Magicae Knights [Inactive]

[Zarath]

Jayce got up out of his creaking, wooden bed. Maybe he was wrong about the owners, are the nice after all? Jayce took a deep yawn that said "I'll have a tour, but one quick question, aren't owners supposed to be cruel to there mages? I mean from what I've heard, right now I should be on the bed being whipped. Right now you seem, well you know, kind. Is this how all owners treat there mages?"

 

[The Gil]

Christopher sighed. "I'm not going to start a discussion about the way we treat our mages, but let's just say it wouldn't do much good for me to beat you up", he leaned his head, indicating that Jayce should leave his cell and follow him. The two of them started to walk through the hallway. This one was a bit less illuminated than the one of Natsu cell. Jayce was so full of innocence. Christopher wondered how could he use Jayce on his current investigations. Well, he was still very young. Maybe with some training he could get stronger and show the full potential of his magic. Maybe not... Well, Chris would just have to think positively about that whole thing. On the bad side, there would be about four people working with him and he could not stand working with four other people. On the bright side, all of that people working with him could give him a nice insight on the Jessie Leeman's case and maybe, he would make friends, and they would help him on the whole Arin thing. Yeah, right, because "friends" was the main topic on Christopher Fowler's life.


How long had it been since he actually comunicated with someone with the intent of making a friend? Well, he never needed any friends. He was doing okay alone, he always worked out his cases on his own. Why would the whole Arin thing be different? Yeah, he could completely destroy Chris life if he wanted to, but so what? Maybe he wasn't even remembering about Christopher. Maybe Arin was just selling his stuff peacefully on his store right now. Or, he could planning a revolution. Making an attack specifically against Chris was unlikely. Still possible, but unlikely. Chris remembered of the boy following him.


"Okay, here's the thing, I'm really busy right now, working on Jessie Leeman's case, you might have heard something about him on your cell, but if you didn't, we'll head straight to the Records Hall, because there's another mage there that works for me that has a copy of the file. I'm also having an issue with two other cases, personal cases, but I'll just tell you about them later. Right now, we have a lot of work to do. If you have any complaints, say it now, because the rest of the day my ears will be full of garbage".

 

[Unyielding]

NEIL


((I dont know how you want me to enter the RP so i will just be in a cell))


Neil sat in her cell holding her gun. After crying from headaches for a few weeks straight because of too much magic build-up, they allowed her to hold it so she could release excess magic. the gun held no bullets and the guard took out the mechanism that allowed it to fire magic. For now if the trigger is pulled it just releases harmless magic energy. She heard a rumor that today she was being assign to a Knight. Her head started aching. Then she felt a weird magic presence as if a collar magic was breaking out of their collar. She place the gun to her head and pull the trigger. "POW," she said intimating a gunshot. If only they would allow her to repent that way. magic seeped from her weapon and the pain with it.


One man screamed, crying out in pain. She chuckled at the man, "If only he knew real pain." She envisioned all the times she was shot but lighting magic or time when they wanted to test how much magic she could absorb. No form of torture could beat that which is why most guards just leave her alone. Not out of pity but as to not waste energy. "I wonder if my new master is gonna hurt me too... well try anyway," she whispered to her self as she pulled the trigger again.

 

[Yessibella]

Natsu clicked his way through footage from each camera, pausing now and again to rewind a shot or stare at the screen. Not much time had passed before Natsu began to notice a pattern. Any footage that could have potentially been useful was either to choppy or too poorly lit to deduce anything concrete from. It wasn't just that. Natsu slowed down the footage of five different cameras where he had noticed the lighting was off for the time of day, looking at the frame-by-frame version of each. He stopped on one of them, peering into the screen. It was the camera farthest from the crime scene, and the lighting in one area of the frame was just a little bit off, as if someone had been rushed in erasing a shadow cast by a silhouette. Whoever had done it had been skilled in their work. Natsu could see why no one else had seen it. He looked at the other frames, and deduced that it had been done in other areas as well, although there were no other mistakes. He went through the remainder of the film, counting all of the suspicious frames in his head and calculating the minimum amount of time it would have taken someone to go through and do this.


As more and more of the strange cover-ups appeared, Natsu sped up his pace. He finished and reset the computer as the female Knight had instructed, and exited the building quickly. His owner had not called for him yet, so he had time to check in on something else. Natsu headed through the streets to the district a few blocks from Path-E-Tech Repairs. There, he made a quick stop at the local networking store, picking a cell phone quickly and purchasing it. Before he left the store, he headed to the bathroom and put in his contacts. Natsu checked his reflection in the mirror once more for flaws in his disguise before heading out. He made another quick stop at the Knight's outpost in this area, where he picked up eight hundred dollars in hundred dollar bills from the Knight service ATM. He had been granted an account for restricted uses under his last owner.


With that, Natsu headed off to Path-E-Tech. He ducked into the shop quietly, taking a few moments to look around as if confused before calling out with a loud "Hello? Umm, is anyone here?" His voice rang out with an unusual amount of emotion, filled with an almost perfect nervousness that bounced off of the walls. His ears picked up the sounds of something moving below him, and he detected a cavity of space where there should have been a wall. He tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and listened for the reverberations, which confirmed his suspicions.


He shifted his weight in an imitation of a nervous gesture, crossing his arms over his chest as he pretended to look around the room with vague curiosity again. He noted a few possibly out-of-place things, but he couldn't get much of a look at them with these quick glances, nor could he risk taking a longer look with this type of character. Natsu couldn't be sure from just listening, but it was likely that there was more than one person downstairs.


"Hello?" He called out again, timidly.

 

[Happy Red Mage]

Arin went up when he heard the door chime. "Oh yes? Hello! Welcome to Path-E-Tech Repairs! We fix things like magic!" He said with dramatics. "What can I do for you my dear customer?" He stepped in front of the counter and rapidly shook his hand. "Well? Speak up my boy! I must get to Science!" With that he started searching until his hands came upon a phone. "Oh, quite right..." He looked at it. "Newly bought..." He disassembled it quickly. "The battery is in a bad shape despite being new and the wires are bad quality." He took out some parts and tools and put it back together. As he did so he also planted a bug inside the phone. "Anything else?"

 

[Yessibella]

Natsu watched the man called Arin work with wide eyes. "Woah..." He said before clapping a hand over his mouth as if embarrassed. He averted his eyes, then glanced back at the man as if still nervous. Natsu tugged at the sleeve on his arm and looked at Arin with wide eyes. "Umm, I..." He bit his lip, then shook his head. "No... I don't think so." He grabbed the phone from the counter and left as if afraid to be here any longer. He hesitated for a brief moment in the doorway before closing it behind him.


After Natsu was a good ways away from the shop, he changed his direction and headed back towards the Records Hall. The lady seemed surprised to see him again, and Natsu took the phone he had been clutching in his hand and placed it on the counter.


"Hi!" He said as if meeting her for the first time, and in a very different tone from before while he put a finger to his lips and motioned to the phone. "Umm, I need to check some footage of something, Master. Is that okay?" While he was doing this, he pointed to the pad of paper at the desk, motioning at the lady for a pen. She gave him the paper with a slow nod before speaking.


"You'll need to sign in, though. Put your name here and here." She pointed to several places on the blank paper as if they were places for him to put information about himself.


Natsu nodded at the lady. She was smarter than she looked, which is probably why she had this job. He scribbled quickly with the pen.


Master, please go grab someone who knows how to check for alterations in the phone. In the meantime, will you please continue this conversation with me? There may be some kind of bug in here, and I'll need it as evidence. The person who put it in is very skilled, so please take care not to set off a trap or bomb or whatever could be in there, though it may have a remote self-destruct, so I would recommend hurrying.





The lady took the paper wordlessly, and spent some time 'reading it over.' "All set." She said. "Come with me." She led him to the back room he had been to before, and lean down to one of the Knights once the door was securely closed behind them. "Go get Harry." She said. He nodded and headed out the door, returning a few moments later with a tall man. The female Knight showed him the paper Natsu had written on.


"I'm confiscating this." Harry said as he led Natsu back out the front door. "You know you aren't supposed to have this." Natsu whimpered and watched as the man took the phone through another door, then waited a few moments before dropping his act.


"Thank you so much, Master." He bowed deeply at the lady, who snorted and glared down at his form. "I hope you got permission to do this, mage." She sneered the last word. "Next time, warn us." Her tone was cold. Natsu kept his bow in place. "Yes, Master." He said. The Knight walked away and Natsu straightened himself out. His head had already begun calculating again. His plan was risky. He still wasn't entirely sure himself that there was a bug inside the phone.


Natsu sat down in a chair near the exit and began to meditate again. Doing this always helped him to process information. He thought about all the things he had learned thus far, considering each piece of information. Jessie Leeman's death, the covered files, the phone, Arin's attitude, the basement, the green haired girl. Arin had been far too confident for someone afraid of the Knights. This likely meant he had some kind of plan to damage them or at least keep them at bay. Natsu could think of several things Arin might be able to do to using what he had seen in his shop, but he doubted that the man didn't have more up his sleeve.


The key information was probably in the basement. And if Arin had friends down there, that meant that his plan involved others. Which, for a man of his skill level, was rare unless he was planning something really large. It was likely an offensive plan, given what Natsu had seen of his personality. He couldn't very well target the Knights, as they were on guard and nearly immune to magic. But he could target their facilities. It was impractical to make entire buildings magic proof. Natsu also didn't think it was likely that Arin relied solely on magic. Natsu himself didn't, after all, and someone with only magic as a weapon could hardly be that confident. Did he have weapons in that basement? It was likely. Or, at least, it was likely he had them stored somewhere hidden.


Natsu put the thoughts running around in his head into mental folders. He needed to organize these speculations rationally. He sat up straighter in his chair and folded his hands in his lap.

 

[Happy Red Mage]

Arin returned to the basement and watched through his audio-visual feed. "Ok...position compromised. Relocate to empty warehouse." He pushed them out of the basement and pushed a few buttons on the panel. He then removed it and tucked it in his coat before planting a device with a timer. He shoved them and gave them a map before making them run towards the marked warehouse. He then started to run after the man. "Wait!" He shouted. "You forgot to pay me!"

 

[Yessibella]

Natsu heard Arin yelling after him outside the shop. He was coming this way, towards the Records Hall. Natsu got up from his chair and headed out the door towards the man. He couldn't act irrationally in this situation. He pulled out one of the hundred dollar bills from his pocket and handed it to him with a small smile. He made sure he was far enough from Arin that the man couldn't plant anything on him, even if it meant that he looked a little standoffish. He had messed up.


"Sorry." He said, returning to his earlier, nearly frightened tone. "I got it confiscated." Natsu didn't bother to look at Arin's face again before turning around and leaving at a fast walk towards the building he had just come from. He didn't put too much acting into it. He had already confirmed that the man knew about his act.


He entered the building and went straight up to the lady Knight as soon as the door had swung closed behind him. "I have made an error. That phone is not safe." As soon he said this the Knight ran upstairs after the one named Harry. Natsu took a few deep breaths to remain calm and level-headed before she returned with the phone and promptly placed it in his hands.


"Get this out of here." She said, and Natsu did. He walked out of the door with the phone gripped inside his hand and made sure that Arin was not following him before he passed a trash can in the middle of the street. Natsu crushed the phone beneath his boot and tossed the pieces into the garbage.


He circled back around to the Records Hall and went inside. He took one look at the three Knights standing in the entrance, and knew what was coming. They grabbed him roughly by the arms and led him to a room behind a thick metal door. Natsu did not resist. He definitely deserved this.


They pushed him into one of the tiny stall-sized cells and told him to take off his shirt and put his face against the wall. Natsu did so without question. His collar was now clearly visible around his neck, but Natsu hardly noticed its' weight anymore. He used to think it grew heavier in situations like these, but that was far in the past. The stronger looking male Knight came into the cell, whip in hand, and Natsu turned his face into the stone.


***********


Natsu knelt on one knee, his face still turned into the stone. The cool rock felt good against his skin in comparison to the hot, wet pain on his back. He hadn't moved since they had finished with him. It had been a good while now. Natsu's breathing was still irregular, but he endured the pain and unwrapped the bandages on his arms with shaking teeth. It took him several times longer than normal, but soon he had them around his torso and tied the ends. The three had long since left, and had closed and locked the cell door behind him. Natsu gritted his teeth as he managed to scoot himself into a kneeling position. He folded his trembling hands over his lap, and closed his eyes. He meditated on his sins, the crimes he had committed. He took in the agony on his back, the guilt threatening to reveal itself within him - all of it. He managed to calm his breathing and slow the rate at which his body was shaking, though the pain did not fade from his mind. He did not let it. Natsu concentrated and focused on what he needed to do now. By now, his owner might already know of Natsu's slip up. He needed to see his so he could properly repent for disobeying his orders. Whatever that meant, he would accept it. This was his crime, and he would repent. He would carry on the mission he had been given. No more disobeying. He needed to get himself together, now.

 

[Unyielding]

KAREEM


Kareem pulled Cho to a more private area so only they could talk. "We...umm... Kareem cannot go in public dress like this," he said with slowly, "Kareem has safer shortcut but Cho have to hid her face too." HIDE HER. He recovered his head hiding his face and took a sip of water. Oh how he could not wait for the next day it rain, where he would be able to to use his magic like he wanted too. Water converged around his hand and took the form of a black mask. He handed it to Cho, "Use this, my sister said that our toys cannot know who you are." Then he guided her to the alley where Kareem yelled at the 'Hope of Magic' ((im sorry but that name... i cannot take it seriously... from what i seen so far lol)), "Through here "

 

[The Gil]

Chris went straight to the Records Hall, with Jayce following him. He walked towards a lady that was working on the records, typing things on a computer. A few other knights were there, looking for evidences on other computers. "Hey, where's that new collared mage, the one that's my property since... Well, today. Matsumoto Taigaki. Natsu? I told him to come here, have you seen him, or could you, check his location on your computer?", Chris said, expecting that the lady would type the mage name on the computer, but she didn't had to. She really had seen him. "Yeah, I've seen him, not long ago. He was sent to Correction, because of some mistake or some..." Chris didn't allowed her to finish. "What?!", he shouted. He turned to Jayce and slightly leaned, saying: "Stay here".


While he walked through the hallways, following the path to the correctional facility. The walls were made of some reflecting metal, and he could see his face on it. He remembered that face. It was the face of disappointment with Order, the same face that showed up when he killed his father, the same face that showed up when he killed a kid mage. That face was his usual substitute to sadness. It was the firestorm rage, the preparation for a battle or simply his hate being released from its repressed prison. He had to calm down or he would end up killing someone. He remembered the time he went to pick Jayce. He remembered the woman that said "hey" to him earlier, and said his name and he felt embarrassed because he didn't knew hers. Okay, that thought was a distraction, but it didn't lowered the level of his rage.


In the correctional hall, it seemed like the torturers were taking a break. The three torturers that had just left Natsu cell were walking on the opposite direction of Chris, talking about beer qualities. "Where the hell is Natsu?!", he yelled at them. The knights got a bit spooked with Christopher anger. "Easy there, tiger. Talkin' 'bout that weird collared, with the blue and red eyes? We were just with him. Tough one". The others agreed with a brief "yeah". Chris grabbed the torturer by the collar. "Who the **** do you think you are?!", he said. "Hey Chris, what the hell man?! What's the matter with you?! Got interested in a little guy on guy fun now?! Why would something, anything we do with that piece of **** be of your goddamn business?! We got permission from the Order!". Chris released the collar of the man, trying to calm himself. He walked through the torturers, towards Natsu cell, while saying: "He's not property of the Order anymore. He's my property, and the next time you do something like this, I'll crush you! The only reason to keep locking more and more of these demons here is because you keep killing and throwing the insanity of the ones we have!". The torturers ignored him, talking about Chris and why nobody liked him.


Chris ignored the comments and took a master key out of his pocket. He opened the door to Natsu cell. Dammit, he looked awful. There were cuts and blood and old scars reopening on his back.


"You look awful. Get up and put your shirt on. I'll get a permit to lock you up on my own place. You can't stay here. They hate the tough ones, it's not safe for you here. We're going home".

 

[Legendless]

Brendan hated this. He hated being passed around from owner to owner. He could still remember the pain he had experienced earlier this morning. The weird sensation of what he thought to be magic now. Then, of course, the almost maddening pain from the collar. He heard some people whisper about how much it hurt when he first became collared but he had been lucky to avoid it. Brendan never used magic without permission and none of his owners were cruel enough to harm him needlessly.


He rubbed his neck as he looked up to the woman who would be taking over as his owner. He was pretty but he knew that could mean anything. He wondered if she was told about his hollering earlier and how he activated the collar's defenses. Would she question him? How could he explain it?


"It's alright. I live to serve you after all. I have no right to complain." Maybe not the best words to set a first impression, but Brendan was taught to be compliant.


-----


Bella headed down to the cells. It had been a long time since she had gotten a new Mage. She always disliked first meetings with them. Bella never hated Mages but she had a low tolerance only due to her training. Some people called it brainwashing what they did in her training. Bella didn't care. Her training still haunted her sometimes.


She looked down into the cell of her newest Mage and tapped the bars, not opening it yet.


"What is your name and age." Bella knew this. She was checking on the Mage first.

 

[Yessibella]

Natsu heard a racket in the hall, then the turning of the lock on his cell. He opened his eyes. His owner was here. He heard the orders from him and immediately responded. "Yes Master." He said without hesitation, and stood up, resisting the urge to show how much pain he was in as he retrieved his clothes from the floor and quickly redressed himself, ignoring the fire on his back and the blood seeping through the bandages at an alarming rate. He slung the sword onto his back and managed not to wince, then retrieved his gun bag and slung it over his shoulder.


Natsu stepped out of the cell behind his owner, the only signs that he was in pain being the dark bloodstains forming on his coat, the dilation of his pupils, and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He managed to control his dizziness from the loss of blood and followed behind his owner when one of the torturers jabbed him in the back with the blunt end of a whip. Natsu had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out, but showed no further signs of distress and kept on walking.


They reached the front of the building where a young boy of about fifteen waited. Natsu recognized him from the holding cells. He soon figured out that he was also in Chris's possession, and tucked the thought into memory for later. He did not give the boy any further attention as the three made their way to Chris's place. Natsu walked as normally as he could, though now and again his stride faltered for a brief moment before he recovered. He was close to passing out, but he would not allow himself to. This was punishment too. He must bear the pain as the weight of his sin, along with whatever his owner decided to do.

 

[Happy Red Mage]

Arin walked to the warehouse, making sure to make different turns and lead away and lose anyone who might be following him. Just as he entered the warehouse he held up his hand. "5...4...3...2...1..." He said while puting a finger down for each second, A large explosion echoed through out the area. "Hmm...a bit less boom than I expected..." He put the panel against a door and opened the door, revealing his basement. "Alright, Ken, bring me the box marked with C3H5N3O9, and do be careful." He said while entering the door.

 

[Field Marshall]

Ken ran to the warehouse after making sure he shook off any pursuers and suspicions before heading to the warehouse. He walked over and grabbed a box that Arin called for and carried it over to him. "The Magicae are starting to catch on from my feelings and what just happened."

 

[Happy Red Mage]

Arin loaded the chemical onto his cannon and went around the basement. He found a mask and cloak and put it on. "Now, we strike." He walked out and headed for the factory.

 

[Unyielding]

NEIL


Oh great another jerk, she thought in her head. This Master knew who she was, and was going through the routine. Well hell is a bitch but nobody said it was annoying too. If she was gonna do something to her, she might as well get it over with, but given the chance she did not know of her, she thought it would be funny to play a game. She turned around hiding her gun and looked at the knight with a expressionless face, "Name... Target Dummy Neil, age 16, master" Then she cringed her teeth. Her head was throbbing. She turned away from the knight and put the gun to her head, hiding it from view. She pulled the trigger releasing the surplus magic inside of her.


"My apology master, i meant no disrespect by turning away from you. I have an small condition to tend to. Some Knight is probably training a mage near by and the excess magic is being released down here. Such wasteful magic gives me major headaches," She turned around attempting to hide the gun but much poorly this time. "I am but only a lowly mage, who's biggest sin in life is existing," she continue, "But how may i repent my sins in you service, master?" She looked at the master but did not make eye contact. She tried to smile but couldn't due to the fact that she really believed.

 

[evephy]

xxxxxBefore Cho could receive an explanation the chime signaling a customer's entrance. She glanced up the stares as Arin walked up. Out of curiosity, she followed behind him, keeping a distance away from him, and staying hidden once he went out to greet the customer. It was a man with black hair and a rather large scarf around his neck showing that he was either very easily affected by the weather, or was a collared mage. Cho took her guess on the latter and continued to watch from behind the door, out of sight.


xxxxxHe was quite talented in his acting, but his personality seemed very out of place with his intimidating outer appearance. Either way, if it wasn't for her sixth sense, she probably wouldn't of seen through his words. She knew his intentions at the store were definitely not for the purpose of fixing his phone, especially with that fake, yet convincing image he carried with him. Cho's eye's narrowed in suspicion, but she made no move. Where was his master?


xxxxxIt turned out she didn't need to inform them of the danger they were potentially in, as Arin immediately turned toward them, "Ok...position compromised. Relocate to empty warehouse." He said, quickly grabbing a map and shoving it into their hands, pushing them in the direction of this so called, warehouse. How did he even figure out the man might have been a threat? Cho sighed. This whole revolution thing was a waste of her time,. She looked down at the map, searching for an easy way over the rooftops, and was just about to swing herself over a building when Kareem pulled her aside.


xxxxx"We...umm... Kareem cannot go in public dress like this," Cho scanned him over. He looked fine. Kareem was a bit young to be worried about the way he looked in public, but she decided to just not say anything. He handed her a mask, formed by magic, explaining that his, 'toys' couldn't know of her identity. "What are you talking about?" She asked, looking down at the mask. She didn't put it on, and instead, followed the boy to where he was walking. If Kareem just wanted her to play with his toys with him, he had chosen a terrible time to do so. 

​

xxxxx"It's alright. I live to serve you after all. I have no right to complain." There was an agonizingly long second of silence between the two after Brendan had spoke. She had forgotten that this collared mage would pretty much be a slave to her from now on. After all her years of stalling and avoiding the job of, well... this. Krista had been given the inevitable loss. She never actually wanted a collared mage, mainly because she felt it would slow her down, and add another life to worry about out on the field.


xxxxx"Um, right." She replied awkwardly, before motioning for him to follow her outside. "Okay Brendan! I'm going to set some ground rules here." She stated, flipping through the collared mage's file. "First of all, don't call me Master. It's weird, so don't do it." Krista stopped at the page that listed his powers, and a mischievous smile played onto her face. She could definitely use him for some hilarious pranks at the office. But then again, she could have some privileges revoked. She had to learn that the hard way. Krista frowned at the though, closing the file and tucking it under her arm.


xxxxxThen again,with another person by her side, she didn't want anyone crowding her work. Human presence irritated her while she was doing her job. "Actually, I don't really care what you do, as long as you don't get in my way." Krista walked up the stairs and out of the cells. It was a lot brighter than it had been before, and she had to blink her eyes several times before they adjusted. She glanced back at Brendan, giving the boy the faintest of a smile before opening her mouth to speak again. "I guess since you're here I better give you something to do." She continued walking down the hallway, searching her mind for anything that needed to be done, but nothing occurred to her. "Could you go to the main office and find me an unfinished case to work on? Meet me at the cell store when your done." With that, Krista turned on her heels and walked away.


xxxxxKrista took one last sip of her coffee before she pushed open then entrance to the building and walked out, tossing the empty coffee cup into a nearby trashcan. She strolled down the sidewalk, with her hands in her pockets. It seemed that people would make the effort to walk around the girl, keeping at least a one meter distance away from her. It was like that had some type of fearful respect for her. Probably because of the guns she had on her sides, and the long sword on her back. Standing at the height of 5'11, she did give off a bit of an intimidating vibe.


xxxxxIt wasn't long before she reached the cellphone store. When she walked in, Krista gave a nod to the few clerks that were working there before scanning the phones that were on display. She was planning on maybe buying a cell phone for Brendan, so she could communicate with him more conveniently. On lazy days, texting someone to grab her some food would be far easier than getting up and telling him to get it for her. "Anything here for a seventeen-year-old boy?" She asked. The employee nodded, pulling out a small device with a holographic screen as well as a built-in surround sound speaker and thousands of fancy functions that Krista only grimaced at the sight of. "Okay, I get paid a lot of money, but nowhere near enough to buy that." She picked up another one; taking note of the significantly cheaper price. "How's this one?" It was an older model, but still recent enough to be considered somewhat decent.

[[ OoC:// *Krista texts Brendan when he's five feet away from him* 'Get me a doughnut.' ]]

​

 

[Unyielding]

KAREEM


Kareem guided Cho through the alley way. A group of men gathered around them. These men scream thiefs. They all looked like they havent taken a bath in months, they where missing teeth and/or had gold filled in their mouths. they wore bandannas and had their weapons in the open. Kareem stopped in front of them. They bowed in front of him and he walked through them. Every man and woman bowed in his presences. One man tried to talk with cho but Kareem made short work of him. He pulled the guys on knife on him, "Toys should not speak unless spoken too." Finally they arrived at the warehouse.


((Sry for not making a better post.. im kind of drunk and because its my birthday... i kind of dont really care hahaha))

 

[The Gil]

Christopher was home, Jayce and Natsu were right behind him. Natsu was limping a little bit, probably due the pain that he was hiding. When the torturers said to Chris that Natsu was tough, they were definetely right. If it wasn't for the blood on his back, you could hardly say that he was in pain. Christopher house was big. He had inherited it from Nasri, who was always rich, ever since his childhood. Thirteen bedrooms, eight bathrooms, one large kitchen, two home offices, one main room, with a large televison and an enormous velvet couch, a coffe table filled with expensive decorations, including a persian cat statue, made entirely of jade. All of this was divided in two floors, and in the back, one very large backyard, surrounded by a tall wall, made of bricks and concrete. The house was an old rustic one, but it looked like new if you didn't looked much at the walls, which had the wood carved with ancient symbols and images of the war. Before, there was a maid and a butler that worked for Nasri, but Chris fired them as soon as he died.


Chris led Natsu to the bathroom that was nearest to the entrance, holding him by the wrist. Inside, there was a large bathtub, and Chris pointed it to Nasri, saying that he should take a bath. "You can dress yourself on that bedroom nearby after it, but I wouldn't put this shirt anymore, it's full of blood and ripped on the back. Grab one of the Magicae Knights shirt on the closet in that bedroom, there's plenty there". It was probably going to hurt a lot when the water would hit his back, but he had to get his wounds cleaned up. After the bath, Chris would clean his wounds with a saline solution used by the knights. After Natsu walked in, he closed the door. Coming back to the main room, he saw Jayce sitting on the couch. Chris walked to the couch and sat on it as well. There was a bowl of snacks filled with french fries on the coffee table near the couch, and Chris started to eat it, saying to Jayce: "You can grab some if you want too". The boy should be starving. Chris started to think if he was doing the right thing, trusting these mages like that. His house wasn't a prison, it was hard to lock someone there, with that many exits, and the windows on the second floor. If they knew someone with a very powerful magic and escaped, they could be able to run away and be free of their collars. This thought brought the image of the dead body of Jessie Leeman on the file back to his mind. Nasri cellphone was in the coffee table, and there was a lot of knights numbers there. He was always so friendly to anyone, everybody liked him. Chris could call Bella anytime, but he had never worked on a case with another person before. He didn't know what to say.

 

[Legendless]

Repent for her sins? Did she think her magic was a sin? Bella knew that many knights and even civilians thought that way. After all to treat the Mages like this spoke of a fear and distrust of magic and those who wielded it. Bella opened the cell and stared down at her newest possession. No not possession. Neil was human. Her servant then.





"You have a condition?" If so Bella was going to have to make sure it would not interfere with her job. She couldn't be a caretaker to her Mage. Even if she was young. "I have only two rules for you. Do as I command and never take orders from anyone that is not me or I have not explicitly said is allowed to. Your concerns are me and what I tell you. No one else matters."


Bella made a motion for Neil to follow. "I need your assistance. I don't know if unowned Mages know about the news, but a Knight died. It is part of my job to ensure this doesn't happen again. So we will be trying to uncover anything we can." She stopped outside the records hall. "Go and locate a file with the name Kingson, Larry on it. It should be about twenty years old." An easy task. Another test.


------


Brendan listened to his new owner. She was different than the others. Brendan didn't know any knights but from his experience he didn't think many acted like she did. But he secretly was both disappointed and glad. Glad she wasn't some cruel woman but she didn't want much from him. Brendan wasn't use to that. He had been ordered around since he was a child.


He followed her, nodding and listening but not speaking. He wasn't sure what he could say. She seemed almost dismissive of him in a way. Some of his first owner's family was like this. Didn't really care for the collared Mages. He was happy to have been given a job. Brendan felt useless if he wasn't doing anything.


He headed to the main office, touching his neck again just above the collar. He searched for a little while and besides the huge case about the dead knights and the missing ones, he wasn't sure if any were interesting enough for her. He did find one of the missing knight cases and paused. A new knight - Janine Fellgood - went missing a month back but her Mage remained. It had happened before with the Mages have no clear memory of what happened. The odd thing was Janine's younger sister was with her at the time and she went missing too. A civilian missing sent out some red flags but beyond a relation to a knight the younger woman held no threat or importance. Maybe this was good. It seemed to have some trails left unchecked. Brendan took the folder and headed to the cell shop.

 

[Yessibella]

Natsu was led by his wrist through the house to a bathroom close to the entrance. His owner let him go and pointed to a large bathtub inside.


"You can dress yourself on that bedroom nearby after it, but I wouldn't put this shirt anymore, it's full of blood and ripped on the back. Grab one of the Magicae Knights shirt on the closet in that bedroom, there's plenty there". His owner said, and Natsu opened his mouth enough to speak the words he needed to.


"Yes Master." He replied smoothly, no hint of pain in his voice. As soon as his owner had closed the door behind him, Natsu turned on the tub, then began to undress. Off came his sword and gun bag, which Natsu placed against the wall near the tub so that he could grab them if he needed to. He took off his coat and laid it carefully by the sink so that any blood it dripped would fall down the drain and not onto the floor. He freed himself of his bandoliers and placed them by the tub as well. Next came his shirt, which had indeed been bloodied and torn to shreds. Natsu had to be very careful in peeling off the cloth that had started to stick to his skin as it dried. He finished his task and threw the shirt into the trash bin, then took off the rest of his gear bit by bit, discarding the bloody bandages as well.


When he was nude he turned off the water and stepped into the bathtub. The water was hot. Natsu grabbed a small red towel from a rack near the bathtub and took a moment to prepare himself before sinking himself into the water. He inhaled sharply, his eyes flying shut so he could concentrate on the pain. No more sound escaped his mouth. Natsu opened his eyes and took a bar of soap down from a ledge nearby, rubbing it into the towel and beginning to clean his wounds. The water began to turn red beneath him, and Natsu had to close his eyes for a bit to keep from passing out. He reminded himself of his sins and the price he must pay, and was able to finish without further hesitation.


When he was sure his wounds were thoroughly scrubbed, Natsu drained the bath water and ran his back under the bath faucet to rinse out any excess soap. Then, he stood up and dried himself off with another red towel. He rinsed out the other red washcloth in the sink and placed it on the edge of the bathtub. Natsu took some time to rinse the blood out of his jacket as well, and wiped down the other objects that had gotten blood on them. He pulled four ace bandages out of his medical kit and two vials of ointment from his bandolier, placing two of the bandages in a pocket in his coat for later use. Natsu grabbed his spare pair of boxers from his coat pocket and proceeded to rinse the other pair soaked in blood in the sink before squeezing it out and tucking it in with his coat to dry. He re-dawned his pants, then headed out the door to grab a shirt from the closet in the next room as his owner had specified, ointment and bandages in hand.


As he walked out the door he noticed Chris and Jayce sitting on the couch in the main room. He stopped and gave a silent and deep bow to his owner, pausing to see if the man had anything to say to him. His head was lowered and the wounds on his back visible over his shoulders. There were about forty five lashes, twelve of which were more than a quarter inch deep in the middle of the gash. They opened up a bit when Natsu bowed, but not enough for blood to come gushing out at a rate which would endanger the floor of dripping blood. He had also brought the towel with him around his waist, just in case blood did drip.

 

[Unyielding]

Neil

----"You have a condition?"


Neil revealed her pistol,


"A price i pay for the power of sin, master, I will not allow it to interfere with your request." Then she place the gun to her head and pulled the trigger demonstrating how it worked.


---- "I have only two rules for you. Do as I command and never take orders from anyone that is not me or I have not explicitly said is allowed to. Your concerns are me and what I tell you. No one else matters."


She put away her pistol and paused. This went against all she was taught. She pictured the idea of another knight trying forcing her to be a test dummy and her having the right to refuse. A small smile grew on her face. "I exist to shield you from sin and no other" Then got on a knee ask if Belle was a Queen.


After being told to follow she listen to the order to retrieved the file name "Kingson, Larry." She bowed and left right away. She went to her locker to retrieve the rest of her gear. Inside was a pair of gloves and empty clip to allow her gun to function properly. She put on the gloves. They felt a little tight, after all it has been a while since she last used them. she made a fist and a blade came out of the knuckle section. These items where reminiscences of the only "good" times she had. Back when she was not being overcharged with sinful magic. Her memories did not last long. A knight walked up to her from behind. "What are you doing out of your cell?" he asked as he shoved her into her locker. She grunted as instinct and dropped her key. The knight picked up the key, "Oh you been assign to a Knight, that's great." She pulled her self out of her locker, "Master, I must preform my duties." The knight re-shoved her into the locker and whistle. A collared mage walked in. The knight signaled his mage to use his magic. Neil felt the energy and struggled to break free. "The one thing you hate, I knew would find it." The magic intensity grew, increasing the amount of magic being absorbed by Neil. With no way to released the excess magic, her headache came back. She cried in pain only to be muffled. "Remember this wrench," he scold and then left the room with his mage. She picked herself out of the locker, and released the excess magic. The one reminder she needed to remember her place.


She arrived at the Record Hall. She walked up to a blond hair woman. The woman immediately questioned her reason for being there, claiming how she had enough of the mage scum wasting her time.


"I was sent by master Bella to retrieve the files for Kingson, Larry. The woman rolled her eyes, before leaving. She game back and threw the papers watching them scatter across the floor. Neil hastily gathered all the papers and rushed out the building heading straight for Bella.

 

[evephy]

xxxxxKareem seemed unwilling to answer Cho's question, as he lead her onwards, regardless of whether she put the mask on or not. Cho looked down at the black mask, hesitating for a second before throwing it aside. If it was made of water, it'd return to it's original form once it left his magical range. She decided against asking more questions, since every time she opened her mouth to ask one, they always went unanswered. Cho pulled her headphones up to her ears and shoved her hands in her pocket, walking silently behind Kareem as he led her through the dark alleyway.


xxxxxMen and women who appeared to be homeless stepped out from the shadows, approaching the two kids. They looked like your stereotypical unhygienic criminals. In the condition they were in, she felt almost bad for them. It wasn't until her gaze turned back to the boy in front of her when she realized the people were all bowing as he passed. They were bowing. To a kid. The look of confusion on her face became evident, but the eery silence of fearful respect kept her from speaking.


xxxxxOne man made and attempt at breaking the silence, stepping up to talk with Cho, but before he could even make a sound, Kareem grabbed his knife, turning it onto him. The man cried out in pain and hit the ground. Her eyes widened as she reached down to help him, ready to neck the boy for harming him when Kareem decided to break the silence himself. "Toys should not speak unless spoken too." He said. Cho froze. So these people were his so called, "toys." She stood back up again, leaving the man untouched as she shot him a look of pity. A million questions shot through her head as she went to catch up to Kareem. Were they fake people? If they were real, why were they willing to serve under a boy? Cho shook her head at the thought. She was too afraid to even ask. This boy that she had offered to help just this morning was entirely different than he had appeared to be


xxxxxBefore long, the two arrived at the empty warehouse marked on the map. Cho had made a weak attempt at shaking off the events that had happened, and focused on the job at hand. Arin had only just entered his warehouse, and instead of going inside, chose to wait for them outside, leaning against the wall. Although she already was in on the whole, 'Blow up the collar factory' plan, she didn't want to get entirely involved with the Revolution. If the Magicae prevailed, she didn't want to be the one hanging by her neck in the square to demonstrate what happened to those who rebelled.


xxxxxA loud explosion sounded throughout the city, the second one today. Cho sighed, it was too late, she had already dug herself way to deep. There was no chance of getting out. She pushed herself off the wall just as Arin walked back out of the warehouse. He was wearing a black cloak ans a mask to cover himself. Of course, with her magic, they didn't really need to cover their faces, or really anything, but she decided to keep her mouth shut. He was funny to look at. Just to play along, Cho reached into her pocket and pulled out an old, black bandana she kept to wrap around her head when doing arduous work. She pulled over the bottom half of her face and tied it around, so that all that was visible were here eyes. Secondly, she pulled her jacket off and flipped it inside out. It was designed to be worn either way, and this was more convenient since the inside of her jacket was all black. Cho zipped it up quickly and pulled the hood over her head, falling into step behind Arin. "Lead the way." She muttered sarcastically. 

xxxxx"I'll take this." Krista said, waving the phone she held lazily. The employee nodded enthusiastically with a fake business smile plastered on his face before making his way to the back room. She set the display phone back down on the counter and walked over to a swivel chair that sat beside one of the counters. As she waited, she spun around mindlessly, leaning back in the chair and staring at the ceiling as she did. The knight managed to get a few dirty looks from the older people, but she paid them no attention


xxxxxSoon enough, the employee came out with the phone packaged nicely in a box with its charger and a few other instruction manuals that no one ever reads. He sat down in the desk and typed on the keyboard, going through the whole process of giving the phone a number, and so on. Krista gave the man the money to pay for it and picked the box up strolling right out of the shop, just in time to see Brendan making his way over. "There you are! Just in time." She exclaimed waving the box at him. "Got you a present." She said with a smile, opening it and pulling out the phone.


xxxxx"Could you hold this for a second?" Krista muttered, handing the box over to him without waiting for an answer and turning on the phone. She tapped a couple of times on the screen. After a few minutes of silence between the two as she inputted things into his new phone, she handed it to him. "Here's you're new phone, assuming you don't already have one. If you do, then you just wasted me ninety bucks." She exchanged it for the filed he held in his hands. "The phone's for me to contact you, and vise versa. Your number is set as the wallpaper so you don't forget it, and mine is saved in there. It's the only number in your phone, so you can't miss it." She continued on walking, expecting him to follow along. Krista had saved her name as, "The Coolest Person Ever." Despite her image, she was quite immature.


xxxxxAs she continued to walk down the street Krista rifled through the pages, her eyes quickly scanning trough the papers. There were definite perks of being a fast reader. She closed the folder with a snap, sighing in frustration at the little information that had been provided to her on this case. However, she had known Janine, and had been a distant friend of the knight who had gone missing. Janine was generally nice. Even though she treated her mage entirely differently, as was common among them, she was somewhat kind to most people and was well-liked. It was a bit shocking to see that the previous investigator had given up so easily. "Brendan." She stated, "Do you know if Janine's mage has been assigned to a new owner? If so, any idea who it is?

 

[Legendless]

A present? Brendan blinked at Krista not sure he fully understood the words. He had heard rumors of owners being kind to their Mages, but all stories about Knights were horror ones. Still Brendan wasn't going to protest. He was not stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth. It did make him uneasy.


Brendan held the empty box obediently. He listened to her talk about the cell phone. It seemed a bit surreal being given such a gift but the way she talked about it, it was a gift of practicality. It made a lot of sense in the young boy's mind. He shook his head when she asked if he already had one. Brendan was hardly ever away from his previous owners to need something to keep in contact - or he wasn't important enough. He looked down at the cell and felt, suddenly, like he might erupt in tears. The thought was so out there that he didn't, but it was surprising. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt it said something about collared Mages treatment if he was going to cry over something like this.


He followed wondering if Krista was going to end up giving him a work-out running around all the time. Brendan bit his lower lip at the question and shook his head.


"No, but..." He paused. "The Mages who are left behind. Something is not quite right with them anymore. They speak of seeing things in the dark. Of monsters and... They all lost their minds." Brendan had a flash of panic when recalling the weird sensation earlier and the shadow he swore he saw. His throat tightened and he fell silent again.


------


Bella watched with a mix of disgust and curiosity. What must it be like to live like that? Was she lucky that she was given a different path in life? Bella decided not to dwell. If Neil said it wouldn't interfere then she'd believe her. She would find out for herself in time anyways. She watched the girl kneel and something in her wanted to vomit. Neil was a good girl. She seemed like she might be missing a few screws but Bella was glad to have her as her Mage.


She waited realizing she had left Mayumi back at the house. It was not too odd for a knight to have more than one Mage but it was easier to only have one. Many Mages meant wealth and power in this society. Bella wanted neither. But having more made her job easier.


When Neil returned Bella took the folder and led them to a bench. She gestured for Neil to sit beside her. "Larry. I remember hearing rumors about him when I was training. He had gone missing with his Mage. Caused quite a scandal. Citizens assumed they fell in love and fled to one of the countries that didn't collar. It's a nice story. Knights reported ashes in his home. Random items missing or burned. Larry was kind to his Mage, that is true. Many knights thought he had tried to free her and in her first moments of freedom she had accidentally killed them both with magic. It's more believable. Imagine if you were uncollared and suddenly had more magic than before and the absolute freedom to use it. An accident is very likely. But looking at this old report and thinking of the disappearances now. Something doesn't feel right."


Bella stood, rubbing her forehead. "We are heading home. I want Mayumi with us as well." She dialed her home phone to see if Mayumi was up and ready.


@Cthulhu

 

[evephy]

​

xxxxx"The Mages who are left behind. Something is not quite right with them anymore. They speak of seeing things in the dark. Of monsters and... They all lost their minds." The creepy information that Brendan had provided her with wasn't something new to her ears. She had heard of things like this, but she had expected Janine's mage to have been at least assigned a new knight. She was a useful one. The loss of guidance must have been too much of a shock to her... But that couldn't be right. Especially if there were so many mages losing their sanity with every knight that disappeared. "Thanks." she said. As Krista walked, she constantly opened and closed the folder, as if some new information would be presented to her if she did so. No luck.


xxxxxWith a frustrated sigh, Krista snapped the folder shut one last time before digging in her pocket for her own phone and dialing a number. A few seconds past as she waited for Drake to pick up. When he did, Krista's ears were met with more scolding from what had happened earlier today. She pulled the phone away to avoid becoming deaf in one year and talked over him. "Draaake! My man!" She greeted cheerily. "Listen, I know you hate me and all right now, but I need you to do me a quick favor." Drake replied with a few far less than kind words, but didn't object. "Great, can you send me the address to where that place you guys have been keeping the collared mages? I need to chat with, uh..." Krista paused, looking through the files for at least the hundredth time today. "Natalie Kemp... Yeah, Janine's mage." A few long seconds of silence went by until her notification ringtone informed her that he had sent it to her. "Awesome, I'll treat you to some high quality fast food later to make up for today, alright? Bye."


xxxxxKrista tapped the, "End Call" button on the screen, and tapped on the address that Drake had sent her. Her GPS opened up quickly and immediately directed her to where she needed to go. Lucky for them, it was within walking distance. "Well, Brendan. Looks like we'll be meeting some of your friends." She told the boy. "I hope you don't mind walking." With that, Krista put her hands in her pockets and walked on. She was silent the majority of the time with the exception of an occasional friendly greeting to a person she knew or just a simple yawn, as she did still feel a bit tired from when her nap was cut short not too long ago.


xxxxx"Aha, here we go." Krista pushed the door to a building open, holding it just long enough for Brendan to walk through before allowing it to close. The room appeared to look like a living room. In fact, the whole house could easily serve as a larger family's home. Of course, this was to be expected. Since all the missing knight cases were rather recent, the government probably hadn't expected so many mages to go bonkers without an explanation. This place was probably just hastily slapped together when they realized that had no place to put them. Krista walked up to what appeared to be the front desk. "Is Natalie Kemp here?" She asked the woman, who wordlessly typed the Natalie's name onto the computer. "Reason for visiting?" She asked. "Just want to talk with her. Her owner was a friend of mine." Krista stated. It was plain to the woman that she was there for an investigation without any warrant or license, but frankly, she didn't care enough about the mages to stop her.


xxxxx"Second floor, first room to your left." Krista nodded, offering a polite smile before beckoning for Brendan to follow her. "Say, I'm sure you had other knights before me." She mentioned, turning a corner and heading up the stairs. "Ever wonder why you didn't lose your head?" She asked.