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Post by Tecna on Dec 27, 2006 7:58:04 GMT -5
At Bloom's abrupt exit, Tecna shot a concerned look after her friend's retreating back as the redhead made her way toward the balcony. But even though Tecna knew that as Bloom's friend the right thing to do would be to follow her and to give her the cheerful company she so obviously desired, that just wasn't an option at the moment. Not with something bigger hanging over her head.
Wavering for just a moment more, Tecna then turned her attention upon Riven. Not wanting to waste any time by beating around the bush, she immediately asked in a hushed tone, "Do you think he's here?"
There was no need for Tecna to specify who the 'he' was that she was referring to - her worried eyes said it all.
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Post by Baltor on Dec 27, 2006 16:59:49 GMT -5
Baltor nodded to himself and promptly stepped backwards, slipping into the shadows, vanishing from sight. He needed to continue to watch the prince - just so he could make it a very convincing performance. He wanted everything to go perfectly.
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Post by Riven on Dec 27, 2006 17:55:05 GMT -5
Finally she was gone. She probably ran off somewhere to cry because he was mean to her. Wasn’t that what all women did? Whatever. He had more important things to think about.
Meeting Tecna’s eyes, he was a little surprised to see worry clear as day in them. Then he had to remember that she didn’t hide her emotions like he did; she simply let her head rule her heart.
“I have no doubt,” he replied, confidently. Maybe it was just a hunch, but he would bet money on it at this point. “If you were a powerful wizard looking to overthrow a kingdom, when and how would you do it?”
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Post by Tecna on Dec 28, 2006 21:21:13 GMT -5
Tecna sighed. She couldn't deny that a part of her had been hoping that Riven would say that he hadn't noticed anything suspicious, but she knew better than to live in a dream world. The reality of the situation was that Solaria was in trouble and that somehow, they were going to have to find a way to prevent this night from turning into a disaster. It wasn't even because this was supposed to be Stella's time in the limelight and so nothing was supposed to ruin it, but rather because if the wizard wasn't stopped here and now, he would only continue to get stronger and stronger - perhaps, in the worst case scenario, to the point where he was unbeatable. Indestructible.
Tecna couldn't bear the thought of what that would mean for everyone's lives thereafter.
Meeting Riven's eyes, Tecna nodded as she pushed her fears to the back of her mind. Now was the time to be strong, both mentally and physically - they had to be if they had even the slightest shot of overcoming this wizard. "All right then; we need to come up with a plan of action."
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Post by Riven on Dec 30, 2006 8:41:15 GMT -5
What was the proper course of action for a situation like this? All the baddies they’d dealt with in the past had been far from subtle. They liked to make their big entrance and start causing damage right away. This was much different. If they alerted the guests of their suspicions, it would cause a panic and they would never find the wizard. He could easily slip through their fingers. They had to plan this without him catching wind of it.
A little harder to do when they didn’t even know what he looked like.
“People of power always have disgruntled acquaintances, so looking for someone giving the death glare to King Radius isn’t hard to find. Narrowing it down to one of them is the difficult part,” Riven thought out loud. Looking around the vast ballroom now pretty much filled to the brim with partygoers, the corners of his mouth turned downward. He hated irony, but he realized that now would be a good time to dance. They could continuously and inconspicuously move about and inspect the guests, and if one of them saw someone suspicious, it would only be a moment before the other could turn and check it out without drawing attention.
Too bad that wasn’t going to happen. Ever. He found himself wishing for the days when he, Brandon, Sky and Timmy would be positioned in different corners, narrowing it down in no time. The wizard wouldn’t have stood a chance against them when they were in their prime.
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Post by Baltor on Dec 30, 2006 12:53:48 GMT -5
Baltor was fairly "floating on air" when he stepped out of the shadows and rejoined the party proper. Oh, this was too much. Granted, the prince did break up with her, but he'd still be a perfect tool to use. He'd would just have to come with a different way of using old blondie. His eyes flicked about the hall, wondering what exactly he could do next - and keep people from realizing he was here. "Minions," he murmured to himself. "I need a healthy selection of them."
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Post by Tecna on Dec 31, 2006 18:51:25 GMT -5
Crossing her arms over her chest, Tecna considered what Riven had said. What it seemed to amount to was exactly what she had been thinking - which unfortunately meant that they were no closer to pinpointing the wizard than she had hoped they would be. So far, all they knew was that he could be, well, anyone. For all either one of them knew, he could have adopted someone else's identity to ensure that he wouldn't be discovered. It would, after all, be a rather clever thing to do.
Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Tecna shook her head. Time was ticking by - time that they couldn't afford to lose. They had to do something.
"Let's think this through logically, shall we?" Tecna finally said, straightening her back. "We know that this wizard broke out of Omega for a reason. More likely than not, he is angry that he was trapped there and now he is looking for revenge. And what better revenge than to become even more powerful than he was before his imprisonment?" Pressing her lips together, Tecna nodded slowly as she continued to follow her train of thought. "To do this quickly, he can't waste time practicing magic - he has to go straight to a power source. And what does Solaria have?" Not waiting for Riven to answer, Tecna finished, "The Steeple of the Sun, of course. If the wizard can get inside, he will be able to gain access to the second sun of Solaria and will consequently be able to absorb its power. Surely, if he is present here tonight, he will try to make his way there. Perhaps that will be where we can at least discover his identity, if not try to take him down."
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Post by Riven on Jan 1, 2007 10:53:50 GMT -5
Considering Tecna’s words, Riven mentally kicked himself. He had been so focused on the wizard attacking the King to gain power over the realm that he hadn’t considered that this task would be much easier accomplished if he stole the realm’s power source first. His time away from Red Fountain had made him rusty. One couldn’t think only of the battle, but the strategy behind it. Many people believed Omega was impossible to escape from, but this wizard had accomplished it; this meant he was intelligent and cunning. He was not to be underestimated.
Nodding slowly as he processed Tecna’s suggested course of action, Riven’s eyes travelled the room before falling on Sky just as he re-emerged from outside. Bloom had been too irrational and would have blown their cover, but Sky was a Specialist, and a damn good one at that when he was able to put his personal issues aside and focus on the task at hand. They could use help, and who better to ask?
“Why don’t you get us a map of the palace on that gadget you got in your purse,” Riven said finally, boldly assuming that Tecna would be packing some sort of technological marvel, “and pinpoint the Steeple of the Sun. While you do that, I’ll let Sky in on what’s going on. I don’t like leaving this room unattended, but with all the focus here, it would be the perfect opportunity for the wizard to search the place without getting caught. We can get Sky to keep a watch here while we go head him off at the source.”
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Post by Tecna on Jan 1, 2007 15:41:03 GMT -5
"Sounds like a plan," Tecna replied, her fingers already itching to pull up a map of the palace. Finally, she felt like they were making headway and she was eager to get started. They had been at a standstill long enough - it was time for action now. "Meet me out in the hall after you talk to Sky; I don't want to draw attention to myself by using my PDA out here where anyone could see. It might look a bit suspicious."
Without another word, Tecna melded back into the crowd. Pushing her way through the masses of people (most of whom were fortunately polite enough to step aside when she said 'excuse me'), she breathed a sigh of relief when she managed to make it out into the hallway unscathed. From her new location, Tecna could hear the faint din of conversation and laughter and it only served to make her more determined to succeed in beating the wizard. Everyone in there was so blissfully unaware of the threat that was being posed; they had no clue that at any moment their world could be shattered. It was as though the weight of keeping them all safe rested on her shoulders and Tecna wasn't about to fail. Failure was never an option.
Whipping her PDA out of her purse, Tecna set it to map-mode, entered her data, pressed a few buttons and in seconds, had a map of Solaria's palace displayed on the screen. Pinpointing the location of the Steeple of the Sun, Tecna nodded. Up the stairs, to the left, around the corner and then there would be the entrance. Easy enough.
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Post by Riven on Jan 1, 2007 16:48:12 GMT -5
A plan. Finally. It was odd how Tecna seemed like a better match for a partner for him than any of his team at Red Fountain, but she had always been a great strategist. Her knowledge, magic and technology would be a definite asset to bringing this wizard down.
Watching her walk away until the crowd seemed to swallow her up, Riven too began to push through the mob. He was a lot less polite than Tecna, but soon enough he was coming up on Sky. Seeing the mournful look on his leader’s face, he inwardly rolled his eyes.
“Who died?” he asked with a smirk.
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Post by Sky on Jan 1, 2007 20:41:05 GMT -5
After leaving Bloom alone out on the balcony, there was only one thing Sky wanted: to get as far away from all the hurt he had caused someone who didn't deserve it in the least. At this point, Sky didn't give a damn about etiquette and how he knew that as a representative of Eraklyon, propriety dictated that he remain at the ball. He just couldn't stay here one minute longer, couldn't risk the chance of running into Bloom again tonight. He just felt too horrible and doubtlessly, if he saw her, he'd go running to her to apologize - and then where would he be? Right back to square one. Right back to being tangled up in a huge mess. No, he had to keep his distance. It was time he put his life back together and he couldn't do that if he lingered in the past.
Lost in his thoughts, Riven's sudden presence by his side startled Sky. Glaring at his teammate's remark, Sky shrugged past him as he said through clenched teeth, "Not now, Riven. I'm not in the mood."
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Post by Riven on Jan 2, 2007 5:21:32 GMT -5
Surprise, surprise, Prince Sky was brooding again. If he so obviously didn’t want to mingle, why hadn’t he stayed out on the balcony? Oh, right. It was the same balcony Bloom had disappeared to when Riven had snapped at her earlier. What was it about Sky that made all the girls crazy? It was like they completely forgot this little thing called pride when he was around. Christine always sat there and took whatever crap Sky slung at her, acting like she’d die without him even when he treated her like dirt; Bloom was obviously still after him even though he had dumped her, left her to live like a fish and hooked up with another girl. It was pathetic. Both of them were pathetic and only proved that relationships were messy and everyone was better off just messing around without getting deeply involved.
“Good, that makes two of us,” Riven said, resisting the urge to let Sky go be pathetic as well. Grabbing his leader’s arm roughly, he made Sky look at him. “So let’s get right down to business then, shall we?”
The sudden seriousness in his eyes spoke volumes about the situation he was about to reveal.
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Post by Sky on Jan 2, 2007 13:26:31 GMT -5
The look on Riven's face was enough to catch Sky's attention and to cause the snappish remark he had been ready to throw at his teammate to die on his lips. Because despite the emotional turmoil he had been in the midst of with Bloom only moments ago, Sky really had been serious about the pact he had made with himself to get his priorities straight. And as it was, Red Fountain, his studies, and his team had come out on top. Whatever Riven needed to discuss with him was clearly a pressing matter and so it was time for him to set aside his personal issues and to put his Specialist cap on.
"What's going on, Riven?" Sky finally asked, his brow furrowed and his tone growing serious as well.
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Post by Riven on Jan 2, 2007 16:14:06 GMT -5
He could have taken another cheap shot at Sky before launching into the meat of the problem, but if he wanted anyone to take his determination to fix the team seriously, he had to learn when to let the snide comments that came so easily slide.
His hand still on Sky’s arm, he led him a few steps away from the crowd before even attempting to explain. Leaning in, he spoke in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know how much gossip or your girlfriend’s crying you’ve been listening to, but recently a very powerful wizard escaped from the Omega dimension. I have reason to believe he’s here tonight,” he said, taking a page from Tecna’s book and jumping right to the chase. Barely pausing long enough for Sky to process this, Riven continued. Tonight, this was his show. No way was he going to sit back and let Sky start calling the shots.
“He steals power, turns people into his minions and conquers their realms. So far, we don’t know what he looks like, and it’s possible he’s in disguise besides that, so he could be any one of these people. We think he might go straight to the source of Solaria’s power, so I’m going to try to head him off there, but I need you to keep an eye out here. Watch King Radius and Stella when she arrives, just in case he decides to start with them instead.”
Damn, it felt good to throw orders at his team leader. If only he had more time to savour this moment.
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Post by Sky on Jan 2, 2007 20:57:39 GMT -5
"No." Shaking his head, Sky continued in a firm, authoritative tone that came naturally to him, "I know you've been out of training for a while and I know that you prefer to do things your own way, but dammit Riven, even you should know that the stupidest thing you can do is to meet your opponent alone. If this wizard is as powerful as you make him out to be, then you need backup. Surely not even you are arrogant enough to think that you can take him out single-handedly."
Pausing, Sky raked a hand through his hair. This was not what he wanted to deal with tonight, but wasn't that the story of his life? Everything always happened at the wrong time; this particular change of events should come as no surprise. "It isn't enough for just the two of us to be on the look-out; because what happens if this wizard decides to stir up trouble? It'll be the two of us against him and I don't like those odds if he did in fact break out of Omega. Everyone else will be in such a panic that they won't be capable of helping us - no, we need more reinforcements now." Casting his gaze around the room, Sky frowned deeply. "We don't want to create alarm amongst the guests, but it's best to at least warn King Radius and the guards. The guards should be able to manage keeping a watch out here while we go check out the steeple. We ought to round up Brandon as well and let him know what's going on. And if you really want to leave someone here to keep a special eye on the king and Stella, he'd be the better choice because he's Stella's boyfriend, after all, and he's bound to make sure that nothing happens to her or her father." Giving a brief nod of his head, Sky finished, "That leaves us free to go make sure nothing happens to Solaria's power source. Any questions?"
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