Terrak Nor (O/A)

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Once the door was closed, Michael unsheathed his sword and placed the tip at her neck. "I am the leader of the Rebel Alliance. I and my people have been observing this place for a few months. Magi come in but none come out. I work against the Emperor. What are the intentions of this so called 'asylum'?" he asked, his senses on high alert. If this place had any connection to the Emperor . . . well wouldn't he just love to get his grubby and disgusting hands on the leader of the RA . . .  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Leigha grinned the water on the floor was already starting to ensnare him. 'This is not what you think.' Leigha replied pushing his sword to the side and walked around the desk and sat down. 'This is a Sanctuary for the Magi. Parents give their magi children to us and we teach them everything they need to know. Combat, reading, writing, how to conceal their identities while with the normals. We've even rescued a few from actual testing facilities. Glorious battles they were...however sometimes we get there too late and some Magi are mentally and emotionally scarred...Like Hikari. Oh and don't get me wrong we give them names depicting their elements because they pick them. Their parents hardly ever give them names or they were given a number. Do not judge us for our methods of helping these people Shadow.' Leigha growled. 'We are separate from the Emperor. Many of his men have tried and failed to capture us. It is only a matter of time before He comes personally and when he does...We'll be ready.'  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael sheathed his sword. "You have a number of talented Magi. Why have you not sought out the Rebel Alliance? We could help protect you from the Emperor and his scum. Those who wish to fight can fight, and those who don't are still protected. We have help for those who have been affected by the Facilities." he said, adding in the last bit as something of an afterthought.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

'We are not of the Rebels. We act as if he is an invading force on our land. Not a horrible dictator. I've talked to those who wish to fight and they would rather stay here and help to liberate those who are captured and tortured by the Emperor. I will ask but I doubt anyone will leave with you. Most here are families. If one wants to stay then all stay. That is how they work. You are welcome to have your dealings here. I will not stop you from asking advice from those who used to work for the Emperor until they were discovered. But be warned. Some may have the information you need but might not be willing to give it.'

A cloaked figure moved silently through the streets giving notes to all those he detected at Magi. So far he had sent forty Magi to the 'Sanctuary'. He noticed one magi wondering around looking for something so he made haste hoping to catch her before she drew too much attention to herself. He waited until she was alone and dragged her into an alley. 'Would you stop that!?' He hissed at her. 'You'll blow our cover!'  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael frowned. "We have no reason to hurt you or your allies as long as you truly have no connection to the Emperor. I see no reason why anyone would hold back information that can help bring down the Emperor unless they are a spy for the Emperor." he said, his suspicious nature coming out, his grip tightening on his sword. He was always on guard.

Kirari yanked her arm away from the stranger who dragged her into the alley, her fear spiking, adrenaline rushing . . . it was hard to keep the flames under the skin. "I don't know what you are talking about." she said in as cool a voice as she could muster, trying to walk past the stranger to rejoin society. She hastily readjusted her hood, hoping that he hadn't seen her eyes. In fact, the hood served two purposes. Her emotions splayed across her face like an open book. She couldn't lie worth beans. So the hood helped her accomplish the task of lying since she could hide her facial expressions as well.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

The cloaked man dragged her back into the alley. 'Stop acting like a beacon for the Emperor's guards!' He hissed. 'They'll kill us if you keep being so obvious you're trying to find us...Look I can help you get where you need to go.' He slipped her the directions. 'Follow these directions to the letter and you'll get to a facility at the very edge of this kingdom the leader is there right now.'

Leigha sighed and rubbed her temples. 'None of us work for the pig who rules the land! The only reason someone here might withhold information is because they are too traumatised to give it. Wouldn't you if you so much time in a lab you couldn't remember anything of who you were before you were imprisoned as a lab rat?'  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kirari relaxed slightly, though she hadn't realized she was being so obvious. "How do I know you're not a spy for the Emperor? And that these directions won't lead me straight into one of those experimental prisons?" Kirari hissed and her fingertips flickered with the smallest of flames with her suspicion.

Michael sighed as well and relaxed slightly. "That wouldn't make them unwilling, that'd make them unable. We have people who can help with the trauma at RA headquarters. I can send a few to help your people here. We won't force anyone, but when they can and are ready to talk about what they know, it'd be good if they knew who to give the information to." he said, trying to be diplomatic again. He was a good leader, but he'd never had contact with a facility such as this that was so filled with Magi who were in training and so his diplomacy skills were a little less than developed. More often than not, he let his weapons do the talking. And those in the RA followed him because they were grateful or in awe of his skills with his element and the weapons they had at the RA. So never before had he come across a leader of some group who may not join him. Oh he had natural leaders in the RA, but they all deferred to him, and as far as he could tell, they were happy to do it. And he made sure they had enough responsibilities to keep them busy. "And they'd never be able to hold me in one of those idiotic labs." he added, unable to keep his pride in check for that one moment.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Leigha sighed. 'Don't say that Shadow.' She countered. 'You can't say anything about that until it happens to you. Just look at Hikari....' Leigha shook her head. 'She'd the one that cut you off from your powers of shadows. They do that. Find your weakness and exploit it. Her's is darkness. They held her in a room completely void of all light. What if they did the same to you? If you knew some of the things these people have gone through than you won't be standing here trying to recruit. They cannot survive out there! Granted a few of those who came here on their own might be able too but I doubt those we saved from the labs could. Do you know how long it took us to get Mirror out of her room? She's been here nine years and she's only been out of her room for three weeks. We're doing the best we can with what we have and we don't trust anyone to not hand us over to the Emperor. We have so many rooms...Would you consider...staying here with us? Moving your people here. It would help Jake and I are doing well but we cannot help everyone. Would you consider it?'

The cloaked man sighed. 'It's not a trap and I'm not a spy. Leigha sent me to get as many people out of his hands as possible.' His hands had defused her fingertips with his magi powers. 'I am a magi myself please believe me this is not a trap.'  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kirari quickly stepped back as her flames were extinguished. "Right." she muttered, looking at her hand. "Fine. I'll follow the directions . . . but I still don't trust you." she said before leaving the alleyway, planning on finding a private place where she could read the direction.

Michael shook his head. "I can send people here to help you, but our main base must stay where it is. Like you, we have people with families who are settled there. If that's all, then I'll go check on my friends." he said, turning to leave the room. "And by the way, you're not the only ones who rescue Magi from the facilities. I know just how bad those places are." he said, his voice tight, but he left before giving her a chance to respond, reaching out with his powers to find where the RA Magi were being treated.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Hikari was so wrapped up in dancing underneath a chandler that flickered that she hadn't heard anyone enter but suddenly the auditorium was full of people she didn't recognise. She looked around at them all in the darkness. 'Jake!!!' She cried pulling the light around her like a vortex. Trying to protect herself.

"No miss don't stop!" Someone in the darkness said. "We just liked the dancing! Please continue."

Hikari hesitated heavily. 'O-Okay.' she said eventually lighting up the audience area. She hated the dark. It terrified her. But eventually She lost her lucidness and started to dance again completely in a trance.

The cloaked man disappeared into the darkness waiting until it was safe for him to keep walking.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael found himself in the room with the light user and quite a few other people. He couldn't see what the light user was doing. She was really the only thing he couldn't 'see' through his powers. He supposed her own powers were the cause of that. But he could feel. He felt her power fluctuate and gather around herself in a rather advanced shield technique. Someone called out to her not to stop. Apparently she had been dancing and they'd been watching her. But then she let the light go, illuminating the audience, and Michael found himself truly in the dark once the light hit him, stripping him of his 'sight'. He quickly placed his hand against the wall, as though to reassure himself that it was still there. Odd that for a Magi of darkness, being blind was what terrified him the most. Without his 'sight' he had to rely on touch, and sound as he made his way across the room, keeping close to the wall. Without his 'sight' . . . he felt vulnerable. He had nearly used all his reserves during the battle when his group had infiltrated the area to return his 'sight' to him . . . now he had no energy left to summon the shadows.

Kirari sighed, looking back and seeing that the cloaked man had not followed her. Good. He freaked her out. She turned her attention back to her front and looked down at her hand, rubbing her fingers together. "That was weird." she murmured, unsettled by how easily he had caused her flames to go out.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Hikari suddenly stopped dancing and drew the light back to her as if the curtain had fallen. The light in the chandler returned to normal above the crowd panting hard. Then she stood up bowed and walked away from the crowd and to her room. Her hands shook a little. She'd never been nervous before. Well she had. But she never liked to think that far back. The darkness. Always the darkness.

"Leigha! We've got a large group heading towards us, all Magi." Jake cried bursting into the office.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael gasped quietly as the darkness returned, and with it, his 'sight'. He noticed the light magi getting away from the crowd, but he wasn't at all inclined to follow. He didn't need the blindness that came from being around the girl. He recomposed himself and then went to where his people were being treated. He noticed that his two water Magi were still out. They were twins, sisters, called the Pisces of the RA, since the sign for Pisces was two fish. However, his Air Magi was up. "Captain." he said, sitting up, drawing Michael's 'gaze'.

"At ease, these are friends of the RA." Michael said, noticing that the Air Magi relaxed considerably. "They've been helping Magi, same as us. They don't have the same resources as us, though, so we'll help them however we can. If you're well enough to take a trip, go back to the RA and tell them that we've found allies. Not necessarily fighters, but allies." he said, feeling more at ease among the Magi he knew.

The Air Magi nodded. "Yes sir." he said, standing up, a little unsteady, but overall fine on his feet.

Kirari found a rather private place and pulled out the directions and began to follow them, keeping her senses on high alert, still wary of the stranger.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Leigha and Jake raced through the halls again. Everyone was so happy playing with each other and making shapes with their elements. They were told at the beginning that only forty were coming to the facility but now...another was on her way. 'Do we have the rooms ready?' Leigha asked Jake.
'Yes but once this is over I would like to go back to Hikari. She looked really distressed when I passed her ten minutes ago.' Leigha nodded a little.
'You can. If you need help find Mirror she'll be able to distract her enough to put her back into her less lucid state.'  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kirari found herself at this building that . . . was either on the edge of the Emperor's lands or was just outside it. She couldn't tell which. She checked the directions again and then looked back up at the building. "I hope that dude wasn't lying." she muttered, frowning, clutching her katana.