| 1 x 1 | A Prince And His Rebel

[Dunyazade]

"He says that," Light agreed. "But I don't believe him. I know what bad men are like. That wasn't Lulu." He rubbed his face, smearing a little more dirt on it. "I want to see him again, but everyone else seems happy. So I don't know..."

He paused, seeing Asher's distraction, then turned. There was definitely a hand holding onto the wall, and then the owner of the hand appeared. Light blinked, stunned, as a blond leapt over the wall and came hurrying over to them. Before he knew anything, she'd taken his hand.

"What?" Light stared at her. Was she familiar? Maybe he'd seen her before, but... "No, we're not going anywhere with you. Who are you? What do you want?" He tried to pull his hand back.

[Caffeinated Nova]

Asher backed up a little as Summer came closer, but then he remembered who she was - one of the evil king's guards. "Light!" He reached out and grasped Light's other hand, tugging him away from her, but she held on tight.

"Stop it! Listen, I'm not one of the bad guys," she let go of Light's hand, not wanting to frighten him, and quickly crouched down. "Ambrosia sent me."

"Amby?" Asher's face lit up, and he stepped forwards. "Is she alright?"

"No, she's worried sick about you guys!" Summer glanced around, and spotted Toby. She quickly straightened and rushed towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tobias? Tobias, wake up!"

[Dunyazade]

Light blinked at her in surprise. Amby? He hadn't really thought very much about the others, since everyone he really interacted with was here. But he remembered Amby well enough--she was nice, and often let him and Asher fool around in her office or her palace wing. Always wore something red and had a smile on her face. And she was worried about them?

He startled when she went over to Toby. "Wait--" Light went over quickly. "Don't disturb him, he needs to sleep."

Toby shifted on the bench, and blearily cracked open red-stained blue eyes. "Who is it...?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleepiness.

[Caffeinated Nova]

Asher bit his lip guiltily. Amby was worried about them? She was a human, sure, but he knew that she wasn't evil like any of the others. Maybe Erel and Faolan would be able to convince Desmond to let her come here, with the rest of them.

"Tobias!" Summer crouched down in front of him, ignoring Light's protest. "Hey. It's Summer. The kings sent me to find you guys. Wasn't supposed to be a rescue mission until I got backup, but hey ho." She beamed at him, "Are you coming then? Your brother wants to see you, he's going crazy. I can't wait to tell them you're okay!"

As she spoke she pulled out her communicator, fiddling with it.

[Dunyazade]

Toby stared at the blond girl for a few moments, sleepiness still addling his brain. Palace? Brother? "But I don't understand...all my family is here...who...are you...?" The red in his eyes swirled slowly until it had completely swallowed the blue. "You're a...human..."

"Toto," Light gasped. He could feel something bad in the air. He reached out, putting his little hands on Toby's arm. "Toto, be careful--"

"Get away from them!"

Erel burst through the back door. He only had a second or two to react once he'd absorbed the situation. He dashed forward, using his momentum to shove Summer back and away from Toby, then caught Asher and Light by the hands and pulled them next to the bench Toby lay on, standing in front of them all protectively. He had no weapon, no way to defend them all...so he spread out his arms, covering as much of them as possible.

"You leave them alone, you filthy human!" he snapped. "I won't let you hurt them!"

[Caffeinated Nova]

"Wait, Erel-!" Asher cried out, watching as Summer was shoved backwards. She landed in a heap on the icy ground, staring at Erel like he'd gone mad.

"What the hell was that for?" She huffed, getting to he feet and brushing herself down. "Are you crazy? I'm here to help you all. You know, escape from Desmond, the evil guy that's manipulating and hurting everyone? Just... just come with me. Amby can explain it to you." She held out her hand to Erel. "She sent me to look for you. She's worried about you."

[Dunyazade]

Erel glared at the girl. Was she alone? Were other humans coming to back her up? Were they in danger, their home compromised? Would they have to move, to escape? Could he hold her off until Faolan got here? All these thoughts and more raced through his head. He didn't know what he should do in this situation, or if he'd be strong enough to protect everyone.

"Desmond's our family," Erel stated strongly, watching her in case she made a move. "He's the only one who cares about us." He faltered, though, at the mention of Amby. Amby...he'd managed to put her from his mind all this time, unsure of how to process her in this new situation. But...

"She's...worried?" Hesitation flickered in his eyes. Amby was a human, and had freely admitted herself that she manipulated others. But he couldn't help but picture her face, a warm smile, a twinkle in her eye. She'd placed her trust in them, given them keys to leave the wing at will, treated them with dignity and respect, like she saw them as being on her level.

Toby slowly grasped Erel's sleeve to pull himself upright. He peered around Erel's shoulder, half-lidded eyes looking dully at Summer. "She's a human..." he said slowly. "Not to be...trusted..."

[Caffeinated Nova]

"Damn it, who cares if I'm human and you guys aren't? We're all the same, that stuff doesn't matter." She clenched her fists, "I left home because of rubbish like this, people being treated as less than others. So I'm telling you -" she pointed a finger at Erel and Toby, "either of you call me filthy or whatever for being human again, and we'll have a big problem on our hands."


She let out a tight breath, and put her hands on her hips. "Now, I don't know what you've been told by this Desmond b*****d, but he's not a good guy. He's using and manipulating you. He kills people, and rips apart families. He's the one you should hate. Amby sent me here to find you and help you, and I'm not leaving here until I've done that. You don't have to trust me, but trust her. She said you guys were her family, right?"


She held out her hand again. "Please, come with me."


She watched them carefully. Asher glanced between them all, standing close to Erel, but then inched forwards, as if he was about to take her hand. Summer smiled brightly, her shoulders relaxing a little bit - then she froze when she felt something cold pressed against her throat. She knew by now that it was the tip of a blade.



Faolan and Kyoku had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened. He'd met up with Desmond, and one second the room was empty but for them, and the next the blonde-haired man was there with them. Desmond had briefly introduced him - Kyoku Dante - and then they had been sent off to take the intruder prisoner. Just like before, they had been in the building one second, and outside behind Summer the next.

"Hand the communicator to Tobias and put your hands behind your back." He said firmly.

Kyoku had a pair of handcuffs in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He placed the unlit cigarette between his lips, and held up the handcuffs, pointedly not looking at anyone - especially not at Toby.

[Dunyazade]

Light looked from Erel to the girl and back, brow furrowed. Erel seemed to be hesitating, his arms still out but some of the tension gone from his shoulders. Asher seemed to be heading in her direction. Maybe they could just go to the palace for a little bit, explain that everything was all right.

Erel's eyes narrowed. Of course she'd say bad things about Desmond. But...if Amby really was worried about them...he saw Asher move, but didn't stop him yet, trying to think this through.

Then, all of a sudden, Faolan literally appeared behind Summer, a blade to her neck. With him was a strange blond with handcuffs. He started, then stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak--but stopped. Desmond was protecting them, like he'd said he would. Certainly he would get to the bottom of this.

Using Erel's sleeve as leverage, Toby pulled himself upright, red eyes murky like he was still half-asleep. He heard his name and looked towards Summer. Wordlessly, he moved forward, ignoring Erel's startled noise, and closed the distance between them. He held out a hand towards her without speaking.

[Caffeinated Nova]

Summer stiffened, the communicator grasped tightly in her hand. It was obvious that she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She wasn't just going to give up, and she wanted to get these guys out of here.


So, she acted quickly - she slammed the communicator up and backwards into Faolan's face, with enough force to hear a crunch. She spun around as the Hollow faltered, blade falling away from her throat, and brought her leg high into a kick, hitting him in the chest. He stumbled backwards and she had a moment of triumph before Faolan blocked her next hit, grasping her ankle and twisting.


She let out a shriek as his other foot connected with her ankle, pushing her off-balance. She fell onto the floor, the wind knocked out from her and the communicator clattering away across the ground, but quickly snapped her foot up and out of his grip - it connected with his jaw but it barely phased him, and a moment later that blade was pressed to her throat again.


There was blood on Faolan's face from the hits, and there was a startled look in his eyes. She smirked - clearly she'd been too fast for him. Well, men always underestimated her.

Faolan clenched his teeth together, ignoring the sharp pain that radiated through his jaw at the action. He pressed the blade forward, tip just piercing the girl's throat. He felt... ashamed. She had easily gained the upper hand, and he didn't understand how.

"Enough." Kyoku said suddenly. His hand darted out, knocking the blade from Summer's throat. "I'm sorry." He said seriously, crouching down and putting a hand on her arm. The two of them vanished into thin air, leaving Faolan's blade pointed at nothing.

Faolan lowered his gaze and his sword, his shoulders tense. "Are you well?" He asked the others, bending to retrieve the communicator and holding it out for Tobias.

[Dunyazade]

Everything happened so fast that Erel could barely keep up with it. Suddenly Faolan and the girl were fighting, and just as suddenly the unfamiliar blond had intervened, and whisked himself and the intruder away. Erel just stared for a moment, until the sight of blood made him snap out of it. Blood on Faolan's face--

"Faolan!" he gasped, hurrying over. "W-We're fine, of course we're fine. But you're bleeding--" He reached out towards Faolan's face, but stopped at the last minute. What if he caused it to hurt worse?

Toby stared at Faolan, confused and uncertain. His eyes were wide, and completely blue again. "What? I..." Hesitantly, he took the communicator, but didn't seem to know what to do with it, looking lost as his eyes glanced around slowly. "What--what just happened? I thought I saw someone, I...I don't know what's going on..."

[Caffeinated Nova]

"I am..." Faolan sheathed his sword and touched a finger to underneath his nose, which was soaked in blood. He pulled his hand away and stared down at the red, suddenly looking rather pale. How had a human, a woman, bested him so easily? Already he could feel the tender beginnings of a bruise on his jaw, and the throbbing that accompanied the pain in his nose.

He felt his shoulders sag, and then forced himself to stand straight. He had failed. Kyoku had been the one to take the prisoner. If it hadn't been for him then perhaps the woman would have bested him, again.

"I believe you should take Tobias and the children indoors." He said gruffly, stepping back. He inclined his head at Tobias. "Desmond wishes for you to disable the tracker, as you did with the others. Please do this."

[Dunyazade]

Erel watched Faolan's face, his own growing worried. Faolan never had an expression like that, so...defeated. It was all wrong on him.

"Oh..." Toby looked down at the communicator in his hands, and nodded slowly. "Okay..." He turned the device over in his hands and pulled off the cover on the back, slowly growing absorbed in the task.

Erel watched him, then glanced at the children, before turning back to Faolan. "Okay. Go report to Desmond if you're supposed to. And then...then...come see me, okay? I don't like that look on your face." His hand twitched, like it wanted to reach up and touch Faolan, but he held it still. He looked meaningfully at the man for a moment longer, before turning.

"Come on, everyone, let's go inside. We don't know if there was anyone else with her." He put a hand on Toby's shoulder to guide the younger man, and gestured for Asher and Light to head indoors.

[Caffeinated Nova]

Desmond felt Kyoku's hand slide away from his shoulder as they appeared in Arryn. Specifically, in Ambrosia's wing of the palace. From outside he'd been able to see the guards stalking about in timed shifts, hardly an inch of the area unprotected. That was fine, Desmond wasn't exactly going to walk in the front door. At the same time, he needed to make sure that Summer was discovered, that people understood what he was capable of.

He had her held in his arms. She wasn't heavy, but she wasn't very light, either. It was a good job Lucas had enough muscles to pull this off. She was wearing the same clothes that she had been captured in, a blouse that had once been pink pretty, and a pair of white shorts, both items of clothing caked in mud and dust and blood. Her hair was limp, her skin paler than usual. And there were half-healed scars all over her body that looked to have been there for weeks...

But she'd only been missing a day.

Damn, but Kyoku was a handy ally in times like these. He adjusted the girl in his arms to check the timepiece on his wrist. Ten minutes before Kyoku picked him up. Perfect. He hummed a quiet tune under his breath as he walked, careful not to meet any guards.

This would do. It was an empty hallway in Ambrosia's wing of the palace.

"Well, it was fun, darling." He smiled down at the unconscious prisoner, and suddenly let go, dropping her hard onto the floor. She sucked in a pained breath, but otherwise made no move.

"Special delivery!" Desmond called out, rapping his knuckles against the wall. He turned to walk away.

[Dunyazade]

Ambrosia sighed as she leafed slowly through the completed set of paperwork. She'd been done for about twenty minutes, but her mind was wandering. Jori had left a while ago to help Annie and Theo with something, so in order to keep the buddy rule unbroken, Ambrosia had borrowed two guards. They stood quietly at attention on her side of the office door, one of them cleaning his gun.

She put the papers down and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. She really needed to calm herself down. The others were already stressed out enough. They needed someone to be the calm center, and that was supposed to be her. But it was hard to think straight with everything that was going on. Desmond was making his move, and it was diabolical indeed. In one fell swoop he'd decimated their offenses, and stolen their technological advantage. And he wasn't finished yet, that was for sure. Summer had last radioed in that she was hot on a new trail, but that had been hours ago. Ambrosia had started to grow very worried when Summer's comm signal had blinked out. That couldn't be good. But hopefully the girl could hold her own.

Suddenly there was a knock, but not on the door. Ambrosia looked up, startled, and the guards jumped to attention. Her hand moved to the holster at her thigh as she stood. That had sounded like it was on the wall. Ambrosia rose and signaled quickly to the guards, and they nodded. One fell into step behind her as she moved to the door and pulled it open. The other would wait and follow silently, in case there was some sort of trap.

Ambrosia and the guard moved out into the hall. She looked left and right. The knock had come from farther down, around the corner she believed. Ambrosia started forward purposefully, the guard right on her heels. She rounded the corner, and froze.

Summer lay in the hall, looking as though she'd barely survived a grievous battle. Ambrosia moved quickly to her, kneeling, and checked her pulse. She was alive. "Summer?" she said quietly. "What's happened?"

A noise caught her ear, and Ambrosia looked up quickly. A figure was walking away, rounding another corner. She stood, turning to the guard. "Take her to my room," she said.

"But, my lady--"

"At once." Ambrosia left no room for discussion, hurrying after the figure. She saw the guard kneel and carefully lift Summer, as she turned the corner. There was the figure, unmistakably familiar, walking away from her.

"Desmond," she said flatly. "You'd truly leave without paying a visit to a lady? That's not very gentlemanly, now is it."