The first words that came to mind were I'm sorry, I let my magic go, it won't happen again, I'm sorry. But it wasn't his fault. "He was arrogant. And, like you said, he was holding something against me. He thought he was better than me, provoked me and so he lost."
Leone hummed and regarded him. "You understand that you've done permanent damage, right?"
He nodded. "You don't have to worry that some top secret piece of info will get out. I won't try to pick his brain, I promise."
"You don't seem very aggressive. How did he provoke you?" she asked, sounding curious.
"My parents," he answered almost immediately.
"I see."
If I'm going to ask, now would be the time. "Leone?"
"Yes?"
"What do you know about Vortex? What do they want?"
"Is this about your parents?" she asked. Daniel didn't answer. "If it is, I don't really feel inclined to tell you." She patted his shoulder and made to turn away. "We should go back to training, don't you think?"
He grabbed her arm without thinking. "Is Vortex evil?"
She laughed, touched his hand. "It depends. Are you for or against killing the Emblems?"
"Against, of course, now that I am an Emblem apparently. But even before all of this I didn't support it," he replied. What does this have to do with Vortex?
"Then to us, they are evil. Our current information isn't conclusive - we don't know much about what they want, since they've only been involved in a few incidents, quite some time ago. But from what we know, Vortex started off as a radical organization involved with more brutal interpretations of the Elemental Legacy." He digested this for a few seconds, and she said, "Come, walk with me." She turned and weaved between the shelves of books, him keeping pace with her.
"What incidents were they involved in?" he asked.
"There were about fourteen attacks on the Athenaeum, twelve of those before I started working as a Delegate. And then about three more when they attacked Camp. They tried to flood us once, tried to blow us up another time. Very creative, I think," Leone seemed to smile to herself before continuing, her face becoming uncharacteristically serious, "What's really worrying is that their influence is spreading. More and more people are identifying with Vortex's ideals as their powers weaken. Us Delegates aren't getting as much support as before. Even here, in the Athenaeum, we cannot prevent our people from feeling inclined towards Vortex."
"So that's what Felix doesn’t agree with? The general opinion in the Athenaeum that we’re to blame for all this?" She nodded. He turned it over in his mind a bit, then said, "It sucks everyone in, doesn't it? Like a real vortex?"
YOU ARE READING
Emblems
Fantasy((Originally, Phoenix)) “Leave me alone!” Her form flickered in the dim light. The brothers shared a look. “All right,” one started. “Just let us say something first. We know you have powers; we can sense them on you. We can do this because we have...
Chapter 17: Filter
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