Theo winced, "I'm sorry."
"Don't say your sorry, Theo." Ranma replied seriously, "They died fightin for what they wanted, even if it meant killin us, ain't nothin wrong in that. Just focus on healin the ones yah can, and less on the ones yah can't." his voice was cold, detached in a sense.
Theo grunted, but said nothing more.
Ranma sighed, standing up, "Look, Cecila should be wakin up soon. I'll do what I can out here, you should go ask her just what the heck is goin on here." he pointed out. He really didn't know what he could do out here, Aura magic didn't really focus on healing magic all that much, aside from healing himself. They were wholly unprepared for the situation.
Theo just nodded, walking away with a noticeable despondent feel to his walk.
***
Cecila grunted as consciousness restored itself. Jesus H. Christ, what the hell happened? Her entire body hurt, her shoulder singing with pain over the rest of her abused body. Fluttering her eyes open, she groaned at what she saw.
She was in her private quarters, which didn't mean anything since it was the only quarters available above the Graveyard of Valusan. What got her groaning wasn't the fact she was in horrendous pain, nor the fact she remembered the fact she had gotten her ass handed to her by three people, but the presence of one very unwanted were-panther and a very wanted Aura Mage.
"Shit... why can't I ever wake up and see your corpse." she threw to Pantha, who merely returned a glare and said nothing.
"Cecila." Theo began with a deep sigh, "I know your hurt, in more then just body, but I need you to answer some questions."
"Pfeh." she grunted, "Well, you won, and we know the rules, don't we?" she bit out bitterly.
Theo nodded, "Why are you here?"
"Hired. Boss needed some one to guard the entrance to the graveyard in case any do-gooders stumbled upon the place." she spared Theo a nasty smirk, "Looks like he was right."
Theo frowned, "Graveyard? What the heck is this graveyard? Why guard it?"
Cecila blinked, dumb founded, "Wait a second. You mean you three came all this way and you didn't even know what this place was?" she exclaimed unbelieving, "Why the heck would you come here with out knowing the purpose of it? How the hell did you even learn about it?"
Theo shrugged, "Would you believe me if I told you our presence here is merely circumstance?"
"No." Cecila bit out bitterly.
"Too bad. That's exactly why we are here." Theo bit out in return.
"Why attack us then?"
"We could feel a wave of dark energy here, Cecila. If we hadn't gotten lost in the caves getting here, we might have just left with out investigating, but none of us wanted to return to those damn caves so soon after getting free of them."
Cecila sighed, before nodding, "Came in through our own back door did yah? I knew I saw a trace anchor on the wagon when I came through here."
"How long ago did you come through here?" Theo scratched his blond stubble. There was another way in they didn't know about?
"I've been here for two weeks, I came from Lirith after.." She threw Pantha a glare, but the woman just smiled widely in return, ".. after I got down from that light pole."
"Who's your boss?"
"Rook." Cecila answered his question with a painful shrug, missing his wince at hearing that name.
"Great." he deadpanned, face palming, "What does he want down there?"
"Heck if I know. He didn't tell me much, only that he would emerge as a power for the world to fear."
"And you went along with this, Cecila? Why? If some one like Rook ever got his hands on the type of power your telling us about, he'd sooner kill the hired help then pay them." Pantha interrupted suddenly. She had heard enough about this Rook, Undead Knight of the East to know the type. It never ceased to amaze her how stupid some of these mercenaries can be.
Pantha was promptly ignored; Cecila didn't even look in her direction, which was really pissing the woman off.
Theo sighed, but nodded. So, they knew they were above the Graveyard of Valusan. What the heck the Graveyard itself was, he didn't know, nor did he know what this 'power' Rook was trying to get his hands on was. He tried to remember any mention of the Word 'Valusan' but was drawing a blank. In the end, he guessed it didn't matter. They had a job to do, and that was stopping Rook. He knew Pantha wouldn't stop here, being a police office very serious about her job, and Ranma was more then likely to dive head first into the thick of things and ask questions later.
"Sleep." Theo grunted, summoning his aura and knocking the wounded warmage out.
***
Ranma stared down the stairs with a disdainful look on his face, "I get it, Theo. We go down here, find this Rook dick, kick his ass and save the day." he rolled his eyes, as if he hadn't heard this same old rhythm and dance a thousand times before, "Lets just get it over with."
Theo chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "Eh, well.. I suppose."
Pantha snorted, "Men."
Lets Look Towards:
See other episodes by Matdeception
(Posted Fri, 30 Jan 2004 20:23)
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