Mookie_Magnus:

OOC

*~
"Get up kid, we have a case today."
An angry sounding voice broke through Cedrics sleep, causing him to wake up.
"Whut? It's 5am..." He turned over, but was dragged by his feet off the bed.
"Get dressed! I'll meet you downstairs in 5. He heard footsteps, and opened his eyes. Walking towards the door was a tall man, who looked in his mid-thirties. He had longish blond hair and blood red robes. Cedric got up as the door slammed shut, and groped around on the floor for his clothes.
"I didn't sign up for this.." He said, putting on a clean black shirt and his grey trousers.
He wandered through the Sanctuary, and went up the spiralling staircase to the church above. There he saw the blond man who had woken him up.
"Cedric, you've been here a year now, you should be used to waking up early." The man said, shaking his head.
"Yeah yeah.." Cedric yawned as they walked out of the church.

Everything faded to black. Then he was at a crime scene. The blond man was talking to a police officer.
"If this is just a case of smallpox, then why call us?"
"Well we thought it was smallpox, but he's got these weird marks around his wrists, and there's weird markings on his bedroom wall"
Cedric barely paid attention, he was already bored. He decided to look around the house. A black cat sped past him and ran out of the door. The world seemed to melt around him again.

This time he was walking up a large hill somewhere in Wiltshire.
"Are we there yet?" He asked the blond man, who was walking ahead of him.
"Almost, if our informant was correct, the culprit should be around here." As they walked, they saw Stonehenge in the distance. Although it was almost dark, a lone figure was visible in the middle of the stone pillars.
They snuck closer, it was a woman, standing in the middle and mumbling to herself. There was a strange circle on the ground in front of her.
"If I know my royalty, that's Caroline of Brunswick." The man mumbled to Cedric, before stepping out from behind a pillar.
"You there! You are under arrest for the murder of 3 men!" He said, but the woman just cackled.
"You're too late! The spell is already complete!" Caroline raised her arms, causing a cold wind to tear through the hillside. Electricty flowed from the stone pillars, forming a dark mass behind her inside of the strange circle.
"Cedric, call for back-up." The man said to him.
"But.."
"GO!" The man ran towards the black mass, unsheathing a titanium sword with a gold hilt. Cedric hesitated, not wanting to leave his Master alone to fight the Witch. He watched as Caroline pulled out a dagger and rushed at his Master while he was fighting the demon that had appeared.
"Oh no you don't.." Cedric ran at Caroline, shooting at her arm and causing the dagger to fly out of her hand. She let out an ear-piercing scream and shot a flurry of bats at Cedric, pushing him back outside of the circle of pillars.
He shot out a wave of fire, causing the bats to flee, but before he could go back, the circle of pillars was engulfed in a blinding white light.
"Argh, damnit I can't see!" He said, shielding his eyes with his arm. The earth shook violently for a few seconds, then it was deathly silent.
Cedric walked slowly back into the middle of the cirle of pillars, but it was completely empty.
He heard others teleporting near him, but he stayed staring at the spot where his Master had been. There was yelling, and other Guardians were rushing into the center, looking for traces of witchcraft. He could hear someone asking him questions, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
~*

Cedric fell with a thump off the bed, taking the bedcovers with him.
"Fuck.. Not that one again." He mumbled, sitting up and rubbing away the tears in his eyes. He sighed and grabbed his pillow, wandering down into the Lounge, which was empty for now. He sat in front of the fire, hugging his pillow and watching as the cinders slowly burned.

Cedric almost jumped out of his skin.
"Jeez! Scared the hell outta me." He turned around to face Kane. "Yeah I'm fine, just can't sleep is all. What're you reading?" He asked, trying to change the conversation.

"This and that. found a collection of fairly recent works by a poet by the name of Edgar Allen Poe,Rather depressing man, still, there's this one poem that seems to cheer me up, not sure why."

"Bleh, I could never get into poetry." Cedric said, sticking his tongue out at the thought of reading so many books about poems. He turned back round to face the fire, and put his pillow on the floor. He lay on the floor with his hands behind his head.

"Actually, most of these are bestiaries to help me find weakpoints and scientific textbooks and alchemichal guides so I can figure out how to make the biggest and most extravagent explosion."

"Oh right." Cedric said, closing his eyes and listening to the crackle of the fire.
"I just point my hand and go boom." He said childishly, smiling to himself.

Kane grinned and stood, headed back to his room for some much needed sleep

Cedric heard Kane leave, but didn't remember much after that. He was already drifting back to sleep.

Zeke yawned and pushed his plate into the middle of the table, completely wiped clean. "I'm stuffed. Thanks Ewan. Best meal I've had in a long time." He got up and put his plate in the sink before a sort of 'dark feeling' crept over him.

"Ewan...Not to just eat and run, but I have a feeling that Aimee's...well I'm not sure what's up with her, but something is. Gotta run." He started running out of the kitchen before yelling back "Don't forget our weapons training lesson!"

As he ran through the corridor he bumped into Rowan who was just leaving Aimee's room. "Mind if I ask?" He said, stopping to talk before he entered his students room.

Let's give this a try... He turns to face Ewan. Ewan can you hear me in there? he asks clearly in his mind, waiting for a response.

Eliza went back to bed. She really, seriously, needed to sleep. She did not, however, intend to dream...

~~~
Eliza was dreaming about her Trial of Locus. She remembered it clearly, the memory seared into her brain. But she could tell no one but other High Masters of her experiences.
Standing in that white place where there was nothing. She stood on a solid surface watching as one by one the Great Guardians approached her. First came her primary Zodiac. Leo held her hand and said to her "Within you burns the flame that will burn at the heart of the Guardians for many years to come." and passed the first of many agonizing bursts of powers. It wracked her body with pain and she felt like her heart would surely stop. The last to greet her was not Libra, but Pisces who cupped her face in her hand as Eliza crouched painfully on the ground her bones burning, her blood screaming. Elzia remembered standing to face Pisces, a beutiful woman with sea green hair tangled with shells, seaweed and kept up in a coral comb. Deep blue eyes like the waves met hers and holding her shoulders Pisces flooded her body with this raging torrent of emotion. Like a mixture of happiness, sadness, regret, loss, love and lust mixed as one flooding her body. Elzia had feared she would burst from the agony of containing such emotions and at last Pisces said "You reserve your emotions. You should try to let them show else you shall surely shatter as a glass to much under pressure." how right she was. As the pain died she felt a strange sense of one-ness wit the Great Guardians and the power of their blessing. They told ehr she as High Master now and keeper of the Guardians. The Trial drained her, and it was in that moment she saw the lives of her children before her. Their fate written as plainly as ever. "You will give birth to one daughter, who will be a ruler and warrior as you. You will also have a son, whose prowess will smite Kushiel's ruin."

~~~

Eliza woke with a start, she sensed it was morning outside though there were no sunbeams to tell her as such.

Cedric woke up on the Lounge floor, his arms a little stiff from supporting his head all night.
"Ahh, ouch. Good morning no one." He said, sitting up and stretching. He grabbed his pillow and stumbled into the kitchen, which was empty for now. He put his pillow above the fridge and opened it, staring at the empty shelves.
"You disappoint me magic fridge." He said to the fridge, closing the door and opening it again. It remained empty.
"Not again.." This had happened to him twice before, it usually meant the fridge was trying to tell him something. He grabbed his pillow and sat down at the kitchen table, hoping one of the others would be awake soon so he could ask them to get something instead.
Stupid fridge...

The church door creaked open slowly, and a short man with a green cloak, and a flattened top hat walked slowly inside. He took his hat off for a second, causing his dreadlocks to cascade everywhere.
"I wonder where the front door is.." He said, walking around the pews.

Zeke woke as Aimee stirred. Instead of the normally groggy, slow-to-wake stage of waking up, he was instantly awake. The night before had been the first night since Aimee had been a student that they hadn't had sex. Zeke smiled to himself- it showed that he was getting better at control, but also that Aimee was finally starting to calm down.

Thank God for that... He thought as he eased himself out.
He threw on some clothes and made his way to the kitchen, but before he got there he heard Cedric mumbling about a magic fridge. This prompted him to smile as he entered.

"There's a magic fridge?!"

"Yeap, you didn't know?" He said, pointing at the fridge without lifting his head up.
"Think you could get me some milk out? It hates me today." He sighed ruefully.

Eliza was sleeping soundly for a change. She sensed the faint tinkling of the perimeter alarms being tripped. Though the presence was non-threatening. She woke and dressed herself in a long and wide gray robe. She was so heavily pregnant it was hard to wear her regular clothes. SHe slipped on her comfortable puffy pink slippers and walked down to the kitchen. When she arrived she heard someone walk over the trapdoor. Looking inside the kitchen she was Cedric napping. He looked up an said "Darn fridge is empty...hates me" Eliza smacked her face and said "You eat too much." and reached in for food. "Try not to be so forceful for food. It has feelings." Cedric scoffed and said "A fridge shouldn't have feelings."

"Someone's tromping around up int he church." commented Eliza as she made a bowl of hot oatmeal and sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar on it.

"Haha. Sure." Zeke laughed as he walked over to the fridge. He thought of milk and some rashers of bacon and some eggs. When he opened the door all three items were staring him in the face.

"Aweeeeesome." He said as he grabbed them. He tossed the milk to Cedric without looking and then turned to put the frying pan on.

Cedric caught the milk, and left it on the table while he went through the cupboards, searching for cereal. He poured himself a bowl and started eating, before realising what Eliza had said.
"It's prob'ly a cat." He said with his mouth full. He stuck up 2 fingers at the fridge.

"Oh, A Trapdoor, classy." The man said, opening it and looking down the steps. He whistled.
"Long way down." He started descending the steps.

Zeke was busy cooking his bacon & eggs when he heard the shrill sound of whistling.
"Someone's coming down the stairs from the trapdoor..." He dropped the spatula he was using and turned to Cedric.

"You check it out or me?"

"Go for it, I still say its a whistling cat." Cedric said, although he looked worried as well. He put down his spoon and kept listening.

Zeke took the frying pan off the heat and put it to side. "I'll save that for later." He walked through and walked to the stairs, forcing his hand to transform into his claw. He stopped as he got to the entrance of the stairway. he was confronted by a man in a green cloak and a hat whose face was hidden.

"Who the fuck are you?" Zeke practically snarled.

___
The man was startled by Zeke.
"Uhh, I, Erm.. I'm a friend of Cedric's!" He fumbled with his words before getting the sentence out.
"Is he around?" The man smiled broadly, flicking his hat up so Zeke could see his face.

"You don't look like someone who'd be stupid enough to try and kill us...Follow me." Zeke motioned with his clawed hand for the man to follow. As they walked he reverted his hand back to human form.

They entered the kitchen where Cedric was noisily eating his cereal. "Oi! Ced! Made me interrupt my breakfast to get one of your friends. Apparently he knows you." Zeke walked back to the frying pan and started cooking his dinner. He kept one ear to whatever conversation Cedric and the stranger would have though.

"Hmmhmmhmmmmmm." He started humming to himself.

"For fucks sake Kenny, It's like 8am." Cedric said, finishing his cereal.
"Yeah I know, but I have good news!" Kenny said to him, still smiling.
"What?" Cedric put his bowl in the sink, barely paying attention.
"The fish got away." Kenny said, without a hint of sarcasm. Cedric looked at him like he was insane.
"Come again?"
"I said, the fish got away" Kenny said again, using emphasis.
"Ohh..." Cedric nodded to show he understood. "Okay, now get lost." He smiled mischievously.
"No way! We should go fishing." Kenny adjusted his top hat again.
"I don't wanna go fishing." Cedric said, crossing his arms. He glanced at Zeke and Eliza, who were obviously eavesdropping.

Eliza mimed that her lips were locked and walked out of the room

" Eliza? Can you explain here? I'm lost." Zeke looked at Eliza walking out of the room. He had finally finished cooking his breakfast and plated up. He picked up his knife and fork and sat on the opposite side of the table to where Cedric and 'Kenny' were.

"MMdon't mmmmf me!" He said with a mouthful of bacon and eggs.

Eliza threw up her hands in defeat

I don't know either. Cedric has his own motives. I don't question him as long as he comes back alive. Hows your pretty student, Zeke?

"Ooh, can I stay for breakfast?" Kenny asked, practically drooling at Zeke's breakfast.
"Okay, we're outta here." Cedric said, pushing Kenny out of the kitchen. Hopefully he would cause less trouble outside.
They left through the trapdoor and started walking through the streets.
"Does this mean we're going fishing after all?" Kenny asked, his eyes full of hope.
"No, it means I need a drink because you annoy me." Cedric said vaguely, as they entered a pub called 'The Hammer And Chain'.
Even though it was morning, the pub still had most of its regulars inside, including a man called "Mad Dog" Adam, who was known as the pubs mascot because he was always drunk.
"IT'S THE GOVERNMENT'S FAULT THE ECONOMY IS SHITE!" He yelled as they sat at the bar.
"I love this guy." Kenny said, as they ordered 2 beers and sat there watching him yelling abuse at some poor man in a suit.

" Fine at the moment. I left her asleep and we didn't do the dirty last night before you start making a comment about that. She just can't seem to actually get to sleep on her own...I think nightmares are a bit of a problem. But she's calmed down a lot recently. I think whatever Rowan said to her has helped a lot. You've got a good fiancé there Eliza. And I swear that I'll do whatever it takes to protect your children. You have my word. "

Zeke continued gorging himself on the mound of bacon and eggs that he had cooked.

Eliza nodded and said telepathically "Thank you, Zeke. I'm sure you and Aimee will be good together. She likes you, and I think when she feels a little better she will let it show. Keep up the good work and you might be a godparent, Zeke."

They watched the man in the suit run out of the pub, almost in tears.
"He should be a comedian." Cedric said, as "Mad Dog" started chatting up one of the women behind the bar. Kenny spotted a circular board on the wall near the door.
"Oh hey look, its that new game some guy invented last week. You throw darts at numbers on a board." He said, getting up and going over for a better look.
"Sound crap." Cedric said, following him and picking up one of the darts. "Psh, you couldn't even scratch someone with this." He commented.
"Wanna try?" Kenny said. "Loser pays for the drinks." Cedric sighed.
"You didn't bring any money did you?" Kenny shook his head sadly. They took it in turns throwing the tiny darts at the board.
The door opened suddenly, and a pretty girl with long black hair walked in. In surprise, Cedric accidentally threw his last dart backwards, hitting "Mad Dog" in the back.
"AAARGH! THE COMMUNISTS ARE ATTACKING ME!" He yelled, knocking over 3 bar stools and then falling down.
"Nice shot." Kenny laughed, as the girl blushed and went up to the bar.
"I gotta go." Cedric said, walking out of the door, his face almost bright red from embarrasment.
"Hey, wait for me!" Kenny ran after him, forgetting about paying for the drinks.

"Good morning all." John said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a hunk of bread.

"I forgot to tell you all, because we were a little busy with the whole "saving the world" thing, but Maria la Princesa de Seville is coming to visit me. I'm meeting her at the train station in about two hours. Just thought you guys might appreciate the warning."

He continued eating his breakfast, waiting for the questions he was sure would follow.