Memento Mori

On his way back to the manor, Ailill Hale had ran into his cousin Brandon in his truck. Seeing this as a faster way to get to his intended destination he had gone ahead and asked for a quick ride back to the living place. He was quick to realize that his request was met with dismay. Clearly, Brandon wasn't interested in doing him this favor. The obvious annoyance was present in his voice even as he agreed to help him out. Ailill could tell that Brandon was in a hurry to get somewhere. He had no clue as to where that could be though, nor did he have any intent on asking. Didn't want to push it. If he did he would probably really anger his cousin and cause himself to be thrown out of the truck. That would not help him at all.

They arrived back at the mansion and out of courtesy, Ailill hurried inside and to his room to grab the stuff he had wanted to come back for. He saw nobody home at all on his way through the hallways and into his bedroom. Quickly into one the secret compartments in his room. The one that hid what he was in search of. He grabbed it and closed the compartment back up and locked it tight. Back out of the room and down the hallways and out the door once again. Doing a lot of travelling back and forth today. He hurried back to the truck. "Okay, got what I needed." He told Brandon as he got back in it and quickly fastened his seatbelt. Ailill was expecting him to start driving as soon as he got back in. Wouldn't be all that surprising.

Those energy spikes. Now he had an easier way of tracking them. The source would be easy to find now. Whatever it was, it had no means of escaping him now. All that was left for the young mage to do, was find it. He wondered how it would react. Probably poorly. It might attempt to eradicate him as soon as it could. No surprise there though. It wouldn't be the first time.

It felt like a while that he was waiting for Ailill to get his stuff, but in fact it was only around a few minutes, and then he was back in the vehicle. It did not take as long as he expected, so that meant he would be to the park quicker. It was true that he did not want to do this in the first place, but Ailill was family, so there was now ay that he could simply turn him away like that. Especially since he was one of the Chicago Hales that did not try to kill him, so there was always that if nothing else. When he was driving was when the text came in, so he didn't really have time to read it, and that lead to some lag within communication. The drive to the park itself was not long, but then again he did not get all the way there, when he saw Niall and....some girl with a wolf dog thing.

Brandon stopped the truck casually, leaning against the half-down window. ”Fancy meeting you here.” he said with a slightly goofy grin raising a single blonde eyebrow, perhaps ignoring Ailill for a moment, though it wasn't like he was paying that much attention in the first palce, and he would have likely gotten an earfull for being so rude.

After a quick trip back to the family mansion for Ailill to go and pick up some of his stuff, he and his cousin Brandon were back to driving. They went to the park. Right where he had been earlier. That was quite the round trip. At least he was closer to where he was planning on going though, and had gotten there faster. There was just no point in asking Brandon to drive him anywhere else. He could see how obvious any attempt would fall short. His cousin was only interested in seeing his friend, Niall. Seriously, what kind of name was that? Nothing Ailill could try would amount to anything.

Coincidentally said friend was with Mirshann. Such an odd coincidence. If it was one at all. Perhaps those two running into each other was not one after all. Brandon may have told Niall about her since she was living at the manor too. Who knows really? Well, besides them, but he wasn't even going to ask. Ailill got out of the truck and walked over towards them. Mirshann and her dog mainly. He was not interested in the other one. Like he had any real reason to be. Or maybe he did. He sensed that energy again, and it was coming from this Niall fellow himself. Why though? What was the reason for it? Ailill started to reach for a weapon when he realized that any sort of confrontation would probably cause Brandon to attack him. So he would have to wait. In the meantime Ailill would keep an eye on this individual for information. "Oh hi. So you're still here I see." he said to Miri.

So now here he was, with Niall, a wolf, elf girl and his “wonderful” cousin Ailill. Granted you could have taken anything after the Niall out, and Brandon would have been just as happy, though that was besides the point. The elf girl seemed pretty happy to see his cousin, which suggested something between them, and that caught his interest just as well. Still saying it was awesome was an understatement, seeing as how if brandon had to spend another minute in the Hale household while his brother looked through tomes dustier than a crypt, he would have gone postal. The postal with wonton stabbing of course, seeing as how Brandon did not like those uniforms postal workers wore. ”Yupp, his names Ailill. Probably one of the only Hale's my mom tookt he time to train, seeing as how the others were busy going for....someone else.” Brandon said resting his head on his palm. ”He's kinda intense though, more than my brother I think.” That within itself was a feat.

It was kinda cute in a way really, to see how his cousin had some kind of elf gushing over him or something along those lines, though Hale's usually stayed away from the elfin kind, if only because that was one step above a Caster. Not that Brandon could really say anything about that, since he himself had went with a certain Caster once, and his mom did not take that very well. Never had he seen a woman throw so many tea pots at once, and that was a lot that he himself had to clean up. Luckily she did not throw any of the good pots, so that saved him from further grief at least. ”Yeah, they are kinda cute....I guess.” Brandon stepped out of his truck, which was luckily in a place where he had the liberty to park the damn thing anyway, or did he? Either way, Brandon would be able to deal with any towing cost, so that didn't matter.

With all of that pleasant mess done with, they would move onto a coffee shop, where Brandon could get himself something cold and drowning in whipped cream. That was perhaps one of many ways that he managed to show a certain amount of kiddishness in him. Hot coffee didn't do it, and anything bitter was no good either, so cold and sweet was the way to go. Granted that was a strange combination in a personality, coffee was a different matter than people. So he chose some kind of mocha...frappe...thing with whipped cream and chocolate stuff on top, which looked a little extravagant compared to Niall's chai tea or whatever he called it. Brandon sipped innocently on his drink, the sweet taste washing over his tongue and causing the blonde to smirk a little.

That was until someone bumped into him, a red haired female wearing sunglasses, and a rather pretty dress. She smiled weakly, perhaps a little embarrassed that she had run into someone, though it did not hurt the blonde in the least. ”I'm sorry sir.” She said seeming to move with a certain grace as she stepped back a little. Brandon paused for a moment, feeling as if he had seen her before, though it wasn't as if he did. Sure he kenw a few red heads within his life, this one did not register except for a certain way that she held herself, as if there was an air of entitlement, and perhaps even familiarity about her. However, before he could really say anything she left the coffee shop, and walked down the street, bumping into someone else, but this encounter did not really lead up to anyone apologizing. All he got was a side long glance.

”Dammit, why isn't my magic working.” Aaron said brushing off the brief encounter. Sure his telekinetic spell was working fine, but anything else seemed to be messing up, and that was not good. He could however feel his brothers familiar magical energy nearbye, and that was good enough. However, what he was doing was walking into a trap, and one that was not even apparent beforehand.

Wow, they were all meeting at the park. The events that led to this little meeting here were far more complicated than they should have been. Also the park may have been peaceful, but the atmosphere was certainly not. Hmph, he did not even want to be there anymore. Ailill Hale was kind of wishing he had stayed home. Why did he leave with the elf girl again? Princess here would have been fine. It's not like he felt any need to look out for her.

Now then, to business at hand. Possibly. Was it time to end the pleasantries and attempt to get everyone focused on the thing that was clearly on all of their minds? Oh those strange energy spikes. They really should be doing something about them, rather than just standing around talking about irrelevant stuff. Ailill wasn't even sure that this Niall fellow was even remotely trustworthy. He did have some that same energy on him right now, and a lot more than anyone else he had encountered that it had latched on to. Was he aligned with whatever was behind it? Or was he the source? Those questions required answers, and soon.

For now, he was waiting for the right moment. In the meantime he was taking part in this conversation only because he felt it was necessary. "Yeah, Aunt Arianna trained me. Intense? If that's what you call it, then okay. All I do is seek knowledge. I don't see anything wrong with that really." He responded as he was kind of confusing himself with his own comment. Did he even need to say all of that?

Now all of them were heading towards the coffee shop. Ailill was very suspicious and was only following along because of said suspicions. Also why were they looking at Mirshann and him in that way? Didn't they have anything better to do than give weird looks. You know like talk to each other or something. He looked away from them and towards Miri. Perhaps she could be of some assistance. Just as he was about to speak, she asked him something embarassing. Oh no. He did not want to have to explain what cute mean't. No, no, no. They were not a couple anyways. What were they even talking about? Why would he date an elf? She was an elf. Seriously. Being at this coffee shop was just so stupid. "Okay." he responded to her desire to have a drink. He didn't even care by this point.

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After an excrutiating amount of effort to discern one portion of the strange energy from another, Sarah had finally found another lead. This one did not seem to be the same as the previous one, but it was definitely different from the random minor ones scattered about. She had found one of them. The one known as the collector, but she knew nothing of that. Just that he was a major player in this whole thing. She approached him, and addressed the one spreading all the energy. Casually, surprisingly enough. Truly the best way to address something like this thing. No denying it. She was ready to fight though, as she expected it to lead to violence. These things seemed to always be that way. "Hi. Nice to meet you." she said without the remotest amount of actual sincerity. Just a ruse of it. "What's with this thing you're spreading everywhere? I'm curious. Won't you tell me about it?" she asked the thing expecting the situation to get out of hand.

The Hale raised an eyebrow as he noted the female elf calling him master, which caused him to cringe unintentionally. It for some reason reminded him of one of those pervy anime, and he was unsure if he was supposed to laugh, or chuckle uncomfortably, so the proper answer seemed to do neither. So instead of saying anything at all, the hale only sipped more on his sickeningly sweet drink as dark brown eyes regarded the elfin woman, and he half listened to Ailill say something about something. Something about his “not girlfriend” reacting the taste of Niall’s drink with that much excitement was adorable within its own way, and it made him wonder what she was doing with someone like Ailill. Sure there was nothing wrong with his cousin, but his rather stoic nature and overall ability to open holes within reality made him not the most loved when it came to women.

They took their seat at one of the tables, and he silently sipped away at the sweet caffeinated blend. He chose to sit by Niall for reasons that should be obvious by now, or atleast close to it. Something told him that Ailill was not enjoying this in the least, but then again that was not the most surprising statement one could make. ’Never said there was anything wrong with knowledge, I was just making a statement about your personality.” He took a deep sip of his drink, perhaps almost enough of one to create a brain freeze. He took note of Niall gazing at the two as if they were some great mystery, and it made him chuckle lightly to himself, perhaps the males infectious nature rubbing off on him more than he thought. It was nice that he was trying to warm up to his cousin, even though that was not something that many he involved himself with tried to do.

Meanwhile Aaron found himself in a less than favorable situation, considering that now he had some magical lunatic speaking to him in his head. ”Knowing you, giving control will do nothing but bring more trouble.”The mental response was enough, he knew that The Lych would simply not spare someone, such a megalomaniacal personality would not allow it. Next thing he knew, he found himself walking into a coffee shop where….Brandon was. His twin looked up at him half confused and half surprised, sucking on some kind of sugary drink. Then there was Ailill, his little elf girl and Niall, a venerable party to be sure. So with nothing else that he could do, Aaron had to make his way over to the small group.

”Small world.” Brandon said with a half smirk. Oh if he only knew how small it was.

Concentrating. Not proving effective. He could not do it. Ailill just couldn't concentrate. There were a few too many things present that he needed to focus on, and not enough time for any of them. Instead, he was sitting in the coffee shop with the others. He had not ordered anything for he was not planning on staying for very long. Should he attempt to get these three in on this effort to do something about those energy spikes? Mirshann and her dog would probably go with him. Brandon he was doubtful would come along, and as for Niall. Well he did not even trust him even if he were to agree.

Huh. What to do, what to do, what to do? Oh what should he do? He scratched his forehead absentmindedly as he thought things over. A slightly pronounced "Hrrrm." came from him. The others would probably see it as a sign of him being annoyed. Ailill couldn't blame them for that. It was kind of true after all.

"What do I do? Do you really want to know? No, you go first. Tell us about all your little secrets. Please do." he said in response. The distrust was overwhelming him. At this rate, things were about to get messy in here. His efforts into making things really bad were quickly interrupted. Somebody had joined them. Apparently it was Aaron. Before he could even turn to see if it was, he had to catch the coffee cup that had been knocked over. "Be careful, will you." he told Miri before turning around. Yep, it was Aaron, and he didn't look too good. "What happened to you?" he asked as he stood up. Ailill was curious. Very curious.

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She had found one of them. A strange looking individual. Definitely not human. That, or one who had been seriously disfigured. Not like the his appearance mattered. This thing here, was partly responsible for all the weirdness going about. Time for things to get interesting. Sarah heard him speak of his plans. He spoke as if he were some kind of reverend. Perhaps he was one for this master of his. Regardless of the fact that she knew what he was and her intent to potentially do something about all of this, he cared not for her presence. Then, the alarms went off. Something had happened and it was clearly because of this guy. Now she no longer being left any choice in the matter. Without hesitation, she attacked. A burst of her own strange energy came forth and lashed out at the man. Sarah stood there to see what came next.

       ”I really don’t have any secrets. Pretty much an open book.” Niall said very plainly, though him being snapped at like that made him look a little crestfallen. Being yelled at was never anything he could get used to. He was like a little kid in that respect...if you yell at him, he’ll never let it go. He’ll just keep beating himself up about it...again...and again. Ailill probably didn’t know that...but he was officially a nightmare for Niall. Niall thought for a moment desperately trying to think if he didn’t tell them anything. He really couldn’t think of one...and it irked him that he couldn’t think of anything to tell Ailill. He was an orphan...who was turned into a program...and now he’s a human again because his best friend went crazy up in the Hale house. Arianna knew all of this, Aaron and Brandon knew all of this. Niall let out a little disappointed sigh as he looked into his Chai. Niall had only taken a sip really...
 
        ”Here Miri.” Niall said with a smile, still a little broken but nothing that he thought was noticeable. She was obviously enjoying it at the moment more than he was. He placed he Chai in front of her before he leaned back and stood up. He excused himself to use the restroom. He was in the bathroom and out of earshot when he sighed.
 
      
 
"I hate it when people do that...they act so superior then get snippy at the slightest thing. Control without Knowledge is pointless...Knowledge without control...that’s dangerous maybe even enough to be that third energy...now I gotta watch him too." He said to himself as he now washed his hands. He seemed to slip into a bit of a thought coma as he walked through the bathroom door. He returned to find that Aaron had wandered in apparently while he was down in the dumps. The first thing inside Niall’s mind was that he at least had three out of four Hale’s to like him. Niall walked back up with a smile at Aaron when he heard Ailill say something about what happened to him. Niall looked at Aaron a little worried.

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       The woman unleashed a blast of energy. The Collector chuckled as he swiped his staff across, and as the staff touched the energy it altered, and soon the Astral energy that was sent at him was consumed by necromana that was sent hurteling towards the pure spirit, expanding in range as it flew towards her. The Collector let loose a little hum as he observed the woman. Regardless the woman was doing nothing but delaying the inevitable, and she was a rather minor inconvenience thus far. The Collector felt the Lych’s sleeper agents moving inside the bank, doing that which needed to be done...but that was for him to know, and for the pesky little humans to find out. Soon....Soon the Lych would finally make his grand emergence, and the Collector would be whole again. The broken undead entity roared a little as he twirled his staff in a skillful display as he charged behind the blast, aiming to strike at the woman whether she was hit by the blast or not.

 
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       What's wrong Aaron? Can you not speak? Can you not warn them? The Lych’s distorted voice with a heavy reverb called out, a dramatized faux pleading. It was taunting, and the breathy manic laughter didn’t make things any easier. The control Lych had over Aaron was far less than he had originally thought by now. The Lych was enjoying the struggle honestly, it had been far too long since he’d finally had to fight to claim a mind. Aaron’s will was strong, but it would not likely be strong enough to break through the Lych. ”Well, go on boy. Warn your brother...warn your cousin...warn your loved ones. The Lych is back, you need to stop him or thousands will die....go on...do it if you’re so will is so strong.” The Lych commanded. Aaron went to speak, but the second he went to speak of the Lych, to warn them he froze, his voice would not reveal that which he wanted. Normally he would have used his telepathy, but his powers had been rendered useless. After a few moments, as if the Lych himself had been watching his tormenting laughter haunting Aaron’s mind, echoing like a demon within.

       ”Poor...broken...little toy.”
 
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    Niall placed a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, which seemed to catch his attention. Something was definitely up, but there was no way for Niall to tell what it was. Niall wondered if he ran into...HIM...and that could be bad. The last time he knew, Aaron had vowed to hunt Ouro down...and that was something they had to agree to disagree on. Not that Niall would stop him.

       ”Aaron...?”

Brandon searched his twins expression, and it took a moment before he noticed….turmoil. Something was bothering his brother, and without that telepathic touch, something told him that it was something dangerous, which only caused his heart to sink into his stomach. As strained as it was, Brandon liked to think that they had some kind of twin bond, and that it was trying to tell his dense brain something. He barely paid Ailill, who was perhaps messing with Niall more than he realized, or perhaps he was doing all of it on purpose. It was perhaps this mixture of trouble that caused his heart to beat slightly faster, and perception of the world as a whole to slow down to a near crawl. The elf girl spilled her drink, that chai something or other, Niall offering her his own before standing up and making his way to wherever, the bathroom perhaps.

With that seemingly out of the way, all eyes were upon Aaron, who was simply looking down at the ground and trying to say something….was he? He would open his lips, quivering for a second before closing tight as a vice once again. Something was breaking him, something was eating away at his mind painfully, and that was not good; his brother may have been tougher than most mentally, but he was still human. If only he knew, knew of the mocking voice that rolled about his head, and continually mocked him, laughing while it did so. He knew that soon enough even his disciplined mind would be unable to withstand it, but he had to try, if only to bide time, thought for what exactly. Something touched his shoulder, a light, and perhaps reassuring hand that for a second caught him off guard, and with that mental barrier revealing a tiny crack, hell would break loose.

His own magical energy grew chaotic, and when he turned to see who had touched him, it was….Niall. The blonde would find himself pushed through the air by a powerful force against his chest, flying fast as glass shattered and Niall was propelled through the nearest window. People turned towards the source of the sound, and in an instant everything grew even more chaotic, chairs beginning to twist, contorting as they were pulled into the telekinetic force of his spell, things flying about through the air as he tried once again to take control over his own body, and was failing miserably. All he could hear was that damn laughing, as his brother looked on in shock as he saw something that he could not believe.

Brandon found himself dumb struck as the table that they were sitting at began to wobble, now under the control of his brothers powerful psychic command, and he knew that soon enough everything would be a weapon that could potentially kill the other, Hale not so worried about himself. Shards of a broken ceramic mug flying within the maelstrom were close to puncturing the elven females skull, and Brandon managed to reach out and grab them before they proved dangerous, crushing them to a fine powder. Everything was going downhill from there.