The green smoke cleared, and Carahya and Royal stepped onto the scene. Carahya was just in time for Liddy to catch her arm to maintain balance, and Royal looked to his three teammates, all lying somewhere in the wreckage. His eyes darted from one to the next, and decided that Kole was in the worst shape. He rushed over to help the weakened man to sit up.
“You fools,” Liddy crowed, “How in the world did you expect to defeat him? Not with that silly butter knife of yours, boy, that’s for certain. Not nearly enough power.” She turned her rant to Tibias, “And I suppose you thought that with your assistance, and the help of your young allies here, that the Reaper could take him down? Audacious youths…could have all been killed, and then where would we be? All three Reapers dead or gone, with several other deaths besides.”
“It’s nice to see you, too, Mrs. Le’Beoux…and I would thank you if we weren’t in need of more of your assistance,” Tibias grumbled as he attempted to dislodge himself from the wreckage of the wall he was thrown into.
“It would appear that all three of us are quite hurt, Liddy, and could use some assistance,” Kole informed her, voice not quite as sharp as it usually was. “And I’ll thank you to leave the bitterness and coldness to me. It’s sort of my job.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Liddy waved her hand as she hobbled to Keera, whom she deemed most worthy of first assistance. With Carahya’s help, Liddy knelt down next to her and lifted her into a sitting position. She pulled another bottle from amidst the many folds of fabric draping her, and uncorked it. A suspiciously blue liquid was within, but Carahya helped administer it to Keera anyhow. She had helped Mr. McBride, she had helped Royal, and she trusted Liddy to help Keera and the others, as well.
Keera sputtered and coughed, but eventually was able to down the liquid. Though her pain was lessened quite a bit, it wasn’t gone, and the after-effects of the demon blood still wore her down. “I really need some rest…”
“I think you all do,” Carahya chimed in as she led Liddy to Kole, wanting to be of some sort of assistance. “I mean, well done, but seriously…geez…that guy totally had you beat ‘til Liddy got here.”
“Thank you, Ms. Faroth,” Tibias chided. “I suggest that until you yourself have learned appropriate techniques for fighting and defeating a demon prince, you not ridicule our efforts.”
She managed to get Kole to gulp some of the same blue liquid that Keera had drunk, and added with a groan of annoyance, “But how can I learn things if I can’t learn things?”
“Excuse me?” The logic of teenagers nowadays still befuddled Tibias.
Carahya sighed and explained. “I sit around the house all day. I never go anywhere. I don’t do anything unless I’m needed. I’m bored all the time, and I’m not learning anything from those books lying around the house. I mean, yeah, they’re interesting, but come on!” By this time she and Liddy had reached Tibias, and she handed him the bottle. “I’m a hands-on learner. Like, visual-spatial and kinesthetic intelligences and all that. I learn by seeing it done and doing it myself, not by reading about how it’s done. That’s how my shifting works, that’s how my brain works, too.”
The entire team was up, though still aching and bruised. Tibias brushed Carahya off with a “We’ll discuss this later, Ms. Faroth,” and began to walk away.
“We’re going to need to let the Council know about this one,” Kole stated matter-of-factly as the group followed Tibias’ lead. “With all the damage done to the building, people will know that something has gone on. Repairs should be taken care of as quickly as possible. Meanwhile we need to come up with another plan.”
Royal put a hand on Keera’s shoulder and added, “Keera, that was a stupid thing you did back there, but you know, I’m kinda glad you did it.”
“I do trust that what Royal means is that it was a stupid move to come back here, Keera,” Kole stated threateningly. “Otherwise…I’m sure you’re aware of the consequences for rule-breakers.”
“No, that’s exactly what he means…isn’t it, Royal?” Keera defended.
Royal gave Keera a look that clearly said, “I’ve got blackmail on you, now…” and added “Sure, Keera. Of course that’s what I mean.”
Carahya rolled her eyes and murmured, “The sickly-sweet cliché of this conversation makes me want to vomit…”
Liddy chuckled with a small crone’s cackle. She said, “Girlie, it’s people like you who keep me young...” and Carahya wasn’t sure whether she was serious or purely scoffing at her.
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