A Tale of Fire and Water

Recovery

         “You have been denied, Grant. Go home.”
         “Who among you has denied my acceptance amongst your ranks? For what reason? Answer me these adequately, and I shall leave your presence, for I-”
         “Hector, go home.”
         “No! I demand-”
         “You are in no position to make demands! Leave these halls! You have been denied.”
         “My brother should have no bearing on my acceptance, Master! It is dis-”
         “Your brother was a promising student, before deciding to abandon our beliefs and wander alone. He does not exist to us, and therefore, had no bearing on our decision, now leave.”
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         Leon had become very tired of losing his consciousness. His determination to remain awake, however, meant that every moment of his life took on the sole purpose of remaining awake for the next. A life full of beatings and harsh treatment. They still hadn't used any knives, or anything other than their bare fists. He didn't understand why, but if he stayed here any longer, he knew there would be little of his original face left. Lourne was not always the one to do it, though she seemed to be their favorite choice. Probably because her beatings also affected his mentality.
         He was in one of their wooden cells right now. They bound him every time they put him in, the only real restraint there was in these dingy bars. If only he could stand, if only he had the freedom to use his hands, he could easily break free. He had been with them for only a day, at least he thought so. Really, it felt like a week. They had long since confiscated his belongings, leaving only his pants and his necklace. Why the necklace, he sometimes asked his interrogators, though they usually only responded with a particularly hard hit. His cage had been built, partly, from his walking stick, since they had had to replace part of it, where someone had escaped by breaking the door. He was in the wooden thing right now, trying desperately not to pass out. The only time he slept was at night, because he didn't want to give them the pleasure of pouring water on him while he slept. He laughed, as the thunder struck nearby.
         The storm had been going for most of the time he'd been here, and the only thing between him and a soaking wet day were the treetops above him. Really, he would like the rain to reach him now. His necklace had been glowing the whole time, reacting to the rain, and if he could get some to hit it, who knows what would happen. Maybe that Mana stuff would react somehow and make his life a bit easier. His eyes drifted out of focus, and he quickly slammed his head against the wooden bar, trying to stay awake. He started drifting off again, and decided he would let himself daydream; though sleep was most definitely out of question.

Out of the question...

         He was in a shiny room, bright blue extending in every direction. His hands were bound behind him, still, and he glared his captors in the eyes. “What do you want from me?”
         A circle of people around him just laughed. All of them had the symbol of his necklace on them, somewhere. A couple had it tattooed on their faces. Their faces didn't laugh with the others. “We want your energy. Your life. Your Asuara influence, Leon.” One of them stepped forward, and Leon recognized him. Recognized him, but didn't know him. He felt fear flutter in his chest.

         Leon balanced on one knee, now, still in the same room, his arms suddenly limp at his sides. He felt considerably better. Healthy. “You are now a Follower, Leon. You will hunt down and kill the Clan, as the best able to do so.” Leon felt pride burn within him, happiness at pleasing his One Lord. “I hear and obey.” He stood at rapt attention, jittery as a child waiting to receive praise. “I will bring you their heads!”
         The same man who had terrified him before put his head in his right hand. “That really won't be necessary, just take care of them for me, please. No need for heads in the Court chambers, it would ruin the decor.”
“Yes sir!”
         Leon was in a town, now. Tired and hungry, he had reached his destination. He wasn't as jittery now, or full of life. He could feel the pain in his legs as he walked up the stone steps of the house he was supposed to meet in. He knocked on the large, oak doors three times, and entered.
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         Dustin was slapping the sleeping moron, and still wasn't getting a response. Leon was grinning like an idiot, and his fever was incredibly high. Dustin had returned to the river, as that girl had said to, but she was nowhere to be found. He had no idea how to heal, as he had never really needed to. Maya had handled anything while he traveled, and one of the Forsaken would heal him when he was injured in Gand, which, by the way, was still only a few miles away. That damn storm had hit, just like he'd thought it would, and settled over them like a blanket, eclipsing the sun for an entire day. It was good that it was dark, made them harder to find. He'd taken out two patrols already, stealing their supplies before throwing them in the river to drift back to Gand. Yeah, that told Lord Azria, as he insisted on being called now, that Dustin hadn't left the area, but it also lowered his adepts morale. However, the Forsaken didn't need morale, they lived for blood and Zaria. When they came by, Dustin just hid.

         “That was quick, I didn't expect you to break him out so soon...” The girl stepped out of the woods.
         “Where the hell were you? Quick, he's burning up! They must have done  a number on him.” Dustin gestured to Leon's limp body. His eyes had rolled up into his head, now.
         “I was reconnecting to Re'alin, I can heal him, don't worry...”
         “Don't worry?!” He barely knew this girl, and she was insisting he trust her completely.
         “Just shut up and let me concentrate...” She bent down to examine him, but did not make contact. Her eyes were closed.
         Leon started to spasm, his legs and arms going taut, and lifting his back off the woodlands floor. “What are you-” Dustin was answered by a hand, raised up to put her palm in his direction. Be quiet.
         Leon gasped, and suddenly, the area was lit up as though the sun had suddenly risen. Dustin knew exactly what that was, and turned his head away, trying to preserve his night-vision. The light was the excess mana escaping from his body, which must have been the cause of his illness. One of the detriments of carrying an Artifact.
         The light shut off, and Dustin blinked. He had lost his night-vision anyway. Cursing, he looked back to make sure that at least Leon and this new girl were alright. They both looked about to pass out, though Leon looked considerably healthier than he had just a few moments before. “What school was that?” Dustin looked at Ariel's collapsed frame. “I've never seen that kind of-”
         Leon groaned, and Dustin ran to him. “Are you okay?”
         Leon blinked a couple of times, and tried to sit up. After five seconds, his body made it all the way to sitting position, and he looked Dustin over. “Took you long enough, ass!”
         Dustin pulled up the hood of his new cloak, he'd stolen it from one of the patrols earlier that day, and was quite proud of it's design. “You're welcome.” Dustin grunted. Ariel groaned, and Leon looked over at her. “Who's she?”
         Ariel was doubled over, sweat pouring down her forehead. “You're welcome, too.”
         Dustin pulled Leon to his feet. Leon wavered slightly, before regaining his balance, and looking to Dustin. “I called in a favor, to get you out. This is Ariel, a student of Tio'the. She's a Gray.”
         Leon cautiously leaned himself back against a tree, leaning his head back and looking down at her slight frame. “A Gray?”
         Dustin, seeing that Leon was alright, was at Ariel the next moment, helping her to her feet, pausing perhaps a little longer than necessary to make up for his late assistance. “You okay?”
         Ariel shook her head, and suddenly seemed as healthy as ever. “Yeah, I'm fine. Justin, you're going to get me killed one day, I swear to God.”
         Dustin grinned. “Maybe, but at least you'll know I died first.”
         Ariel laughed. “Yeah, that you will...” She turned to Leon. “Okay, now who the hell is this guy? It sounded like he was important, but he just almost died from Mana Inversion. How could you be stupid enough to take in so much!” She was glaring at Leon now, who was doing his best not to hurl at an inconvenient time.
         Dustin turned her away from him, and whispered. “I don't know. The Council of Asuara made it sound like he was important, but so far he hasn't shown much promise. It told me I should teach him to use the Water manipulation, and that's all I know.”

         Ariel nodded. “If the Council knew who he was, then he must have pleaded them... but if he has, then how could he be so stupid as to take too-”
         “I think Match burned him out, before he disappeared.”
         Leon flew into an unrelated coughing fit against the tree, trying to be as quiet as possible. His stomach emptied. “That would explain his illness, he had taken in that much naturally-”
         “And he has a Davidson Artifact.”
         “-then he must be important. Is he a Single?”
         “I think so, but I haven't seen him Manipulate yet...”
         Ariel turned around and looked at Leon. He waved, while still facing the ground, to show he was alright. “I've never heard of someone who couldn't take re'alin on their own being able to seep some from an Artifact...”
         Dustin shook his head, trying to hide it from Leon's eye. “Me neither, but he did, and the Relatives knew he would be able to. They weren't even guarding him when I showed up, that's why I got back so quick. They were all asleep, Ariel.”
         Ariel didn't respond.
         “The Relatives never-”
         “I know, Justin.”
         “I even got his bag back, they weren't guarding anything!” Dustin raised the sack in his right hand, to prove it.
         Ariel shook her head, the rain had started to drip down her face. “Justin, I don't know anything about him, but his mana... it was strange. I think he's a Manipulant, I could sense the Quartet in there, but... he's got a different energy than I've seen before.”
         Dustin spat, some of the rainwater had made it's way into his mouth. “I know, I think he's a  Gray. That's the only reason I can come up with.”
         “If so, what do we do? You can't teach him everything, if he's on his own with you he'll die within days. He needs to learn to release his mana...”
         Dustin looked at her, the rain dripping down over his eyes.
         “Oh, no. Justin, you said we were even! I can't just get up and-”
         “Why not? You said you intended to leave anyway. Why not just go a little bit sooner than expected?”
         “I don't have any supplies, or-”
         “I stole a lot from the campsite while I was there, you can have the spares.”
         “But-”
         “You just think you'll mess up with him, right?”
         “It's not just that Justin!” Her face burned red in anger. “I've got a life to tend to...”
         “So you aren't planning on leaving?”
         “I didn't say that!”

         Leon started to walk away from the tree. “Hey, I think I'm a little bett- Whoa!” He tripped, and fell onto his hands and knees. “Okay, never mind. No, I'm not.”

         Dustin looked back to her. “I'll owe you this time, no more favors for me anymore.”
         Ariel rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. You give me the Spear, we're even.”
         Dustin's head tilted forward, his face becoming obscured in shadow.“No way, it's his. He had it when I found him, you'll have to-”
         Ariel snatched the stick out of Dustin's hand. “Hey! Didn't you hear me? That's his!”
         She glared at him. “No, it's Maya's, and you know it. I'll take it to her, take you both to Arden with me, and teach Leon how to handle re'alin in ways that you can't. Fair deal.”
         Dustin looked back, and saw that Leon was dry heaving. He sighed. “Fine, but you'll have to go tell him.”
         “Why?”
         “Because he just threw up all over that tree, and I like my new cloak too much to risk it.”
         Leon gagged.