Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Mind games

           <You saying that just makes me want to see it,> Grian smirked, but inwardly he didn't like his odds. The battlefield wasn't one he was used to fighting in. For one thing, it was Jimena's mind, and Qiron seemed to have had his magic deeply rooted in it for a long time. And Grian wasn't used to mental battles. And a wrong move might just damage Jimena's psyche. I can't just lose a mental fight to Qiron, though. If he kills my psyche, I'm dead in real life. 

           Grian still struck first. Red bolts shot out from his hands and raced towards Qiron, but he waved his hand and a wave of blue washed the hermit's magic away. That same wave knocked Grian off of his 'feet' and sent pain spiraling through his whole being. He got back up again as soon as possible, though, and quickly readied for another strike. And another. And another. None of them hit their target, and if they did they were deflected. 

           <You've gotten rusty, Xelqua,> Qiron observed. <My name is Grian!> Grian shouted, rushing towards the Watcher in a flurry of crimson sparks. Qiron just grinned and Grian realized too late that 2'd been goading him on and into his trap. Navy ropes shot out from the mental walls and grabbed onto Grian's limbs. Another snaked its way around his body and neck and began to tighten painfully. Grian shot off scarlet sparks in all directions but it did little except to ricochet around some of Jimena's memories, cracking a few of them. 

           Qiron, growling, used his power to repair the damage; the mental world was practically covered in blue now. 2 turned to the hermit slowly approached, materializing a blade of blue energy in his hand. <I was hoping to have a little more fun with you before you died, but if you keep on intruding like this...> <I aim to be annoying,> Grian joked, but he knew this was no laughing matter. 

           He strained against the blue binds but they just tightened the more he pulled on them. Qiron laughed slowly. <There's no escaping me this time, Xelqua,> He said, and plunged his blade downward. 

           Grian closed his eyes to avoid looking at the killing blow, but a bright flash of purple made him open then again. He blinked. Jimena. She was... there. Standing in between him and Qiron. And she had swirls of purple all around her, a shield that blocked off all other magic. <Herodias, what are you doing?!> 2 snapped. Jimena looked at him evenly. <What is going on?!> She asked. <Leave Grian alone!> 

           <Xelqua needs to keep out of other people's business,> Qiron said quietly. <Now back away, Herodias, before I do something I regret.> <Get out of my head,> Jimena said softly. She gestured at all the blue sparks that surrounded her mind. <I don't know what you're doing in here, but get out of my head!> As she shouted the last few words, purple tendrils shot out of the ground around them and stabbed into 2. 

           2 gasped and pulled a protective layer of blue magic around him to fend them off. And then he vanished in a swirl of navy light. Jimena stared at where he'd been a moment ago, comprehending the purple tendrils that were now trying to release Grian from his blue shackles, although now that Qiron was gone he was doing fine in escaping them by himself. 

           <What did I just do?> Jimena asked softly, reaching out and touching the violet sparks. Grian looked around at the mental world, which was now slowly being wrapped up in lilac light. <I think you're using your power to shield your mind from him,> Grian said. <I didn't know what I was doing...> Jimena said in a troubled voice, shaking her head. <Just instinct, I guess,> Grian told her. 

           He turned back to the cluster of memories he was trying to pry open and noted that they seemed a lot less gray than they had earlier. <Jimena, can you help me with this?> Grian found himself asking. Jimena glided over to him and the two of them gently inputted their power into the memory cluster. Then the color drained back into some of the images and Jimena started to stop and stare into space, blinking rapidly.