Key of Power [Zombehs & Jealous Angel D]

[Jealous Angel D]

The magic of Aurion was as restless as always. It prowled along the ground, searching for the opportune moment to create chaos. There was no better place than here to find that perfect moment. The underground market was an abysmal place full of unpleasant people who only contributed to the horrid stench. It was a lawless city built underground and left alone by the Triad. So while it was not the safest place to be, one could be sure to find things here that they would not be able to find elsewhere.

It was for this reason that Cielle was in the city. There were things that she needed that could only be found here. Along the sides of the streets the vendors sold everything from weapons to poisoned fruit to fae blood. Standing off to the side of the crowd, the woman lifted a green bottle up to the lights as she examined the liquid inside. It was what she had come for, but she still wasn’t happy with the price that she had bought it for. Well there was not much complaining that she could do now. Tucking the bottle into a pocket of her cloak, she once again joined with the crowd.

While her plan had been to find the exit and get as far away from this place as possible, something caught her attention. Turning around she began to follow the herd of people who were making their way towards a raised platform – towards the slave trade. It was the part of the market that drew the most attention and she usually tried to avoid such places like this. However, there was more commotion here than usual and it was this curiosity that kept her from leaving.

[Zombehs]

Sen did not sleep comfortably, rather his slumber plagued by nightmares. Surrounded by sounds and sights he couldn’t understand, a crushing atmosphere loomed heavily over his dreaming mind. As much as he twisted and turned though, in the physical world, chains held him tight and bound to the cart’s floor. The sounds began to die down and the sights all but vanished and left Sen’s mind in darkness with only indiscernible whispers as company. Yet in an instant the noises changed to a deafening roar that drowned out any thought, any emotion.

He bolted awake with a sharp gasp as the cart hit a ramp with a jolt. Covered in sweat, he shook uncontrollably as the sounds reverberated in his head. It’d been a dream, but he remembered every agonizing moment of it. It was only as he pulled his hands away from his face, marred with sweat, that he felt the cold steel on his wrists and ankles. With a start, he bolted upwards and the air filled with the clashing of steel on steel as the chains rattled. Steel filled his vision as he realized he was a prisoner of some sort, trapped in a cage, chained like a beast. Then he saw what lay beyond the bars of his cage.

A crowd of beings, for some of them weren’t human, had gathered below him. The cage was moved upwards, to a platform of some sort. In the crowd were strange creatures, most he saw looked like they had wandered straight out of a fantasy novel. The buildings that surrounded the clearing caught his eyes next. They were old in both style and age, far from the modernization that surrounded the university. As he caught wind of the chatter that filled the air, his face blanched. It was the same as the sounds that had filled his dreams. Simply too much was too much and unable to take it all in, Sen slumped to the floor of the cage. The taut chains fell slack and clattered uselessly against the wooden floorboards. There were too many questions, too many thoughts for him to properly deal with.

He wasn’t allowed to dwell on his thoughts for too long though. A gruff noise caught his attention and he turned his head slightly to take in the strange being that walked beside the cart. He noted it wasn’t all too dissimilar from an orc, but that was as far as his thoughts got. It said a few things that Sen couldn’t make heads or tails of before it leaned towards the cage to give Sen a questioning look. Obviously it wanted answers, but Sen was unable to understand nor willing to respond at the moment. He returned only a blank stare and thankfully the being grew tired of their little starring contest rather quickly. It stepped away with what could be described as a disgusted huff and the cart began to move upwards once more.

[Jealous Angel D]

The magic, in wisps of black, tore around the place, dancing around the platform and through the crowd. Never had Cielle seen the magic so condensed and ready to destroy. Her eyes darted around the area, trying to predict what the magic would do next. As per usual, no one else seemed to notice as many people couldn’t actually see the magic. It was much more common just to sense that it was there – to believe in it. It was just so abnormal – and she didn’t know why.

So she waited and watched as one cart after another was pulled up to the platform and the bidding continued. But the magic didn’t do anything else. It remained as it was, circling around people, waiting for them to lower their guard so that it could destroy them. It was why only the strong survived in this world.

“Do you think this warlock will drop as quickly as the last one did?”

“Most probably. Only the weak humans end up here. But they sure are a treat.”

Cielle turned her head slightly in order to better hear the conversation behind her. Was that why there were more people here than normal? Warlock and witches rarely traveled outside their designated territories, so for one to end up on the block was strange. However, if they were weak that would explain things. Weak warlocks resembled their ancestors of old and therefore were often more likely to be vanquished by the magic. Yet they were rare. So that explained the crowd, but not the magic. As if on cue, said warlock was lead onto the platform. The fear and confusion, the boy obviously had no idea what was going on. And all she could think about was how strange the magic was. It seemed to be… confused by him.

As the bidding number grew higher and higher, she tried to force her way closer to the front of the platform. Acting before thinking was often her motto – as it was now. The magic swirled around her fingers and not a second later, a small flame appeared. Brushing it against the robe of some nearby person, she moved on. The screams and shouts of the creatures behind her were enough to startle the crowd to get them to retreat as quickly as they could. As if it had planned this all along, the wild magic responded to the chaos – fires randomly appearing and spreading wildly.

The fires did their job perfectly and in the chaos she managed to find the warlock who maybe wasn’t even a warlock at all. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist as she looked around trying to spot the people that he maybe managed to escape from. Or perhaps his new owner or the old slave trader had decided they preferred to just keep their lives and had run as soon as the fire had erupted. “Come with me,” she instructed and, realizing how frightened and confused he probably was, tried to find a way to motivate him to follow her so that she didn’t have to drag him behind her through the flames. “That is – only if you can trust me.”

As Cielle turned to stare at the flames before her she let out a long sigh. Perhaps setting fire to the black market was not her best idea.

[Zombehs]

He’d been dragged from the cage after it had reached the platform. Lead on by the chains, he’d followed wordlessly and without a fuss. For all he felt Sen didn’t think it was in his best interest to raise a fuss or throw a tantrum. He was in chains after all, so the likelihood that violence was used to pacify rowdy ‘slaves’ was hardly slim. As hard headed as he might be sometimes, he wasn’t going to risk a beating just so he could yell at people who probably wouldn’t even understand him. He’d noticed even the strange looks that the other slaves had given him and even their words were indiscernible, so Sen guessed he was supposed to be something of an oddity. With a resigned sigh, he let himself be led to the front of the platform.

Atop the raised platform Sen finally got a good look at the people in the crowd. There were quite a few that looked identical to humans, both male and female. Then there were of course the more fantasy-like beings; some looked like elves, others a bit more feral like orcs and there was even the occasional dwarf-like being buried within the sea of bodies. With a start he noticed that the crowd had grown almost completely silent, the only noise was the occasional cry accompanied with a raised hand. He glanced to the side towards a man that held a notebook and sighed in understanding. They’re auctioning me, he thought bitterly as he looked out in the crowd once more and wondered who’d be his ‘owner’.

He tried to take a look behind him, but a swift jerk of the chain forced him to face the crowd. He tried to keep his emotions buried, but the smug grin his handler wore was just enough to push him over the edge. “Up yours, you fuck,” Sen swore under his breath as he gave the man the finger. Though from the orc’s confused look, the meaning of both words and gesture were lost. Sen just sighed and shook his head as he turned his attention back to something that had been quite confusing.

It wasn’t much, nor quite noticeable, but to Sen’s watchful eyes he caught faint trails of black in the air. The wisps of black never lingered in his sight for too long and he only managed to get glances from the corners of his vision before they all but vanished. Then they’d reappear a while later as he scanned the crowd, at the edge of his sight. It was frustrating to say the least. Yet despite his focus on catching glimpses of the strange black wisps, Sen was not prepared when they burst into flames and the clearing was filled with fire. Apparently the slave masters hadn’t been expecting this either and Sen felt his chains go slack; an opportunity.

Sen was always good at capitalizing on whatever chances he got; his friends would testify to that. He pushed the surprise and fear one felt when surrounded by flames and spun his body around violently, drawing in the chains attached to his shackles. It was a small bonus when he felt the metal smash against the flesh of one of his captors, and heard the yelp of pain. He grabbed at the chains and held them tight before he bothered to look around.

As he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, Sen stopped himself from lashing out at whoever it was. Their grip, though strong wasn’t overly so, and their voice was one that he could understand. He turned to get a good look at his would be ‘savior’, though he didn’t dwell too long on her attractive appearance. He gave the clearing one good look over before he nodded. “Better than staying here, and at least I can understand you,”,Sen said as he nodded for his new acquaintance to lead the way.

[Jealous Angel D]

She nodded her head, glad to hear that she wasn’t going to have to haul him over her shoulder to get away. However, this was still not going to be an easy task. Moving her hand, she caught a few of the strands of magic that were not busy setting fires. She waved them over the chains and soon enough they fell to the ground. There was no why they would have been able to escape with his hands still bound.

“Hey you, stop right there!”

There was no time to acknowledge the voice, to fight back verbally or not. If they wished to follow then there was nothing she could do. “Run,” Cielle commanded as she continued to hold onto his wrist as she began to try and weave her way through the flames. However, she realized that she could not run too fast. The boy was of the human species after all – therefore his speed was not as quick has her own. Hopefully that would not prove to be too much of a problem. Screams of those unable to escape filled the air. Moving her hand in front of her she tried to direct the magic and the flames to create a path.

Then they were free. Letting go of his wrist, she lifted her hand to her mouth as she coughed and tried to expel the smoke from her lungs. She wasn’t sure how they had managed to get away from the flames, which seemed content with staying within the boundaries of the city. The magic was strange like that sometimes – not crossing certain barriers if it didn’t have to.

“We should keep on moving,” she stated as she looked around as the desolate area. The world was dry as usual, old structures and dead trees and large rocks proving to be the only source of shade. “What’s your name?”

[Zombehs]

“Wha-“ Sen stuttered as he watched his chains simply fall apart. He swore he saw the lady grasp the black wisps in her hands and with a wave his shackles came undone and clattered to the ground noisily. He gave her a questioning look and would have asked a question, but a voice that was far from friendly stifled anything he had wanted to say.

There wasn’t a need for her to tell him what to do; he had already planned to run. Still, he felt irked as he felt himself almost being pulled along by the frailer looking girl. He wasn’t a star athlete or anything, but he thought he was in fairly good shape. Yet it seemed like the girl was forced to slow down to accommodate him; as if he was a burden. Brilliant, he thought bitterly as he kept his head down low to avoid the smoke and simply let himself be led along by his strange ‘savior’. Around him flames danced and cast an eerie glow about, and the atmosphere was only made worse by the sounds of those caught by the fire.

Then the smoke vanished, the screams died and the searing heat was left behind. The stone streets and road gave way to more natural paths and Sen took in a breath of fresh air. His legs and lungs burned from the exertion and his mind was addled, still a bit confused with everything that happened. He turned to give the city another look, and though from the outskirts it wasn’t easy to see the flames, there was a red glow that hung over the buildings. He wondered exactly how many people had died or been injured, how many buildings burnt down, how many things destroyed. Then he realized the lady had said something and he turned to give her his attention.

With a small nod in agreement, he made sure to brush off the ash and soot that covered him before he followed after her. Still a smell lingered about him and he frowned at that. It'd make him stand out like a sore thumb amidst the desolate landscape. Perhaps he should ask the lady abo-

“What is your name?”

He blinked in surprise at the question and paused. Though if she had saved him from being auctioned off she probably wasn’t interested in a slave. A bit hesitantly Sen quietly muttered, “I’m Sen Touya.” He didn’t try to ask for hers’ because he wasn’t sure of what their relationship was supposed to be after all. He couldn’t imagine his saving had been a random whim because if it was, he wasn’t sure he was in much better hands.

[Jealous Angel D]

As best as she could, she tried to rid herself of the ashes. However, there was no way to get them all out of her hair. And the smell would linger. Which meant that if word got out that the city was on fire it would be quite obvious that they were there. Of course, if they managed to get to the next city or find a river then perhaps they wouldn’t be connected to the incident.

“Sen Touya,” she repeated but paused for a moment, remembering the traditions of humans. They had… last/family names did they not? “May I call you Sen?” The blonde had begun walking, making her way down the road as she tried to plan what to do next. There were many things that she could do – after all she wasn’t quite sure what inspired her to save him. Just that… he was different. She turned her head to stare at him for a moment, watching the magic as it continued to act strangely. What was keeping the magic from wrapping itself around him, choking him with its power? “So what are you – a warlock?”

[Zombehs]

“Uh… sure that's fine,” Sen replied as he continued to follow his savior down the road. She seemed lost in thought and he guessed she was trying to figure out what to do. From what he could see, it didn’t seem like the rescue had been planned out all too well. Given the fact that she'd just grabbed him and ran in a direction out of town, she probably didn’t have a plan of what to do now. He raised his head to take another look around, but instead he met her stare, so he tilted his head a bit confused.

“So what are you – a warlock?”

What? He couldn’t really believe what he was hearing and scratched at the back of his head awkwardly. A warlock? He tried to wrap his head around the idea, but the god damned black wisps weren’t helping him focus. They swirled and drifted around him and out of his vision, and damn they were annoying. He didn’t want to make the girl wait though so he just shook his head before he answered, “Not really. Just a normal human as far as I know.”

A warlock though…. Those were sort of like magicians weren’t they? He knew of them only from the video games he’d played, generally they focused more on dark magic compared to their counterparts; priests. Then again it was information from some games, so he was more than a bit hesitant to put any reliance on it. A bit hesistant, but needing to know, he asked her, "What is a warlock?"

[Jealous Angel D]

She tilted her head to the side in confusion as he answered her. Not really? What sort of answer was that? Had the humans split when she hadn’t been paying attention? Were there new subgroups developing? However, those thoughts were silenced by his next words. She had met a few weak warlocks, but they still knew their ancestry. They still knew that they were warlocks instead of just “normal humans”. The history books often stated that normal humans were those who had rejected the magic and who had been unable to adjust to the change.

However, he was a slave or maybe he wanted to catch her off guard. If she suspected him to be a normal – extinct – human then she wouldn’t expect him to be very powerful. “Humans” was the answer she wanted to respond with, however she knew that such a simple answer would not ease the boy’s confusion.

“I find it hard to believe that you are just a normal human,” she voiced her opinion before going on to answer his question. “After all the warlocks and the witches are all that is left of the human race. You’ll usually find them locked up in their towns and traveling on their designated territories. They don’t interact much, mainly due to the fact that the magic has never gotten along with humans. It prefers to listen to anything that isn’t a human – the species that don’t have to really thing about magic. How do you not know what a warlock is, if you a human?”

[Zombehs]

“Humans?” That didn’t help him at all! Of course he was a human, what else was he supposed to be. An orc like the ones he’d seen at the market? He got the distinct feeling that she didn’t give him a clear answer for a reason and was about to question her further when she spoke again.

He listened to her and bit by bit he felt his jaw go slack. Evidently this world was vastly different from his. Magic? That didn’t even make sense, though his situation made it hard to deny the possibility. After all, hadn’t he himself been thrown into this world from his own? He cleared his throat as his eyes followed some of the black wisps that loved to dart around him and annoy him. “I suppose those black wisps or whatever are magic then?”

“As for why I don’t know what a warlock is, well excuse me. They only appear in video games or movies. And you can ask all you want, I’m human and that’s what I’m sticking to,” he told her, a fair bit rougher than before. He was still confused and he felt irritated, though it was really senseless, at the girl.