Alazne
I had just come into base from a mission, with WRider, another Teamster, on my heels, when we heard yelling from the control room. Frowning and fearing the worst, we ran through the base, only to find Snap waving a sheaf of papers about, dancing exultantly in midair.
"I know what it is!" she shouted. "I know what the Tome of Hequat is!"
The noise also brought Alaric, who deftly snatched the papers from her hand and perched on the back of a chair, reading them over with a thoughtful look on his face. They'd been digging for information on the Tome of Hequat ever since rescuing a hostage from the Circle of Thorns a week before.
He glanced up and frowned at Snap, who had come to a hovering halt in front of him, holding out her hand for the return of her papers. "Are you sure this is right?"
"Positive. The Tome of Hequat is a book of magic spells and incantations. No one knows what they do."
"If no ones knows what they do, why would anyone want it?" WRider asked. Obviously he was as confused as I was.
"I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure that book should be in M.A.G.I.'s vault." Snap answered.
"But this fellow in black possesses it, does he not?" Alaric frowned. "The one who stole it from the Circle of Thorns?"
"True." Snap sat down on the table, her forehead wrinkling in concentration. "If we want to find the Tome, we have to find him first..."
The radio clipped to her belt squawked. Catching it up, she spoke into it. "What's up?" A voice on the other end spoke back to her, too quiet for me to hear. "You need me for what?" The voice spoke again, and her frown deepened. "Okay, I'm on my way. Yeah. From the base. No. Okay, I said! Yeah, well, nobody asked you."
She switched the device off and clipped it back onto her belt, then stood up and hovered slightly above the table. "'Razur needs my help...they've got a whole team of people going in to banish Jack and Eochai again. Looks like Dread Omega's going too, so it should be a good time. Keep thinking on this Tome thing-now that we know what it is we just have to figure out how to get it. Laters, taters!"
She flew out into the telepad bay and was gone faster than anyone could say anything.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Snap Play
After I helped 'Razur's team out I decided to head back towards base. I nearly made it, too, when I heard something on the radio that I just had to check out.
"Attention: a group of Circle of Thorns members believed to be in possession of the Tome of Hequat have been spotted entering a cave in Talos Island. Proceed with caution."
I marveled at my luck. Apparently, the man in black didn't have the Tome after all!
I made my way to Talos Island and cleared out the cave, but the Tome wasn't there. Before I tagged the last Agony mage to send him to the Zig, I questioned him about it.
"Have you ever heard of the Tome of Hequat?"
"Yes...it is...powerful..." the man rasped. Years of breathing incense will do that to a person's voice. It probably didn't help that I was sitting on his thin chest.
"Well, where is it? I was told it was here!"
"The Will of Hequat...he has it...he knows you are seeking it...you must...recover it."
I frowned. "Who is this 'Will of Hequat' person, and what does he want with the Tome? And why does it matter so much?"
"The death of...magic..."
At this opportune moment, the man passed out. Sighing, I tagged him to be sent to the Zig, and headed back to base.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Alazne, a few days later
Sometimes being the great-great-great granddaughter of Blackrazur is a real pain. I sighed as we walked into the base, just back from a sparring session. I'd lost, of course, and it wasn't like Uncle had hurt me seriously or anything, but you can only take so much of being knocked around. All I really wanted right now was to go sink into the couch in the lounge and zone out watching T.V. Unfortunately it was apparent from the moment that we entered the base that this was not going to happen.
"..out, I said! Get out, you princely pain in the [censored]!"
"But m'lady, I..."
"I don't care! Get out! Go drink with Puck, go fight some Trolls, go jump off a cliff and forget how to fly, I don't care what you do, get out!"
Uncle managed to stop Snap's tirade-or at least redirect it-with a single sentence. It's amazing that he knows exactly which buttons to push to control her temper.
"You two fight like a married couple already!"
"Over my dead body, you...you...you magical mutt! Do you know what he was doing? Do you have any idea?" Her voice was rising in volume and she was actually hovering near the ceiling, looking down at Uncle. It would have been funnier if I hadn't been in the line of fire. Seeing her fists start glowing, I backed quickly away.
"Uh, no...all I know is I have a headache...you're yelling...not a good combination."
"If I may..."
"No you may not!" Snap yelled in Alaric's general direction. She angled back towards Uncle, working hard to rein in her temper. "He was in my room, going through my books! Without me even there at all! I just now got back from the Midnighter's Club, and was about to sit down with a book, and I find this...this...this pansy of a prince in my room with his nose buried in one of my books! And he did not ask!" She finished on a note of absolute anguish.
I tried to stifle a giggle. You would think that only a serious prank could put Snap into this kind of temper, wouldn't you? She never got this upset when Uncle or Alaric pointed out unintended innuendo in things she said or when Uncle teased her about Alaric, but lay a hand on her books without her permission and she wouldn't need an excuse to kill you.
I can kind of see her point, since many of her personal books are magic books she's been collecting in the hopes that one of them can change her back, but still, it was extremely funny.
Obviously Uncle thought so too. He had no worries about Snap attacking him, so he burst out chuckling. Of course, this infuriated her even more.
"Stop it!" she shrieked, stomping her foot in midair. "You stop laughing, Blackrazur, or so help me..."
"You're just so cute when you're being all angry, Snap..." Uncle shot off between bouts of laughter.
"Aye, that she is!" Alaric agreed. He was hovering slightly off to one side of Snap, probably ready to run if she aimed her anger towards him again. Fortunately for him, it was Uncle who had her seeing red now.
"I am going to kill you!" she shrieked. Lifting her arms over her head, she generated a large ball of the magical energy she uses to blast her enemies, and tossed it down on Uncle's head. There must have been a lot more force in that one than there normally is, because he crumpled to the ground under the force of it.
Alaric raised his eyebrows. "In truth, Snap, you've killed him!"
She glowered for a moment at Uncle's body, then sighed and sank down to floor level. Landing gracefully, she stalked over to his corpse and put out her hands over top of him.
"Get up!" she ordered sternly...and he did, rising fluidly from the floor and grinning down at her.
"Feel better now, do you?" he asked laughingly.
Alaric, behind them, looked a little stunned. I was feeling it myself. I mean we both knew that Uncle was basically immortal, but we'd never actually seen Snap call his soul back to him while he visited the Netherworld. From the way it was done, they'd obviously been through this before.
Snap glared up at him. "No!"
"Ah, yes you do, admit it. You're not even yelling any more." Uncle spun her around to face Alaric. "Go on now, kiss and make up already!"
"Ugh! I'm leaving!" Snap spun and paced towards the portal, then turned back for a second and stabbed her finger in Alaric's direction. "Stay out of my room and away from my books! Use the big library if you want something to read!" Turning back, she disappeared into the base portal.
Uncle turned towards Alaric and quirked an eyebrow. "What of hers were you reading, anyhow? Her diary? 'Cause if it was that it's my turn next."
Alaric held up a book. "This book, which was written fair recently, describes the foul killings of a number of heroes, all of whom had been transformed by magic. It says that all that is known about the killer is that he appears to be interested in magical artifacts, especially those concerning Hequat...and they have never caught the man. I believe he might resurface as the Tome has...and if he does..."
"Then Snap's in danger," Uncle said grimly, his mouth tightening.
"We've got to find her!" I said.
"Tell me something I don't know, Ali. We'll split up. We'll find her."
"Wait!" Alaric dove towards one of the storage racks and produced three handheld radios. "Take these! We should stay in touch, lest any one of us run into trouble alone!"
I reached out and took one of the radios, clipping it to my belt. "Frequency three? It seems clear."
"Agreed. Good idea. Let's go." Uncle said quietly.
Moving as one, we exited the base, each of us taking a different area to start in.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Yikes. Mental note: do NOT piss Snap off.
The Abrams is one of the most effective war machines on the planet. - R. Lee Ermy.
Q: How do you wreck an Abrams?
A: You crash into another one.
All updates to this will now be found here.
And yes, there's a (short) new chapter posted now.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
New chapter...there was another update somewhere in between but I'm sure anyone who's interested will catch up fast.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
The Abrams is one of the most effective war machines on the planet. - R. Lee Ermy.
Q: How do you wreck an Abrams?
A: You crash into another one.
New update...this is the last longish one for a while so expect a lot of short ones to come over the next few days.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
The next two updates were short...so I posted them both at once.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Two new chapters posted, only one left to go!
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
*wait patiently for next(last) chapter*
The last chapter has been posted...more of an epilogue than a chapter, but in any case, Soul Searching is over. ^_^
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Snap Play
"Why are we doing this again?" I muttered to Alaric as we slogged through yet another sewer in search of a hostage taken by the Circle of Thorns. "Why can't these people just carry mace or a taser or something? Why do we have to go creeping along through disgusting sewers, getting slime and gods know what else all over ourselves, just to rescue someone who could not be bothered to defend herself?"
"'Tis the noble thing to do," Alaric pointed out. "And if we did not this, then with what would we spend our time?"
I shot him a Look, one of the ones with a capital L I had perfected on 'Razur months ago. "We would have lives, maybe? Do important things, like save the world? Isn't that what the hero gig is all about, saving the world?"
"And also defending those who cannot do so for themselves. Look, the one we seek is just ahead!"
I grinned. We were behind the group of Circle of Thorns mages, obviously not where they expected us to be. Dr. Sophia Jones was arguing with them, something about how she would never help them and heroes would arrive soon.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alaric draw his bow and pick a target. Good sidekick, I thought to myself, smirking inwardly.
Balling my hands into fists, I summoned the magical energies inherent to my changed form. "One..." I muttered softly.
"Two..." Alaric answered, holding steady.
"Three!" I lobbed a ball of magical energy at the head mage, stunning him, while Alaric had already fired his first shot and was busy drawing on his control of electricity to cage the mages I hadn't stunned. We dodged their attacks, retaliating carefully, and I did my best to heal any minor damage done as fast as I could. Finally, between the two of us, we had downed the group of enemies, and Dr. Jones ran to us.
"Thank goodness you're here!" she said. "Please, let's get out of here!"
Alaric and I were only too happy to comply. We led her back through the labyrinthine maze of tunnels, unsurprised when no ambushes blocked our way. After the decimation we'd rained on the group when we first arrived, we had no doubt they were in full retreat.
As we arrived at the door, Dr. Jones turned to me. "Snap Play, there is something you must know," she said. "A few days ago, this group of Circle of Thorns was attacked by a man in black. He stole an artifact called the Tome of Hequat. I overheard them talking about it-it has some sort of divine power. You may want to check it out."
"Thank you," I said, somewhat warily. You don't usually get good tips from people in sewers or from hostages. Still, I supposed it was my duty to at least consider it.
"You are truly heroes!" Dr. Jones said as she ran out the sewer exit, leaving myself and Alaric to our own devices.
I turned to look at him as we emerged into the sunlight. "You still can't fly, can you?"
He shook his head. "I fear not. However, my Security Level is now thirteen, or will be after I train."
"Fair enough. C'mon, o useless sidekick of mine, I'll teleport you to Valkyrie."
Alaric grinned, responding with a completely innocent face. "Yes, Mistress Snap..."
"You learned that from 'Razur, I know that..." I replied, taking off and heading towards the center of Steel Canyon.