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The soul knows more...



Cyrissa looked over to her team as she felt them get ready for what probably was going to be a long battle for them. But she knew that the real danger, whatever it actually was, wasn't nearing them. In fact it was moving away from them, going towards the vault.

Her grey eyes widened and swirled with anxiety as she slipped away from them. The items in that area were much too sacred, much too ancient, and much too old for them to fall into anyone's hands. It was bad enough that this government agency had them to begin with.











With a crash and crackle of lightning William appeared outside the door step of the Bureau. He'd been here many a time without them knowing but this time was going to be different. "It seems that Heir Kroenen fulfilled his part of the deal.", said William as he walked towards the door. He placed his foot over the door step and as he did runes etched into the door slowly glowed and subsided. "Marcus.", he called out as he suddenly stopped. From the moonlit shadow of a tree behind him appeared Marcus in a gale of leaves, crouching over with a worried look on his face.

"Get the door.", said William with a smug look on his face. Marcus scurried over towards the door, opening it without once looking William in the eye. William strolled through the door with an arrogant smile on his face as Marcus followed behind him. "Hey you two!! What are you doing here?!", said one of the men guarding the door. He and the man sitting next to him drew their weapons, poised to take out William and Marcus with one shot. William smiled before saying, "Marcus, detain them." With those words Marcus's eyes began to glow white as the winds from behind him surged through the door way and wrapped around the two guards, encasing them in a vortex of wind that canceled out all air and sound.

Marcus released control and the two men hit the ground, their lives extinguished. "Good boy.", said William as he began to hover over them. He hovered into the main hall of the Bureau, stopping as he felt a familiar spirit. "....What is that?", he said as he hovered above the ground. It was a witchling but a witchling he had felt before.





The soul knows more...



Her hand stilled as she drew in a deep breath. Her blood glowed around her in the circle she had painted. Blood magic, as old as time and more powerful than anything else she could have tried at the time. It glowed around her because of the energy she was slowly getting back, and because of the fact that she was concentrating her blood almost looked silver and gold.

"By fire, earth, wind, water, spirit, project a barrier. By fire, earth, wind, water, spirit, project a barrier. By fire, earth, wind, water, spirit project a barrier. Fire, earth, wind, water, spirit," she chanted, repeating the elements over and over again after that in a lyrical sort of way in the back of her throat.

Slowly the energy from her blood, and the seeping wound still on her right hand, rose up as thought a sliding door slowly came from the ground up. It was the same color as the energy in her blood with crimson swirls in it to signal that it had, indeed, been made from her blood.

So she sat in the middle of the ring as the circle slowly rose all the way to the ceiling and slowly started to expand it's diameter -expending the circumference with it.










"Hmm? What's this?", said William as he felt an ancient and powerful spell begin to take affect. He felt himself slowly drifting backwards through the air, being pulled by a powerful force. "Magic barriers? Damn it!! If I had my staff this would be no problem.", said William as he dropped to the ground and stopped floating. He fought back the force of the pull coming from the barrier as he called out to Marcus, "Quickly now Marcus, here."

Marcus ran over to him with a start, fighting against the barrier out of sheer fear. "Place you're hands on me.", said William and at once he followed his order. William closed his eyes and opened them at once, them glowing a vibrant red. He began to chant, "Of Earth, Air, and Aether. I cleanse this place. Of Earth, Air, and Aether I remove this spell. Of Earth, Air, and Aether I enforce my will." That was the true reason he kept Marcus around. Not only did he have an affinity for Wind magic he also had a slight hint of Earth magic buried in his core. So deep it could only be grasped by a full fledged witchbreed.

From where he stood a field of light began to emanate, visible to all possessed the gift. The light began to grow stronger as he began to force out his will, draining Marcus of his magic with each spike in power. "So they have a witch as well? Quite a skilled one at that. But can they dispel a three quarter incantation spell, one that attacks the ground, ceiling, and air around us?", said William as he forced more of his will into it.





The soul knows more...



"--wind," her voice almost cut off with the incantation when she felt the pressure of another being's magic press against her body.

It wanted to chock the air she had to draw into her lungs, it wanted to crack the ground where she stood and she could even feel the slightest tug on her soul. But luckily her Spirit Magic was stronger than any of her others...unfortunately she still needed a place to caste and air to breath no matter if she was human or not.

"e-earth, wind, water, spirit..." she continued to chant despite the throbbing of her hands and the burning of her lungs.

She could feel her barrier quivering, shivering as it wanted to submit. Her human body felt exhausted from all the pressure that was being applied to her. She wanted nothing more than to let the spell go, to let it break but she couldn't. Cyrissa may not have given herself enough to figure out whom it was that came for the items of old but she couldn't give them to them. After all no Child of Avalon, aside from it's Leaders, were meant to possess the Staffs and Veils of the Elements.

Besides the Spirit Veil was hers and she was rather possessive.










"I will not be denied what is rightfully mine!!", exclaimed William as he began to walk against the barrier, exerting more and more force. He was starting to get angry, a good thing for someone who's magics share the same nature as his. The more and more he grew impatient and childish the more and more his emotion fueled his power. This was the essence of Aether based magic, gathering power from around and within.

As he began to exert more and more force he felt a familiar twinge as he began to engulf the building in his Aether magic. This adversary's magic was far too familiar but he just couldn't tell where from. He began to seek out it's source, slowly penetrating the veil of magic. Marcus trailed behind, trying his best to keep up in both speed and magic power.







The soul knows more...



She cut off as a wave of dizziness hit her. So much power, so very much power around her. Enough energy to keep him far away was around her that she could use and bend if only she wasn't human. But as it was she could use a little of it to bind her spell stronger. She could use this opponent's energy against him.

And then she visibly stopped. This energy had to be on the same point as hers if she could use it but it definitely held the masculine edge.

Her body shivered at the thought. That definitely narrowed down the suspects. But the real question was: should he get the item back anyways? And another would have to be: How much had her old Leading Partner changed in the centuries they'd been apart?

Just in case she kept the spell up. She noticed that the blood on the floor was almost gone so she slit her other hand and started to reapply it quickly. She had to do her best to guard it. If he couldn't get through a simple blood barrier spell than he didn't deserve the Staff.

"Fire, earth, wind, water, spirit...fire, earth, wind, water, spirit..."










He could feel the barrier getting stronger and stronger as he began to grow irritated. This magic was far more feeble than his but much more complex. This didn't matter to him. He came for one thing and one thing only but now he was after two things. His staff and now the heart of this witch. He closed his eyes and began to talk slowly, "Let go of me Marcus and step away." "B-but sir!", said Marcus in a worried tone. "I said...get your hands off of me and get away.", said William in a grim tone.

Marcus let go of William and stepped away as far as he could. Williams eyes began to grow darker as a black energy swirled around him. His anger was on edge as he spoke, echoing through the Bureau saying, "I am done playing games with you little witch. You know not who you trifle with but tonight....tonight I shall show you. I shall show you the darkness of which you fear. Your immortal lord!!" The darkness swirled around him and then shot forth, searching out the witch who defied him. "I shall feast on your soul tonight!!", he exclaimed.





The soul knows more...


The words echoed through all the way to her. Cyrissa shivered lightly; her educated guess had indeed been right. Unless he had a son that took more after him than that was indeed the same person she had known many times ago.

"Pull my soul from my body and you will have one angry Lady on your case."

She looked down to the ground as she sent her message mentally across the waves of magic that seeped from him like oxygen from a tree. Her vision wanted to dance before her eyes because of her lack of internal energy and the blood that she was still loosing to the bowl in front of her. At least this way they could transfer the unused blood back into the body because the bowl had been sterilized just before she used it.










William smiled as he heard the message. He chuckled a bit as he stood up right and return his own message, "You cocky little tart. Fine then, I'll show you the power of your elder." He began to walk, dispelling her barrier with one final show of magical force. "Frightened are we? Confused? My dear, i've touched your soul and that's all it took. Your barrier has the power to expel foreign magics but what happens when I steal a piece of your essence? A simple dispelling that's what.", he sent to her in a mental note.

"And now I know exactly where you are.", he said as he hovered once more in search of the witch. It was strange to him, her magic seemed familiar, her soul familiar but something was...different. This soul wasn't nearly as strong as the one he knew and he could smell human in the witch's blood.

"Where are you my dear? I wish to see the witch who would trifle with her lord.", said William as he followed the trail of magic back to it's source. "I can smell your blood, tainted with the mark of humanity. You should applaud yourself for making it this far but now...your time is up.", said William as he neared Cyrissa's location.





The soul knows more...



Cyrissa blinked as she felt her spell crumble. She had somehow known it would happen when her suspicions were confirmed but she had hoped that he would be deterred. She should have known better. He never was one to give up on what he wanted. And it was beyond obvious that he wanted what was his back. Oh, and probably her heart of a silver platter at the moment.

But if he did intend to rip the heart of her newer body then she would still have time to jump out of it. And that in itself would be a mistake on the part of her enemy. If he made an attempt on her soul than she would do the same in turn to him.

After all the only thing holding back her stronger magic was the skin she wore now. Although it would be much harder to gain a body if she couldn't get that piece of her spirit back from him.

"Follow your own piece of fleeing spirit..."

A very bold move, a dangerous one, on her part to have reached into him and taken enough to compensate for what he took from her. But it had to be done. Besides he'd left himself open for an Equal Exchange and he should have known the consequences of weaving a thread between the two of them.














The look on William's face grew more and more exaggerated as he felt a piece of himself being chipped away. It was quite a feet for a witchling to achieve and he relished the thought of taking her for his own. Her power was great, complex, and beautiful. It was something he longed to see since his days as king. "Take all you want, just be careful...you might like it too much!!!", he sent to her.

William's face lit up as he had finally found her, blood and all. A twisted smile began to grow on his face as he stood in her presence. True her magic was familiar but her appearance struck a nerve deep inside of him. She had looked like his lost love, something that made the smile on his face slowly fade into a somber look. He hovered over to her with a concerned look on his face as he began to speak, "So little one, you were the one who tried so hard to deter my entrance. Why?" His anger had began to dissolve into sadness and nostalgia. He no longer wanted her soul. He wanted her.





The soul knows more...



Cyrissa's breath almost caught in her throat as she heard the doors first open up. The time had come so swiftly but perhaps that was for the better. That way she didn't have to waste anymore energy than was necessary. After all, past partner or no, she couldn't let the items fall into another person's hands before it was time.

'And the time is almost upon us...' Cyrissa thought as she heard him ask her a question.

She looked up at him calmly. He could no more destroy her than she could him, things just weren't done that way and they never had been before. She could almost feel her eyes swirling a light silver -the only thing missing from them compared to her original eyes was the hint of gold that seemed to tint them yellow.

"Power is earned and forged over time...patience is a key value to the build of magic and life."










Williams feet tapped the ground as he heard these words. They reminded him of something his Titania had told him long long ago. She was a wise woman, something that came with the role of a queen. She was wise but he felt he didn't have time for these wise words. He had came for one singular purpose and he needed to fulfill that goal if he were to be king again. He couldn't run the risk of something happening to his staff while out of his possession.

"I am sorry my child but I must have what I came here for.", said William as he swung one of his hands up as he said, "I won't kill for memory of my dear dear Queen but I must not be deterred, the witching hour nears and I need my power, all of my power." With those words the energy from his body swirled around his arm, jutting out and wrapping around Cyrissa. He didn't want to harm her but he just had to get a hold of what he lost.





The soul knows more...



Cyrissa gasped as the energy enveloped her. She could feel it slither against her skin like an old friend despite the fact that it had never touched this body of hers. At first it had tried to pin her to the ground as though to hold her down and submissive. But she felt her blood heating at that.

She would not be held down.

And that's when it had seemed to recognize her as an old friend. It wrapped around her, holding her to one area true but not to the ground. His magic would do the end he wished to see but it would not go completely against hers either. Just as her magic couldn't go against his when she didn't have the human energy of the body she resided in to back it up. But even if she could somewhat go against him now...she didn't have the energy she would when she completely the transformation.

But still she pulled herself back up to her feet and took a deep breath. She licked her lips nervously and let out a puff of warm air. A magic so deep she hadn't used in a very long time rose to the surface, giving her skin a glow unnatural for a human.

She could feel herself rising a little in the air, her vibrant red hair fanning around her. If he wanted to play, then she'd play.

And so she slammed the iron cast it was in closed with a force of energy from her mind.

"Binding ropes used to bind more than promises," were her words to him.










Try as he might his magic would not do harm to her. He tried to subdue her but to no avail. She was something he hadn't seen in his lifetime, something that excited him to no avail. He wrestled her for a bit for giving in...he did not like giving in. His ego was far to great for a feat such as that.

He stepped back a bit, trying his best to hold back his anger. He did not wish to harm her but if she wanted it that way he was going to do it that way.

"I implore you to stop and come to your senses dear child. You trifle with magics you've probably only dreamed of.", he said as his eyes began to glow with ferocity. His skin began to glow a sickening shade of blood red as he began to draw in the energy around him and within him. He focused his magics and launched it forward, releasing his energy in a shock wave while saying, "I shall have what is mine!!"





The soul knows more...




Her eyes widened as she hovered in the air. She couldn't block that, she was already depleted. She couldn't even shield herself. The best she could do was separate her spirit from her body for a very short amount of time so the body wouldn't take too much damage.

And so she did and she felt herself fall and hit the floor just as she felt both waves of pain. One that was past her soul and one that scorched her chosen physical body. That was the drawback of bringing one's spirit out of the body without cutting the ties completely -both sensations would be felt.

So she gasped in pain as her spirit hung in the air before she slowly drifted down to her human body. She had let her soul take the brunt force of the attack so her actual body wouldn't be effected. But at the cost that she was completely and utterly drained.

'I doubt I can even stand...' Cyrissa thought with a wince as she drew in a shaky breath from her spot on the ground.











"WHAT?!", exclaimed William as Cyrissa's soul exited her body. For a glimpse he saw it and then it all began to make sense. That soul he had bonded with in the past had now returned. He had found her, his Titania. He panicked, losing his nerve and his resolve. All at once the determination to get his staff back had crumbled into confusion and pain as he watched the soul return to it's body.

"My Queen? What treachery is this?!", he exclaimed as the magic's ferocity inside him waned. He felt so alone in the world and yet deep inside of him was a voice telling him he should not care. He a king without a throne. A king without a people. And now, a king without a Queen.

He stood to his feet, removing the glamour and revealing his true face saying, "I know you, once and for all. I've seen your soul after so many centuries, yet I did not expect to see it in such a deceitful body. What have you done?"





The soul knows more...



"Give...me...a moment...to catch my...wind..." Cyrissa said slowly as she blinked heavily from her prone body.

She took in a few deep breath as she tried to collect her thoughts. Getting ones soul hit with a wave of energy just as strong as what one had was never a quickly vanishing feeling. It left her body in a tingle, as though her whole body had tried to fall asleep. But it had been so much more than that. Even if she had only been out of her body for a few seconds the physically body had started to die. After all without energy to keep the heart beating and the blood flowing a body could no more survive than a promise in a world of deceit.

"I have done nothing but that which you should have as well," she said in a slow tone. "The lesson was for humanity...but how can one learn to be a human if they are not one themselves? How can one learn if they are not willing to change?"











"I have seen the error of our judgment. Humanity is nothing more than a joke. Their avarice, ignorance, and weak spirits shall be their downfall. Is this what you for our people? My queen, what has become of you?", said Oberon as retracted his wings.

His queens words had seemed like madness to him. He who had seen just how dark and greedy humanity was knew all to well this wasn't the path he had want his people to go. "Your spirit, they have corrupted you to the core. For you to disobey your king, defy my ruling and deter my path is a crime punishable by death. But....I cannot and will not be the one to lay a hand on you. You, though in a different form, are my queen and will always be my queen. Join me, help me take back our people. And if you wish it, we shall use our power to change humanity, make them over into what we want.", said Oberon as he reached out to his Queen, a mysterious light emanating from his body.





The soul knows more...



"Queen?" Cyrissa questioned as she continued to let her body recover while she simply moved to lay on her back instead.

She stared up at the ceiling instead of to his extended hand. She hadn't the energy or will to push her tired body up even if she wanted to. He offered something he could not give. He offered a world that could never be. A world without humans? That would be like saying there would be a world without magic. Humans were just one of the many people that contributed to magic while taking barely any back in return.

"You can no more kill me than I you," she spoke out in a whisper. "You know as well as I that when our race is bound as Leading Partners, one can not kill the other without fearing death themselves."










"Humanity is nothing but an eyesore.", said Oberon with a dark conviction. He had thought about this time and time again but no matter what she told him he would not be swayed. His heart and mind were both made up and he believed himself right above all else.

"My Queen, there is no need for them in the world I wish to create.", he began, a twisted smile on his face as he said, "I have found a way to provide us more magic than these mere humans could ever muster." His smile began to grow more and more twisted and dark as his eyes grew wider. He continued, his voice losing it's sanity, "There is far more power in death. Power you would have never dreamed of before. You have no idea how fulfilling it is to suck the fresh soul from the corpse of a dying child. It's invigorating and priceless. But you soon shall know, you all shall know. And if you don't agree with me I shall take a new queen!!! Ahahahahaha!!"

He swung his arm through the air, releasing the dark magics stored in his body. He had lost it, he was prepared to kill her in his mind but the magics would not allow this. From deep within the Bureau spring to life the staff he seek. Acting with a mind of it's own it leaped to protect the Queen from sure death, it's ancient magics spilling out.





The soul knows more...



She could feel generations of magic protecting her from the person she had once called friend. She knew without a doubt that the world's magic was on her side. Death was only a phrase, a transition, but the death he spoke of was madness. No matter what he said she understood the basic rules of magic more clearly than he. One can not survive without the Other. And while humans were weaker she had seen some lovely things from them.

Love.

Hope.

Friendship.

Courage.

Things that she hadn't really known on her homeland. There were things she hadn’t even felt herself that she had seen other humans show. Their love was so deep when it was true that she could feel the magic of human bodies spring to life as they fueled the cycle all the more. Their mortal skin aged so quickly but they were so useful to the world.

Although she would have to say that she did not like the way the air tasted anymore. And the waters that had once ran so true and so blue were all but gone and replaced with chemicals and waste. Humans had their good sides but they also had their evils like everything else.

So she knew that he couldn't go through with his plan. She knew that he would have to be placated.

And so she grabbed the staff that had started to shield her. Strength lapped into her skin as she slowly, weakly stood up. While the instrument wasn't meant to be hers she could use it once in a while when the master, the lord of it, was not capable. And at the moment he wasn't.

"Spirit wasn't the only element to rule," Cyrissa spoke up slowly. "But our magic flows through their lines the best. Please, you know the old laws and ways as well as I...why must you try and tear the good away just because there is bad?"











She was right, far beyond right and yet Oberon could not hear her words. Tainted by his years in darkness he had all but lost the heart he once had the king of his people. He now stood before her, a monster. He had spent centuries in the darkness and no matter the soul, no matter how strong you are you eventually give in. He gave in long ago but just wouldn't admit it to himself.

He stood across from his Queen, his birthright in her hands but never once did the thought to take what he came for and depart come to mind. The only thoughts he had were to take her power for his own and use her life as his sustenance. He was becoming more and more monstrous as he let the shadows, the darkness leak from his body.

His mind was a wreck, replaying scenes from his past, his present, and his future. He could no longer distinguish the truth from the lies. "Was she right? Have I just lost my way?", he thought as he slowly relinquished his powers over the darkness, slowly sealing it back into his heart. His head hung low as he returned the glamour to his face. He chuckled before looking up to her and smiling before saying, "I always loved that about you. that will to fight for what you believed is right. One day it will be your downfall my Queen."

He turned his back to her, slowly lifting off the ground and hovering away from her while saying, "Ha, A lost King and a broken Queen. All is lost for our people. It's almost a sick joke." With those words he disappeared from sight and sound, leaving behind what he had come for.