[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/KxPkKuZ.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h2][color=848484]M A R C E L I N E   ||   [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiIe2znA1ao][color=848484]♫[/color][/url][/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr][center][color=848484][i][b]Present:[/b] Yalen Castel [@pantothenic], Ayla Arslan [@Ti], Evander Fino Synesti [@RezonanceV], Tku Pictor [@dragonpiece], Fiske Flachstrauch [@jasbraq], and Zarina Al-Nader [@YummyYummy], Desmond Catulus [@Th3King0fChaos][/i][/color][/center][hr][hr]
[color=848484]The chamber was pristine, unlike the hazardous ruins they had just come from. Marceline staggered in and half-collapsed into a seated position, chest heaving and clothes shredded. She began to draw upon whatever magics and matter she could to help her bind both herself and Ayla back to good health. The walls, ceiling, and floors fairly [i]hummed[/i] with energies that were a familiar variety of 'strange' at this point: Dark and Temporal. Somehow, those had blocked Jocasta from saving them all in one fell swoop. Somehow, others had made it here nonetheless.

Fiske and Desmond were both burned but alive. Tku was tending to Zarina and himself and that was one less worry for Marceline. Why every single person here wasn't a binder already was somewhat beyond her. As she looked, a door that had not been there moments before slid open, and a ruffled-looking Benedetto followed Evander in. [color=00a99d]"Where's the bitch?"[/color] he announced, casting about, but Jocasta and Yalen were the only two not to be present and more than one bristled at his words. Still, who was there to stand up to Benny without Jocasta present? Marci could only avoid looking directly at his punchable face while she bit her tongue. [color=00a99d]"Wasn't it her who brought us all here!?"[/color] he demanded.

[color=598527]"We only followed the arrows."[/color] Marci found her voice. [color=598527]"They could've been anyone's work."[/color] She looked about hopefully, a knot starting to twist itself ever tighter in her stomach.

[hr][hr][center][h2]J O C A S T A[/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Jocasta loved Yalen. He'd saved her: him and Zarina and Ayla had saved her and there was no question about it. They shared a home and sometimes a bed, though nothing unchaste had yet taken place. Sometimes, she felt that they shared a mind, so much did they complete each other's sentences or she might glance over at him from the corner of her eye during those relaxed moments to find that he was doing the same.
Yet, for the first time since they had committed to a life together, she felt a sense of... unease around him. She had even welcomed his entrance to the Dark Somnian order and a somewhat more [i]evolved[/i] view of morality, or so she'd thought. Yet, if anything, he'd grown even more determined in his beliefs, if somewhat less dogmatic. 

Now, he had used... [color=ffdead][i]There can be no doubt,[/i][/color] she told herself, [color=ffdead][i]That was Command magic.[/i][/color] His reasons had been the very best, of course, and he hadn't kept his studies a deeply buried secret either, even if they hadn't exactly been a common topic of conversation. Yet... he had taken her manas and shared them. It should have been a moment of trust, but it was not. This was Yalen. Jocasta loved Yalen. Yalen had overpowered her. He had done it without asking. He had done it to save them both. She wouldn't have resisted anyhow. [color=ffdead][i][s]Resistance would've been futile.[/s][/i][/color] She banished the intrusive thought, hammering it down as if hadn't even really happened. [color=ffdead][i]Resistance would've gotten both of us killed,[/i][/color] she pointedly rethought. [color=ffdead][i]You are to be married to him, you stupid girl! You do not always have to be the strong one anymore![/i][/color] Yet, something inside of Jocasta recoiled at the notion: vociferously rebelled at it. Certainly, she had accepted that the world could be a good and beautiful place, but there was ugliness and danger as well and the best defense against it was, had always been, and would always remain raw power. It was an absolute guarantee: the only one, in fact. That, and not being tied to people. [color=ffdead][i]People can betray you.[/i][/color] She'd had enough of this. Jocasta reached into her own mind with Chemical magic and erased not only the thought but the memory of it. Vaguely, as those faded, she wondered if she had erased similar things before... 

If she had seemed to be at full strain, it was only because of her distraction. The older of the pair held them both aloft and, now, with a handle on this chamber's obstacles, her entire focus, and nothing to catch her or Yalen by surprise, the two of them made sport of the final stretch. Such were the benefits of power. Jocasta set herself and her beloved back on the ground, just outside of the door and the glowing arrow. [color=ffdead]"Yalen..."[/color] she began softly, [color=ffdead]"Might you... let me go now?"[/color] She referred to the magic he had used to distribute power between them, even as she healed the small cut on his cheek. She had one more request, and she hoped that it would not be refused, though she suspected it might: [color=ffdead][i]Might you teach me how to use that magic?[/i][/color]

[hr][hr][center][h2]T H E   S I L E N T   R A N G E R   ||    [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZc6EZAt_X8&list=PLPJny5xpzQqSZQnQXbSJztlcrjVp0o3tq&index=6][color=848484]♫[/color][/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Yalen and Jocasta emerged from a door which had not existed moments before, utterly unscathed, as one might expect from such a power couple. [color=00a99d]"Here I was thinking you'd finally bit it,"[/color] Benedetto sniped, crossing his arms and spitting to the side. [color=ffdead]"Happy to see you too, BenBen."[/color] Jocasta rolled her eyes and Marceline rushed over. [color=598527]"Don't you fucking scare me like that again, okay?"[/color] the fifteen-year-old insisted. Jocasta hugged her back. [color=ffdead]"Gotta keep you on your toes, now that you've got 'em again,"[/color] the elder tethered joked. Then, just like that, they were gathered once more in a room and wondering what to do next. 

The architecture was... not like anything they had seen before. For Zarina, Ayla, Jocasta, and Desmond, there were hints of their escapade in Old Zaqhoria present. The half-serpentine beings they knew as sirrahi appeared as a common motif, and... the power of the magics and the general... feel seemed to match. Yet, the similarities more or less ended there. The patterns were large and bold - distinctly not human - but their style and the general construction too primitive to be that of the reclusive reptilians, with the exception of the disappearing doors. Then, Marci had an observation and... a question. [color=598527]"Is anyone else sensing all this Temporal magic?"[/color] More than one nodded or responded in the affirmative. [color=00a99d]"Really strong stuff,"[/color] Benny admitted. Jocasta took a moment, brow furrowed in concentration, and glanced up at Yalen for a moment. [color=ffdead]"That,"[/color] she began, [color=ffdead]"and Dark. There's a lot of Dark magic here."[/color]

[color=598527]"How'd you get those arrows through it?"[/color] Marceline asked, but Jocasta shook her head tightly. [color=ffdead]"Wasn't me. I assumed it was part of this place."[/color]

The ten youths' unease rose in their voice as they tried to figure out what to do next; how to approach this. Jocasta, in particular, rolled into the center of the room, trying to get the others' attention, and then, unbidden... 

There was a sirrahi.

He 'stood' in that snakey way that they did, only a few feet from the tethered, and the strange tube on her lap let out a soft hum and a glow. [color=A0522D]"Evenin', friendsss."[/color] he tipped his wide-brimmed hat and smiled from beneath it, his eyes mostly hidden. [color=A0522D]"I sss'pose I owe y'all an apology 'fore we git started for the way you was brought here."[/color] He snorted faintly. [color=A0522D]"So umm... sssorry 'bout that, huh?"[/color] There was a smirk now, and it crept up his cheeks, opening his mouth wider in the way of his people. [color=A0522D]"I ain't about to tell no lies, though. I knew y'all would make it. Didn't jusss reckon. I knew. Can't tell ya how, but that hell yuh juss been through wasn't no random occurrence. That there was a test only the lot o' yuh could've passed, t'keep out the innerlopers, y'know."[/color]

[color=00a99d]"Yeah, no problem,"[/color] growled Benny. [color=00a99d]"Piece of fuckin' cake."[/color]

[color=A0522D]"Good to hear it,"[/color] replied the sirrahi, seemingly oblivious to the obvious sarcasm.

[color=00a99d]"Only almost got us killed a half-dozen times."[/color]

[color=A0522D]"Huh,"[/color] snorted the mysterious figure thoughtfully, [color=A0522D]"Sorry to hear it, boy-o. Reckoned you was ssstronger than that."[/color]

Benny bolted forward, gathering energies, nostrils flaring. [color=00a99d]"Are you [i]mocking[/i]-"[/color]

[color=ffdead]"He's not really here, Benny."[/color] Jocasta cut in. [color=ffdead]"Take a moment to sense before you lose your cool, huh?"[/color]

[color=598527]"You're the ranger, then, aren't you?"[/color] concluded Marci, sensing for herself. It was... some sort of illusion, only she couldn't sense any magic. 

He nodded, tapping the brim of his hat. [color=A0522D]"You'd be... correct to asssume that."[/color]

[color=00a99d]"And we're here [i]why[/i]?[/color] Benedetto challenged, tilting his head to one side and jutting his chin out. [color=00a99d]"'Cause, so far, all you've done is try to kill us and spent two minutes saying you'll tell us why."[/color] He crossed his arms, unimpressed, and waited.

[color=A0522D]"Hah haaah! Hold your horses there, buckaroo,"[/color] the ranger teased. [color=A0522D]"I was gettin' to that."[/color] He appeared to wipe his nose with the back of his wrist offhandedly. [color=A0522D]"Truth is that the world needs the sssirrahi - that's my people - and, well, they need [i]you[/i] so they can stop ssstickin' their heads in the sand."[/color] He shook his head. [color=A0522D]"There's a whole lotta bad out there: the sssort that don't give one [i]lick[/i] about your freedom and Dami-given right to live as you please. I swear it on muh hatch-brothers n' sisters: the sirrahi can help yuh out with that like nothin' you ever seen before, but y'all gotta help free us first from the box we find ourselves in."[/color] He paused, studying their faces. [color=A0522D]"'N if it'sss reward you're lookin' for, well, rest assured you'll find plenty. I ain't gonna hold the desires of a hired gun againssst him."[/color]

[color=598527]"But..."[/color] interjected Marci, [color=598527]"Why [i]us[/i]?"[/color]

The ranger shrugged. [color=A0522D]"Y'all were the best for the job. Simple as."[/color]

[color=ffdead]"Us ten, specifically?"[/color] Jocasta prodded, and here, his expression changed. The ranger looked up and met her eyes. He offered a quick, tight shake of his head. [color=A0522D]"Not you,"[/color] he said simply, before pointing to Yalen, [color=A0522D]"And not him."[/color] He regarded the priest. [color=A0522D]"He has somewhere else to be and he'd bessst be gettin' there. As for you, misssy, I'd ask you to come along with me in jussa moment. Need to have a word."[/color] The sirrahi regarded the others. [color=A0522D]"Imma be right on over and, if yuh choose to come along n' save the whole dang world, or at least us people, Imma need one last thing from y'all to make sure I ain't fouled this up."[/color]

Marci fairly [i]bled[/i] anxiety into the air around herself. [color=598527]"But [i]why[/i]? Don't you already know?"[/color]

He'd already turned, starting to lead Jocasta off some ways away, but he twisted back to regard her. [color=A0522D]"Juss gotta check. Thasss all,"[/color] he assured the girl. He regarded the others. [color=A0522D]"Simple as this: imma need you to use yer instincts, sssee if they're right."[/color] He nodded. [color=A0522D]"Name five colours, twice each, in whatever order comes to you as a group."[/color] He tipped his hat. [color=A0522D]"I'll be back for your answer shortly. Bess 'o luck."[/color][/color]

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[hider=Action Opportunities][color=848484][h2]Coming Soon[/h2][/color][/hider]
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