I'm a Fun Guy, I Promise! (Closed to Flamebird)

[Rehtul Orlouge]

What felt like an eternity later, Rehtul woke up in a stone room, on a comfortable mattress, all cleaned up and ready to go. He allowed himself to look over to the window, through which he could barely make out the dancing shadows of birds as they flew by the massive Citadel building. The young mage sighed and thought back to the battle between himself and the fiery redhead.

Monstrous wasn't quite the right word for how she'd behaved during their fight. When she was rational, she felt far more like the young girl he had met those years ago. However, there was weight on her shoulders that he did not sense before. It was something a bit beyond simple responsibility. It was almost as if the world had continuously tortured her by giving her hope only to rob it from her and replace it with despair when she least expected it.

"Lost in thought again, Lord Orlouge?" the monk reading at the table asked him wryly.

"You could say that, though not about the usual," Rehtul admitted. He sat up and rubbed his eyes on the back of his voluminous white sleeve. While he had only a few short hours ago been ranting about not being able to beat a simple water user, now something far more insidious was creeping into his mind.

"She'll end up actually killing herself if she lets that... weird trait of hers carry her too far," he finally admitted to himself. Someone, somewhere would be able to take advantage of that single minded fury. It wasn't hard to set up a trap for something like that if you had a little preparation. Felicity could be cut only a little bit and be led by her attacker straight into a boulder trap, or something else heavy enough to just crush her outright. There were plenty of mages who would want to study her blood; not just its effects, but its possible uses in creating unstoppable soldiers, weapons on legs who could be pointed in a direction and let loose.

"You're jumping ahead a bit in your projections of the future again, aren't you, young lord?"

"I'm concerned. I managed to stop her... what if someone else is able to figure it out faster than I did?"

Rehtul could feel a chill passing over his body.

"She's a soldier of some kind as well. The simple fact that she's willingly putting herself into combat with that ability. I wonder if she even considers it a possible weak point..."

He stood up sharply and immediately sat back down, head cradled in his palms. With a few breaths he steadied himself and managed to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Stood up to fast?" the priest said, chuckling under his breath. Rehtul nodded before noticing that the man hadn't even bothered to look up from his notes.

"Mind taking me to her?"

"I already did. Pretty sure she overheard most of your worrying, as well."

For the first time in a long time, the young man could feel his face burning.