The Coming Of New Days (part 4)
Jan. 29th, 2003 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfgroveWhere the story starts improving a little, and we have elves driving convertables. Because, why would I make an elf drive anything less? ^_~
Related Art
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Day's End
The elderly man turned to face Thgin, his long white lab coat whirling around him. His face was wrinkled with age and half hidden by his long beard and snow white hair that was cut just above his shoulders, but his broad shoulders and piercing lavender eyes attested to his strength that had not yet faded. "What happened?"
"I was forced to retreat from an enemy attack." Thgin spoke slowly and calmly. "I headed north, and was blocked off at a school building."
"I read the damage report," the elderly man pronounced slowly, pulling long fingers through his beard. "An entire hallway nearly destroyed, but no casualties."
"That's right sir," Thgin responded slowly.
"Classes were in session, and judging from the time frames we have, by the time someone noticed you, it should've been impossible to evacuate quickly enough."
"I understood a student pulled the fire alarm."
The old man narrowed sparkling eyes at Thgin; he hated when the old man knew what was going on, but tried to force it out of him before saying so. "Yes. One Miss Kody Whitman."
Thgin closed his eyes and sighed audibly. This is tiring, but I learned one thing at least. Kody. So that's her real name.
"As far as we know, a fairly unremarkable human, with poor science and math scores..." The old man rattled on a bit.
The government had made a few extra medical tests required for anyone they could enforce it on, including the education system, since the contract had been struck with Faerie.
"...She doesn't have any recorded affinity for machines..."
The new test determined magical potential, and anyone above a certain level went through further tests to be considered for the Creidhne(1) Project.
"...She has a history of problems with female authority figures..."
So how had Kody slipped through the system as unremarkable?
"...This all indicates she would be completely worthless to the project," the old man continued. "However, our records also indicate that she opted out of nearly all of the blood tests normally required, including the one for the Creidhne project."
Thgin's attention was suddenly fully caught in the old man's rattling.
"And witnesses reported that our Miss Whitman cast a spell to both prevent you from stepping on the evacuated schoolchildren, and to freeze the Gafi in place." The old man raised an eyebrow at him. "Unfortunately, we cannot force Miss Whitman to take the blood tests to confirm her abilities, and we cannot make any other official move to bring her in without those tests."
"Right." Thgin nodded unsurely. Something odd is going on. Cein(2) does not normally want to bring more people into the project than absolutely necessary.
"The men heading the project Thgin," the old man sighed and sat down in an overstuffed armchair in the library they stood in. "They are not pleased about this. The readings we pulled off the Gafu's sensors when we brought it in indicate someone almost as powerful as you cast that spell."
"Isn't that impossible Cein?" Thgin's blue eyes widened in surprise, "I thought humans didn't have that much potential."
Cein shook his head slowly, "That is precisely the problem Thgin; they do not. Never have. That is why this has those fools so excited. And that is why I needed to speak to you in private. Did that girl truly cast those spells?"
"Yes. There was no one else there who could have, and I saw the results. She's very undisciplined and uncontrolled; she was nearly caught in her own spell."
"I must make some decisions on how to approach this then," Cein closed his eyes and stood up. "For now at least, do not approach the girl again."
But I promised... I'm already late...
"We can hope that she will show no more indications of power if not put in a situation where other Mancers are present again. Then perhaps I can get those men to ignore her, and you and I can handle the situation more delicately later."
---
Kody sat on the steps of the wide porch, watching the sun go down. She had changed out of her school uniform into some of her normal clothes. Faded blue jeans with wholes in the knees, a white t-shirt with the words 'Thou art so... odd.' printed across it in faded black text, and a tweed jacket from one of her father's very old suits that she had taken apart and sewn back together into a fairly different look.
It's starting to get cold out. Guess it'll be winter soon... Geh! I can't believe I actually thought that guy would show! I'm such a fool... What was he supposed to be anyways? An elf? Right. An elf piloting a giant mech... Sounds like a plot for a really bad anime or something... Maybe I'm losing my mind.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped both arms around them.
He's not coming... So why am I sitting out here in the cold like some kind of idiot?
A blue convertible pulled up the driveway and came to a stop, a dark silhouette against the descending sun. A figure rose up next to the car, the sunlight obscuring any features.
Who? Lesley and Dad aren't due back yet, and no one I know has a blue convertible anyways... Whoever it is, they're awfully tall...
The darkened figure approached, slowly taking on discernable features, a long black jacket, white slacks, and a fitted white turtleneck. Short blue hair was slicked back over a tawny-skinned angular face, and two long pointed ears stretched out from either side of the man's face. He had a mischievous smile on his face, and cool, pupil less gray eyes that seemed to observe my every move. He came to stand in front of my perch on the edge of the porch, looking down at me with that playful smile.
Unnerving. That's what he is, just unnerving. "C-ca-can I help you?"
He bowed gracefully, taking one of my hands from my knee, and brought it to his lips. "I'm looking for a Miss Kody Whitman." He breathed onto my hand before kissing the back of my hand and releasing it to return to my side.
Well, he's definitely cute, but... I dunno. He just makes me nervous. Confident people always seem to have that effect on me. "I... I'm Kody."
"Ah," his smile grew wider, showing two rows of perfectly white teeth. "I certainly didn't expect such a lovely woman to be who I was looking for."
Uh-huh.
"Please excuse my rudeness," he said quickly. "I am Leonardo Tsukishiro(3). I wanted to speak to you about the little event earlier today. With Thgin."
My heart froze. Is Thgin in trouble? Am I in trouble? They aren't gonna try to sue me or something? "A-an-and?"
"The people I work with, that Thgin and I both work with," Leonardo recited carefully. "They're rather interested in meeting you."
I stood up nervously. I'm all by myself; this is not a good situation. He could kidnap me, and no one would know for a really long time. He did say he works with Thgin, but... "W-wh-why me?"
"I promise I'm not going to hurt you," Leonardo looked genuinely hurt by my reaction. "We're just rather interested in your abilities."
I took a step back. He seems a bit less threatening now, but still...
"Listen," He said putting his hands up in mock defeat, and flashing a reassuring smile. "Give me a chance. Let me take you to dinner. We can talk, and then, if you're not okay with everything I said, I won't bother you again. If you are interested, I can set it up for you to meet with my group later."
I'm not sure... Seems like he means it, but... Going somewhere with a complete stranger...
"Here," He smiled kindly again and offered me a cell phone. "You can carry my cell. I do anything out of line, you can call whomever you like and get out of it. I won't, but I want you to feel safe."
I took the cell phone out of his hands. "Okay. But let me grab my purse."
He smiled widely, "I'll be waiting."
It was only a few moments before I stood back outside, Leonardo patiently waiting at the foot of the stairs for me.
This has got to be one of he stupidest things I've ever done.
I followed him to the car and sat in the passenger seat despite my reservations. I quietly passed the cell phone between my hands.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
He pulled out of the driveway and started towards town.
---
Thgin blinked in surprise as he saw a familiar blue convertible exit the neighborhood just in front of him. Kody's neighborhood.
Leo? But why would he?
He sped up to get to Kody's home.
I can't sense her anymore. I could just a moment ago. She's got to be with him. Leo's car is shielded well enough that I couldn't sense her if she was in there.
His green mustang pulled halfway up Kody's driveway before he stopped and stepped out of the car.
"She's gone."
Why would she go with him? I don't understand... Then again, why would she wait for me when he's right there with answers for her? And I can't ask him about it. I wasn't supposed to be out here. Neither is he, but disobeying orders is just like him.
(1)Creidhne - Creidhne was the god of metalworking. He was one of the trio of craft-gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the other two were Goibniu and Luchta.
(2)Cein - (pronounced shawn.) The name of the old man Thgin works for, the Celtic word for 'old'.
(3)Tsukishiro - Leonardo's last name, Japanese for 'moon castle'.
Related Art
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Day's End
The elderly man turned to face Thgin, his long white lab coat whirling around him. His face was wrinkled with age and half hidden by his long beard and snow white hair that was cut just above his shoulders, but his broad shoulders and piercing lavender eyes attested to his strength that had not yet faded. "What happened?"
"I was forced to retreat from an enemy attack." Thgin spoke slowly and calmly. "I headed north, and was blocked off at a school building."
"I read the damage report," the elderly man pronounced slowly, pulling long fingers through his beard. "An entire hallway nearly destroyed, but no casualties."
"That's right sir," Thgin responded slowly.
"Classes were in session, and judging from the time frames we have, by the time someone noticed you, it should've been impossible to evacuate quickly enough."
"I understood a student pulled the fire alarm."
The old man narrowed sparkling eyes at Thgin; he hated when the old man knew what was going on, but tried to force it out of him before saying so. "Yes. One Miss Kody Whitman."
Thgin closed his eyes and sighed audibly. This is tiring, but I learned one thing at least. Kody. So that's her real name.
"As far as we know, a fairly unremarkable human, with poor science and math scores..." The old man rattled on a bit.
The government had made a few extra medical tests required for anyone they could enforce it on, including the education system, since the contract had been struck with Faerie.
"...She doesn't have any recorded affinity for machines..."
The new test determined magical potential, and anyone above a certain level went through further tests to be considered for the Creidhne(1) Project.
"...She has a history of problems with female authority figures..."
So how had Kody slipped through the system as unremarkable?
"...This all indicates she would be completely worthless to the project," the old man continued. "However, our records also indicate that she opted out of nearly all of the blood tests normally required, including the one for the Creidhne project."
Thgin's attention was suddenly fully caught in the old man's rattling.
"And witnesses reported that our Miss Whitman cast a spell to both prevent you from stepping on the evacuated schoolchildren, and to freeze the Gafi in place." The old man raised an eyebrow at him. "Unfortunately, we cannot force Miss Whitman to take the blood tests to confirm her abilities, and we cannot make any other official move to bring her in without those tests."
"Right." Thgin nodded unsurely. Something odd is going on. Cein(2) does not normally want to bring more people into the project than absolutely necessary.
"The men heading the project Thgin," the old man sighed and sat down in an overstuffed armchair in the library they stood in. "They are not pleased about this. The readings we pulled off the Gafu's sensors when we brought it in indicate someone almost as powerful as you cast that spell."
"Isn't that impossible Cein?" Thgin's blue eyes widened in surprise, "I thought humans didn't have that much potential."
Cein shook his head slowly, "That is precisely the problem Thgin; they do not. Never have. That is why this has those fools so excited. And that is why I needed to speak to you in private. Did that girl truly cast those spells?"
"Yes. There was no one else there who could have, and I saw the results. She's very undisciplined and uncontrolled; she was nearly caught in her own spell."
"I must make some decisions on how to approach this then," Cein closed his eyes and stood up. "For now at least, do not approach the girl again."
But I promised... I'm already late...
"We can hope that she will show no more indications of power if not put in a situation where other Mancers are present again. Then perhaps I can get those men to ignore her, and you and I can handle the situation more delicately later."
---
Kody sat on the steps of the wide porch, watching the sun go down. She had changed out of her school uniform into some of her normal clothes. Faded blue jeans with wholes in the knees, a white t-shirt with the words 'Thou art so... odd.' printed across it in faded black text, and a tweed jacket from one of her father's very old suits that she had taken apart and sewn back together into a fairly different look.
It's starting to get cold out. Guess it'll be winter soon... Geh! I can't believe I actually thought that guy would show! I'm such a fool... What was he supposed to be anyways? An elf? Right. An elf piloting a giant mech... Sounds like a plot for a really bad anime or something... Maybe I'm losing my mind.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped both arms around them.
He's not coming... So why am I sitting out here in the cold like some kind of idiot?
A blue convertible pulled up the driveway and came to a stop, a dark silhouette against the descending sun. A figure rose up next to the car, the sunlight obscuring any features.
Who? Lesley and Dad aren't due back yet, and no one I know has a blue convertible anyways... Whoever it is, they're awfully tall...
The darkened figure approached, slowly taking on discernable features, a long black jacket, white slacks, and a fitted white turtleneck. Short blue hair was slicked back over a tawny-skinned angular face, and two long pointed ears stretched out from either side of the man's face. He had a mischievous smile on his face, and cool, pupil less gray eyes that seemed to observe my every move. He came to stand in front of my perch on the edge of the porch, looking down at me with that playful smile.
Unnerving. That's what he is, just unnerving. "C-ca-can I help you?"
He bowed gracefully, taking one of my hands from my knee, and brought it to his lips. "I'm looking for a Miss Kody Whitman." He breathed onto my hand before kissing the back of my hand and releasing it to return to my side.
Well, he's definitely cute, but... I dunno. He just makes me nervous. Confident people always seem to have that effect on me. "I... I'm Kody."
"Ah," his smile grew wider, showing two rows of perfectly white teeth. "I certainly didn't expect such a lovely woman to be who I was looking for."
Uh-huh.
"Please excuse my rudeness," he said quickly. "I am Leonardo Tsukishiro(3). I wanted to speak to you about the little event earlier today. With Thgin."
My heart froze. Is Thgin in trouble? Am I in trouble? They aren't gonna try to sue me or something? "A-an-and?"
"The people I work with, that Thgin and I both work with," Leonardo recited carefully. "They're rather interested in meeting you."
I stood up nervously. I'm all by myself; this is not a good situation. He could kidnap me, and no one would know for a really long time. He did say he works with Thgin, but... "W-wh-why me?"
"I promise I'm not going to hurt you," Leonardo looked genuinely hurt by my reaction. "We're just rather interested in your abilities."
I took a step back. He seems a bit less threatening now, but still...
"Listen," He said putting his hands up in mock defeat, and flashing a reassuring smile. "Give me a chance. Let me take you to dinner. We can talk, and then, if you're not okay with everything I said, I won't bother you again. If you are interested, I can set it up for you to meet with my group later."
I'm not sure... Seems like he means it, but... Going somewhere with a complete stranger...
"Here," He smiled kindly again and offered me a cell phone. "You can carry my cell. I do anything out of line, you can call whomever you like and get out of it. I won't, but I want you to feel safe."
I took the cell phone out of his hands. "Okay. But let me grab my purse."
He smiled widely, "I'll be waiting."
It was only a few moments before I stood back outside, Leonardo patiently waiting at the foot of the stairs for me.
This has got to be one of he stupidest things I've ever done.
I followed him to the car and sat in the passenger seat despite my reservations. I quietly passed the cell phone between my hands.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
He pulled out of the driveway and started towards town.
---
Thgin blinked in surprise as he saw a familiar blue convertible exit the neighborhood just in front of him. Kody's neighborhood.
Leo? But why would he?
He sped up to get to Kody's home.
I can't sense her anymore. I could just a moment ago. She's got to be with him. Leo's car is shielded well enough that I couldn't sense her if she was in there.
His green mustang pulled halfway up Kody's driveway before he stopped and stepped out of the car.
"She's gone."
Why would she go with him? I don't understand... Then again, why would she wait for me when he's right there with answers for her? And I can't ask him about it. I wasn't supposed to be out here. Neither is he, but disobeying orders is just like him.
(1)Creidhne - Creidhne was the god of metalworking. He was one of the trio of craft-gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the other two were Goibniu and Luchta.
(2)Cein - (pronounced shawn.) The name of the old man Thgin works for, the Celtic word for 'old'.
(3)Tsukishiro - Leonardo's last name, Japanese for 'moon castle'.