[center][h1][color=990000][b][u]        BEAUTY IN RAGE        [/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr][hr]
Like hell she was going anywhere with that bastard, or his puppeted wizard. [i]Was she really so blind?[/i] They both heard the maniacal cackling he let out when he tasted that raw power. He couldn’t control himself, and he couldn’t be trusted. He saw the aether as a tool for him alone to achieve absolute power, and his ambition would jeopardize the group’s ultimate goal and their very safety. [i]The irony ...[/i]

Adrianna had her own plans, stepping up her pace every time she heard the voices behind her. She didn’t care where she ran to; she wasn’t even paying attention to it. She just wanted distance between her and them, to be alone and to clear her mind. She settled for a moment well after she stopped hearing them, relying on some voodoo intuition that she was finally alone. She could feel the energy that had blasted them both fading slowly from her veins. By morning it would be virtually nonexistent. [i]The things she could have done with that crystal ...[/i]

She tried for a moment to conjure it forth, pretending she was a sorcerer who knew what she was doing and not a disgraced runaway without a clue how she would ever be a Legionnaire’s protege. [i]Nothing.[/i] She had absolutely nothing to show from a once-in-a-lifetime experience that a Gods damned talking orb had stolen from her. She slammed her fist against the adjacent half-destroyed wall as the pent up rage boiled over. In a thunderous explosion the magic within her veins blasted the wall to pieces on contact.

The shock, more than any recoil, knocked Adi back two steps, the girl staring wide-eyed at her apparent handiwork. [color=ff3f3f][i]‘So that’s how that works?’[/i][/color] The thought crossed her mind that she had figured it out. Her blank dumbfounded face shifted into a laser-focused glare at another half-ruined structure and she took up a proper fighting stance. The part of the stored energy flowed from her body towards her fingertips, the cracking missile forming against her hand. With a single motion she stepped forward and whipped her hand towards her target, slinging an aetheric missile into the stone and mortar, obliterating it effortlessly.

[color=990000][i]“You’re too tense, relax!”[/i][/color] Kassandra’s voice finally appeared once again, just in time to jump scare her nearly out of her skin.
[color=ff3f3f][i]“For the love of the Gods,”[/i][/color] Adi sighed, [color=ff3f3f][i]“just because you can speak in my head whenever you want doesn’t mean you should.”[/i][/color]
There was a brief awkward silence between the two, with Kassandra returning to her advice first. [color=990000][i]“You’re wasting your aggression in your posture. Avoid tensing your shoulders and don’t step into it so strongly.”[/i][/color]
Adi reset her stance and conjured another missile to hurl, this one seemingly smaller than the last. [color=ff3f3f][i]“That doesn’t feel better ...”[/i][/color]
[color=990000][i]“You channeled a bit less aether for far less effort.”[/i][/color]
Adi didn’t like the ‘less’ part of that. [color=ff3f3f][i]“So it’s weaker-”[/i][/color]
[color=990000][i]“No, it’s more efficient.”[/i][/color]

Kassandra’s abrupt answer pleased her slightly. Efficient was good. She could feel the aether in her body growing weaker as she expended it. This source was only temporary. She would need a more consistent, more permanent supply of the magical energy if she was going to continue to use it. Kassandra being an incorporeal being that saw inside her head could sense her desires before she even formulated a thought. [color=990000][i]“Kneel,”[/i][/color] she instructed, [color=990000][i]“place your hands on the ground.”[/i][/color]

Adrianna didn’t know what her guide had to teach her with this, but she did as she was instructed despite her doubts and confusion. [color=990000][i]“You know what dark aether feels like now. Clear your mind, and search for it.”[/i][/color]
And so she did. The ground felt ... like ground, unsurprisingly and was devoid of the blazing inferno that she felt from the crystal. But there was something she noticed; there was something warm, roiling deep under her feet. [color=990000][i]“Focus on it, and guide it to you,”[/i][/color] Kassandra barely whispered in her head, trying not to break her concentration.

She focused her mind on the sensation, her mind seemingly travelling down to the aetheric currents flowing straight from Hell itself, and weaving its way back up to her with a thin strand in tow, siphoning raw power with it. It wasn’t as strong as the catacomb crystal, but the feeling when it connected with her was unmistakable. She pressed down harder, her will pulling at it more and more. [color=990000][i]“Careful Adi, your body can only handle so much!”[/i][/color] she urged her chosen.

The girl stubbornly dug in, feeding off the power that was beginning to overload her. It crackled from her skin, searching for a way to escape her stubborn grip on it. Even Kassandra feared for Adi’s safety as all sense had seemingly abandoned the girl. Even her eyes had turned crackling red as the aether saturated the very space around her. In an instant the surging energy became painfully uncomfortable to her untrained physique, and as soon as she released her grip on the source current deep below every bit of power confined to her form exploded out without bound.

Adrianna dropped to her hands, a wave of cold and exhaustion overtaking her. She rose to her feet gently as she finally got ahold of her breathing. An uncontrolled, quiet giggle let itself out of her ... a concerning, not quite human cackle emanating from her chest. Kassandra peered inside her chosen’s head, silently observing the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that was Adrianna’s subconscious. She had tasted unlimited power this night and she couldn’t get enough. [i]Kassandra had indeed chosen her successor well.[/i]