Spirits of the Earth

OOC: This thread is now tagged to @JackieCat !

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"Oh, Kia... Kia, Kia, Kia!" Came the calls from the glowing young woman, as her fancy hair bounced about as she rushed down the long stone steps towards the Alagory. It wasn't that she didn't know the way that was caused for her tardiness, but that Professor Hassleberrie's speech on the History of the Fell held her captivated for well? Longer than it ought to have! Where most of the students at the university were left snoring, she was tucked away back in a corner, like some hidden fairy from a tale, all done up for the evening's event- which of course was another dinner party her parents were more than eager to attend.

They didn't seem to mind when she promised she'd be home before it all began, but when the bell rang, she nearly cursed beneath her breath, and struggled to find a way to sneak out of the University unnoticed. As she ran, she tucked her notes up under her skirts, the still drying ink staining her hosery and hands. She couldn't believe it! Even her white satin gloves got stained.

"So much for that,"s he sighed, plucking them off and discarded them as she ran. But it was difficult to run in heels, which is why she was now bare foot as she rushed about, the train of her yellow dress fluttering like a curtain of fake flowers and lace. Her heels, however, were on the ends of her hands, for she wasn't about to soil her attire more than it was. And she only could hope the only soiling had been on those gloves as she rounded the corner, dashed past the church, and stopped right at the front of her parent's carriage. And there they stood, the creases of worry embedded into their faces as her mother sighed with relief at the sight.

"Oh, Phonecia.. you're late!"

Habit dictated the coddling, motherly hug. Though she was upset, she was more relieved her daughter was okay.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry mother," came her reply, as she sighed and blew some of her wild curls from her face. Her mother looked her over, sobering.

"Oh goodness, your hair... "

"She looks fine, Phanny," her father pressed, "let her wear it down just this once. We haven't the time to fix it, anyway. And you both look handsome."

Her mother sighed, but smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek. But upon seeing she left a lipstick stain, sighed and moved to rub it away.

"Don't worry mom, we're already friends with the Alagory family."

"I know, but some new families we have yet to be introduced will be there."

"I know, I know."

"And the more people we meet-"

"The more likely we can succeed," Phone went on to finish, and grabbed her mother's hand. "Come on, let's go!"

And as the family was bustling to get into the carriage, she heard one of the windows creak open.

"Have a nice night, Phone!"

It was Gabin. Phone's expression brightened as she waved enthusiastically to her young cousin.

"I'll be sure to have a few good dances just for you!" Phone called back, and soon their horse and carriage were off, carrying the family all the way to the building known to all as the Alagory- which had been in that family for countless generations. It was claimed their family was as old, if not older than Serendipity itself!

That much could be said about it's house head, Lord Walterin Woosely Alagory. The man was over a hundred, had been married fifteen times (as he survived them all!), and had about a dozen or so children, who all had a dozen or so children, and as the man went on to explain to Phone at length about the Alagroy clan, Phone was having trouble keeping up.

"Wait, so you're telling me your son's son's son in law is in love with your mother's cousins's second wive's niece who was already divorced twice?"

Old Lord Alagory raised his shaggy eyebrows and agreed.
"Why yes."

She knit her brows.

"But yet your cousin's mother's granddaughter inlaw is in love with him?"

He nodded.
"Precisely! It's a most ornate and absurd love triangle if there ever was one!"

"Gosh.." Phone nodded, actually completely captivated by the tale, while the rest of her family remained in lively, social chatter with the other guests. But for Phone? She was quite comfortable to simply mingle and listen to the Lord's stories. They were pretty fun, even if some weren't believable!

"Now, if you'll excuse me, young Lady Phonecia," he went on with a chuckle, "I do think my sixteenth wife is calling."

She gasped.
"You got married again?"

He grinned.
"Well, soon to be.." and he gestured towards Lady Elsley int he corner. Phone's expression lit up.

"Oh, Lady Elsley? You couldn't have picked better!"

And once he was excused to go and flirt with his current lady love....

Well, Phone found herself all by herself, in her poofy dress, toying absent mindedly with the laces lining her garb while denying the third attempt someone tried to serve her some wine. Though thirsty, she wasn't a fan of wine, and last time she tried to hold a wine goblet just to look like she liked it, ended up wiht it staining her dress.

She took this moment to exercise her people studying skills with those around the room, and began to wonder who the knew people were. Sure she was introduced to them upon arrival, but having remained at Lord Alagory's side for the last hour, she more or less missed her chance to slip into some o f the congregated groups' conversations.

So idly kicking her shoes, she stared around the room in wonder, her thoughts taking her anywhere but here. Maybe she should check out the our d'ouerves... she had seen cute little flower shaped cookies earlier!

Kinn swallowed nervously as he showed his invitation to the guard at the door, of course, the card was fake, a copy procured by those who had hired him.

He walked through the doors and into the entrance hall.  He took a deep breath.  All he had to d was get the young woman and leave.  Kinn could feel the sweat gathering on his face, and he quickly wiped it away with the sleeve of his silver robe.  He wasn't made for this sort of work, kidnapping people!  He was a better spy, an inside job.

But these people had hired him to capture the girl.  She was here with her family, that information had been obtained by another spy.

Kinn wasn't too worried about being caught, there were so many guests here he would blend in perfectly fine.  Well, to say Kinn wasn't too worried, for him, that still meant he was pretty worried.

What the mage really was worried about was how in the world he was going to capture the girl.  The very same guest who helped him to blend in would be standing around watching as he kidnapped the girl.

Kinn was a fairly accomplished mage, but he didn't really think he could get away with fighting all of the guests to get away, and more than that, he didn't have the heart to fight them.

He had been drafted for this job so suddenly he hadn't had time to come up with a plan.  He knew the layout of the building, that would help considerably if he needed to make a fast escape, which would be likely to happen.

Kinn walked into the party room and looked around at where the guards were positioned.  He may have been scared, but he wasn't stupid, well, maybe he was, but not in this way.  The guards were evenly spaced against the wall, standing, weapons sheathed, but keeping a close eye on the guest in the room.  Around the whole room there were probably thirty guards stationed, but Kinn knew more could come at a shouted command.

Kinn saw that there were two doors open to the outside, they led to a patio, he knew.  It was getting dark, and though he knew the patio was guarded, it would have to do for his escape rout.  If he could get Phone to got out there with him he would be given the perfect chance to get away with her.

Kinn walked around until he saw Phone.  She was near the  hor d'oeuvres and Kinn made his way towards her.  He took a deep breath as he neared her and spoke.

"Hello," he said, walking up next to her. "What do you think of the party?"

Kinn mentally cringed.  What a horrible entrance! 

She had been right! The tiny cookies were not only pretty, but delicious as well! The creamy icing melted into her mouth as the entire cookie was gone in a few, slow bites. And now that she had tried one, she had to definitely try the others. And considering no one was around watching her (for the moment!), she began to sample more than one at a time, and was so elated by the unique and delicate flavor each flower cookie had to offer, she hadn't notice the approach of the gentleman who- the second she saw his face, the cookie she had been eating got sucked into her throat, and soon she was gripping at her neck and doubled over.

She couldn't breath!

Kinn's violet eyes widened in alarm, she was choking!  She couldn't die!  If she died her blood would be useless!

"Move your hands!" he said urgently, pulling her hands from her neck.  He quickly laid his index and middle fingers over her throat.  He whispered a word and stepped back quickly, hoping the spell would work.

It was a spell he had just learned, he hadn't perfected it, but it hadn't been a very difficult spell and if it didn't work he would have to call for help, which would draw attention to him that he didn't need.  If he was talked to very much, someone would eventually realize he wasn't supposed to be here.

And the spell seemed to work- kind of! Because the muscles in her throat completely froze and though she wasn't wheezing anymore due to lack of oxygen, she could neither dislodge the cookie, nor breath past it. And she couldn't exactly reply back to him in such a state, as her eyes remained wide and panicked, her face turning an unsightly shade of blue.

Kinn's eyes widened further at the effect of his spell.  He never should have attempted a new spell.

His breath was coming in short, quick gasps, and he quickly countermanded the first spell with another, a spell which he knew very well. 

Once that spell was finished and Phone was in the same state as when she had first started choking, Kinn did it the old fashioned way.  Stepping behind Phone he put his arms around her torso and clenched his fists at her abdomen.  He jerked his arms sharply back, he did this again, and again.

Thankfully, whatever numbed her throat was gone, but it didn't stop the primary problem. However, that was soon solved after a few quick, sharp thrusts into her gut! And seconds later, out sailed the cookie that had once been lodged, flying across the room and hitting an older gentlemen in the back of the head... where it soon stuck to his wig..
And the man seemed none the wiser!

"Oops," Kinn said as he watched the cookie as it flew across the room and hit the old man's wig, but then the mage stepped around in front of Phone.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly looking into her face.  She had been growing purple while she had been choking.  Well, at least she wasn't choking now, and, despite all the commotion, no one had really seemed to notice the what had just happened. "How did that happen?"

Thankful she was finally able to breath, Phone fanned off her face with a hand and spent a few good moments trying tocollect herself. But her throat was raw and dry, and as she continued to fan herself she managed to croak out one word.

"Drink!" Because for the life of her, that's all she could think of that would at least soothe her dry throat and distract her from panicking further.

"What?  Drink?  Oh, right!" Kinn rushed to the food table and looked around for any sort of liquid, there was no water, but Kinn's eyes fell on a bowl of punch.

He grabbed a glass and quickly spooned some of the punch into it.  He nearly ran back to Phone and gave her the water. "Here," he said, brushing his long black hair from his eyes. "I hope this helps."

The punch was a god send, even if it burned on the way down. And she drank the entire cup in a few hasty gulps, and sighed with relief afterwards.
"Thanks!" She told him, earnestly, if not a little sheepishly. "That was like... reaaally embarrassing! But I can assure you I don't normally eat like that. Er, that's to say that I don't normal choke on my cookies... Not that I eat only cookies!"

Wow.. she wished her lips would stop moving. She was certain she sounded incredibly foolish! And when she looked at him again, she recalled just why she had choked to begin with. After all, she felt so awkward around guys, especiallygood looking ones!

Kinn just kind of smiled as she rambled a bit, and when she finished he shook his head. "No problem, I couldn't just stand around and let you choke, could I?"

Kinn smiled wider, but it was wiped from his face as soon as he remembered his mission.  A shadow of doubt crossed his mind as he looked at Phone, was he really supposed to capture this young woman?  The people who had hired him had told him that Phone was a traitor to her family and she worked undercover, pretending to be good but really leaking secrets out to enemies.  But as Kinn talked to her now he realized that someone along the line had made a mistake.

There was no way that this girl was evil, the sincerity about her face and her eyes, emotions that no actor could portray.

But Kinn wasn't going to forget his mission so fast.  He would talk with Phone a little longer and determine if she was what his employers had told him, or if she was what she seemed to be.

He knew her name already, but he knew if he didn't ask it it would be strange.

"I'm Ilthis, Ilthis Jay." He extended a hand.

Tearing her eyes from his face, she looked down to his large, out stretched hand. Hastily, she took it and gave it a shake, immediately wishing she was wearing her gloves, because her hands were so sweaty!

"Ilthis Jay?" she repeated, hoping saying it outloud would make it easier for her to commit it to memory. After all, most of the time she committed chapters from her history book to memory, and normally cared less about remembering silly formalities like.. you know, people's names!

But she felt she wanted to remember his! If only to be grateful for the rescue, which still made her foolish it happened at all!

"Well, Mister.. er.. Lord Ilthis Jay?" she went on- Gods,s he sounded so awkward! "I'm Phone- er, Phonecia!" she continued to shake his hand, seeming unable to stop. "Phonecia Perseretta." And while still shaking, she added, "And a lady."

Wow, she knew that sounded just incredibly lame.

Kinn smiled, and kept the amusement from his face, he didn't want to make her more flustered than she already was!

"It's very nice to meet you, Phonecia, or do you prefer Phone?"

Then he once again remembered is mission and it came as hard as a slap to the face.  Despite his easy demeanor, Kinn's insides started squirming around, trying desperately to climb up his throat.  The mage was almost certain that this young woman was not the evil, and something was terribly wrong.  But why would the people who hired him tell him Phone was bad?  They had told him that with the girl's blood they would be able to rid the world of war and evil.

But of course they would if they were planning something sinister!  They would tell him a lie to get him to do what they wanted.  And it wasn't as if Kinn had worked with these people before, one day a man had approached him and offered him money if Kinn would listen to him.  Kinn had and after a few days agreed to help them.

To the mage now that seemed like it had been a foolhardy and rash decision, agreeing to work with a group he knew nothing about?  Knew nothing but the words, the lies, that had come from the lips of his employers themselves?

Now Kinn wanted to run.  To get out of this fancy house as quickly as possible and run away.

Kinn took a step back from Phone. "I have to go now, it was very nice to meet you, Phone, goodbye!"

And he turned around and walked away through the crowds, almost running.  He was in the entrance hall and halfway to the door when his honorable side caught up with him.

It was a small side, and most of Kinn was screaming at him to run, to leave Phone and save his own skin, but that small bit of right had pushed its way through to his conscious. 

He stopped.  He couldn't flee.  If he left, they would just send another person to kidnap Phone.  Phone, who seemed to never want to harm anyone.

"That's not my problem!" Kinn thought. "Of course it's your problem!" His honor screamed. "Now get your selfish butt back over there and warn her!"

Kinn took a deep breath and turned around.  He walked back into the party room and towards Phone.

She never thought she'd have as awkward of an encounter as the day she had met Lord Tison's son, who was incredibly handsome and no matter when she saw him, something BAD and embarrassing had happened. This scenario was soon ramping up to meet that at mach speed, and she hadn't even a chance to tell Ilthis her preference, and she was left staring at where the man once stood.

Suddenly feeling subconscious, she moved away from the snack table and sought out the powder room, and began to examine her face. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except her hair was a bit disheveled, and with a sigh she worked at attempting to tame it a bit better. But after twenty minutes, she was growing weary and it seemed her hair wasn't going to comply.

And as she was sitting there before the vanity, she noticed something moving in the corner of her eye. There was a black spider fixing her web. She studied the spider for a moment before sighing.

"I feel like doing that too. Making a home here for the rest of this event might make sense. And you seemed to make do with it."
Folding her arms infront of her, she rested her chin and simply stared up at the spider, her eyes soon drifting off in a day dreamed daze.

Where in the world was she?  He had gone back to the table, but she hadn't been there.  He rushed around the party room for what seemed like forever, looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found.  Where was she?  She could have gone to the bathroom, but he had been looking for twenty minutes, she wouldn't be that long.

"Where else, where else. . ?" Kinn stood, running his thin fingers through his hair.  Could his employers have sent someone else to come to the party and kidnap Phone if he failed?  What she was already gone?  He looked around some more and he finally came upon the power room. He stepped inside and there she was, sitting in front of the vanity.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her and grabbing her shoulders. "What in the name of Le'raana are you doing in here for so long?  I thought you were gone!"

Phonecia nearly leaped out of her skin, and was soon on her feet as she shrilly replied, "What are you doing in the ladies powder room!?"
Because that was all her mind could focus on in that moment!

"What?" Kinn hadn't even noticed, he had been in a such a rush.  As he now realized where he was, he quickly took a step back, his silver-tinted skin turning slightly pink.

Then he remembered why he was in the ladies powered room in the first place.  "It doesn't matter that I'm in here!  I have something of the utmost important to tell you!"

Utmost importance? She felt herself sweat as her heart hammered within her chest.
She had heard of love at first sight but this....?
Was this love at first choke? He did save her life.. did he feel obligated to propose to her or it would fester him for all of his days? She couldn't let him do that! If it was just a marriage out of guilt, it would eat away at her too!

Sitting up suddenly, she shook her head.
"Oh no, don't worry about anything. I'm fine, really. I'm just so awkward in these things that... er, maybe I should go first?" she went on, not realizing her spider companion was slowly making her way onto Kinn's shoulder.
"Cause you really shouldn't be in here..."

But that look on his face...
Was it really something like a proposal that had him so distraught?

Proposal was the farthest thing from Kinn's mind.

"No, this is very important," Kin insisted. "I was sent to kidnap you, now I realize that that was wrong and I must warn you.  I was employed by some people to kidnap you, they wanted your blood, to make the world a better place, they said, but I now see that they must have had some ulterior motive."

Kinn started to pace nervously. "Why would they want your blood?  For what?  What's special about you, do you have some magic?  Some secret magic?"

And now all Phone could do was stare at him, and stare.
"Er..." Maybe she should avoid the punch and any and all drinks for the night. It seemed something was spiked!
That.. or this man had a screw loose!

"I... should be getting back to the party. You know.."s he went on with a nervous laugh, trying to back away towards the door. "My parents might worry and you were right, I've taken too long."

"What?  No!" Kinn's eyes widened. "I'm not crazy!  I swear!  You have to listen to me!  You are in danger, some bad people want your blood, doesn't that seem a little strange to you?"

Kinn was running his fingers through his hair again, he had to get Phone to believe him! 

He took a few deep breaths, ranting wouldn't help.

"Okay, okay,"he took another breath, and when he spoke again it was in a calm voice. e turned to look her in the eye. "Phone, Phonecia, you have to at least be open to the idea that you are in danger.  Bad people want your blood, and I'm assuming they don't want it just to do medical tests on.  They need it for something that I don't know about.  Something that probably isn't good for you, or Le'raana.  You have to believe me."

Phone looked at him, then down to her feet. She was so nervous and had NO idea what to do about what he was proposing, but one thing was for certain...
Though he denied it, yeah- he was totally nuts!

"Well, um... I'll think on it and get back to you," she went on, nervously tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear before-
Dashing out the door! And kept on running, despite people looking at her strangely. But she had to get away from that man! He was going on about her blood and secrets and all that jazz...

She knew it! She should have just sought out the library here and put her nose in a book all evening. It was SO much safer than socializing. She had NO idea what sort of people might attend these events because she had been so anti-social and awkward and...

She found herself soon in the ballroom the second it was announced-

"And now its time for the first dance."
And she just froze there in the doorway, panicked and looking a lot like a deer in the head lights.

Kinn sighed in exasperation as she ran from the powder room.  He understood her fear and confusion, wouldn't any seventeen year old girl feel just a little scared when a man comes up to her telling her he was supposed to kidnap her?

But he had to get her to listen!  He rushed after her, and then the announcement for the first dance was called.  As people started to pair up around the room Kinn looked frantically around for Phone.  There!  she was standing perfectly still in the doorway, seemingly frozen.

Kinn didn't want to scare her even more, but it was necessary for her safety!

He walked up to her and in front of her, and he held up his hands in a guesture of peace. "I understand your confusion, and I really don't want to frighten you anymore, but you must at least give me a chance, give my story a chance, okay?"

Phone nearly screamed, and while Kinn was trying to go on to explain himself, her eyes darted around frantically. The second she saw a man, any man, she latched onto his arm.

"Er, sorry, but I'm reserved for the next dance with him!" And her smile, being oh so fake, didn't seem to deter or even confuse the old man's arm she now latched onto as he turned to Phone with a chuckle.

"Eh? Phonecia, is that you?"


Uh oh... It was Lord Buttersworth; and if anything, the man was a nightmare and more than deadly at social entrapment. Though her stunned look was quickly masked over. Yeah.. it was better to be forced into a boring topic about wars long past that Buttersworth fought in than to well..
Be stuck with a crazy man!

"I do apologize.."s he went on, bowing her head awkwardly before guiding...
"Come on, Lord Buttersworth. The dance floor is this way."

Thankfully the old man still remembered his obligations in a dance, but as the two joined hands, so did the journey of some hour long speech she had already heard four times that week.

Kinn, by now, was extremely irritated, but he still understood Phone's reactions.  He had to get her too see he wasn't fooling around!

He walked up to where she was dancing with the old man and put his hand on the man's shoulder. "May I cut in?" he asked.

The old man looked slightly disappointed, as he had been talking quite a lot to Phone, but he stepped back and let Kinn step in.  As soon as the man turned away Kinn grabbed Phone's arm and walked quickly out onto the patio.  As soon as they were outside and the sound of music an people talking had faded, Kinn looked right into Phone's face.

"I said I was sent to kidnap you," he said in a hissed whisper, since there were guards not far away. "And I also said I had changed my mind about it, that I realized it was wrong.  It's true, I was wrong to work with the people who want your blood, but I see now that I actually do need to kidnap you."

He swung his hand around and sent a blast of energy straight at one of the two guards' chests'.   The man silently fell, the other was down before he could even cry out.  "They're not hurt, just stunned," Kinn said to Phone. "You may still think I'm crazy, but you must know by now that you are in danger, either from me, or some one else.  I assure you I will not harm you or bring you to any harm, but you have to understand, and this is the only way I see to make you!"

(OOC: I don't know how this works, I want him to take her from the patio and into some abandoned building to talk, but that would be controlling your character to go with him, how does that work?)

OOC: Well, considering Phone isn't all that strong and wouldn't want to cause a scene either, it's realistic he'd be able to pull her along. However, if there is ever a problem with that not being realistic in a scenario, I'd let you know :)

Posts can be edited anyways, just in case!

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Boy, was this one persistent! And if he weren't crazy, she might think that a rather good quality. But here he was again, going on about supposed to be kidnapping her but changing his mind and something about her blood and... then you know, saying he changed his mind and DID want to kidnap her...

Yeah, he was crazy!

"Yeah... stunned..."

But after the spectacle of what happened with the guard... she slowly drew in a breath and tried to figure out what was the best response for this scenario-

But ah hell, if the man was going to kidnap her anyway, there was no way she wasn't going to at least try to get help! And after she sucked in a lot of air into her lungs, as if in an attempt to calm herself-
Instead of releasing an equally long sigh-


She screamed.

(OOC: Thanks!)



"Oh, please!" Kinn said, almost in a pleading whine.  Guards would be coming now, so he would have to make a run for it, while dragging along a probably struggling Phone.  He wasn't that strong, as a mage, but he assumed he was still stronger than her.

Kinn sighed and wrapped an arm around Phone's waist and lifted her off the ground.  He bolted from the patio and into the grass.  He wasn't the fastest runner in the best conditions, with dry grass, and not carrying a seventeen girl, but with Phone, he was incredibly slow.  The guards were now giving chase, and Kinn's physical strength wasn't the best.

That's why he was a mage.

He threw out his free hand behind him, sending a wave of energy behind him, blasting the guards back.  Kinn ran into the street and through the buildings.  The guards were still behind him, and Kinn whispered a word and reached into a pouch on his belt.  He grabbed a few seeds and threw them behind him.  Almost immediately a wall of vines shot up in the street, blocking the guards way.

Kinn turned a corner and, seeing a dilapidated building, he rushed inside.  He clapped a hand over Phone's mouth and held still.  He heard the guards rush by, but then they were gone.

He took his hand from Phone's mouth and held her by the shoulders.  "Okay, I think you can see I'm serious now, even if I am crazy.  Are you ready to listen to me?" He quickly held up a finger. "You can scream again, but I will put a silencing spell over you and as well as not being able to talk or make any sound, it will also hurt."

He didn't mention that it hurt about as much as a mosquito bite, but that wouldn't really be a scare factor, which he felt he needed a bit.

She could not believe what just happened! Being whisked away by an 'anti-kidnapper' who was actually (in her mind) a crazy kidnapper, was not exactly how she was expecting the evening to go! Sure, she was a little bit quirky herself, but never to this degree!

So when she was finally set down and the hand released from her mouth, she looked about ready to scream, but his threat kept her from it.

She released a hot breath.

"You aren't giving me much of a choice!"

"Exactly, I really need you to understand," Kinn said, and he tried as hard as he could to get the sincerity in his voice. "You have to-!"

He stopped, frozen, as he felt the familiar rush of power, magic.  He leaped forwards, falling into Phone and sending them both falling to the ground behind a pile of crates.  A projectile of light shot over them right where Kinn had been standing a moment before.  It hit the opposite wall, blowing a hole straight through it.

"Find them!" a sharp voice called out. "He failed, we need the girl.  Do not harm her, but kill him!"

Kinn's eyes widened in fear and then he turned his head to Phone, who was right next to him. "You see?" he hissed.  "I was telling the truth, you are in great danger.  But we need to get out of here."

The sounds of footsteps walking about the room could be heard, the people searching for them.  If they didn't move soon, they would be found.  The only way to escape would be through the hole that was now gaping in the wall, leading out into the dark streets, but in order to get to it, they would have to get up and into the view of those looking for them.

Holy, Kia! Was this all for real!? But it was hard for her to believe it, it was just too crazy!
Shaking her head, she looked to him.
"How do you know they're even searching for us?" she hissed.
"Lady Ginnatene has a gambling problem, maybe they're after her and her new fiance?"

It made at least a little more sense than for her being the target! And she still was pretty sure this man who was 'not kidnapping' her was clearly crazy.

But then, considering there was danger just outside the walls, she bit her lip and chewed on it, as she chewed over any ideas. She then turned to Kinn.
"So what's the plan? My parents are at that party! If they're heading for it..."

She'd never forgive herself for simply running away when their lives could be in danger!

"When we make a run for the hole if the wall they'll see us and chase us," Kinn said, and now the searchers were nearly upon their hiding spot. "They won't go to the party, they'll be busy chasing us, so your parents and everyone else there will be safe.  We have to go now, or we'll never get away.  Are you ready to run?"

Kinn got to a crouching position behind the crates and waited for Phone to do the same.

"Wait.. woah, woah, woah, you want me to do what?"
Not that she couldn't sprint like the best of them, she had on a froofy dress and shoes! But seeing as they had no choice, she bent over to remove her heels.

"There. Now I'm ready," she went on, grabbing a fist full of her skirts as she nodded to him, waiting for him to make the first move.

"Okay," Kinn took a deep breath.  His heart was beating like mad, and he thought he was going to faint from lack of breath.  He swallowed and shook his head. "Okay." He reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a small piece of wood.

"Now!" he whispered, and shot out from behind the crates.  He made a dash for the hole in the wall.  He heard the whisper of magic, but before the other could finish the spell, Kinn threw the piece of wood out behind them, into the midst of the searchers.  He whispered a word and the floor by the other people burst into flames.  The crates started on fire as well, but Kinn had made sure the flames were far enough away so that neither he nor Phone would get burned.  He stopped at the hole in the wall and waited for Phone.  While he did he puled more spell components from his pouches, getting ready for another spell.

Phone nearly tripped over her skirts when the fire exploded. ANd by the time she scrambled to get beside him and in far enough to hide from view, she was gritting her teeth so hard she feared she might break her teeth!

"Could've warned me about that fire display!"

"Sorry!" Kinn said. "I'm kind of freaked out here, so if you'll forgive me!"  He shot a missile for energy towards the nearest man and then turned and ran out of the hole in the wall and out onto the street.  "Come on!" he called to Phone. "Follow me!"

He ran through the streets, twisting and turning at every chance he got in the hopes of loosing their pursuers.  He knew these streets fairly well, and hoped those following them didn't know them better.  It was night, but the moon cast enough light for Kinn to see where he was going, and he did have a destination, if only he could loose the men long enough to get inside.

Phone followed after because heck- she couldn't do other wise! There were crazy blasts of magic sailing all around, and as much as she wasn't one hundred percent trusting of him, she knew almost nothing about their foes.

"Where are we going?" she asked, when she finally had a moment to catch her breath. Her fingers hurt so much from the death grip her fists had on her skirts to keep her from tripping over them and landing on her face. "And who are these men anyway!? You've got a lot of explaining to do!"

"You're right, I do," Kinn said. "And we're almost there!"  He turned three more corners and ran up to a stable.  He opened the door and slipped inside.  Their pursuers hadn't seen him.  The place was a stable where horses could be bought, rented, sold or boarded.  Kinn knew the owner from a previous encounter.  Late as it was, the keeper of the stables, a man named John Rackin, was up and tending to the horses.

When Kinn burst in he turned to him and, seeing who it was, put his calloused hands on his hips. "Well, look who it is, the sneaky mage.  What do you want this time, Dice?"

"Just a horse or two," Kinn said. "And a place to stay.  I have money."

"You'll not have to pay for the place to sleep," John said, "if you sleep on the straw in here, that is, but the horses, they'll cost you something'."

"The straw will be fine, all we need is a little time for me to do some explaining," Kinn said.

Phone felt strange. Though she supposed a barn was as good a place as any to talk, and she waited for the pair of them to get a little more privacy before she turned to Kinn.
"Alright, start explaining before I start screaming. Who were those guys and why did they ask for me specifically. Because... I'm still thinking you got the wrong girl."

Her life was pretty mundane! And his claims made like zero sense! But now that they were stuck in this stinky barn, she supposed she might as well hear him out. Besides, he did help her get away...
But how is she suppose to know if he's the good or bad guy?

"Okay," Kinn said when John had left. "I know you're the one they're looking for, and I really don't know exactly why they want you.  All they told me was they they needed your blood and that once they had it the would be able to rid the world of all evil.  I must have been drunk when I accepted, now I see that they were lying, and it was a terrible lie.  I should have seen right through it.  Anyway, I agreed and they told me to kidnap you.  They also told me you were a traitor and a double-crosser."

Kinn sighed and leaned on a beam holding up the ceiling, closing his violet eyes. "I know, that was idiotic of me.  It was the most idiotic thing I've done in my entire life."  He opened his eyes. "But maybe not.  Maybe if I hadn't agreed, they would have sent someone else, someone who actually capture you and bring you to those who hired me.  The people who hired me were lead by someone called Syrion.  I never saw them, just heard the name from the people working for them."

Kinn looked at Phone apologetically. "That's all there is to it.  I know nothing more about why they would want your blood, and yes, I'm sure it was your blood they want.  Do you have some sort of magic?  Was an ancestor magic?  Anything, any reason why they would want you?" 

Phone lifted a brow at his confession.
"You sure you weren't drunk and misconstrued those details as well?" She folded her arms across her chest. "I don't have a reputation, my family is on the poor end of the noble spectrum, and we haven't even done anything famous that would bring any sort of shame or scandal to our family line! So forgive me if I find it hard to believe you'd think I'd be... whatever it is these people think I am, but it even sounds ridiculous to presume against someone! I mean do you even know how old I am? I'm only seventeen!" she chided. "What sort of seventeen year old girl is a part of some big, traitorous scheme? I mean sure, one could read about it in books, but those are mostly fiction books, and I own about a dozen of 'em!"

"And who's to say they even hired someone else? I don't know those people, I don't know you, and for all I know, this story is baloney! And you prattling on about people wanting my blood has me skeptical. Did you not know they were like vampires or something? Cause it sure as heck sounds like they're vampires!"

And then her eyes narrowed upon him.
"And how do I know your not a vampire, too? And that you 'saved' me from those men just to drink my blood yourself!" And soon, she got in a defensive position, in case this man tried anything funny!

"I know what I was hired for, but I don't know why they want you," Kinn said. "If your family has no reputation, no enemies, then maybe its something different!  I don't know!  Maybe you were cursed as a baby and your blood has magical properties!" Kinn said exasperatedly. "Yes, I do know how old you are, and I don't think it matters to them, just that there is something different about your blood and they want it." 

When she got to the part about vampires Kinn sighed and put his hand on his face.  He shook his head and lowered his hand. "I'm not a vampire, see?" he bared his teeth at her, teeth that were not fangs. "And you may think I'm crazy, but you know that in that abandoned building back there someone was trying to get you and kill me.  You can't deny that."

Stubborn as ever, Phone kept her arms crossed over her chest.
"All I know is they could have been going after you and I was inconveniently being carried off! And how am I to believe you're not a vampire? Just because your fangs aren't out now, doesn't mean you won't sprout them later!" She read books on them! There were quite a lot of vampire varieties in the world!

Kinn sighed, couldn't she see? "They said 'He failed, we need the girl.  Do not harm her, but kill him!' so they were obviously after a girl, and I'm not a girl!  And yes, I could be a vampire, but I don't want your blood, and I don't think they're vampire's either.  if they wanted blood to drink they could get it from any random person, I think they want it for something more, something, well, worse."

Phone opened her mouth to counter that, but then promptly closed it. Thinking over what he said, it was hard for her to argue.

"Well, let's say you're right. Do you have proof? Like, a contract you signed or like, names of who these men are?"

Kinn felt like melting.  He hadn't signed anything!  What a complete idiot he was, taking a job from a stranger to kidnap a teenager!  what had he been thinking?  That was it, he hadn't been.

"No, I haven't signed anything, but the name of the leader is Syrion, he's a mage, but, like I said before, I never saw him.  It could have been him who ordered the other men to find and kill me and capture you.  He also was the one who cast the spells, unless he has another mage who is working for him.  Then there's the second in command, his name is named Girion, he's a stocky muscly guy, and he's gruff and now that I know he's evil I can't believe I didn't see it before.  His glare, his voice, everything!"  Kinn threw up his hands in exasperation, but then, at least Phone was starting to at least consider that he was telling the truth.

Phone's face twisted in confusion. So many names and not one rang a bell! But after a moment, something clicked.

"Wait.. did you say Syrion?"

Kinn's eyes widened, maybe she knew something about all this after all! "Yes, yes, Syrion!  Do you know him?  Do you recognize the name?"

Finally!  Something they both knew about!  Possibly.  It could just have been a name she had heard somewhere random, or perhaps there was another Syrion.  Kinn tried not to get his hopes up, but it was hard after trying to get her to believe him for all this time! 

Her face scrunched.
"I dunno... I don't think it's the same guy."
She gave a curious tilt of her head.
"I mean... I ran into him just a few times when I was at the library..."
Clearly crazy people did NOT go to libraries, which is where she wished she would have hidden that night instead of run into this crazy man! Internally she was still flailing over this situation, but without, she was simply chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"But it might be!" Kinn said, not giving up hope. "Do you know anything else about him?  Do you know if he has a last name?  Or a first name?  Or if he lives near here?  How old is he?  What's he look like?"

Then Kinn took a step back, and passed a hand over his face. "No, I'm sorry, I know your probably pretty freaked out right now, but so am I."  He swallowed and rubbed his eyes, he looked, and felt, as if he was going to have a mental breakdown.

It was at about this time Phone actually began to feel sorry for this guy.. you know, for being crazy and stuff. But it honestly did seem like he was stuck in the middle of something, even if she didn't believe she was in the middle of it. So, she took in a deep breath and placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Look... do you think you can at least handle the next ten seconds and remain calm?"

Kinn took a deep shaky breath and looked straight back into her eyes. "Right, yes, stay calm."
He looked down and then around the barn, then back at Phone.

"Okay, let's see, right, what else do you know about this man Syrion?"

Phone sighed and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulders. Well, he got one thing right. He was EXCEPTIONALLY bad at kidnapping, but hey, everyone had their vices!

"Look, you just worry about the next ten seconds to keep your head clear, okay? I'm trying to think about what I know on this man but its really distracting with you prattling on all nervous and- OH!"
Her eyes lit up as she remembered something suddenly.

"THAT WAS THE MAN I FIRST THOUGHT WAS A CREEPER TRYING TO LOOK DOWN MY DRESS!"
And boy did she look unhappy to remember THAT.

"Ooh," Kinn said, kind of grimacing at what she said. "Well, if we're talking about the same guy, then that seems like their could be a connection.  I mean most self-respecting men don't do that kind of thing, right?"  Kinn frowned. "Wait, there was one thing I remember hearing once, one of the men said that Syrion was young, well not really young, but in his mid-twenties.  How old was this, uh, well, your Syrion?"

Not being in her twenties yet (as that thought felt so foreign to her!), she simply blinked.
To her (despite her not being too far from 20 herself!) thought that age was ancient. But hten again, she was horrible at telling ages.

"Uh.." She blinked.
"I guess... that.. old?"
She had no idea.

"Mid-twenties, a little older than me, I'm twenty-three, he was maybe twenty-five or twenty six.  Did he kind of look the same age as me?" Kinn shook his head.  "Anyway, anything else about him?  Just his age isn't going to help us much.  What did he look like, I know he was a creep, but wouldn't that help you remember him?  I mean, bad things usually stick with you, as well as the best things."

Kinn really didn't know how to go about an investigation, he wasn't a detective, was he?  No, he was a mage.  A stupid, stupid mage who had gotten into a huge problem.  But he really didn't regret his decision to agree to kidnap Phone, If he had't she could be dead by now.

Phone blinked and went on sheepishly, "Er.. to be honest, I want to forget what he looked like. Those memories.."
She grit her teeth and shivered.
"Blonde hair." She grimaced."Blonde hair and silver eyes. And though he looked.. hrm, about your age, I think he was balding."

"I know what you mean, about wanting to forget," Kinn said kindly, completely understanding the want to forget undesirable people, "but any bit of information could be important."
At least he thought so, he still had really no solid idea about what to do, but he wanted to sound as if he had some sort of confidence, rather than show his true feelings, which had something to do with running around in little circles, screaming, and pulling his hair out.

He frowned when she described the man. "Hmm, okay, does he still go to library?  I mean it wasn't just that he came once or twice and never came again.  Is he a frequent visitor?"

"Er, I didn't really notice him until he noticed me. But it seemed he kept appearing conveniently after that and well, I just decided to only go to the library in the mornings. It was less crowded, more peaceful, and the man never seemed to show up after that."

Kinn nodded. "How long ago was that?  The last time he came into the library, I mean?  And what about your parents?  They must be worried about you, you just disappeared!  And they're probably searching for you now.  We have to do something about that, you have to tell them something."

Phone didn't know how to answer any of that. And that's what she said, and at his last comment about her family, she have a frustrated huff.
"Well if you hadn't tried to kidnap me they wouldn't have a reason to worry in the first place!"

"Look," Kinn said, holding up his hands. "If I hadn't kidnapped you, you never would have listened to me, and right now, you could be being carted off to some secret lair by a guy who tried to look down your dress.  A guy who tried to look down your dress and wants your blood.  Would you really have wanted that?"

Phone went quiet and fidgeted.
"Well, no, but I- er.."
Darn! He had a point!
"But what do we do about it? Not only would my parents be worried, but what if they're also in danger!?"

Kinn thought for a moment. "I don't know if your family is in danger.  Syrion may just think that as me being, well, who I am, and you being only seventeen, he'll be able to get us pretty easily.  If he thought he would have trouble, he may go after your family to get you to cooperate and go without a fight."  Kinn bit his lip, thinking.  "What do you think we should do?  Go talk to your parents?" 

"Oh, without a doubt! I can't leave them to be worried sick over me!"
Especially since they worried when she was even a few minutes late arriving home from the library!

"Right," Kinn said, and he walked to the door out of the stables.  He looked out the door and into the street.  It was deserted, or so it seemed to the naked eye.  He pulled reached into one of his spell pouches and pulled out a pinch of sand.  He whispered a word and blew onto the spell component.  The sand disappeared and the detection spell spread across the street.  Kinn stepped back into the stable and turned to Phone. "There's no one watching the stable, but there are people patrolling the streets near here.  We'll have to be very quiet."  Kinn looked down at Phone's bare feet and then went to the other stable door that was leading into the connected house.  He knocked on the door and a few moments later John the stableman opened the door.

"You want to buy a horse?" he asked.

"No," Kinn said. "A pair of woman's boots." He looked back at Phone. "If you want them, that is."

Surprised, she suddenly latched onto to his arm and hissed out a whisper, "That would be nice but I have no money!"

"I do," Kinn said, putting his hand over hers. "I was paid when I, um, agreed to that job from Syrion." Kinn didn't want John to know he had been sent to kidnap Phone. "So basically, they're paying for your shoes."

John raised his eyebrows, having no idea what they were talking about. "Sure, I got some boots, I'll be right back."

He went back into the house and returned a few moments later with a pair of boots. "If they don't fit, my daughter has some old ones that she won't mind me selling to you.  And that'll be five coppers."

Kinn took out the money but waited to see if they would fit Phone before giving it to John.

The shoes were a tad small, but she didn't complain. She was just glad they fit at all! And the price? Wow, only a few coppers? That seemed really cheap!
"Well they fit okay. Tell your daughter I said thanks!" Phone went on, beaming, but the smile was forced because well, this situation wasn't exactly something she had planned to be caught up in! And it wasn't this man's fault, after all!

"Ah, it's no problem," John said, smiling, and then he stepped back into his house.  When he was gone, Kinn turned to Phone.

"Okay, are you ready?" he asked, walking to the stable door.  While he waited for Phone's answer he rummaged around in his spell pouches, readying any components he might need if a fight, or a chase, arose.

Phone drew in a careful breath and cautiously stepped outside behind him.
She gave a nod.
"Yeah, I'm ready," she told him, before exhaling. "Which way should we go? My home wasn't that far from where the party was."

"Would they still be at the party?" Kinn asked Phone, after all, she knew her parents better than he did! "Or would they go home?  I know where the party was at, I can get us back there, but I don't know where you live.  I would assume that they are still at the mansion where the party was, looking for you there, but you would know better than I what they would do."

Oh, he had a point.
"You know.. they're probably still at the party. And if they havent realized my absence yet, I'm sure they would have by now! Come on!" She gave his arm a tug. "Let's get going!"

"Quietly," Kinn hissed as he opened the door and slipped into the night. "This way."

He walked silently down the street, staying near the buildings and in the deep shadows.  The moon was out, but the shadows were dark enough to conceal them.  The mansion wasn't far, but Kinn decided to take roundabout way, in case the path straight back was being watched.

"Er.. you know you're taking the long way, right?"

"Shh!" Kinn hissed. "And yes, I do know.  The quickest way might be being watched by Syrion or his people."

They moved through the streets fairly quickly, and they came across no trouble.  Soon Kinn was looking over the grounds of the mansion.  He could hear shouting guards. "It seems like the might have the whole place looking for you."

Phone paled.
"How long were we gone?"
she didn't think it had been too long, but judging by the moon, which she could no longer see, it had to have been hours. She drew in a breath to calm herself before slowly releasing it.
"So.. what's the plan? We just walk back in like everything is okay?"

"OH, PHONECIA! THERE YOU ARE!"

And at her mother's voice, Phone froze before the woman swept between the two of them and hugged onto Phone tightly.
"By Kia's name, Phone, we've been worried sick! Where have you been?"

"Uh, er.. n-no where really, Mom. And I'm fine, see? Not even a scratch on me!"

Her mother sighed with relief.
"Yes, well...." and she looked her over from head to toe and noticed her boots- And that's when she finally noticed Kinn.

"And who's this young man?" she inquired, staring at him suspiciously.

"Uh..." Phone looked around hurriedly before looking to Kinn and lightly kicked his leg. It was time for him to speak up! She couldn't keep on prattling here! She wasn't very good at lying! Especially to her mom! Then again, her mother could smell a lie a mile away!

Kinn's eyes widened. "Um-well, I, uh. . ." should he tell the truth?  Lie?  What did Phone want him to do?

'I'll lie,' he thought. "Well, Ma'am, you daughter and I were talking, and we decided that it was very hot in the building, so we decided to take a walk, to talk and get to know each other better.  We were going to come back after a short while, but we got carried away. . ."

'Ohmygod,' he thought. 'That sounds like we were-!'

"Oh good heavens! You poor thing!" her mother exclaimed. "I know Phone can be a handful! When she gets excited, no one can stand in her way! I'm just surprised she did not drag you off to the library to hunt for books. You should know her curiosity is insatiable. just be glad she had you back before dinner! We are fortunate our host prefers dinner at such an hour!"

Phone could not believe her mother! She was embarrassing her in front of a stranger.

"Mom..." phone pleaded but her mother waved her off.

"I don't believe I got your name...."

"That's because he didn't give it." Phone replied between her teeth.

"Oh? I suppose we never met and introductions are in order!  Let me just wave down my husband, he'll be so thrilled Phone made a friend!"

'I thank all the gods that ever were, are, or will be that she didn't take it wrongly!' Kinn thought, but then Phone's mother decided it would be good for him to meet Phone's father.

The mage leaned over to Phone. "What are we supposed to do, tell them the truth?" he hissed, just barely loud enough for Phone to hear. "We have to do something!"

And that's when she stepped on his foot. "My Mom asked your name." she stressed. But then her mother turned towards them and Phone forced a smile.

"Well, I don't see your father anywhere," she sighed. "But don't you fret. He might be out in the gardens still looking for you. After we couldn't find you in the library or study, we just weren't sure where to look!"

"Well, I'm here now!" phone went on with a nervous grin.

"That you are," her mother replied with a sighing smile. "Oh! And I still don't believe I caught your name?" And she looked to him most expectantly.

"My name is Ilthis, Ilthis Jay," Kinn then realized he hadn't even told Phone his real name.  He would have to as soon as he could.  Now he was lying to her mother to keep the woman safe.  If ever the people pursuing Phone questioned her she wouldn't be able to mention him, though now he felt a bit guilty lying to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

'What are we going to do?' he thought. 'We can't just go home!'

Perhaps if they pretended everything was okay, everything would be okay. Forgetting about the bad guys for now was alot easier than actually dealing with them. Plus her parents had the power to ground her! And to do so for life! She wasn't exactly an out going person and would be fine curling up with a good book for a while, but even she had her limits!

Her mother broke her thoughts when she smiled at 'Ilthis'.
"Ah, what a lovely name. Well, Master Jay, or is it lord...?" And she looked to him and to Phone to see if he had a title, and Phone was left gaping and quickly shot a look to 'Ilthis'.

"Ah," Kinn caught the look that Phone shot him, but he didn't know how to react, he was terrible at reading facial expressions in times of EXTREME stress. "Um, no, I'm not a lord."

But, unlike Phone, Kinn felt the danger the young woman was in pressing in from all sides, threatening to suffocate him.  They couldn't stand here any longer.  Something had to be done, but he couldn't talk to Phone in front of her mother like this!  He shot Phne a glace and slightly jerked his head to the side, hoping she was better at reading expressions that he was, and that she got the message that they needed to go.

But while her mother was distracted, she gave a fervent shake of her head then hurried to her mother's side as she took her arm.
"How about I escort you to the dining hall, mom, while Ilthis tells you all about his family!" and while she was all smiles to her mother, she shot a warning glare to Kinn.

Kinn's eyes widened. What the heck was she trying to do?  What was he supposed to tell Phone's mother?

'I'll tell her the truth, I guess, it's nothing tat could really hurt me.' His past was hard for him to think about, it wasn't something he had fond memories of.

"My parents were both very powerful mages," he said. "And they weren't the good kind.  They were also the lord and lady who ruled over at town, and they weren't very good rulers.  I wanted to be a mage as well, but they didn't want me to.  They sensed with their magic that I had great power within me, and they feared if I became a mage and got powerful, I would overthrow them to rule the town." As Kinn got deeper into his story, he forgot who he was talking to, forgot the whole situation. "But I wanted to become a mage, I needed to become a mage, the magic was running in my blood fiercely and I had to let it out.  So I started to practice magic in secret.  When I was ten and had been practicing magic by myself for a year, they found out.  They banned me from magic, they put a spell over me so I wouldn't be able to do magic.  But I grew more and more powerful and I broke out.  I started practicing it again.  They found out a month later, and, and they attacked me, I ran away.  I've disowned my self from them and haven't heard from them since I left."

Kinn stood in silence for a few seconds, then he suddenly remembered where he was and he quickly looked up. "I'm sorry to darken the mood with stories of my terrible childhood, but I've never really told anyone before."  He shook his head and smiled. "It's really not all that bad, it's behind me now."

A hand clenched to her chest.
"Oh, you poor thing!" her mother went on. "To think you have suffered so! And there is no need to apologize, young man! No need at all! In fact, I am grateful you have confessed such to us, for a man without a family is a sad man, indeed! And if you ever need a motherly figure," she went on, placing a tender hand upon his. "You can always call me Mom."

Phone felt awkward at that. Her mother, as usual, was so easy to get attached and befriend others, but this was just weird. Not only did his story make her feel bad for him and all that was happening (you know, if it were true!), but now her mother was so openly accepting him and here she was- trying to divert their evening away from the danger Kinn was trying to save her from!

A lump formed in her throat as she looked away.

"Come, you must sit with us at the dinner table. And perhaps you can learn more about us. Chin up," she went on, with a smile.  "You're in good hands now." And then she leaned in to whisper to him, "And I heard they're serving quail for dinner. And their chef is the best quail chef in all of Serendipity. So we're all in for a treat!"

Kinn bit his lip, now he felt even more awkward, but he truly appreciated Phone's mother's kindness to him.

"Thank you," Kinn said to her. "Most people are not as warm as you are, what should I call you, ma'am?  I do not want to unwillingly address you by an incorrect title."

Though his words were true, the urgency of those after Phone returned to Kinn as they walked to sit down at a table.

"Oh, dear, you're a sweet thing," Phone's mother went on, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "You can simply call me Phone's mother, or Lady Perseretta. But here," she gestured towards the seat beside her at the table. "Do take a seat near us, please. I'd like to know more about you. ANd perhaps you can get to learn more about us, and Phone."

And it was only then Phone realized what her mother was doing...
Was she trying to set her up with Kinn!? She simply stared, unbelieving of this- but then again, this was her mother. she was friendly to everyone, but it wasn't beneath Phonecia to be suspicious!

Kinn sat down, but he felt like he was going to implode, or explode, whichever, if he didn't do something other than be civil.  Phone was in danger!  Her pursuers could have seen them and followed them and be here right now!  Kinn looked around casually, trying to hide the fact that he was very very nervous.  He needed to talk to Phone, alone!

"Oh, excuse me, Lady Perseretta," Kinn said, standing. "I'll be right back, it will just be a moment."

He walked behind Phone's mother's chair so she couldn't see him and looked to Phone, motioning her to come with him, urgently.

And that's when her father appeared right behind Kinn.
"Ah, I should have known it was a boy that kept you!"

'ARGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!' Kinn screamed.   

Well, he screamed in his mind, but he wanted to scream out loud.  He wanted to pull his long black hair from his head, but he stayed calm, on the outside, and civil.  He smiled polity to the man, who he assumed was Phone's father. "Hello, sir," he said, nodding to the man. "Are you Phone's father?  I am Ilthis Jay."

"Why, you've guessed correctly!" the man beamed and extended a hand for Kinn to shake. "And I see that you're here with Phone, sitting down beside us for dinner.... I guess that means you two are.. serious?" And he looked from Kinn to Phone, and Phone's face went bright red.

"DAD!"

"I'm just kidding, but if it were true, you'd have my blessing!" the man went on with a jovial laugh. "If anything, I should apologize for my daughter. I know she had us worried, but her skills with social entrapment might even be comparable to mine, or even her mother's. But please, do sit. I'd love to learn more about you."

And Phone's mother smiled at the sight.

"Oh, don't they look so handsome together, Kanny?" she went on, a dreamy look to her eyes as she observed them. "TO think.. how beautiful and fast our little Phonecia has grown."

"Aye, but let's not keep embarrassing the lad. Come, let's all sit down. We don't want to hold up any of the others from eating." And he leaned in towards Kinn to whisper, "And i heard their clam chowder is to die for! Trust me, you don't want to miss that!"

Kinn felt a muscle in his eyelid twitch, but he smiled forcibly and shook Lord Perseretta's hand. "It's very nice to meet you, sir."  Okay, okay, it was fine, they'd eat, then he'd talk with Phone. He sat down and looked over at Lady Perseretta.

"So. . ." he said, then he kind of petered off, he was terribly at making conversation. "I was talking to Phone and she said that you were wonderful people and that I should get to know you, so here's my chance." He laughed awkwardly. "It's very nice to meet you both, though I think I already said that!  He he. . ."

Gods! He was terribly at this!  When was the last time he had had a real conversation with someone?  A conversation not for business, but just to talk?  He couldn't remember. He wasn't sure if he had ever had a conversation like that.  Which, when you think about it, is pretty sad.

Phone kinda wished Kinn had dispelled her parents thoughts about them being an item, because their relationship was anything but that. And if she really thought about it, it could sound romantic that he was there, and was trying to save her life-
However... if anyone knew the details behind it all...
To her, it didn't seem romantic at all! Not that her mind was even going there, as she looked at Kinn's nervous behavior that her parents easily picked up.

"Don't worry about trying to impress us dear," Lady Perseretta said, patting him gently on the shoulder. "We're just glad Phone's found a friend."

"MOM! Really, do we have to discuss all of this now?"

Her mother then turned to Phone, but it was her father that spoke next.

"Yes, let's focus on eating dinner before we embarrass these two and they lose their appetite. Oh, look! I think they're ready to serve the soup now!"

"Oh, eh, thank you, Lady Perseretta," Kinn said, shooting a glance at Phone.  He tried to relax, there was nothing he could do until they were done eating.  He would patently wait, wait until they were done, then he would get Phone alone and talk to her about what in the gods names were they going to do?!?!

But Kinn did manage to calm himself down, and a few moments later large bowls of steaming soup were placed in front of them.  Kinn waited for Lord or Lady Perseretta to eat first, unsure if there was some special custom you had to go through before eating.  Kinn had lived in Serendipity his whole life, but had never been to a large fancy gathering such as this before.

He wouldn't have to wait long as Phone's father was quick to dig in, much to his daughter's dismay. She herself wasn't sure if she was hungry as she frowned down at her soup.

Kinn started to eat as soon as Phone's father did.  He wasn't that hungry, but he didn't want to be asked why he wasn't eating and then have to think of something and all that stuff.  The soup was good, but Kinn didn't really notice.  He saw Phone looking into her soup and kicked her leg gently under the table.  He looked at her pointedly when her parents weren't looking.

And she shot him a questioning glare. What was his problem now? As far as she was concerned, she was content to believe nothing was wrong. Nothing seemed wrong a the moment so maybe if people were after her, they gave up? Or even a farther stretch, never even existed.

Kinn didn't have the same hopeful thoughts that Phone did.  He knew that the people were still after Phone, and It was just a matter of time before they found her.

He had finished his soup at a moderate pace, not too fast, and not to slow.  The next, and main, course was coming around now, and when the full plate of food was set in front of him, he felt like he was going to puke just looking at it.  But he, if unwillingly, dug in.

"Phone, dear, you're eating like a bird. If you're trying to be polite-" but her mother's statement was cut short.

"Oh,errr, sorry. Its not that though... I'm just not that hungry."

"Did you drink too much punch again?" her father asked, teasing.

"What? No!"

"You know... I think this punch had some wine and rum in it. Maybe she's hung over, dear."

"Ah, yes, that must be it," her father deduced.

"What?! No! I didn't get drunk!"

"But how much punch did you have, dear. Even one glass...."

"Mom!"

Despite the whole 'creepy-people-wanting-Phone's-blood-and-I'm-really-freaked-out' thing, Kinn couldn't help it. 

He bit his lip, trying not to laugh.  He let out a small chuckle, but then quickly bit it back, though there was a small smile on his face as he looked over at Phone.

He would smile! If it wasn't for manners, she might have considered throwing her dinner roll at his head! But it seemed the joke would continue, as her father went on.

"I see that smile. I bet you witnessed the whole thing! Come on, don't hold back on the details. Was she doing those silly voices she normally does? She normally does them when one of our hounds or cats is around, speaking as if in the animals voice. But that's only when she's super excited."

"DAD!"
She could NOT believe this! What was he trying to do!? Kill her with embarassment!?

"I already told you I didn't have any! Well maybe a sip! But that- UGH!"

"Oh," Kinn said, laughing a bit. "I was there, but she only had a little bit of the punch." The mage couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at Phone, still chuckling. "And she didn't do any 'voices'."

"I wouldn't have anyway!" she huffed. "Because I wasn't drunk!!!!!"

Kinn sobered up. "I know, Phone, you weren't drunk" he said, smiling kindly at her. "Sorry for laughing."  Though now that he wasn't preoccupied with the humor, Kinn's thought's returned to the matter of the danger Phone could be in.

"Good." Phone sighed. Though relieved, it was only momentary as the dinner continued with light teasing at her expense. But such was her family, and just as they were moving on to dessert, Phone excused herself to 'powder her nose'. Though she really just needed a break from her family!

The rest of the conversation wasn't too bad, but when Phone went off to 'powder her nose' Kinn suspected otherwise.  He excused himself politly and rushed after Phone.  He caught up with her and walked next to her.

"Phone!" he exclaimed. "You can't keep ignoring the fact that there are indeed people after your blood!  They may not be right here, right now, but they will come, and they will find you if we don't take action soon!"

Surpised by his fanaticism, she was quick to slap a hand over his lips as she cringed. Looking around, she pulled him aside.
"Look, I don't know what place you came from but here, your talk sounds crazy!"

"Ugh!" Kinn sighed but lowered his voice nonetheless. "I wasn't being that loud!  And really, what are we going to do? We have to do something, we can't just stand around!"

Phone grit her teeth. In truth, she really had to go to the bathroom. Looking around, she sighed
"Look... You just stay in this hallway and keep watch, Okay?" she made sure they made eye contact. "I.... Have to errr, relieve myself and the ladies chamber pot room is over there." She pointed to a nondescript door at the end of the hall. "Think you can manage a few minutes alone?"

Kinn sighed. "Yes, I'll be fine on my own," he said sarcastically, but before Phone left he added, in a very low voice, "And you have to stop ignoring me!  You are in danger, you can't pretend otherwise, or you'll die, sometimes soon, probably, got it?"

Phone sighed, but eventually softened a little to see his distress.
"Look... though I'd like to pretend everything is okay, the nagging part of my brain won't let me. It keeps reminding me what you keep reminding me."S he sighed again. "BUt don't worry. I won't be long. Besides, who gets kidnapped when they're using the chamber pot?" And with a shrug, she headed that way, leaving Kinn alone.

And because of how anxious he was, or perhaps how not so swiftly Phone was using the ladies room, it left Kinn alone for just enough time for a twenty-some year old, blonde man with thin hair and silver eyes to approach.

"So... how goes the acquiring of our goods for that little contract of ours?" Syrion asked, and if Kinn would turn around, the man would be right behind him.

Kinn did turn around, and he nearly fainted, but he kept his cool.  A smile that looked quite convincingly evil spread onto his face.

"It is going better than I thought it would," the mage said. "I got her to trust me, which is far better than doing it by force."

Inside, Kinn was scrambling for a solution, anything to get him out of this!  But he couldn't think of anything!

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Wait, the girl will be coming out soon, when she does, I'll lead her out onto the patio, and then I'll get her."

Oh the gods, oh the gods!  What the hell was he supposed to do?!

And soon she was returning indeed, because she dare not linger, less the man walk in on her using the chamber pot! However, she saw who was with Kinn and held back. She over heard just the smallest but of their conversation to feel her heart drop. He was duping her? Kia! What could she do? She couldn't sneak away. Kinn and the other man were blocking her path. Crap!

Oh, gods!  Kinn saw Phone out of the corner of his eye as she came out of the room.  He knew she had seen him, and he knew she would recognize Syrion.  Hopefully she would know he was lying, for both of their sakes, but then he saw her face, and knew she thought he had been lying to her the whole time.  He looked back to Syrion.

"There she is," he said. "You need to go, quickly, I'll go talk to her and then lure her out onto the patio."

Without waiting for an answer he turned away from Syrion and walked towards Phone.  He walked slowly, his back was to Syrion, and as he got closer to the girl he widened his eyes and tried to tell her he was as freaked out as she was.

'I was lying!' he mouthed, and he raised his eyebrows, asking if she understood.  Hopefully she would be able to read his signs.

Phone cringed and knew in that moment she was trapped. And whether Kinn sold her out or not did not matter as Phone stiffeneded and backed against the wall as Syrion approached.

"No need for any more of that, Kinn," he said, giving both a sinister grin. "I believe you've completed the contract well. So consider yourself dismissed. I can take things from here."

Kinn felt like puking, he was so freaked, but he couldn't leave!  He also couldn't attack Syrion in this room, it was full of people, they could get hurt. . .  A distraction would help, but what?

"FIRE!" Kinn screamed.  That did the trick.  Everything flew into chaos.  People were running everywhere, and Kinn shot a bolt of pure destructive energy at Syrion.

"RUN, PHONE!" he cried.  There were people swarming for the doors, and if Phone got into the crowd, Syrion wouldn't be able to find her, at least if Kinn did his best to stall the other mage while Phone got away.

Everything that happened happened so fast that when finally Phone's legs obeyed and she could run, she stumbled into the crowd, and thankfully her parents.

"Phonecia, what's wrong?" her father asked.

"Is there really a fire?"

"And where is your friend?"

"Oh, we mustnt leave without him!"

Kinn saw Phone run into her parents and heard what they said. "Go on!" he cried. "I'll be fine!"

He turned to look back to Syrion, and to see if the blast of energy had hit, but there were to many people around, Syrion was gone from his sight.

"Oh dear..." her mother placed a hand to her chest and turned to her husband.

"Well, despite what he said, I for one can't leave him here. Why don't the two of you make your way outside and I'll help Phone's friend."

It was then phone was finally able to blurt out, "But if we stay we'll be in danger!" And her parents agreed and before she knew it, her father was approaching Kinn and her mother was leading her towards the veranda.

Kinn saw Phone's father and turned to him as he approached. "You have to get out of here," he shouted over the noise, then he decided to tell some of the truth. "There's a very powerful evil mage on the lose in here, and I'm a mage, I might be able to stop him, but you need to leave!  Help the other people in here if you want, but don't help me!"

He turned from Phone's father and disappeared in the crowd, he needed to wait until everyone was out to leave himself.

But despite his protests, Lord Perseretta watched Kinn dash off before he did the same. He wouldn't be a man if he didn't try to help! And while Phone's father chased after Kinn, Phone and her mother looked anxiously back into the building.

Kinn couldn't see Syrion anywhere, but the man didn't go looking for him.  He rushed around the room, helping anyone he could to get out.  He looked over and saw something he really didn't expect.

One of the huge hanging draperis had started on fire.

'Syrion,' Kinn thought, and he rushed towards the flames.

Syrion had better fish to fry, and he knew Kinn well enough to know the fire would distract him long enough to get to Phone. At least he was smart enough that when he hired Kinn on, he knew it would probably require backing by himself, or another hire-ee. But his target was so close, he didn't care what place went down in frames as he began to push his way towards the crowd, eyes cleaving through as he searched for Phone. ANd it didn't take long to find the little pink haired beauty, for she, and just about every other gasping woman, were all waiting outside-
Like chickens unknowingly waiting for the slaughter.

He wasted no time and moved outside, and while the women wrung their hands, he pushed through and grabbed Phonecia by her wrist and began to drag her away before her mother even realized what was going on, and Phone could only trip over her own two feet as she realized it wasn't Kinn who was pulling her away!

And while this was going on, Phone's father was running along with Kinn.
"There are still people in the ball room. I'll help the elderly ladies over here. Go see if there is anyone over by the stairs!"

Kinn looked around but didn't see Syrion anywhere by the fire.  He shot a magical jet of water at the flames, and he succeeded in putting most of them out, but the fire was spreading now.  Phone's father rushed up to him and Kinn nodded at his suggestion.  He knew that he couldn't put out the fires, but he could help get everyone out.

He rushed around, helping people get out, until the room was almost completely empty of people.  Kinn hadn't seen Syrion anywhere, and when a thought struck him, it was like a physical blow.

The fire had been a distraction while Syrion got to Phone!  Kin dashed for the door and outside.  All of the people were out there, and many were already bringing water to put out the fire.  The fires were getting under control, but Kinn still couldn't see Phone or Syrion.

He stood on the steps looking down at the crowd, searching for Phone or Syrion.

There!

he was pulling her away out the other side of the crowd.  Kinn leaped down the stairs and pushed through the crowd.  He burst out the other side and looked around, he spotted Phone's pink hair and rushed after.

Syrion cursed when he realized the stupid idiot had spotted them. Tightening his grip on Phone's wrist, he dragged her along faster.

"Hey, ouch! I think you're bruising me!" Phone yelped. "JUst please.. let me go! I don't want my arm to get ripped off!" Cause it certainly felt like it!

Kinn couldn't risk firing a magical bolt at Syrion, he would risk hitting Phone, so he continued to run after them.  They had gotten a considerable head start, but Syrion had to drag Phone along, so Kinn was gaining.

Where as Kinn was weak and worried about the well being of others, Syrion had the advantage and with Phone pulled even closer to his side, he fired another haughty blast towards Kinn and continued to drag Phone further and further away until he and she disappeared into the maze gardens of the manor. And while the green of the shrubs continued to whirl past, Phone felt herself grow dizzy and desperate. Fear, however, seemed to be winning over for now, as the last thing she wanted to do was fall prey to this creeper, but it seemed she was also too scared to confront him now as they made a sharp left, then right through the maze.

Kinn quickly put up a magical shield which blocked the magic missile as Syrion fired it.  Kinn rushed after them into the maze, but stopped when he got to a part where the maze split.  He desperately looked down each of them, but could see, or hear, no one.  He pulled a matchbox from a pouch on his belt and struck a match.  Then he closed his eyes, whispered and incantation, and dropped the match on the ground, snuffing it out with his boot.  When he opened his eyes, he saw the world in a completely different way.  He was seeing in the infrared spectrum, therefor, he could see in which direction Phone and Syrion had gone.

He took off after them.

Too afraid to scream out to Kinn for help, Phone found herself wishing she could. The man's grip on her wrist as he pulled her along hurt a lot, and he didn't exactly cut the corners loosely, and many times she found herself getting scratched by the pruned shrubbery. And as they continued further down the rabbit hole (or in this case, the spiraling, confusing green of the maze), Phone chanced a glance over her shoulder once or twice...
But neither time did she see Kinn there.

Seeing where she looked, Syrion laughed.
"You don't know it yet, girl, but you'll soon play the part in something big, something grand. So don't even think about being foolish. And don't worry about your friend... I suppose I didn't pay him enough for him to get over how ravishing you look..." And as he spoke that, Phone felt a chill creep across her skin. "But either way.." he pulled her close, still running. "You're mine now."

Kinn dashed through the maze, his spell helping greatly.  He would have never been able to follow without it.  He could see Syrion and Phone not far ahead, but they were always around the next corner, almost never within his normal sight.

'Uhg, I wasn't made for this!' Kinn thought, and he felt he would collapse from lack of breath. 'I wasn't made for any physical stuff!  I can't do this much longer. . . But. . . Phone's in danger, and she could die!'

At this thought, he pushed himself faster, and then, there! he saw Syrion's rope whip around a corner ahead.  The sight of this urged Kinn onward, and he soon had them in sight.

"Phone!" he yelled, still running as fast as he could. "Try to slow him down!  Do anything, struggle, stop running, anything!"

Her heart leaped at the sound of his voice and she turned to him and cried out his name, which made Syrion laugh.

"What's so funny? Afraid Ilthis will make mince meat out of you with his magic?"

"No." He chuckled again and pulled Phone closer when she tried to struggle and drag her feet. "I'm laughing because youre crying out for help from a man who gave you a false name!"

Embarassed, Phone growled and stomped on his foot.
"Maybe he gave you a false name."

Though the foot stomp illicited a yelp, Syrion was not a man to ignore an outburst and he quickly turned to her and gave her a shake.
"How about I put a spell on you to keep that yap of yours quiet? Or even better.... A spell to force your body still."

Phone's struggling did slow them down a bit, and then Syrion stopped and shook Phone.  Kinn couldn't really hear what he was saying, but it sounded like he was threatening her.

Kinn pulled a shard of glass from a pouch, whispered a word, and threw his hand out in front of him.  A wall of magic appeared in front of Syrion and Phone, blocking the way.  Kinn called out as he got near.

"Let go of her, Syrion!" he said, stopping twenty feet from them.

Syrion sneered and turned to look at Kinn, and pulled Phone dangerously close to himself. He held up a hand that now was lapping with silent, black flames.

"Don't you dare come one step closer, Kinn. You know what this magic can do." And the man's face was filled with dark mirth, while Phone's face drained of it's color.

Kinn froze at the sight of the black magic.  He knew indeed what it could do. "Don't do this, Syrion!" he called out. "She's completely innocent, you can't harm her!"

He was on the edge of panic, but he had to keep his head, or Phone would die for sure. Kinn took a deep breath, and looked at Syrion.  The look on the man's face was enough to send shivers down Kinn's spine.  He switched his gaze to Phone, and tried to assure her, with his eyes, that they would be fine.  His eyes flicked back to Syrion.

"What do you need her for, Syrion?" he asked. "What could she do for you?"

"You already know too much. Now back away!" Syrion snarled.

Kinn didn't know what to do.  His mind was a complete blank.  If he stood here, Phone could die.  If he left, she could, and probably would, as well.  But Syrion needed her for something, otherwise he would have killed her before.  And he had wanted Kinn to bring her someplace, not kill her.  He would leave, leave and then follow Syrion and Phone to where he was taking her. Then he would attempt to rescue Phone.

But he would have to make an act.  An act that would probably make Phone doubt him even more than she probably already did.

"Phone," he said, and he musted as much sadness as he could in his eyes as he looked into her's. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry, but I can't fight him.  He's stronger than me, and if I try to fight, he'll kill us both.  I've got to go.  Then at least one of us would be safe."

He felt a sharp pain in the pit of his stomach as he said this.  He didn't want to hurt her, but it was necessary to his plan.

He slowly backed away around a corner and out of sight.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. But what could he do? What could she do? She was useless right now, her entire body, mind included, feeling numb. And with a cackle, the man waved his hands before them and he and Phone disappeared through a thin veil of smokey black magic.

The feeling was unsettling, and it only happened for a split second, but she already knew she didn't like it. And when she found herself in some place entirely new, she couldn't help herself but cling suddenly to Syrion, who only chuckled coldly.

It made her shiver, sending bumps to her skin. And before she had a chance to really know what was happening- her world went black.

Kinn saw as Syrion started to teleport away.  He whispered a word, and using the magic he could 'feel' where Syrion was transporting, and he quickly calculated the space so he would not appear within a wall or some other solid object. 

Then the mage was pulled along with Syrion and Phone.  He had used his own magic to latch on to Syrion and Phone, so he would be taken wherever Syrion teleported.

When Phone awoke, she felt like her entire body was made out of bricks. And as she began to sober, she released she was in a rather dark room, only lit by a small series of candles-
and she was alone.

Gasping, she tried to sit up, and that's when the iron chains around her wrist grew taint and she felt herself jerk to a stop as she fell back onto the stone bed she now ly. She turned her head to the side, tried to figure out what she was laying on, and what was around her wrists. She lifted up her hands as far as she could go, but her movement was limited. And it was during this deduction that she realized-
She was no longer in her ball gown. Instead, what she wore was some unusual and thin, black dress.

Kinn appeared in the same room Syrion and Phone appeared in, but he was hidden in the shadows, thank the gods.  The room they were in was dark and lit only by a few torches on the walls.  Syrion left the room, and Kinn followed.  He peered out of the room and into the hallway that Syrion was now walking down.  The walls were lined with guards, and Kinn quickly withdrew his head.  He pulled out a piece of glass and a tuft of dandelion fluff.  He lit a match and burned the fluff on top of the glass, all the while whispering words of magic.

A moment later the mage became invisible.  He opened the door and started to walk down the hall as quickly as he could while still staying silent.  His invisibility spell wasn't very strong, and it would only last a few minutes.  He caught up with Syrion but did not get too close, the other mage might sense him if he came to near.

Syrion handed Phone to a guard when they reached the end of the hall.  The mage said something to the guard, but Kinn couldn't hear what.  The guard nodded and then walked off with Phone while Syrion went down another hallway.  Kinn followed the guard, but the man stepped into a room and closed the door behind him before Kinn could follow.  He was going to try to open the door, but he heard voices right on the other side of the door.  A few minutes later the guard stepped out of the room, with Phone, but she was wearing different cloths, a black dress.  Kinn frowned, but he followed the guard down stone steps and down a stone hall.  At the end of the hall there was a single stone door, two candles on either side of it.  The guard opened the door to reveal a small room lit by a few candles with a stone bed in the center.

The guard put Phone on the bed and chained her to it.

The guard stepped out of the room and locked the door with the keys that were hanging on the wall.  Then the guard stood in front of the door.

Kin ground his teeth, he probably wouldn't be able to knock the man out, he wasn't strong enough, and he felt his invisibility spell starting to weaken.

The small dagger in the sleeve of his robes became heavy, but he could not use it, he could not kill the man quick enough, he would cry out.  But if he started to speak a spell, the guard would be alerted.  He stood there for a few moments thinking it over. Well, he had to do something, so Kinn started to mutter the words of another spell, and the guard drew his sword as he heard him.

"Who's there?" he said his eyes darting around, but before he could call out again, he fell to the floor with a thud.  Kinn licked his lips and stepped over the unconscious guard and took the keys from the wall as his invisibility spell broke completely and he became visible again.

He unlocked the door and opened it.  He stepped inside and closed the door most of the way.  He stepped over to the stone bed, and the girl who lay on it.

"Phone!"

The second she heard an angered shout, then the door open she tense. Was this really happening? Her mind whirled a mile a minute and the second she saw a form over her- she did the only thing she could.

And screamed.

Kinn leapt forward, slapping a hand over Phone's mouth. "Be quiet!" he hissed. "It's me!"

When he was sure she would not keep screaming, he removed his hand. "I need to get you out of here!"

Her eyes were so wide they surely appeared they might pop clean out of her head, but once the hand was removed, she caught her breath and asked in a rushed, loud whisper, "How did you get here? What's going on? And how can we escape from.. from.. wherever here is?" her questions went on until her voice went shrill, and she was visibly shaking and nearly in tears.

"It's okay, we're going to be fine," Kinn said, sitting down on the edge of the stone bed.  "We're going to get out of here."

Using the keys on the ring, Kinn unlocked Phone's chains and carefully set them aside so they would not clatter and draw attention.

"Oh, and one more thing," Kinn said, looking away from Phone. "My name is Kinn, Kinn Dice." He looked up at her. "I'm sorry I had to lie, but at first I had, well, less-than-honorable intentions."

Despite just being rescued, Phone found herself gritting her teeth at his last statement. So his name was Kinn? Kinn Dice? It sounded like one of those names of characters you read about in books. But also, she was feeling very uncomfortable in such a nearly sheer dress.

As she sat up she tried to find a way she could stand so it seemed the dress was less revealing, not that it was revealing much- she just wasn't used to... such clothing and she felt so self conscious. She wasn't looking at Kinn when she said, "Let's.. let's just get out of here."

She didn't know what else to think.

"Right," Kinnsaid, biting his lip before standing.  "We'll have to be careful, the whole place is swarming with guards."

He went to the door and peered out.  The guard was still out cold, and the alarm hadn't been sounded by his shout.  There was no armor clanking of guards armor, no shiik of swords being unsheathed.  For the moment, they were safe.

Phonecia moved gingerly, but swiftly, at his heels. She was basically clinging to his arm by the time the pair reached the door, her eyes going in every which direction to scope out the place. When Kinn didn't move, she grit her teeth, holding her breath before asking, "Is... is the coast clear?"

"Yes," he said. "For now at least.  Follow me."

He stepped out into the hallway cautiously and walked down it.  When he got to the end, he looked around the corner, only to quickly draw his head back as a guard started to approach.  He stepped back into the shadows, pushing Phone back as well.

When the guard passed, Kinn stepped out into the hall again, motioning for Phone to follow.

Phone's heart was drumming inside her chest, and she only released her breath when the guards were long past. She didn't miss a beat when Kinn told her they were moving along, and in fact she kept close by him, eyes and ears open as she clung at his side.

Kinn made his way down the hall, staying close to the walls and in the deep shadows wherever he could.

There was the click of shoes on stone, and Kinn looked frantically around for a door.  There was one, about ten feet ahead, shrouded in shadows.  Kinn dashed for it, dragging Phone along behind him.  He tried the handle, I was locked.  He whispered a word under his breath and the door swung open.  Thank the Gods it hadn't been magically locked!

He stepped inside the room with Phone and closed the door behind them just as he saw the guard round the corner.

He turned around to look at the room and saw it was a study.  The walls were covered in bookshelves except where the large fireplace sat, void of any flames.  There was a desk covered in all manner of papers and books and other things, and a long table covered in vials full of different colored liquids and candles.  The shelves, as well as books, held various artifacts that Kinn guessed were magic.

"This place could tell us why they need you, Phone," Kinn said. "Quickly, look around and see if you can find anything!"

Phone's eyes were already roaming the area before he gave the command, which made her halt beside a large vial of clear, green liquid, the glass of which elongated her features while enlarging the left side of her eye. She peered over at Kinn.
"Do.. Do you think that's wise?" she asked, glancing worriedly over her shoulder.
"I thought the plan was to get out of here, and fast!" but even as she looked for an exit, she realized there were no windows to be seen.

Her eyes fell back to the fireplace and she wondered if escaping up it were even an option. Stepping towards it, she stepped past the screen and strained her eyes into the darkness. It looked like a person could fit, though it was hard to tell if there were any rungs to climb.

"Escaping would be the ideal option," Kinn said, starting to rifle through papers on the desk. "But only if Syrion woudl then leave you alone.  Which is not likely.  As soon as we escape, he'll be on your trail again, and you'll have to spend your whole life running from him.  And he's powerful, I can feel it.  So our best bet is to find out why he wants you and see if we can destroy his plans."

The wasd nothing on the desk, so he opened the drawers and started to search through them.

Phone remained quiet as she looked around before realizing..."but even if we stop his plans, won't that give him reason for revenge? I mean... He didnt seem like a nice person who could just.. You know, forget."

Kinn stopped.  He hadn't wanted to think about that, but it had earlier crossed his mind.  He bit his lip and turned to Phone. "I don't know," he said. "We might have-have to kill him."

Kinn knew that it would be very dangerous indeed, but someone was going to do it, and it wasn't likely any mages for hire around would be powerful enough to kill Syrion.

"Who knows if we can even escape with him still alive?" Kinn said, sweat on his brow. "We may have to kill him just to escape."

Such an idea put her into shock, but it was a chillingly cold reality that even a girl like her could not deny may have to happen. Kill? Her?

Such an idea made her sick, as she muttered, "I wish we could just run away forever.... or just go back in time, to where things were normal...."

Who knew a simple evening ball could turn into this? Running for her life... needing to kill for survival...
Those were things she only read about in books!

It was then she thought of something and shot a pleading look to Kinn.
"You know magic." That was obvious! "Can't you just... you know, magic us out of here? At least for now?"

"Possibly," Kinn said, "but then what?  I may not be able to get us back in to kill him.  The only reason I was able to get here in the first place was because I latched onto Syrion's magic and was kind of pulled along.  I may not be able to get back in because of the magic around this place.  I may not even be able to get us out of here in the first place."

Fear chilled her into place for the moment. And as she thought over his words, she cringed and asked hesitantly, "So.. we're.. kind of... stuck here?"

"Maybe not, but I don't want to risk trying, being able to get out, and then not being able to get back in to kill Syrion." Kinn swallowed. "Believe me, I do not want to do it either, but if we have to kill Syrion, we may as well do it now, when we at least have a better chance."

Things seemed hopeless. She felt trapped.
"But.. But.. Do we really need to come back? If.. If we are able to get out of here.... I mean, how would he know where we've gone?"

"He won't," Kinn said. "Unless he placed a magical tracker on you, which I don't think he did, but there is the possibility.  But he will come after us, namely,he will come after you.  You couldn't go back home, we'd probably have to spend the rest of our lives on the run."

Phone paled, growing quiet.spend her life on the run? It was a dizzying thought.

"What do we do now?" Kinn asked. "I need your opinion, as our actions now will impact the rest of your life as well as mine."

The mage was trying not to have a nervous breakdown, it wall all he could do to keep it together.

She felt her stomach grow cold.
"My opinion?" She paled and shook her head. "If it were up to me... I'd..., well, I'd find a way to run away and hide forever from this mess, or pray fervently that we wake up and this is all just a terrible dream!"

Kinn sighed, well, that had been a waste of time. "That's not an option!" he said. "We have to take action, REAL action!  We have to kill him now!"

And as the pair were arguing as to a means of escape, their voices were over heard by another.
"Master Syrion?"

Phone's eyes went wide.
"Shoot!" And she looked at Kinn, eyes asking 'What do we do!?'

Kinn nearly panicked right then and there, but he waved a hand at Phone. "Hide!" he said, and he ducked behind the large desk.  As he crouched there he readied a spell, he hoped he wouldn't need it, and the men would just leave, but just in case. . .

She hid as best she could, but when the menstepped into the room, the long velvet curtain she tried to hide behind was still moving by the time they spotted it- and her shoes were hardly hidden from view. So when the curtain was yanked open and the men saw who it was, they hesitated not to snatch onto her wrist and yank her clean from her hiding spot.

"CALL FOR MASTER SYRION! THE WOMAN IS IS TRYING TO ESCAPE!"

The man only finished his sentence before a blast of energy caught him in the chest.  He flew backwards, hitting the opposite wall with a thud.  He fell to the ground, motionless.

"Now what!?!?" Kinn exclaimed, running over to Phone. "NOW WHAT?"  He was panicking, and though he tried to calm himself, it was no use.

Though panicking herself, Phone suddenly grabbed Kinn by the shoulders and gave him a shake.
"Look! We can't panick now!" Even if she herself had been frozen still during the whole explosion of magic thing. "Let's just... let's... Just... Get out of here!" she pleaded. "Before something else happens!"

Because she could at least pretend he might not have potentially killed the man that apprehended her.

"But HOW?" Kinn almost yelled, but when Phone shook him she shook some sense into him, and he started to calm down.

"Right, okay, get out.  Let's go!"  He started for the door, peering out and making sure no one was coming before stepping out into the hall.

This was insanity at its finest, but she knew they had little choice. Trying to sound brave, she urged Kinn onward.
"Come on! We just need to get out of this place.. Maybe even far enough away they wno't know we've cast a spell..."
For she still thought doing that was the best idea so far.

Thankfully, as they raced down the halls, the coast remained clear. However, the sound of more foot steps made her flinch. Turning around, she noted a small recessed door and moved over to it. Pressing upon it, she released a breath.

"Kinn! This way!" she hissed in a whispered voice. "Its a servant's passage..."
Hopefully they wouldn't think to look for them their, first! It would, if anything, be a means to buy the pair some time!

Kinn rushed after Phone into the passageway.  He closed the door behind them.  It was dark in the passage, save for a dim flame flickering in a sconce on the wall.  For a while there was only the sound of Kinn and Phone's heavy breathing, then footsteps ran past the door.

Kinn sighed in relief, they were out of harms way, for now at least. "Now what?" Kinn hissed in a whisper.

"We should stay out of sight. Maybe see where this thing leads?" she suggested. "I don't know! I'm not the one who was friends with this psycho path to begin with! He was your employee.. Haven't you ever spent time in this place? Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter.." she went on wtih a shake of her head. "I think following this servant route is our best bet- and once we're outta here... We should really, really consider using your magic to take us anywhere else!"

"Hey!" Kinn said defensively. "I never even came to this place!" he would of said more, but he realized that they had to take some action now.

"Right, the servants route," he said. "We just have to make sure we don't run into any of the servants!"

He started down the narrow tunnel.

"I'd rather run into a servant than those scary guys chasing us- unless of course the servants are just as scary, then I take it back," she huffed out as the pair ran along. The servants route was narrow and winding, and more than once the pair had nearly run into someone. It seemed they were lucky, and were soon finding themselves moving deeper into the manor until they reached what appeared to be the last door. And Phone couldn't wait to get outside-
Except when she threw the door open, her jaw dropped.
They weren't outside, but in the basement!

"Whatttttt?!?!?!" Kinn hissed, almost yelling but forcing his voice quiet.  "The basement?  How come were in the damn BASEMENT???"

He gritted his teeth, trying to to freak out. "Okay, okay, we'll just go back, we'll just go back and go through another door!  There has to be a way out!"

Phone nodded, and took Kinn's hand and dragged him along. She could tell he was getting mad, while she was panicking, but she tried her hardest not to lose herself. But it seemed her heavy heartbeat was hard to drown out, even from the heavy footfalls as the pair were winding their way up the stairs. She pointed to a door nearby.
"SHall we try this one?" she asked, noticing a cool breeze seeming to come from the bottom of the door. Hopefully, it wasn't just another part of the basement.

When they got to the door that Phone suggested, Kinn took a deep breath, hoping with all his might that this was the way out.

He took the doorknob, carefully turned it, and slowly opened the door.  He peered into the room beyond, but quickly drew back.  The room was a huge cavern, and there were a few people moving around in there, causing the draft.


"Maybe there is no way out!" He whispered angrily, then his face softened as he realized something.  "Wait a second, maybe there is no doorway out!  Maybe this whole complex is set within a different reality or something, and the only way to get out is to use magic!"

Then his face dropped, "though now it will be even harder to get out."

Phone's mouth dropped. But hten she was shaking his arm.
"But you know magic. Why can't you just use it to get us out of here?" she pleaded, sounding more desperate the longer they stayed there.

"I can try," Kinn said. "But I'll need to do a check to see if Syrion has any magical enchantments around this place to sense when magic is being performed.  This spell wouldn't be sensed."

Kinn whispered a word, and a small red spark flew from his mouth, trailing red, it floated at about head height for a second, before bursting into golden sparks, and Kinn frowned. "Okay, so there's a spell over this place sensing magic, but not prohibiting it, so if I cast another spell, they'll know exactly where we are.  We'll have to try to transport out of here."

Phone nodded fervently, taking his hand and squeezing it.
"Please." she whispered. "Any place but here." And she looked around, hoping no one was listening, watching.

"Okay, here goes." Kinn amde sure he was holding her hand tight enough, then he drew a small sliver of glass from his pouch.  "I need to do this right," he said. "I transported here, but I was partially latching onto Syrion's magic, so I didn't need this, but now. . ."

He crouched down and ground the glass on the floor until it was just little crumbles, then he took a breath, muttered a string of words, and they were gone.

Holding her hand tightly gained him a tight grip in return, but as he went about muttering his incantation, she chewed on her lower lip and moved closer to him. And the second she felt the tingling magics begin to whisk them away, she gasped and clung to his entire form tightly- and pressed her face against his shoulder, too afraid to see what, where or how they were traveling-
But just like that, it seemed to be over. Too bad a shaking Phonecia had a death grip on the poor mage as she trembled and whispered an inquiring, "Are.. we....did... did it work?"

Kinn really couldn't tell her at the moment, considering he was throwing up. 

He was bent double, luckily facing away from Phone.  "What the-?"   He threw up again.  He pulled a handkerchief from his belt and wiped his mouth.

"What the-?" he swore, then straightened up to see where they were, before promptly doubling over again, though not vomiting, he felt as if he couldn't stand, and squeezed his eyes shut to close out any visual stimulation for fear of throwing up again.

"Where are we?" he asked. "We must have gone somewhere. . ."

He opened his eyes just a second before closing them again, they were in a forest, apparently away from Syrion's headquarters.

Phone watched him in horror as he wretched, a hand over her own mouth and belly as if to keep back her own bile. She turned away as he was finishing, but at his question, she looked back to him again. Quickly, she moved to his side, an arm around one of his.

"Are you okay? Geeze.. I didn't think you had eaten that much to expel.. so.. so much of it!"

"Gosh, sorry," Kinn apologized, still keeping his eyes closed.  "Since I cast the spell, the spell over Syrions hideout will give me a sickness similar to motion sickness, it's a side affect some spells have.  When another, powerful spell is cast in the vicinity, it has some. . .  effect, on the caster."

He was taking deep breaths of the cool air now, and his head was starting to feel a little better. "Do you know where we are?  I tried to aim for the hedge maze, but the sickness got to me before I even finish the spell, and I was. . . distracted."

His head spun.

Phone's heart was hammering.
"Why are you apologizing? You're the one who's hurt!" she exclaimed. She kept by his side, making sure he was okay before she'd leave him to stand on his own. But at his question, she shook her head.

"I have no idea where we are." She sighed and looked around them. "In the wilderness... somewhere or other." She sighed and gave a gentle pat to his shoulder.
"Can I help somehow?" she asked, uncertain if she really could, but she did owe him for saving her life and getting them the hell out of that place.

"Thanks," he said. "But it'll just take time for it to wear off."

A few minutes later when Kinn was finally able to straighten up and opened his eyes, he smiled weakly at Phone. "Thanks," he said again, and looked around at the darkened forest.  The dim light helped his head from hurting, but he could see the faint prickle of light that showed the sun was rising. "Well, I know which way's North and South, but that's about all, and I could have used a charm for that. . .  Any ideas?"

Phonecia had been holding her breath, waiting for his answer. But once he sent that notion back to her, she wilted some and sighed.
"I have no idea," she went on glumly, eyes to the forest floor. "I don't know much about, whoever this is after us, nor do I have any magic of my own to even begin to create my own means to escape that way. So.. that being said, we either use magic, or- knowing by the state of things, " (things meaning his current condition!), "I'd say we only have one option..."
She sighed again.
"To just move forward on foot."

Kinn nodded. "Hopefully this won't last long, I've still got a splitting headache."

He looked around them.  "Well, we may as well head North, why not?"  He waited for Phone and then started walking.

As Kinn began to walk forward, she found herself suddenly with her arms around him. In spite of herself, she was shaking lightly as she held him. But then a blush heated her cheek as she realized her rashness as she took a step back and dropped her gaze.

"I just.... I wanted to thank you... for risking yourself to save me..."
She gave an awkward lopsided small as she peered over at him, teeth sinking into her lower lip as she added, "Again."

Kinn froze, his eyes wide, as Phone hugged him, but before he could do anything else, she had stepped away again, and was thanking him!

"Oh, don't thank me!" Kinn said, laughing nervously.  "If it weren't for you I would have broken down ages ago!"

He smiled back at her. "But. . . thanks."

Phone gave an awkward nod and smile.
"We've only got each other right now. So let's get going. Let's head North."

Kinn chuckled, somewhat nervously.

"You're right," he said as they started to walk again. "But I hope that wherever we're going isn't to far!  I really don't know too much about surviving in the wild, do you?"

he didn't expect her to, but, then again, people were always surprising him, as Phone had many times already.

She shook her head, still keeping her smile. At least if she looked positive, maybe she'd start feeling better about all of this.
"Can't say that I do! My parents weren't much into that sort of thing... Er.." she tucked some wild sprigs of her hair behind her ear before glancing his way. "I mean I was pretty well off... so can't say there was much of a need for it, you know?" She shrugged anyway and smiled again, looking forward.

"At least we're free..." she went on, hoping, still, that keeping positive would boost morale. "And anything looking forward will be a lot better than what we had just encountered."

Kinn nodded, attempting, as well, to stay positive, but her last words made him nervous.

Nothing good ever came from saying things like 'the worst is behind us'.  It was just asking for trouble.

But all the same, Kinn nodded again and smiled. "Only better things can be ahead!"

He only hoped that bandits wouldn't attack.

Phone was neither right nor wrong in her assessment. In fact, hours into the road, there wasn't anything much of interest to be had. She'd be board with this sort of a stroll were in not for the heavy feeling of anxiety and the fact she knew they could be pursued at any corner at any hour of any day.

Sighing, she paused to sit beside a large tree.
"We should take a break. Look for some water. I'm really thirsty."
Not to mention she was also really tired.

Kinn short of collapsed onto the ground next to her, but nodded when she spoke and got to his feet again.

"There's bound to be some sort of stream or something near here," he said, but in reality, he knew nothing about forests, or streams, for that matter.

She was about as useless as he was.
"Would it be too dangerous to try to use your magic again?" She could not help but believe itd make things immensly easier.

"I could try," he said. "We need water, and it's unlikely that it will endanger us."  He picked up a stick on the ground and scraped some of the bark off with a stone, then he held the stick palm up on his hand and whispered a few words.

The stick spun around in his hand, fast at first, then slowing, until it was pointed directly to the left of them. Kinn looked at Phone. "Shall we?"  As he started forward, the stick continued to point in the same direction, even if Kinn were to turn a bit.

Phone kept close to his side, eyes wide at his magics.
"What.. what sort of trick is this?"s he asked.

"It's pretty simple," Kinn said, keeping his eye on the stick as they walked. "It senses a water source and points towards it.  It'll usually bring you to an accessible water source, but if the caster makes a mistake, it could lead to an unreachable underground spring or something."  He paused for a second before saying.

"I hope I did it right."

Blinking, she looked at the stick, then back to Kinn.
"Well, at least there's no dangerous consequences to this one," she went on with a sigh and smiled over at him. "Hopefully it'll lead us to someplace pretty." That'd help keep her mind off of... well, the fact they were both stranded in the middle of only the Gods' new where on the run from some crazy man that wanted to do like, creepy experiments on her, or something. She cringed at the thought. Yeah... a pretty lake or something would be great!

Strangely, and it's strange, considering the pair's luck, they did come across a rather beautiful place.

After a few more minutes of walking, the sound of rushing water could be heard, and soon they emerged into a clearing.  A cliff stood to one side, and a waterfall cascaded down it, the water crashing down into a large pool, from which a stream then flowed away through the trees across the pool from the two.  Moss covered the rocks around, and there were some grassy spots near the edge of the water.

Upon reaching the water, there was a soft popping sound and the stick in Kinn's hand fell to the ground, it's job done.

"It worked!" Kinn said, though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised.  He wasn't terribly thirsty, but it was a relieve to have some water in sight.  He walked up to the edge of the pool and cupped his hands, dipping them into the water and bringing the liquid to his face, but befroe he drank it he sniffed.  It smelled normal, so he drank it.  He was no ranger, but he knew how easily water could be contaminated, or cursed, so it was best to at lease check something.  He didn't think he knew any spells that would be able to tell him if the water was safe, however.

The waterscape was a sight for sore eyes, and a sound of wonder escaped her lips. Her eyes were as large as the tower of Kia, and soon she was moving through all the lush scenery, aiming to take in all the unique smells and sweet sight of flowers.

As she neared a patch of thick reeds, a group of colorful birds burst out of it, causing her to gasp and stumble back some, but looking up towards the sky as they flew, her smile returned and she felt so strange.. so happy.

"This place.. it's so beautiful," she murmured, and as she brushed some of her unruly hair from her face, something caught her attention at the bend between a mountain side path and cliff.
She took a few curious steps forward before her eyes went wide.

She gasped and called over to him.
"Kinn! Kinn! Look! There's some sort of building over here!"

Which was true! For settled within the lush vegetation of the cliff side was some sort of stone temple, long since becoming engulfed in ivy, moss and other vegetation.

She gave an excited laugh.
"It looks like some sort of old castle! I wonder what sort of ruins this is! I bet I could guess the exact year it was constructed if I could get a closer look at how it was built and the style of it's roof!" And before she waited for Kinn's approval (or even real reaction fo the thing), she was happily making her way towards it.

Kinn followed her to where she had called from, and when he saw the old castle he stopped, studying the ancient building.  Something seemed strange about it, and it took him a moment to realize that Phone was moving towards it.

"Phone, wait!" he called out, running after her.  "Don't get to close, who knows what it is, or what could be inside of it!"

He didn't know what was wrong with the place, it just seemed, off.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked, turning to him and making a face. She shook her head. "Come on, aren't you curious? THere may have been no human contact with it for years... maybe even centuries!" The very prospect nearly had her drooling as she grabbed his hand and began to tug him along.

OOC: I'm sorry, it's been a while!
_____________________________________________________________________________

Kinn hesitated for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him and he let her pull him towards the temple.

It was indeed beautiful, covered in carvings, though much of it was obscured by moss.  The entrance was a dark hole in the side the the cliff, the remains of what must have once been a door crumbled near it.

Kinn glanced inside before stepping in.  He may have been a mage, but he was most definitely not used to working in the field, so it probably wasn't the best idea for them to go into this place, especially without casting some sort of spell to detect other magic first.

Phone was silent for much different reasons than he. She was gaping at the beautiful condition of the ruins, so overgrown with moss and ferns and vines that for her, it was like stepping into one of the many pages of her books she so fervently read at late hours of the night.

"Wow.." she stepped away from a low hanging cobweb, having become thick with dust of age. But another one snagged her shoulder, that she simply dusted off as she looked around.

"How old do you think this place is?" she asked, her voice barely over a whisper, colorful eyes dancing with wonder.

(OOC:  I know it's been a loooooong time, but I thought I may as well post.  If you want to continue, I will as well!  if you don't, then that's fine too!)

IC:  "I have no idea," Kinn said, keeping his voice hushed, as if that would keep any monsters away or traps from springing.  "Probably thousands of years old. . ."

He glanced around once more.  The ruins seemed untouched by magic, but one could never be sure about these things.  Powerful magic could be detected often, but once a mage or other magic-user got powerful enough, they could make even the most powerful spells undetectable.  It was especially hard to sense old magic with which Kinn was unfamiliar with.

"We should probably go," he said slowly. "Who knows what might be in here. . ."

It seemed at first, Phone didn't hear his voice. His protest...
but once it sunk in, she stiffened and turned to him.

"Go?" Her eyes were large with surprise and worry. "Go.. but.. but why? This place..." she moved desperately closer to him as she grabbed onto his arm. "It's the find of a life time! Don't you see?"

There was so much mystery, so much majesty in the atmosphere all around them. Cushy patches of moss and ivy hiding away such history.. such treasure.

"We can't just leave now!"