Returning to Order

Less than an hour had passed in the real world. The first classes were still in session, the various professors boring or stimulating their students in their innocuous, academic ways, and the last of the burned bits of the empty classroom were swelling, coloring, and returning to whatever state they enjoyed before a halfling had come and burned it all near to ash.

A child in an over-sized green robe held his fingers in the Sigil of Mending: index fingers and thumbs forming the eternal loop before his heart, and the pinky, ring, and middle fingers steepled to form the Hall of Creation, channeling his whispered spell into reality. His raven hair was beginning to mat with sweat; the damage seemed so minimal until he began to repair it, and the hellfire burns proved most resilient. Harold was an Order mage, like his father, and like his father had temporarily moved to Springfield on the Order's dime due to... "escalating tensions” with local forces. He muttered his spells as he went; his father, a veteran cleaner for the Order, was busy in the next room wiping the memories of the elderly female janitor who had followed the smell of brimstone and bone into the scene of the crime.

"You're cleansing the corruptive magic thoroughly, yes... but do not restore the physical damage completely,” gently whispered the woman present. “Let some of the instability remain, lest one question the newness of this aged room's parts."

The boy worked through his bashful shock as the voice directed him. Despite being tasked with the simplest of the work, the apprentice had somehow been blessed with the personal oversight of none other than Lorelei Varnik, the Seer of the Brighton Court. She had to abandon her normal appearance here, outside of the manor: her enchanted robes and blindfold would stand out, after all, to any who watched or walked the halls of the Academy. She wore a skirted business suit in dark gray that complimented her platinum blonde hair. Reflective sunglasses hid her sightless eyes, though she kept the latter closed even as she now pored over the boy's work. The marble table, reduced to crumbled ruin and originally covered in otherworldly spores, had been cleansed and now floated up to reform the corner the enemy had disintegrated. He stopped the spell just short of perfecting the material; he was grateful for the odd request, as he could feel he was running out of raw materials to pull down from the theoretical vault in his mind. "Like this, Lady Varnik?"

Lorelei nodded her approval with a gentle smile; the boy blushed as he looked to the ground. She opened her mouth to urge him to continue just as she saw its approach; she looked to the windows of the classroom and whispered, "Child... has your father taught you the means to detect illusion barriers?"

The boy shook his head.

The Seer nodded. "Fair enough... please, continue." The boy did so, next restoring one final tile of the floor underneath their feet... and Lorelei silently watched as it came: a colossal illusion barrier, like a whale of dark magic, suddenly breaching the floor beyond the windows and then the walls as it moved towards them. The barrier's colossal surface slowly swept towards the unsuspecting boy and then over them as well as over a full half of the entire Academy. The boy continued to work quietly; the more experienced mages present, as Lorelei had predicted, were now humming in her ear.

<Where did this barrier come from?! It's massive-> began the boy's father.

<Forget massive; it's mobile! That's got to be Fateweaver tech!> declared a woman on the roof.

<Remain on task: I see the Warden.... and she returns to us, unharmed.> Approving grunts or "ohs" continued to chatter in her ear after she willed the speech into those sharing the mindlink... and she was careful to not express the obvious gaps in her vision: the reason the barrier was here, the reason it moved without the owner’s presence, and all else that slipped into the conspicuous void of events. She did her best to take stock of what was coming: the Warden's soul, the brightest star in Lorelei's world, was clearly visible. But near her, faded nearly into black, was a shade of a sort, an identity that almost seemed familiar, save that it had been so hideously ravaged. The Seer made the mistake of touching that ugly remainder with her Sight... and her body was racked with sobs as tears flowed down from behind her shades.

The boy fixed the tile and looked up expectantly at his first crush in Springfield... and paled at seeing her weep. "What's wrong?"

Lorelei **** a tight smile to the boy; she peered deep into his soul, rudely so, if only to wash away the memory of what she had just witnessed. His soul was magical, if nothing spectacular... yet into its sparkling folds she buried her conscience, **** to anchor herself. "Perfect, child. Please, go now to your father and report as such." Confused, the boy nonetheless nodded and walked out. The classroom door slowly closed automatically behind the boy mage... but before it had registered with a soft "click," the air behind Lorelei audibly pulsed with the sudden presence of bodies.

A few surprised grunts or intakes of breath were all they offered, and Lorelei turned to respect them... even as a terrible unease washed over her. There are... In the sea of souls that was the world before the Seer, she saw them clearly: Moira Brighton, Warden of the Golden Rose, still slightly drained from combat but healthy. Clutched in her arms, nearly blotted out by the radiant Warden's soul, was something less alive than the tiles of the floor or the iron rebars in the wall. The Seer almost mistook it for an undead thing, but even they had a greater presence than this pitiful stain; Moira clutched the body carefully, and Lorelei finally realized that she had been stunned into silence. "Lady Moira," she declared with a bow. "It is good to see you here."

"Lorelei! Is father here?" Moira hastily asked.

Lorelei remained unsure of herself. Why do I suspect... that more came through from the barrier...? Stranger still was the barrier: it was still active, despite a total absence of life or movement within. “Your father has sent us to support you and your efforts, as well as to keep the citizens safe-"

"So this is your Seer?" The blonde woman nearly leapt back from the sudden presence of a female voice. "Ah, sorry... I was warned you wouldn't be able to... ah well. Galley Gallows, ma’am, reporting a successful rescue of the Warden."

Lorelei sighed her relief. So that's why... the Hound of Titus, a soulless... so anonymous that she must call attention to herself to be noticed, so loathed by nature that notice brings only pain... and so beyond the Lady’s Sight that I...

“Rescued?!” Moira grumbled.

"You will be paid for her rescue as your contract states, Ms. Gallows."

“I would contest precisely how-"

"Well," suddenly declared yet another undetected voice, making the Seer flinch, "it's been a... wonderful time with you all, but John... John and I have things to discuss."

"We do?" A male voice, also undetected, though here Lorelei could quickly piece together that it must've been John Newman... the boy who was now beyond her sight, forsaken by Heaven as he was.

But who is this other woman? Lorelei's Sight was vision beyond mere eyes, and so true blindness, as she felt here, remained a terrifying new experience. That the presence of the maimed soul that she could see remained here only worsened her composure. "John Newman?"

John nodded at the woman... though neither her request nor Layla's sudden assertion could distract him from the Seer's card.

Lorelei Varnik
<Order of the Golden Rose>
Level 12 Seer of the Lady
HP: 145/145
MP: 200/230
Stats: Str 12 Agi 13 End 10 Int 39 Wis 38 Cha 22 Lib 10
Status Effects: Despair (2 black hearts), Mindlink (13 members)
Qualities: The Lady's Sight
R/S: -85
The Seer of the Brighton Court, a learned scholar of the Abyss, and a 25-year-old virgin. From cloistered orphan, to cloistered child-nun, to cloistered apprentice mage raised within the Order, Lorelei did not grow up devout; she has lived devout. Lorelei willingly surrendered her natural eyesight to the Lady and in exchange was blessed with Her Sight, the gift to sense the sea of souls and the tapestry of reality, the pull of fate, and the contents of the heart... all as they are recognized by the Lady. She is otherwise a modest mage with no particular specialization.

John stared at the blind woman with disbelief. What kind of life is... Realizing he had nodded at the blind, he quickly stammered, "I-I mean, yes!"

The Seer nodded slowly. “And the young lady?”

“Where’s the Cabalist?” Moira suddenly declared. “You promised, John-“

“I’ll keep my promise,” he tersely replied, “but once we’re at your Estate, find the two spies in your house... and talk about payment.” John had returned to the cluster of women in the Maze with his final decision: to give Juniluny over to the Order, and help them identify the second spy beyond this “John Iowa,” in exchange for some appropriate prize from Lord Brighton. Even now, he dismissed Juniluny the moment she left the barrier by stepping into another empty classroom, and wouldn't call her again until it was time to make the trade. Moira had been hesitant to tell him they could pay him in anything but cash... but either for her feelings or for her honor, she admitted they could give him artifacts and tools vaulted from past enemies, books on magic, and whatever might satisfy him.

Moira had a concerned tightness to her eyes as she looked at John. She was pleased that he didn’t try something foolish, even lethal, like shelter a Cabalist mage... lethal and blasphemous, she reminded herself. **** or no... I... I couldn’t allow that to pass, not as the Warden... so why does his choice suddenly... worry me...?

“Perhaps once you’re done with all this, w-we c-c-can... can h-haaAAave coffee?” Layla nearly visibly swooned as she got the words out.

Moira slowly turned in disbelief, though she took care not to drop Kim Moon's limp, lab-coat-covered form.

Galley, still nearly naked with converted hobbit clothes and with her hair undone and undyed by fire, simply shook her head. “Do you really think we can just ignore a rogue mage?”

Layla’s infatuated trance snapped as she glared at the tallest one present. “After all I did to help? Your Order owes me!”

"Then this is the mage responsible for this... horrible barrier?" The Seer's voice remained soft, barely above a whisper... but something about its tone ran a chill down Layla's spine.

"No, ma'am... but she did help... ah, geez, what am I supposed to do?"

John looked at Layla... and offered her a small smile. "She helped us catch the Cabalist, save the Warden in time, and even helped you, right?"

Layla's eyes began to water. "John...!"

Moira's expression grew worried again. "John..."

"Then she will be offered a contract," Lorelei offered... and John, initially charmed by the idea, reconsidered at seeing Layla's naked terror at the prospect.

What the Hell did I sign less than a week ago?! "Right... one second." John placed a tunnel over his eye to scope his bedroom; as was likely most of the time, his mother wasn't there. He placed a hand on Layla's shoulder... and the two popped out of existence.

The Order trio stared at the spot the two had once occupied... and Moira's face slowly turned red as she clutched Kim's body tighter to hers-

"Ow..."

The Warden blinked down in shock at the source of the feeble cry... and a young, broken woman looked back up at her with terrified eyes.

The two popped into existence in John's bedroom; though his house was too far to jump from school; the tunnel meant that he was barely three feet away from where he now landed with this stranger. Layla, still in her worn sweats, glanced about at the classroom too suddenly becoming a stranger's bedroom for her to have been shifted into an illusion barrier. Where is...! Who... Oh... Oh my... is... this... Her body grew hotter and hotter as she came to realize where John had brought her... and now she could not bear to look upon him.

The Gamer sighed a small breath of relief. He opened a tunnel in the garage; as he had hoped, his mother was once again out of the house immediately following his departure. A question existed there, but he thought nothing of it. "Layla."

A thrill ran up the auburn-haired teen, and she crushed her thighs together as if that would alleviate her wetness. BE CASUAL! "YES?! YEAH, UH-HUH?!"

The girl continued to look away from John. Hearts continued to build on her card; he had noticed them in the dungeon, but the panic of that entire encounter had stopped him from appreciating why she might have been horny in such an awful place... and since they, and her relationship score, had remained where they were, he now only had the burning question of why. How do I even... man, I just wanted to get her somewhere safe, but... John eyed her form: even in baggy sweats, he could see her silhouette fairly well. Forget it, just be casual. "Hey, Layla?"

My name on his honeyed lips, but oh! How I long for those lips upon my body, smothering me- "MMM-HMM?!" she mumbled in her calmest way. His answer wounded her excitement, however.