leave him to die.” Caira admitted to herself it would be so much easier to let death take him, moments ago they had just risked their own lives to stop him, and undoubtedly he had even come close to killing them both. “Let him live behind iron for his life instead.” The girl insisted to TBG, who had now shifted the weight of the girl over the father’s shoulders.
TBG agreed, but only for one reason, and nodded after remembering an ounce of data that had flashed to her when it all began. The Omniverse. The rules of this world had been spoken by Omni himself that assured to Primes that after death, “You will be reborn.”
A man who had emerged as though he had climbed up from hell, and had been crushed by rubble was covered in black dust. Sharp, villainous eyes stung into Caira’s flesh as her chin curved over her shoulder to see the source. A man, in an honorable captain’s uniform was indebted to them, a grateful father, but there was something more in his eyes.
“She’s alive.” TBG echoed to the man, informing him of the soft breaths taken by the unconscious child.
“Thank you so much for saving my daughter.” A repulsive formality, carried by a toneless voice, almost insouciant. Hairs shot up on Caira’s neck and with it, the fleeting touch of danger.
ToyBox Girl didn’t seem to notice, as the name of the man flashed underneath her visor. She stared at the name, and the rank assigned to him, Captain of the city guard in Minas Tirith. It was exactly who they would need to see, as bounty hunters looking to turn-in a wanted criminal.
“Captain, this is-” ToyBox Girl began to explain, only to be interrupted by the man, who intercepted her exact train of thought.
“I am on leave this month, and as you can imagine,” He held a weakened expression, promoting the sympathy of the girls by emphasizing the nonexistent heft of his daughter over his shoulder, “This is a bit much for me. If you’ll excuse me, my wife is missing.”
Perfected words chimed in their ears. Yet, his eyes suspiciously fell on Magus, the criminal who had nearly decimated an entire town and burnt down his house. Buildings had broken around him, and now the Prime had been stopped by a simple stupidly accidental spear. Popping out of a conveniently placed pocket was the unmistakable edge of a notebook. Familiar only to its owner, Heironymus Lex, whose eyes widened in a gasp and he quickly looked away. Averting his quickened gaze from the mage, Heironymus took one long look at the two girls who, after memorizing their faces, flashed decisively with malice before turning his back on both of them. And leaving Magus to die.
The formalities weren’t really relevant and to TBG that was the best the man could have done as a father and husband so as to not get in the duo’s way. Today the captain was a civilian, and she wasn’t about to argue with him. Yet, even the robot questioned the guard’s elusive behavior, she imagined he would at least want to apprehend the criminal that did this to his town and nearly killed his daughter. It seemed however, Lex had acquired something much more valuable, information, the gold of his trade and was willing to let the other guards swarm in and clean up this dying mess. It was such a small, small price to pay. The captain had other plans. And Magus, even if he lived from the ordeal, was now compromised..
Why had he felt the need to lie? Caira took a lasting look at the man’s uniformed back, almost every sentence the man had spoken seemed to be false. He did, however, seem sincere about his daughter. It was hard to tell the truths in the turmoil, and Caira was torn back and reminded to stay by her injured bounty’s side. Calling her back once more was the sound of her enemy's failing body.
Caira applied pressure to his caving chest cavity, as TBG did a scan. The robot’s schematics weren’t used to organic, humanoid anatomy and it took her twice as long to figure out the functions. Meanwhile, Caira, who could clearly sense every scrape they had caused him, and improvised a few skills while shouting desperately. “IS ANYONE HERE A DOCTOR?" She shouted to the chasms of the leveled town. “Someone, anyone...Please.”
Magus’s heart was failing just beneath the girl’s bloodstained palms and Caira couldn’t do a thing to save him.
Someone rose from the back, Caira’s attention didn’t move from the dying mage as a voice announced, “I’m a doctor.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Save him!” Caira pleaded to the very average man, who stood idle.
“H-He just killed my girlfriend. Before I could even blink, he killed her in cold blood. Her neck... Right before my eyes. Her neck... Snapped. And there was nothing I could do, no way I could even do anything... She didn’t deserve it! She didn’t deserve ANY of it. And YOU let it happen.” Ice shivered in Caira’s bones at the broken voice spoken by a similarly broken man. Sternly, his fist clenched as his tongue tasted malice, “The way I see it, he deserves to die.” The face of that beautiful woman flashed before her eyes. Caira blinked away the sorrow and forced life on Magus. But her efforts weren’t enough. And the rhythm in his chest began to fade.
“I'm going to save him. TBG I need your help, he’s... He’s going to die.”
“I won’t let you save him! Let him die, or I’ll kill him myself!” The aggression and grief-blind doctor charged at the kneeling Caira with a chunk of rock and the girl defensively swept the man from his feet, as her heel met his ankles and with his balance failing, his skull bashed bloodied and into the ground.
“Move over.” TBG spoke, commandeering the monk’s weakness and traded places with the shaking girl. Without blinking, the robot pulled the impaled spear from Magus’s chest and following the violent removal was the spray of blood that showered them both. Quickly, TBG played surgeon as the lung collapsed. Air would need to be pumped, however Magus’s body began to convulse, going into shock all while he was still knocked out from the pain. The shaking slowed, and his body began to shut down. It wouldn't be long now.
Caira held out her hand and nothing happened as the girl met the painful reality of her powers not working in this verse. TBG relied on skill, and somehow, with a little luck, together the duo worked a little “magic” and Caira held her hopes in the palm of her hand as a radiant light smoldered in Magus’s darkest hour.
Dawn.
The interrogation with the guards was over, and Magus’s condition was stable. The two had been informed that after he had been stabilized, they transported to a prison on the west side of Minas Tirith. As if that meant anything to them.
"What did you say your name was again?" The Guard asked the mysterious brunette.
"Ayryn."
"And you are TBG?" He confirmed taking another look at his last minute notes. Toybox Girl nodded. “The trial is a week from now, if you girls want to show up as a witness to his crimes.”
Caira’s eyes swept the man’s, in her world, this was not a commonplace procedure. “What will happen to him?” She was prompted to ask and TBG frowned.
“Depends what the verdict is. If you show up to testify in the court, there’s a good chance the state will banish him. He has caused a lot of trouble for the Kingdom, even killed that doctor kid, ya know, I heard he was the best in the Verse. Kid had a gift and went to some fancy school in his home world. Science supersedes magic, they say.”
Caira cringed at this, she didn’t know which was worse: The fact they were trying Magus for a death she had caused, or that she had taken a life that could give so many other people life in return. It didn't matter if it wasn't intentional, it had happened, accident or not. And a whole town had been made into rock soup. This would get the levels talking. TBG cast a glance over to Caira, seeing the reaction written in the tremors of her eyes and the despair sink into her face.
Time was like that, it made people weary. And the robot guessed Caira would never be the same. She had committed murder. It was self defense, nothing compared to the heinous crimes Magus had committed in cold blood to earn him a bounty in the first place, but still, death couldn’t be taken back. And Caira was just too human.
“So what happens next, TBG? What will you do?” Caira asked her, as the guard turned away from them both but suddenly, turned on his heels and looked back at them. “Oh yes, I almost forgot your reward.”
Caira froze as the guard shoved a heavy bag into her free hand, “There ya go! Good job kid! You’ll soon be one of Omni’s best.” A toothy grin was left etched in her blinking eyelids as Caira felt the weight of the money resemble the same nauseating lump of shame that had formed in her stomach. “Good luck in the future, girls!” The cheery man called behind him, Caira froze as TBG read the girl’s expression plain as day. The purple had returned to the monk’s eyes, dark and luminescent in color. Yet the timid naivety once very relevant in her demeanor, no longer remained.
“So what are you-” Caira tried to ask again to TBG, who interrupted with a soft smile.
“I hear Coruscant has quite a few bounties for the taking... However, I guess you won’t be joining me.” The robot could see it in Caira’s eyes. There was nothing quite like death, and similarly, nothing would ever compare to murder.
“I have something I have to do... What do you think will happen to Magus?”
“If his trial goes well, they might banish him. Which seems to be the equivalent of death to us Primes.” TBG reset her bazooka and it seemed to begin a bright charging sequence.
“Thanks Toybox Girl. Without you, I think I’d be dead.”
“We make a good team. Call me if you are having any trouble with the bounties out there, and you know I’ll come to back you up.”
“I’m only a call away.” Toybox Girl brought attention to her machine frame, while Caira mutually showed the pink-haired girl her phone. Now synced, they could message anywhere if they needed to. Trusted friends were hard to find in the Omniverse. And even harder to find was a friend like ToyBox Girl.
They each exchanged a grin before parting to go down their own path.
...
The world spun in patches of light around him. Magus saw stars everywhere he looked. “Gah- Tch." His grated teeth together as his hand reached for the hole his his chest, now vacant of any spear. He was covered in gauss and bandages which limited his movements, he rose up from his prison bed, which was less comfortable than a coffin, and glanced at his mummified bandages in the lightless room.
"I need to-" He began, only to be interrupted by an old fool.
"What, escape? That's not the most original thought for this who wake up in jail, sonny!"
Magus's eyes grew wise to the slot in the door in which he could see the old coot. "You got skills sonny, I hear you gave em' hell. But now, you are here. In my prison. Don't even think about escaping.."
The guard's voice narrated the mage's next action.
"That's right. Magic proof. Spellbound and you’re trapped. This place ain’t like thems Coruscant prisons. The walls have a barrier, so for even the most gifted mage who could travel to the astral realm, you can’t escape this room. The only way you’re gettin’ out of here... Is with this here key. I'd swallow it, but then I ain't up on me shots.” The guard said, flashing a shiny golden tooth and waving it with flaunting gleam in front of the mage’s glowing red eyes.
Sure enough, Magus submerged himself in the realm of the in between, and unable to slip through the wall, he was met with a hard reality.
"Fuck."
...
A startling bell was rung before a plate slid into the cold cell. “Chow-call.” Some voice spoke and Magus looked at it distastefully. Ravaged from his injury and lasting fight, and yet he could not bring himself to eat the food.
“Not eating it,” He voiced out loud.
“C’mon,” It was a girl’s voice, a flash of red hair flickered out of the corner slot, but he could not see her face, “It’ll help get you strong. The walls here are magic, but so is the food. ‘Sides, I made it myself.” The hospitality seemed familiar from somewhere, there was even a little pride in the voice. Taking pride in cooking for criminals was not something a usual prison guard would do. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Quickly Magus rose to match a face to the wisp of hair he had seen, but by the time it took his still-weakened body to stand, the entire hallway was empty. Even of the gold-toothed guard.
He had his doubts. Poison. It had to be. One of Lux’s henchmen had come to kill him, or free him. For a reincarnating prime, either would do. Still, it beat sitting in this cell waiting for a ‘verdict’ which could sentence him to the banishment.
Eventually and reluctantly, he succumbed to the growls of his stomach calling him to the sandwich. Squealing rats crawled from their place in the shadowed corners of the room and Magus battled with their annoying presence from his sandwich, and fed them a piece to confirm poison. Their cheeks bulged and they didn’t immediately collapse. It was good enough for him. His scarlet eyes watched the creatures for a moment before his lips met with the fresh bread. He inhaled the scent of sourdough and sunk his teeth into the savory meal, sighing into the relaxation he had earned. It was almost peaceful, a world away from those who might seek to hunt him in the future.
Magus had bitten the sandwich, chewing a bite of the surprisingly delicious blend of meat, cheese, and lettuce; only to feel his front tooth nearly break as his jaw clamped down on the sandwich and his tongue met with the cold and rusty taste of steel. It didn’t taste like poison, and yet his body elicited a gag reflex.
After spitting out the taste, and probably a piece of his tooth, the cold iron rattled to the ground, made of the same material as the door. In the shade of the room, Magus could clearly see the shape of a key had fallen before him. As his hand went to grasp the same key the old man had held up, so triumphantly, that now it seemed pitiful. A seal glowed upon the side with a name that had been etched in with magic. And lighting the pitch black cell was a name that meant absolutely nothing to him.
Ayryn.
Turning it over, he could see the glowing words, Find me, to find Omni.
[spoiler]...
The sound of pitchy whistling was heard down the hallway as the gentle jingle of keys swung around the ring carelessly in ol’ gold tooth’s boney hand. He rubbed his nose and did his rounds, opening the slit of an eye hole to check on the status of the prisoners in the morning. There weren’t many who hadn’t been executed, and there was only one Prime in toothy’s cellblock, so the surprise that grew on his face when a dim candle light revealed the very empty cell of convict two-two-nine was as priceless as the sound of his shocked gasp. The old man's protruding knuckles rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he checked again, and again... And again.
Impending doom crashed down on the guard’s shoulders, as he shook with fear. Fear of consequence for his failed responsibility, fear of what would become of his life, and the fear of death itself.[/spoiler]
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