A mage story. ( Lothinaroxos and Jiskastya )

[Lothianroxos]

Lilith noticed almost instantly the sudden onset of evil irradiating from Kyle. A dark evil that She only felt once before. It made her shiver lightly, but she quickly to control of her body and looked up to Kyle. " I-I am sorry... I guess I kinda lied... This is my masters helper....A-Aion...The Twilight king... and...M-My master...gave me a c-charm that I could summon him w-with....with the m-magic power of a n-nearby..umm... mage..." She managed a light smile as she moved some hair from her eyes. "A-Agian...I am sooooo sorry Kyle..."

As they approached the massive gates of the City, several praetorian came out with their weapons raised. " Ah returning so soon mr.Kyle? Might I ask who you were talking to?" The gate commander raised his helm as he looked at the boy. Aion had cloaked Lilith in a dark magical field, so only an extremely powerful Illusionist, such as Jace, could see her. As the man questioned Him Lilith gave Kyle's hand a light squeeze and left walking past the Praetorian's and reforming on the other side of the wall, with Aion on her shoulder with a devious smile. There she sat back on a barrel and waited for him to cross over.

[Jiskastya]

Kyle was hurt, and his teeth clenched as he listened to her babble, trying to apologize. Right then, he wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic. The worst part was, if she had asked, he would have let her use his magic for the charm. It was simply the fact that she had done it without permission, that everything she had said was likely a lie. Even this apology was probably fake.

Kyle flinched when she squeezed his hand, displeased by the contact but not able to do anything about it. And, as the guard asked him who he was taking to, for one moment, he considered taking Jace's advice. It would be so easy to just point, let the guards take that conniving manipulative woman, and dump her back in the forest.

Alone. At night. With no magic.

Do it.

Normally, the fact that Jace was encouraging him to do something would have been enough reason for him to do the exact opposite, but this time he wasn't so sure. His hand began to lift, preparing to point her out, when he suddenly realized that it wasn't him moving his own hand. He shoved Jace out, barely managing to contain a wince at the backwash of power. He changed the motion smoothly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. These guards probably knew she was out here, so it would be best to confirm their suspicion.

"There was a woman out there," he said, face wrinkling in a perfect slight confusion. "She wanted me to help her get past the guards and into the city, but I'm not one to go against the rules."

He averted his eyes from the scrutiny of one of the guards, trying to look like a normal, law-abiding student.

It seemed to work, for the guard looked away from him after a couple more seconds. "Stay away from her, if you see her again," he said, already disinterested. Kyle nodded in willing agreement, and walked past the wall.

This is going to come back to haunt us. Jace no longer sounded angry, or persuasive. His voice simply held a tired resignation.

He paused a safe distance away from Lilith. He might have helped her, but he certainly didn't trust her anymore, and he was going to keep a careful watch on his magic with her around. No more letting her pull from his mana, uninvited. Even if that meant letting Jace have his way.

[Lothianroxos]

Aion quickly formed in front of him and with a small bow in the air he looked at the young mage, studying him intently. With a small shrug the doll began to speak into Kyle's head through telepathy. I have to thank you for your access to your mana pool, which is quite vast for someone of your.... experience... and although you may be mad at Lilith, She needed to get in. As my personal thanks, Might I invite you to my masters home? The doll innocently offered it's hospitality to the young mage. He slowly hovered back over to Lilith who sat there with her eyes on the ground.

Am I really ashamed at using this boy? Lilith questioned herself before looking up towards the cent of the city where the Arcana's tower set. With a tiny sigh she hopped off one of the boxes that she was on and started moving though the crowd, leaving both the boy and Aion there. With yet another tiny sigh, and a clearly irritated tone to its voice the doll looked at Kyle once again. " IF you must know she was an Arcana, who was betrayed by the others... All she knows is trickery which is why she turned to it. Follow if you wish to human meat puppet." There was something about that boy. A source of power that he hasn't sensed for a long time. Belonging to a certain person that caused havoc on the mage world... what was his name... damn it Aion started moving, to follow Lilith, lost deep in thought about the one mage.

[Jiskastya]

Kyle stared, somewhat flabbergasted at the little creature before him. He supposed it was polite to offer gratitude when the charm had been said without his permission, but he wasn't entirely sure what to think of the little thing. Kyle had never been a part of a conjuring course, and Jace knew very little on the subject, so he wasn't even entirely sure what this little doll was. Should he treat it as he would another person, say that it was alright, and he didn't really mind. It had, after all, been done to help Lilith, who was most certainly a person.

But he was more than a little turned off by the fact that the creature was speaking in his mind. Before, that had been a territory specifically reserved for Jace. But, strangely enough, it seemed that the other mage was actually somewhat wary of the little creature, or perhaps of what he represented. Normally, even a simple touch of thought would send the mage leaping after a potential source of "entertainment", let alone full on thought-to-thought communication. But he stayed quiet, reserved, hiding in a dark corner of Kyle's mind
where nothing would be able to spot him. His only response was a tiny, echoing hiss as the little doll invited Kyle to his master's home. It was clear that the paranoid mage thought that would be a terrible idea.

Kyle was actually mostly in agreement. He didn't trust charms, never had, and was even less trusting of things that didn't seem human. He had been glad when he had tested for Elemental, and not Conjuring. If he was entirely honest with himself, that aversion probably had something to do with Jace, who was another foreign body, but one that Kyle was trapped with, and would simply have to get used to.

However, all of those particular thought processes, winding and confused or clear and defined, were blown away by Aion's next words. Arcana? There was a hint of laughter in Jace's voice, the touch of a thought that said things had just gotten a bit more interesting, and probably for the better. Now isn't that an interesting development? There was nothing interesting about that fact to Kyle. He had been brought up in the city, taught to revere the very mention of the Arcana, to respect every decision they made as though it was the word of god. And here he was, being told that the Arcana were not perfect, benevolent rulers, but prone to spats, to betrayal.

There was also the small matter that, if Lilith had been betrayed, she had likely done something wrong, been banned from within the city, and sentenced to a life in the woods. And he had helped her... break in to the city. By proper rules, he should turn her over to the guards right now. But the both of them, Lilith and Aion, were already walking away.

He could leave. Pretend he had seen nothing, done nothing. They would leave him alone. They had better, if they didn't want to get turned back over.

Now you are just being boring.

"Wasn't it you who kept telling me to get out before I got dragged into something I couldn't get out of?"

Far too late for that! Jace sounded right cheerful. Apparently he had decided that this was going to be fun, and offer a chance to relieve what he considered the boredom of everyday life. Besides, aren't you the one who always says that you should finish what you start?

He didn't think it was any better of an idea, but Jace was right. He had started this, he had an obligation to see it through to its end. Whatever that end was, exactly. One final sigh, and he set off after the pair dwindling in the distance.

[Lothianroxos]

With a tiny, sly glance back Aion noted that the boy was following and quickly told Lilith who was to busy plotting her revenge to even care.

" Why should I care about that pitiful whelp. He is scary.... Really scary, and I don't say that about a lot of people, Aion. I'm sure that you've felt it."

Soon the two of them came up to a pitch black house with a golden trim and golden inlay for the roof in the richer/center part of the city. It was one of the three houses that surrounded the actual Spire, where the arcana lived and met. As soon as Lilith stepped foot on the Obsidian brick path, The door to the manor opened wide, and a abnormally tall man with a black hair that seemed to just devour light came out. The mystery man was dressed in a black robe, that matched his hair, and He seemed to have blood red eyes that pierced the soul. His skin was pale as a dead mans skin. Within a nanosecond he was at Lilith's side do to some magic.

"Ahhh Miss Lilith, it truly is an honor to meet you once again." The man bowed and looked up at her with a arrogant smile. " How is the Arcana business treating you? uh ohh that's right. You got betra-" He was cut off when Lilith went to go deck him but only managed to hit air. The man formed a couple feet away. " Can it Wallace." The girl mumbled as she continued up the path.

Aion was following closely behind the girl and was almost visibly shaking in the presence of this man named Wallace. With a much unwanted turn he looked at the Black mage. " The boy that is coming, allow him in, Masters orders." Wallace looked back at the boy and gave a shrug. " Does it have to be in one piece?" " Yes Wallace" The mage snapped his fingers in a visible show of disappointment before disappearing back into the manor.

[Jiskastya]

Despite Jace’s silent but excited murmurings, Kyle found himself getting more and more worried as he followed the two into the center of the city. For one thing, he wasn’t really supposed to be here. This was a section of the city that was reserved for the affluent, the wealthy, the powerful. He was a poor mage of little talent, who survived off of the generosities of the dorm he lived in.

But there was also something else, an air that seemed to drift back from the two, that said that they were up to no good, and were likely leading him into a situation he really didn’t want to be in.

If it helps at all, Jace intoned I promise not to let anything happen to you. For some odd reason, the comment didn’t really help calm him down. For one thing, Jace could be almost as destructive to Kyle’s mental state as any physical attack. Kyle knew from a single experience, one that he would give anything not to repeat, that letting the dark wizard have access to an almost unlimited supply of mana and complete freedom could lead to situations where death almost seemed preferable.

My interest had been piqued, and I am not going to just let you walk away. At least, not quietly.

“Does that mean you will actually shut up for a bit if I go?”

If that is the only way I can get you to go, I suppose so.

But, Kyle wasn’t so sure that even such a tempting offer was enough when he saw the man looming in the doorway of the house. He didn’t know what was going on, but it was clear that this little Arcana had gotten herself mixed up in some very dark power. Then again, who was he to talk.

He stepped into the house reluctantly, keeping a wary eye on this... Wallace, but finding himself oddly comforted by Jace’s rumbling growls and the pressure of the mage on his mind. It was a reassurance that nothing would happen to him, at least, nothing deadly.