No way. I've just realised I was 13 when I started writing this. Nah that's scary. I'm nearly 16 now😭😭😭
Anyways, moving on from my revelation...
HOPE YOU ENJOY THE CHAPTER AND SORRY FOR THE MASSIVE DELAY!!!
Despite the current circumstances, Morrigan Chambers couldn't help but feel a slight relaxation of tension in her shoulders as she watched the countryside blur by outside her small window; all the wondrous hues of forests and fields, and the smudges of colourful flowers that dotted the roadside like splatters of paint on a canvas - sometimes intentional, and other times completely accidental, and yet always belonging.
And it was exactly those flowers that Morrigan felt like; accidentally placed in a position not meant for her.
How had it all happened?
How had she gone from a student to a prisoner to an 'extra precaution' in the space of just a few months?
If someone would have told her when she first joined Alfea that she'd end up caged up by a psychopath and forced to go against everything she believe in - all because of her bloody magic - Morrigan would have laughed and called them crazy.
But now...
Now it was very much real, and with Rowan dragged into the mix... Mor could not afford to screw this up. Rosalind was many things, but merciful was not one of them and Mor had no doubt that her brother would pay the price if she allowed even the slightest of trip-ups.
The way he had looked at her - god, it made her heart twist and shatter every time the image emerged in her mind. His swollen, black, bloody eyes; so battered and bruised and broken. His cut and beaten face; so desperate and despairing. But when Rowan saw Morrigan, she did not mistake the flicker of light that ignited in his forest green pupils. Despite his pain, there had been hope there, and relief to see she was more or less unharmed.
It was a look Mor would not easily forget, nor did she want to.
So caught up in her thoughts, the girl had not registered the fact the entire convoy had pulled to a stop until Harrison shifted to peer out the windows by his head, muttering something about a delay under his breath.
"What is it?" Mor's eyebrows pinched together as she watched his frown deepen.
Harrison glanced back at her, and she didn't miss the way his grip tightened on his weapons, "I don't know. Looks like something's up with the front car's engine."
Confusion rippling through her, Mor pressed her cheek against the steel bars near the small window and strained her eyes to see what was going on. All that met her gaze was a plume of steam that billowed up from the engine of the car leading the convoy.
Initially, Mor was willing to pass it up as a harmless mistake, a common malfunction of the mechanism, but there was something about the situation that stirred a suspicion inside of her, and when she allowed her eyes to wonder, a flash of red hair confirmed that suspicion. There, hiding in the bushes a few metres back from the side of the road, was nonother than her suitemates.
The sight of her friends was, well.... Morrigan wasn't entirely sure whether it was welcome or not. On one hand, to know they were all ok was enough to curl the corners of her lips. But on the other hand, she hadn't heard from them at all, and why were they here all of a sudden?
Silva, Mor realised with her stomach coiling due to nerves, they were here for Silva.
Of course. Trust her friends to get into this shit.
Shifting closer to the window subtly, Mor's veins thrummed with magic and her fingertips itched with the want to burst her way out of the car and help her friends. But the sight of her brother - chained to the ceiling and hanging limply, with barely enough energy to lift his head - was a constant reminder that whilst her wrists were free from shackles, she was still very much a prisoner.
All Morrigan could do was watch as Andreas, Dane and Riven hauled Silva from the steaming car and shoved him into the back of their vehicle - a much more open, less secure place for him to be.
Exactly where her suitemates wanted him to be.
A ball of water streaked passed her window, and Mor struggled to contain her grin as she noticed a pair of keys floating within the liquid. Pressing herself closer to the bars, she tried to watch as the water chased after the car up front, but after a few seconds, the vehicle was out of sight, and instead, her gaze had snagged on something a lot more pressing.
While the car in front of them was still steaming, Mor watched with widened eyes as fuel trickled out from the tank, and a line of fire crawled towards it.
Bloom.
If that car exploded, there was no doubt that it would send this vehicle up in flames along with it. They needed to get out - now.
"Harrison," Mor began, scrambling away from the window, only to find him already by the boot doors, "we-"
"I saw." He gritted out, slamming his shoulder into the doors, "But the fucking car is locked from the fucking outside!"
Panic rising, Morrigan latched a hand onto the boy's shoulder and yanked him back, "Move!"
Inhaling sharply, Mor dived into her well of magic, begging her power to answer her call. Her blood sparked and her veins thrummed, and there was a feeling of warmth that rippled through her entire body as her fingertips tingled and her mind sharpened.
Exhaling quickly, her eyes flashed a brilliant emerald and she flung open her doors. Instantly, the ground beneath the car reared up to obey her bidding and a spear of rock shot up from the dirt, puncturing through the boot lock.
Not wasting a minute, Morrigan shoved the doors open with one hand and grabbed Harrison's jacket with the other, launching herself out of the car and dragged the boy with her - just in time for the vehicle to explode.
As they flew through the air, Harrison's arms encircled Mor's body, pulling her into his chest and shielding her from the brunt of the explosion. In return, the ground below the rose up to meet their bodies, relieving the boy from the full force of the landing. In truths, Mor couldn't really tell whether she had commanded the ground to do that, or whether nature had responded to her emotions and softened their landing on its own accord.
It wouldn't be the first time the world around her had saved her arse without her telling it to do so.
Winded, bruised and ears ringing, Morrigan and Harrison lay there for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a minute or so. She was all too aware of his arms wrapped around her body, one hand cradling the back of her head and the other supporting her lower back. Her head was buried into his chest, and she found herself inhaling his scent, her senses overwhelmed with the smell of mint and a hint of forest dirt.
Horrified with herself, Mor scrambled out of his grip, suddenly hating the feeling of his arms around her and despising the heat that crawled up her neck.
"You alright, love?" Harrison grunted, running a hand through his hair as he pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Yes." Mor nodded, refusing to look at him and instead directing her gaze to the blazing cars, "Yeah, I'm ok. You?"
"All good." Harrison staggered to his feet, brushing himself down.
Swallowing hard, Morrigan forced herself to glance up at him and then pushed to her own feet, her fingers still tingling with the magic that reverberated in her bones.
It had been too long since she'd opened her doors, and that short outburst of power was barely enough to relieve the pressure that had built up over the months locked up. Even now, she was struggling to reign her magic back in - evident in the flowers blooming around them and the ground rippling like water out from under her feet. All around, the trees were whispering words she couldn't understand and a wind stroked her cheeks, toying with her hair - a caress of sorts, a comforting welcome back.
Shouts behind them shook Morrigan out of her thoughts, and the wind dropped as she spun round to see Andreas ordering Dane and Riven after Silva - whom had fled into the trees.
She hated the fear that clutched at her throat as Andreas whirled to face her and Harrison, a face like thunder as his piercing glare honed in on her.
"Harrison!" The man barked, and the boy beside Mor straightened, "Find out what the fuck just happened."
There was a slight hesitation in the redhead as he glanced between Andreas and Morrigan, before he eventually nodded at the man, jogging towards the other soldiers gathered by the cars. Truth be told, Mor wasn't too sure if she was glad or not that he'd left her, that he'd obeyed the command of the man before her.
But before she could say anything, Andreas was gripping her arms and dragging her after him, "Chambers!"
Teeth grinding together, Morrigan struggled to get out of his grasp, "Get your hands off of me!"
But Andreas only tightened his grip, seething as he turned her to face him, his fingers bruising her arms, "You listen to me, girl, and you listen good. Silva is escaping. Do your job and catch him."
Instinctively, Mor opened her mouth to snarl back that he should shove his commands up his arse, to summon up her magic that was begging to be used, but Rosalind's saccharine smile flashed in her mind and her threat hung in the air.
Be a good girl, and maybe your brother will survive this with all his limbs attached.
"I wouldn't, if I were you." Andreas taunted, knowing exactly what she was internally debating, "Rosalind is, after all, a woman of her word. You will find Saul Silva, and you will bring him to me, understand? If you fail, Rowan will pay the price."
Lunging forward, Mor hissed with as much venom as she could muster, "Never speak my brother's name to me again, bastard."
With that, she tore out of his grip and turned on her heel, forcing her feet to carry her into the forest in the direction that Silva fled.
*****
Before, the forest had blurred by in a blend of peaceful colours and innocent beauty.
Now, as Morrigan raced through the trees, there was a darkness to the forest, a shadow that reflected the very course of action she was taking.
Up ahead, she could just make out the figures of Riven and Dane chasing after Silva, weaving through the wood and ducking under branches. Staying to the left of them, Morrigan matched their pace, lungs heaving with her lack of exercise but her body fuelled with the weight of her brother's safety.
All around her, the trees groaned and rasped and whispered, their voices grating and ancient in her ears. Mor could not make out the words, but knew that they were questioning her decision, challenging her morals and warning her of her actions. Gritting her teeth, she tried to block them out, tried to ignore the gnawing feeling of regret that built with every footfall, but the trees only grew louder.
I have to, Morrigan muttered back, repeating the phrase in her mind like a mantra, I have to.
A particularly harsh gust of wind hissed in her ears and stung her cheeks in response.
With the pit in her stomach deepening, Mor opened up her palm and focused her mind on the roots that splayed under the ground beneath her feet. Eyes narrowing, she called upon her magic - which reared up to meet her with a force that left her struggling for control - and imagined the power racing along the roots.
The next second, and the roots broke through the dirt, grasping at Silva's legs and ankles, and causing him to trip, stumbling into the nearest tree.
Just in time for Andreas to fire two flaming blue arrows straight into his back.
As the arrows imbedded themselves into Silva, the entire forest around Mor seemed to shiver, and her stomach twisted bitterly as goosebumps pebbled her skin.
In a moment of icy contempt, Morrigan burst through the undergrowth and placed herself between the two men, stopping Andreas from firing another arrow in fear of hitting her instead - she was valuable cargo, after all. She could almost feel the irritation radiating from him, but she pushed it aside, too busy ignoring the surprised yell from Riven.
Mor refused to throw a glance over her shoulder, as much as she desperately wanted to, when the boy called her name in pure disbelief. He was breathless from running, but shit, his voice hadn't changed - not that she'd expected it to. Yet hearing how similar his voice still was... it almost seemed unfair, when she had been forced to change so much.
The sound of rushing water snapped Mor from her thoughts, and her eyes refocused onto Silva, whom was swiftly approaching the edge of a cliff - at the bottom of which, she assumed was a river.
Just as she was about to call upon the earth to stop him from jumping, Morrigan's old teacher cast a desperate glance over his shoulder, catching her gaze with wide, pained eyes. It was a look that made her move on instinct, and before she even knew what she was doing, a single door had opened in her body and a strand of magic sent the ground beneath Silva's feet upwards ever so slightly, subtly emphasising the man's leap over the edge.
Skidding to a halt, Mor panted heavily as she peered down to the river below, the crash of Silva hitting the surface drowned out by the waterfall to her left.
Footsteps behind her caused Mor to stiffen up, and suddenly Dane was standing next to her, eyes scanning the river below, and it was as if he hadn't even seen her.
But Riven had.
Oh, Riven had definitely seen her.
Taking a slow step back from the edge, Mor dared to meet the boy's heated gaze, only to be met with a look of disbelief and pain - betrayal, almost.
She wanted to be angry, to shout and scream at him. How dare he look so betrayed, when he was the one who had left her.
She wanted to collapse, to break down and cry in his arms. It was all becoming too much, too quickly and she was struggling to keep up.
I can explain, Mor wanted to say, but she couldn't and the words refused to form.
"You little shit," Andreas snarled as he latched his hands onto her shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin, "you think I didn't see what you did?!"
Morrigan forced an expression of innocent fear onto her features - the perfect picture of a startled victim, "I don't know what you mean. You saw me try to stop him! Or did you just assume the roots moved on their own accord?"
For what felt like eons, the pair glared at each other, neither willing to back down - they barely even blinked. Fury brimmed inside of Mor, but she refused to let her anger crack her façade; her magic was already temperamental, and she didn't want to give it any chance of slipping from her control.
Eventually, Andreas shoved her back with a grunt, and she bit back the victorious grin that threatened to spill across her lips.
"Princess..." That voice. That fucking voice.
Swallowing, Mor flicked up eyes up to meet the boy's expectant gaze, "Riven."
Her own voice was flat and emotionless, schooled into a tone of passiveness, despite the fact there was a storm raging inside of her. If she made one wrong move, let one wrong emotion slip, then Rowan would pay the price, and Mor could not let that happen.
"Well this is awkward." Dane muttered, glancing between the pair. He went ignored.
Shaking his head, Riven's voice trembled slightly as he stared at her, "What... I-I don't understand-"
Unable to maintain eye contact with him, Mor shifted her gaze to the river, all too aware of the boy's eyes trailing her every move, every breath.
She was still furious with him for betraying her trust all those months ago, yes, but after being alone for so long, Mor wondered whether or not she had the energy left to stay so angry. Or maybe that was just because she wanted someone else to talk to than Rosalind and her sick mind games.
A flash of red hair down by the riverside had Mor's heart skipping a beat and nerves coiling in her stomach.
Her friends.
Well, her suitemates. Could she really call them her friends now? Mor wasn't too sure. But even so, she did not want to see them caught.
"We should move on." She declared, turning to Andreas and forcing the anxiety out of her voice, "His body will turn up downstream eventually."
Nodding sternly, the blonde man spun on his heel and gestured for them to follow after him as he strode back into the trees, each stride empowered with an anger that threatened to rival her own.
But Mor barely got three steps away from the cliff's edge before a hand was wrapped around her elbow with a firm yet cautious grip, and she didn't even need to look to know who it was.
"Hang on, what the fuck?" Riven exclaimed, shifting to stand in front of her, "You disappear, for months, and then suddenly you're here on the mission with us?" An incredulous laugh as he glanced at the other two, "Now I can't be the only one who doesn't know what the fuck is going on!"
"She was in the capital," Andreas stated sharply before she could even thinking of answering, "receiving advanced education. You were told that months ago."
"With all due respect, sir," Riven's face twisted with the effort to keep his tone civil, "I didn't ask you."
At that, Andreas surged forwards with a face like thunder, "Remember your place, boy, or there will be consequences. Miss Chambers was in the capital. There is no more explanation needed. Now keep moving."
Slipping from Riven's grip, Mor glanced up at him and swallowed her shock when she noticed how he actually looked scared of Andreas and his threat. It was such an odd expression for the boy to wear, and the way his eyes widened and his cheeks paled and his hands tightened into fists and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, made Mor question what he had endured in the past few months.
Instantly, her mood soured more.
But still, she continued forwards, trailing after Andreas and Dane as they stalked through the forest.
After a few minutes, Mor felt the whisper of fingers brushing against the delicate skin of her wrist, still raw and red and inflamed from the shackles. The scent of cigarette smoke and leather filled her nose and she struggled to ignore the sense of familiarity and comfort that accompanied it.
"Where were you?" Riven's voice was lowered, hushed, close to her ear.
Morrigan shivered, having to force her body to put space between them, her voice almost robotic, "I was in the capital, furthering my education."
"Bullshit." Riven snorted, staring at her like she was a puzzle he was determined to solve, "You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"You're an arsehole."
"I know, and you're still lying."
"Am I?" She ignored the urge to smirk and trained her features into neutrality.
Irritation evident in his tone, Riven pulled her to a stop again, turning her to face him, "Yes, you are. You wouldn't just up and leave your friends, especially with Rosalind in charge."
Morrigan pursed her lips, averting her gaze to where Andreas and Dane were still walking on ahead.
"So I'll ask you again." Riven tucked a finger under her chin, tilting her face back towards him, "Where were you, Princess?"
Bristling at the nickname, Mor jerked her chin from his grip and stepped back, hating the part of her that missed the sound of it on his lips. He didn't fight her resistance, and dropped his hand to his side, but she could tell he wasn't going to let this go easily.
Swallowing firmly, Mor stared him dead in the eye, "I was in the capital, furthering my education."
"Stop lying!" Riven growled in frustration, "This isn't you."
A scoff escaped her lips, bitter and sharp, "Right, and you know me so well, do you?"
He was getting more irritated by the second, she could tell - it was clear in the way his jaw clenched and his hands curled into fists at his side and the tension in his body. Part of her wanted to tell Riven the truth, if only to see his reaction, but also (possibly) to have someone else to shoulder the burden of her situation because - hell - the weight was nearly suffocating.
But every time Riven's presence threatened to break down her walls...
Nah, she's a total nutter with no control over her magic at all, or herself, it would seem.
His drunken, spiteful words stabbed her mind and twisted her heart.
Every. Single. Damn. Time.
Huffing out a sharp breath, Mor turned on her heel and continued to traipse through the trees after Andreas and Dane. The longer she stayed with Riven, the closer she was to spilling everything that had happened to her over the last few months - and that was one thing she would never forgive herself for doing.
For a few fleeting moments, Riven was rooted to the spot, staring at her shadow as it rippled over the undergrowth as she walked, and Mor was beginning to think he'd leave her alone.
But then again, this was Riven, and since when did he listen to instructions?
"Please, Princess." His voice was a gentle whisper, but the sound was rough in her ears, "Talk to me."
"Talk to you." She scoffed, cutting a glance in his direction as he strode along beside her, "You and I both know that I can't do that."
If she looked hard enough, if she really, truly searched - not that she was, of course - she could just make out the flash of hurt that glimmered in his eyes behind his nonchalant façade.
"Why?" At this point, he was a hair's width away from begging, "Why can't you?"
"Because."
"Because? That's it?"
Shoulders sagging with her exhale, Mor bit out, "Because, Riven. I just can't."
Riven's jaw worked relentlessly, grinding his teeth together in his frustration, "Give me one good reason, and I'll leave you alone. You clearly want me to."
"I do." I don't.
A laugh so bitter with hurt shuddered from his lips, "Always one for honesty, Princess."
"I am." I'm sorry.
"So tell me the truth then." He demanded, and she was surprised he was still trying, "What's going-"
Unable to continue to endure his persistent questions, Mor spun to face him, her voice strained with exasperation, "Riven, please! Please... just leave it alone."
As if she had physically shoved him, Riven stumbled back a step, his mouth snapping shut with a shocked silence overcoming his entire figure. There was an icy façade that glossed over his face, and it was like the blue of his eyes flared up, freezing the flecks of green that splattered his pupils - like the winter's frost smothering the buds of spring. Swallowing hard, he took another step back, and there was a desperately lost look that twisted his features - as if she was a stranger to him, someone he no longer recognised.
Mor supposed that was fair. She didn't even recognise herself anymore.
"Riven!" Andreas' voice sliced through the silence that suffocated the pair of them, "Get your arse over here and help Dane get everything back in order!"
The boy in question did nothing, only ground his jaw together as he continued to stare at her. A pressure building in her chest that had nothing to do with her suppressed magic, Morrigan forced herself to tear her gaze from Riven as Andreas marched closer.
"Do not make me tell you again, boy." The man growled lowly, and with a stiff nod, Riven obeyed, stalking off to where Dane was helping push an upturned car upright again.
Once the brunette was out of earshot, Andreas turned to Mor in a sharp, sweeping spin that reminded her of the killing arc of a sword, "What was that?"
"Nothing." Mor replied monotonously, keeping her expression placid.
"Nothing? I'm sure Rosalind will have other ideas." Andreas warned, before the corners of his mouth twisted into a sadistic smirk, "I do wonder how tough your brother is, you know. It shall be fun to test his limit."
It took everything Morrigan had not to lunge at Andreas right there and then, to wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze until there wasn't a single breath left in his body, to summon her magic and ask the ground to open up and swallow him whole - she had a feeling the earth wouldn't object.
She was so close, so so close to slamming open her doors, but then-
Be a good girl, and maybe your brother will survive this with all his limbs attached.
Rowan had already suffered enough by Rosalind's hand, and Mor would not put him through more pain just for the satisfaction of killing Andreas. Her big brother's bruised and broken and swollen body, hanging limp from the ceiling, chains biting into his wrists... she feared that image would forever be ingrained into her mind.
So instead of snapping Andreas' neck, Morrigan swallowed her pride and calmed the storms brewing inside her, and merely walked passed him with her quivering chin held high.
*****
Once everything was back in order, Morrigan was herded into the back of an armoured vehicle, the inside of which already housed Dane, Riven and Harrison. When she saw the three boys, she was half tempted to just allow the ground to swallow her up right there.
"Are you ok?" Harrison questioned, offering a hand to Mor as she clambered into the back of the car.
Noticing the careful looks that Andreas was throwing between her and the redhead, Mor ignored his hand and hauled herself into the seat beside Dane, shifting to the end of the bench so that no part of her was touching the boy, and nodded.
Petty, perhaps, but did she care?
Not a chance.
"You sure?" Harrison leant back against his seat opposite her, "You took a bit of a tumble."
"Mate, she said she's fine." Riven snapped, glaring at the boy next to him, whom just held his hands up in mock surrender.
Huffing a sharp sigh, Mor nodded, "Thanks for the concern, Harrison, but I'm fine."
"His concern is valid, Miss Chambers," Andreas, who had taken the seat at the front of the seating compartment so that he was looking at all four of them, "You are, after all-"
"Special cargo?" Morrigan finished his sentence with a saccharine smile, "Yes, so I've heard. It's always nice to be reduced to an inanimate object. You should try it sometime - it would suit you, Andreas."
The man breathed a laugh, but there was nothing humorous or fun about the sound, "Careful, Morrigan."
"I'm sorry, but can someone please explain to me what the fuck is happening right now?" Riven blurted suddenly, sitting straighter in his seat, "I mean, seriously, what is going on? Furthering your education? How? Why? Where - in the capital, sure, but where abouts in the capital? And with who? If you expect me to sit here and believe-"
Mor flicked an eyebrow up at all his questions, and turned to the man at the front. She certainly wasn't going to answer any of them - it was Andreas and Rosalind's lie she was telling, and so they would be the ones to deal with this shit. Andreas cut a withering look at Mor, as if knowing exactly what she was thinking. She just shrugged a shoulder subtly.
"No, Riven, I don't." Andreas sighed heavily, firmly, "That is why what I'm about to tell you can not leave the confines of this car, do you understand me?"
"I understand none of this shit." Riven scoffed, folding his arms across his chest as he fell back against the wall of the car.
Dane shook his head exasperatedly, "Well let him explain, mate, and maybe you will, yeah? I'm curious about this too, you know."
Lips curling into a smirk that was sweet with wicked victory, Mor captured Andreas' gaze and cocked a challenging eyebrow, "And so the truth comes out. Are you going to be the one to tell them, or do I get the honour?"
The blonde-haired man pointed a threatening finger in her direction, eyes narrow, "You will sit there, mouth shut, and listen to what I have to say. I'd hate for Rosalind to hear about your misbehaviour."
Anger flared in her veins as Mor's smirk soured to a scowl, her gaze sharpening to her most deadliest glare.
If only looks could kill...
"As you all know, after Miss Chambers' little weekend away all those months ago, she was temporarily confined due to a severe lack of control over her powers - to no fault of her own, of course. The magic she possesses is not yet fully understood, but we do know that it is all too great for a child to bear." Andreas explained, his tone firm - not allowing any question or doubt.
Child... Mor bristled at his demeaning tone.
"So Rosalind took things into her own hands, and gave up precious time to help Miss Chambers understand and learn to control her magic." The man continued, but Morrigan couldn't help but snort, "Do you have anything to add, Miss Chambers?"
"No, not at all, Andreas." She held her hands up as if it would make her point clearer, "Not at all."
Other than the fact that Rosalind had not tried to 'help' Morrigan in any way - instead forcing her to use her magic through pain and torture. But that only resulted in her power subduing itself in order to self-preserve, and Rosalind (in her frustration) shackling the girl instead.
"If you will not use your power when I ask, you will suffer the torture of not being able to use it at all." Rosalind snarled as she slapped the barbed cuffs around Mor's limp, bloodied wrists.
The slashes along the girl's upper arms were far from clotting, and now both arms were stained red with her own blood, and she barely had enough energy to keep her eyes open.
"Then we shall see just how long you can last before your power becomes so restless, so eager to be spent, that it begins to eats its way out of you, killing you from the inside out. Magic is a living thing, after all, and all living things have a criteria to meet to carry on living."
Cutting her open like that was a physical way of opening the doorways needed for magic to escape, according to Rosalind.
And so, now, Mor's once smooth skin was blemished and mottled with scars both new and old.
Swallowing, she shifted uncomfortably on the bench, lightly tracing the raw skin and freshly-scabbed cuts on her wrists that the shackles had left behind. Lifting her gaze, she flushed when she noticed Riven watching her intently, his eyes studying the sore skin. His fists were balled at his sides, his jaw tight with anger.
"Rosalind's been a great help, truly." Mor nodded.
"But despite Rosalind's hard work, Miss Chambers still proves to be... unpredictable. And so, she's been kept in confinement below the school, for the safety of staff, students, and herself. But now, Rosalind thinks it is time for Miss Chambers to start getting back into some routine of sorts. So, as of today, she will be assisting the faculty in their more pressing matters, as a way to learn about her magic, control it and..."
"Go on." Mor goaded, watching Andreas carefully, "say it. You know you want to."
The man ground out, ignoring her jest, "and become a weapon."
"There it is." She grinned, but the gesture was cold and held no happiness.
Almost instantly, Riven exclaimed, scoffing bitterly, "A weapon? She's a person, not a fucking object for you to use for your own gain! She's 16, for fuck's sake!"
"Watch your tongue, boy." Andreas snapped warningly, "There are things about Miss Chambers that you could not even hope to understand."
"And you'd do much better, would you?" Mor rounded on the man, arms crossed over her chest, but she went unnoticed.
"I beg to bloody differ." Riven argued, anger spiking his tone.
Sighing like this whole conversation was a bore, Andreas held up a hand to silence the arguments, his eyes narrowing into a glare that dared anyone else to object, "Miss Chambers knows that her magic is unlike any other fairy's, in that the very nature of it is to be dangerous. To fight. To destroy. It is powerful, it is unpredictable, and it is violent. The only way for her magic to be controlled, is by using it as a weapon, and there is no place in Alfea for a weapon.
"So, therefore, her presence here will remain a secret and you three will become her personal guards, along with trusted members of the Solarian army. Starting tonight, there will be one of you guarding her at all times. Dane, you start first." He declared.
Both Morrigan and Dane rolled their eyes, whereas Riven looked just about ready to punch something, and Harrison remained placid - the only sign he'd taken note of anything that Andreas had said was the small dip of his chin towards the blonde man.
"Oh, goody." Mor grumbled.
At least she'd have more than just Rosalind to talk to now.
She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.