Issue 1 Downtime

Sean had arranged transportation for the group to his home in Birmingham. Though it was only in Birmingham so much as it was within the city limits. As they drove up to the gate they would see what was a fairly large older looking home surrounded by well kept grounds. The only thing was that the grounds looked fairly empty other than a gardener or two.

"Home, sweet home," Sean said.

"Well then, it seems you won't have to apply for a scholarship, Mister Hall." Nailah smirks faintly to diffuse some of the tension.

"Just checking in, or is she still here?"

Sean cracked a slight smile at Nailah's comment.

"It's actually somewhat embarassing," Sean replied before looking at Sam.

"My parents said she would be here when I told them I would be stopping by with some friends," Sean said, "Otherwise her office is here."

"Odd timing."

The car stopped once it was through the gate and Sean stepped out. The gardners bowed slightly upon noticing him.

"Somewhat, but once she was told she didn't need to follow me there hasn't been quite as much for her to do," Sean said, "She's basically my parents steward now."

Victoria, for her part, was quietly keeping track of the odd and disparate facts about their journey. Were they to pass through any subtle convergences with Faerie or Avalon, she'd see it. Crossing ley lines, as well, she was especially wary of, especially watching for any lines she'd found that came out of Transia.

There wasn't anything particularly strange about the trip itself. They didn't cross any ley-lines along the road as they traveled. However, after getting out of the car those magically sensitive could likely feel...something. It was like a subtle blurring of their vision around the edges though Sean himself didn't seem to notice.

Nailah shoots an 'Are you feeling that?' glance at Victoria.

Victoria gave a very subtle nod, flexing her wrist so that the shadow-and-ice bracelet was acessible on it... a nervous habit that she really wasn't conscious of.

Sean lead them from the entryway into a large main room. The feeling that Victoria and Nailah were having seemed to stop abruptly as they stepped into the house. However, aside from the man who'd opened the door the house was eerily quiet.

"So much peace and quiet," Sean said wryly.

"More than you'd think..." Nailah mumbles to herself, keeping her eyes open for any sgns of wards placed around the house.

The silence was broken by the opening of a door upstairs and creaking floor boards. A middle aged woman in a suit with short blond hair began walking down the steps. She looked at Sean and smiled though it didn't reach her eyes which were busy analyzing each of the other members of the group in turn.

"When you said you were bringing friends I had thought you meant more than one that was your age. Not your Headmistress and a Professor," the woman said as she walked down the steps.

"Friends aren't chosen for their age, Elizabeth," Sean said trying to return the smile.

This this Elizabeth's smile was genuine as she eventually moved to stand across from the group.

"Is that really how you're going to greet me after this long, Sean? With a half-hearted smile?"Elizabeth asked.

Sean hesitated for a moment before moving the few steps towards Elizabeth and they embraced. McManus would likely be the one who felt the danger before the others as a sudden surge of emotion from Elizabeth.

"Get behind me, now," Elizabeth said quietly to Sean as she moved between him and the group.

"Wai-"

That was when magic was pulled out of the room violently creating something of a null zone. Victoria's bracelet would suddenly feel as if it weighed more than it should.

Ms. McManus winced, gritting her teeth.

"What... why are you doing this?"

Nailah just stands there. This was either a mistake or some kind of test. Either way she doesn't particularly feel like playing.

"Caution," Elizabeth said, "Two unknown wielders of magic stepping into this house with Sean leads to some rather dangerous possibilities."
"Eliza-"

"Not now, Sean."

"I'll have you know," Victoria said, in a completely nonthreatening voice, "That while I might have come here completely peaceably, you're threatening that demeanor at the moment. I'd highly advise against testing us, I don't take well to threats from allies of Darkholders." She glanced at Nailah, curious to see her reaction, but her hand was slipping into her purse.

"Don't..." She said to Victoria.

"We're not here to fight her, or to hurt him."

"Of course not. However, what she's just done is at least a slap in the face, and most commonly a very open and real threat. So if she's not someone who wants to fight us, she's going to not offer any violence when I undo that binding, and she's going to take my lack of retaliation as a sign of the same."

"We did not come here to engage in petty power-plays, Victoria."

This is going to be a long day, Victoria thought, knowing that if she backed down and let this insult stand, her Mistress would be rather displeased.

Elizabeth cracked a slight smile at what Victoria said.

"You make some rather bold accusations, child," Elizabeth said, "I do not trust you an-"

"Elizabeth, please," Sean said.

"And he trusts too easily. I think you are at least somewhat aw-"

"I remem-"

Elizabeth actually sighed when she grasped what Sean had said. Magic began to return to the area though Elizabeth did not appear to relax.

"Aware of why I would be wanting to keep you bound without access to magic, but his current condition changes things somewhat."

"Protocol and ettiquette," Victoria said with a little shrug and a polite smile as her hand was removed from the bag. "We all have our own bindings and expectations." Which was as close to a metaphysical 'no hard feelings' as she could offer.

"I was not given this task because I was a stickler for protocol or etiquette," Elizabeth said, "I was chosen because I could keep him hidden while he was young."

"Chosen by his adopted parents?" She asked, quirking a brow.

"His adopted parents were chosen by the same group that chose me to watch," Elizabeth said.

Sean's face darkened at that announcement.

"Let's pretend for a moment that we've worked out just enough of the story that cryptic statements like that will make us start to feel jumpy, and work from there."

"Humans are ever so impatient," Elizabeth said.

"Wh-"

"At the very least when it comes to this your paranoia is well founded," Elizabeth said, "The murder of innocent children is not something the Vishanti condone though in Sean's case they had seriously considered it. Instead Oshtur chose me from among her agents to watch him and to hide him."

"And you decided the best way to deal with this was pretend it never happened and hope it goes away." she says, trying not to show any signs of that name-drop getting to her.

"It was decided that so long as the spell his family put in place stayed in place and I was able to keep the Darkholders from finding him there was no threat," Elizabeth said, "Unfortunately the spell has failed or been broken so now a different approach will need to be taken."

"The spell was harming him, driving him mad."

"And things were being drawn in before it was broken."

Elizabeth looked somewhat concerned.

"The spell was stable before he left to attend your university. I had hoped that I could check on its integrity during holidays," Elizabeth said, "For my part I did what I was tasked with and continued to track the movements of the Darkholders from here and to keep the ritual site secured."

"But that no longer matters if he has awakened. Chthon's agents will seek him in earnest if they discover he is alive. In time others may also try to calim him though not while the Chthon's touch still lingers."

Victoria, for her part, didn't seem inclined to interject, her own reflections on this and various other things occupying her mind too much.

"He's that valuable?"

"Value is relative," Elizabeth said, "To an extra dimensional entity like Chthon, Set, and others he is quite valuable. When one of those entities desires to come into our dimension they require a host and the majority of their power cannot come with them. However, those rules do not apply to somebody like Sean. An entity could bring themselves fully into this dimension by using him as a host."

"Why not? A blood ritual wouldn't open him to them that much."

"It would open him enough," Victoria put in. "For the rest, all they would need to do is sucker him into doing the rest of the work for him. And there are ways for that. Doing things like teaching him that magic is harmless and that curiosity doesn't have repercussions can help," she added mildly.

"The ritual served the dual purpose of creating a stable pathway from Chthon's prison to Sean and also as you said creating an opening," Elizabeth said, "The Vishanti were unfortunately late in intervening in what happened to Sean and his family, so I can say little about Sean's early education in magic or his parents motivations. Perhaps they fell from grace and did not deserve the gift they were given? Perhaps they were coerced into something they did not understand? Those were questions that I could not find answers to after the Darkholders had been scattered to the winds."

"But you should not judge who they were based on the broken memories of a child. As for his current level of education one would hope his blood would tell. I was forbidden from teaching him, so instead I watched and made sure he did not try something completely unsafe. Perhaps they will lift that ban now that he has awoken."