#(surely a chronomancer could do it faster)

[jq37]

neme(sis)

Summary: The Rat Grinders actually fight the Bad Kids on the Hangman instead of just sending dragons and Adaine has to do some quick thinking.

"Adaine Abernant."

Adaine winced, clutching her head as Raulothim's Psychic Lance pierced her mind. It figured Oisin knew the spell. Raulothim was a dragon after all. She wondered if he learned it in class like her or if he'd come to school already familiar with the spell because of his dragon ancestor who was currently trying to swallow Gorgug, axe and all. She didn't wonder for too long though. There wasn't time.

"See what you can do with access to proper spell components?" Oisin called from the other side of the room, his tone mocking.

"That spell doesn't even have material components!" Adaine called back in spite of herself. Insulting her was one thing but getting basic spellcraft wrong while doing it? Unacceptable. She ignored his expression, smug from getting a rise out of her no doubt, and surveyed the battlefield. The Rat Grinders had caught them on their back foot. Things were going OK but they were playing defense. And no one was where they needed to be. Spellcasters too close to melee, fighters out of range. Only Gorgug was arguably in the right place but he was far too close to being dragon food for her liking. Fabian needed to be closer to the action, Riz needed cover, and she…

Adaine suppressed a smile, idea forming in her mind. She needed to be in punching distance.

"Scatter," she said, raising a hand. Five creatures: Gorgug, Riz, Fabian, Kristen…and Oisin.

Her party members didn't fight the spell, well used to the feeling of her magic working on them mid-battle and knowing that it never meant harm. As she moved them to more advantageous positions, she was hit with a flash of the future: Oisin resisting the spell. She reached out and nudged fate just a bit. Nearby, Ivy walked dangerously close to a breath weapon attack. Oisin startled, moved to grab her, and--pop. Suddenly, he was standing right next to Adaine who was already rearing her fist.

"Counterspell!" Oisin called, runes on his forearms glowing. The expression on his face was even more smug as the blue energy charging on her fist fizzled.

"Predictable," he said.

"Gullible," Adaine thought, halting her fist without following through on the punch and stomping her foot on the ground to activate the teleportation circle they were both now standing on. Because of course the boy with the empty house and unlimited funds would have a teleportation circle installed so he could have his friends over as often as possible. Teleportation via spell needed a willing creature but a Circle? That just needed proximity.

As the spell went off, she concentrated. The benefit of a teleportation circle was that it couldn't go wrong like a normal Teleport spell could. It wasn't supposed to anyway. But any magic could be tweaked if you pushed hard enough. She remembered winding up in the wrong room in the twisted version of Mordred inside Riz's briefcase and concentrated on that feeling. She was sure she was going to have a headache in the morning but that was more than a fair price. She wrenched control of the spell, just enough to force the circle to spit them out a little bit outside of the paired circle in Mordred. There was a flash of light and--forget having a headache tomorrow. Her head felt like it had been bashed in with a pickaxe the moment they landed on the floor of her bedroom. She didn't think she'd be able to get back up for a minute or two--she didn't even try. Oisin didn't seem to have that problem though. He got up and stood over her.

He smirked. "I thought the elven oracle was supposed to be more of a challenge. I knew we'd come out on top but I didn't think it'd be so easy." He raised his hands, readying a spell, but the sparks at his clawtips died as quickly as they were produced. He tried the spell again to the same result, too focused to notice the sudden subtle sheen to the patterns painted on her bedroom walls.

A Sending spell pinged in her mind. "Ten seconds, dear sister."

A smile played on Adaine's lips.

"What?" Oisin demanded.

"Just that you all have been so obsessed with being our nemeses this whole time. But that was never gonna happen with you and me. That position is already filled."

There was another flash of light and before it even cleared, Adaine felt the tingle of magic settling over her like a second skin. Her sister's abjurer's ward extending to cover her reflexively. Just beyond the ward, she could feel the temperature in the room start to drop--a side effect of the Cone of Cold that was about to erupt from Aelwyn's outstretched hands.

"You're familiar with my bitch of a sister, right?"

[chronomancer-aiden]

“She’s been what?!”

“Poisoned.  Are you going to have me repeat it to you another fifty times, Phil?”

“But...  And neither of ya has reported this to Veritas?!”  Phil’s alarmed voice matched his nervous tugging of his lab coat’s collar.

“No time,”  Aiden shrugged, keeping calm in spite of the inner turmoil he felt, a potent combination of wrath and anxiety that, if he wasn’t careful, could very well cripple his judgment.  “Besides, this isn’t a Collective concern.  Now, can you do it?  Or do I need to find another lab technician...?”

Phil sighed, adjusting his spectacles as he suspiciously eyeballed the succulent chocolate truffle resting on a petri dish.  The delectable confection looked more inviting than threatening, but perhaps it was why it’d been so successful at luring Coralie to her near death.  Or so was the theory. 

After all, the name of the shop was Death by Chocolat.

“Fine, I’ll do it.  But this goes off the record.  I can’t use our lab’s resources on anything that isn’t Collective-related.  And since you’ve not reported it...”

Aiden rolled those deep-set, dark jade eyes, “I know the drill, Phil.  I don’t want it on record any more than you.  Now, please, get to it.  Clock’s ticking.”

“Alright, alright!  I’ll get to work.   And....do me a favor, will ya?  Don’t do that pacing around you do sometimes when you’re impatient or waiting for something from me.  It ain’t gonna make my research go any faster, and it’ll just distract me.”

At some point, during the hours he waited for lab results, Aiden dozed off.  Given the recent recurrent nightmares, the man barely caught much sleep these days.  But the lab technician’s soft chuckles woke him from delving too deep into dreamland.  

“What?  What is it?”  Aiden rubbed his eyes, lazily stretching after feeling certain aches from his uncomfortable napping position.  “Did you find out what poison she used?”

Phil chuckled again, “Poison?  What poison?”

The lab technician glanced up at Aiden, then unceremoniously proceeded to pop half a chocolate truffle in his mouth, chewing the morsel with a satisfied smirk, much to Aiden’s chagrin.

“Phil! WHAT the fuck!?  That’s evidence!”

“Yep!  Evidence of how delicious this chocolatier’s recipe is.  You have to try these if you haven’t, Aiden, they’re incredible.  Do let me know whe---”

Grabbed by the collar, a startled Phil found himself slammed against a test tube shelf as Aiden angrily Blinked in front of him and violently assaulted the unsuspecting nerd.

“WHAT are you -DOING-?!  WHAT did you find??”

“AIDEN!  Ch-chill the fuck out!”  Phil gasped, making a few gagging noises.  “IT’S not....P--p....--”

Coming to his senses, and drawing in a deep breath, the chronomancer relaxed his balled up hands, slowly releasing his hold of the scientist’s collar, “I....sorry, man.  I’m...yeah, I’m a bit on edge.   But what the fuck are you doing, those are the chocolates poisoning Coralie for fuck’s sake.”

Phil stepped aside, coughing a few times as he straightened his coat, “Godsdamnit, Aiden!  On edge, I’d say! Control your damn temper in here, you could’ve knocked down important research.”

“I said I’m sorry, I’ll....yeah...”   He paced around a few times, doing his best to cool off and reaching for his silver cigarette case.

“Hey, no smoking in the lab.”  Phil warned, but then waved a dismissive hand.  “Eh, what the heck, just don’t blow it in the direction of where the microscopes are.   And look, as for the chocolates, there was nothing out of the ordinary beyond your usual ingredients to make chocolate, plus some other nontoxic stuff I can only assume are part of that woman’s secret ingredients to make them so damn tasty.  Addictive even.  I want another one.  Got any more?”

Aiden lofted a thick brow at that, ignoring the technician’s request, “You sure?  You double checked?”

Phil nodded, “Double checked, triple checked.  Cross-checked with all our known toxins, even had my ‘friend’ at the Coven apothecary check out a questionable substance.  Turned out to be some rare sugar blend.   Listen, I don’t know what’s poisoning Cora, but it ain’t those chocolates.  You owe Miss Veda an apology for calling her one more future dead bitch.”

“I didn’t call her that to her face.”

“But you know what I mean.  Anyway, if you don’t mind, I got work to do.  And tell Cora I said hi, tell her I wish she gets well soon. Did ya ever ask her if she had a sister?  I told ya to ask her for me.”

He’d go to Cora soon enough, and relay the greeting.  

But first, a pit stop.  

“I”m not done with you yet, Miss Veda...”

(( @lipstickmirage @death-by-chocolat ))