forum Revenge of The Forgotten// Private OxO with @FanfictionFanatic

Started July 04, 2021 by @StarkSpangledMayflower_Mad_Elder

tune

“I would be honored to meet her. And it is très généreux of you to say that I would be welcome here again.” Emmeline smiled, flattered by the idea. “As finding Maman was my aim in hoping to speak with you, it costs me nothing to say that I will continue to do so. As for this aura you say she kept from you… I find it hard to believe that she would not fulfill her end of a deal with you.” she admitted with a note of skepticism. “I more suspect that she either was unable to attain it, detained in some way, or something similar. In which case, I would like to uncover the reason.” she amended, eying the contract. “I must admit that I’m not as strong as Maman so there is a chance that I may not be able to… handle this unknown aura. If I am able to find it, I could inform you. Of course, the task would also be easier if I could trouble you to allow Ace and Cade to accompany me… if they have no objections to it.”

(I'm gonna be honest, I forget what exactly I had in mind for this 😬 I'm just going to bluff my way until either I remember or I come up with a different idea)

His lips curled at the edges as he glanced at his contractee, who was presently staring at him with a glint in his eye. Hades waved his hand, and a new paper appeared, floating towards the girl. "Of course. However, you must understand that your companion cannot make any alterations to his contract. He must fulfill the requirements as they have been outlined." He floated over another pen. "Do we have a deal?"

(That's ok. Honestly, I had to reread our reboot section once I saw your post so I could remember where we were going with this. 😅)

“Bien sûr. A deal with the King of the Underworld is not something to throw aside lightly.” Emmeline nodded. She wouldn’t admit in front of Hades how much she knew of Ace and Cade’s contract, but she doubted it was enough to open negotiations for them.

Considering that she had managed to get Hades to conjure a revised document for the deal he was offering her, she knew it was unlikely (and perhaps a bit foolish) to hope for a third. “Very well.” she sighed, not hiding her nerves as she took the pen. No one in their right mind would be anything but afraid, nervous, or enraged when signing such a binding document.

As soon as the pen lifted from the page, both items disappeared in a soft puff of smoke. Hades had to hide his expression when he saw the way Ace was looking at Emmeline. It seemed that his young contractee had not revealed everything to the Enchantress' daughter. He was eager to see what the Fates had planned for him; his story thus far had been quite eventful. What else was to take place? "Unfortunate to say, our meeting has to be cut short. I hear voices approaching your campsite, and I myself am being summoned elsewhere. I hope to consume the fruits of your labour very soon." Hades waved a hand, and darkness melted around both of them.

The darkness melted away, allowing Ace to see a distant flash of lights, and he gritted his teeth. "It seems my uncle has no intention of allowing his young, vengeful nephew to live past the night. He forgets the extent of danger I had to become immune to. We could escape, or I could take care of everything here so we could rest one night. With all that has happened against your expectations and will, this much should be decided upon by you."

Emmeline barely had time to shoot Hades a look for his choice of parting words before sending them back to the mortal realm. The cool air helped relieve the odd feeling of having been in the Underworld, but with the sound of the king's men approaching, she quickly cast a superficial spell to hide them from view and muffle their sound.

“You say that as if I hadn’t pestered you into taking me along,” she smirked. “Unfortunately for your uncle, I have no plans on letting him take you. But before I do anything…” she turned her head and raised a softly glowing hand to her lips, as if to whistle, but no sound was heard. “I have an idea so we can escape, but I need to know if we are still within his kingdom’s borders,” she said as she turned back to him.

She raised a brow as Ace had only suggested two options for her to choose from. “I have no doubt of your capabilities to handle these men, but if one night of rest is all it will get us… do you trust me?” she asked, her eyes flickering gold. “Would you and Cade forgive me if I cast a spell on your uncle and his kingdom? It won’t stop you from getting your revenge later, if you choose to, but it will be one of the stronger spells I’ve cast and I am not sure how I’ll…” she sighed, shaking her head. “Whatever happens to me after, just get me on Cher and we’ll be fine.”

"We are still within his legal border, yes. I have no issues if you cast a spell on this place; he deserves every last bit of misfortune that befalls him." Ace kicked the ground and put his knife back into the arm holder from which he had slipped it. He looked at Emmeline with a grimace. "I meant no disrespect. My time after signing that contract was quite hard, and I had a hard time finding peace and wanted to give you that time, should you need it." Ace paused a moment and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I suppose my predicament was different; I had been the one to seek Him out and ask for assistance whereas you were called upon by him."

Emmeline nodded slightly as Ace gave his permission, though her brow furrowed. “Then perhaps we should leave his lands before we are captured,” she suggested. “The spell is not harmful, nor will it affect us, but it will keep us from being followed and almost certainly cause difficulty for him,” she explained vaguely as she looked around them.

She paused for a moment at his explanation before turning back to him with a raised brow. “Je… I don't quite understand. There is much to discuss on what you said but now may not be the time. I was not offended by anything you said but I agree that how we came to sign our contracts was different and recognize that it was a difficult time for you…” she sighed and shook her head. “Ever since you told me that my mother's magic was familiar, I have wanted to meet your employer, and now I have. I just have more questions and more missions.” she shrugged. “Finding Maman will give me peace, the rest will become a satisfying adventure.”

"Perhaps finding your mother will answer questions, both yours and mine. I suppose we should decide what our next steps will be. We need to find your mother to gain that aura and give it to Hades, and I need to fulfill the last remaining bits of my contract so that we both may be free." Ace glanced towards the sky and pursed his lips. "I believe we still have a few hours' worth of night if we want to travel under the cover of the night. Or we can stay here. Unless you have an alternate?"

Emmeline nodded briefly as Ace reminded her of their contracted goal, though she had more plans than just those. “Oui. I’m sure Maman will have answers when we find her.” she said as she looked around for anyone chasing them.

But she smiled as she saw Cher heading their way, holding Ace’s horse’s reigns in her mouth as the mare led the stallion to them. “As a matter of fact, mon ami, I do have a plan. First, we have to get past this kingdom’s borders.”

Ace had seen some strange things in his life, but seeing a horse leading another one with its reins was currently at the top of that list. He stared as the Cher paused in front of him and dropped Lord's reins. "Uh– thanks…?" he grabbed the reins and rubbed his muzzle. Lord nickered and looked at Ace with unblinking eyes. "Well, considering that we both have a way to leave now, I suppose we should exit the borders. If we go deeper into the forest, there's a barely-used trail heading North that leads out of the kingdom. Should we choose to walk this way–" Ace gestured to his left, "We should reach a river that will allow us to exit from the west. though the west-bound exit has a second forest further down the river that is where the princess had been kept so quite a few criminals have a hideout there."

Emmeline couldn't help giggling at Ace’s reaction to Cher bringing his horse to him. It was an unusual sight but Cher was a very intelligent horse… and even had a unique lineage.
“Which of those is the shortest?” she asked as she mounted her horse, though the idea of seeing where Gothel had hidden the princess for all those years was a tempting one. But one she didn't believe they had time for. “Once we leave this area, we're more likely to be found. Of course, as soon as I cast the spell I mentioned, we shouldn't have any more trouble from this kingdom,” she explained, honestly looking forward to both casting the spell in question as well as going over the next part of their plans.

Ace allowed himself to get lost in the softness of Lord's muzzle as he thought back to the last time he had used either of those routes. If his memory served him correctly, and it usually did, the northbound route was a bit tricky, considering they would have to carve their own path until they reached the trail. The westbound path would be mostly annoying. "I suppose the west exit would be the quickest, but we will have a lot of criminals attempting to hurt, kidnap, or rob us there. The north exit is quite annoying. We should get going, I'd rather leave this kingdom before Cade returns with a burning vengeance."

“Then we’ll go west.” Emmeline nodded, already turning Cher in that direction. The thought of criminals initially didn't bother her. She was the daughter of the Enchantress, and was currently traveling with a skilled young man who had the abilities befitting a knight of the Underworld. What chance would a group of mortal thugs have against them?

But then she remembered that she was going to cast one of her more demanding spells and wasn't sure what state she would be in after… She sighed and pushed that thought aside for now. They would still be fine, she was sure of it. Shaking her head, she chuckled softly. “Non, we certainly don't want Cade to do something rash right now. Allons-y!”

Ace flexed the reins in his hands and gently led his horse along a grassy route. The darkness of the forest seemed to pulse with a strange aura, almost as if it were alive. Ace shook his head to push the thought out. They needed to reach the kingdom's edge before the knights caught up to them. Once they passed through the grass and hit the dusty road, Ace encouraged Lord into a gallop and began to lead the way through the narrow path.

They paused when the edges of the sky began turning pink, and the chill in their bones warmed. Ace got off Lord's back and stretched as the horse walked to the nearby stream to drink. Ace watched the sky for a few moments with a calculating look. "Where are we going to start? It is easier for me; I don't have to rest as often because of Cade. How can we travel without allowing you a time to rest?" he turned back to Emmeline

…Heyy
I haven't been feeling like writing lately, but my New Year's resolution is to build some new, positive, habits and getting into the habit of writing again is one of them. I'm going to aim for writing each day, but that means that sometimes I won't respond to our RPs often because I'm also working on multiple other projects. You okay with that?

(Welcome back! I understand not feeling up to writing whether it's from writer's block, lack of inspiration, or just not being in the mood. I also have multiple projects that I play with, not to mention the busyness of real life taking time away from those projects and/or slowing down replies here. I might bump occasionally but there is no pressure here. Happy New Year.)

Emmeline urged Cher to follow Ace, feeling the magic growing in the air. She closed her eyes for a moment as she clutched one of her roses to her chest. “Mère, où que tu sois, prête-moi ta force,” she whispered almost reverently.

Cher galloped after Lord and his rider, and stopped when they did, waiting patiently before going to get a drink herself.

“If this is beyond the kingdom’s borders, then we should be safe from him and his knights to rest as long as we need.” she answered, her voice completely calm as she dismounted. “I can do this. Just stay behind me.” she smiled at him briefly before turning to face the kingdom.

She took a deep, calming breath, focusing on the reservoir of magic inside her and drawing the ambient magic of the world to her. A soft but bright golden glow flickered like lightning around her, not lashing out or striking at anything but skipping across her skin. Her brow furrowed in concentration as the golden glow replaced the green in her eyes.

“King Frederick.” she called. Her voice stayed calm, focused, and never raised into a shout though it covered the land. An invisible wind whipped at her hair and dress but she remained unmoved. ”You have twice chosen to forsake and deny aid to your family beyond your own borders, so too shall you, your loyal knights, and soldiers be denied the world beyond, bound within your kingdom, forbidden to cross its borders, until death claims you, or you truly atone for your cowardice and selfishness.” she commanded, the glow intensifying with every word before the spell surged forward, washing through the kingdom like a wave. Nothing was destroyed, nothing seemed to change inside the kingdom… but for a moment from where Emmeline and Ace stood, there was a brief, slight shimmer in the air as if glass had rippled in the sunlight.

“Let not the innocent suffer for the sins of the proud,” she added in a soft, shaky whisper as she finished the spell, the last traces of the magic glow slowly faded from her until she looked normal again.