Project ZEAL

Scene 12 - Patience and Reward (Radical_Dreamer)

Patience.

I must have patience.

Argus Dorian slowly clenched and unclenched his fists. As long as he kept them moving, it was harder for him to focus on their new features. Etched into the back of each of his hands was a golden Mammon insignia, much like the one he knew sealed the door to his cell.

Patience.

Argus did not have to wonder what the purpose of the seals on his hands was. He had seen them on all the most dangerous criminals in Zeal. They restricted the magical power of the person bearing them.

But how much?

His hands stopped their fluctuation for a moment, before clenching tightly. Lightning arced between the two seals, and leapt to the bars of the cell before dispersing. A ball of flame apeared at Argus' left hand, a ball of ice at his right. The two then slammed into each other, exploding in steam and water. For a brief moment, the room grew darker.

Basic spells don't seem to be a problem. How about something more challenging?

The room again grew dark. Argus held out his hands in front of him, and the darkness drew in to the space between his hands. As it did so, twelve blue lights began to glow on the backs of his hands. As the darkness began to form a sphere, the blue lights intensified. It was becoming painful for Argus to continue manipulating this much magical energy, but he had to know how much he could handle.

The moment that all of the darkness was condensed in a sphere, it flew from Argus to the door of his cell, where the Mammon seal on the other side caused it to disperse harmlessly. Blood was trickling from where the blue lights in Argus' hands had been moments before.

Enough for now. There will be plenty of time to experiment more later.

As he was preparing to sit down, Argus heard the sounds of panic from outside his cell. Much to his surprise, the door slid open, and two guards entered.

"What the hell was that noise?" one of the guards demanded. He was attempting to be as authoritative as possible, but Argus could detect his fear. Argus was perhaps the most powerful traitor to the School of Temporal Magic in Zealian history.

"I dropped my cup." Argus indicated to the small water cup in his cell. As he did so, his hands emitted a faint blue glow. The guards did not notice, however, as they were trying to figure out what Argus was playing at by pointing at the cup; it was upright, still full of water. The distraction was all the Argus needed. Lightning leapt from his fingers to the guards, knocking them unconscious. A quick check of the bodies indicated what Argus feared; the guards did not posses any of the Red Rock. They had used another sort of charm to open the door.

Knowing he had to act quickly, Argus attempted a spell. He suspected it was too powerful to escape the seal's grip, but he had to try. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Almost instantly, they began to emit blue light. In his mind, Argus could see the events from the jail hallway walking backward through time. There seemed to be few events of interest, and the further back he stretched, the harder it became to maintain the spell.

Patience.

Argus could see new prisoners being led to their cells. One seemed very familiar, as though Argus had seen a picture of him in a book somewhere. Argus was about to look past the man, but he saw a glimmer of light coming from him. Could it be? Blood trickled from Argus' hands as he followed the vision of the man to his cell. Two over. Perfect. This mysterious man had what Argus needed. The Red Rock.

Snapping back to the present, Argus rushed for the door and nearly collapsed. He looked down and could see that he had lost more blood than he had expected searching through time.

I will soon silence the hatred of the seals.

Argus quickly walked two cells down. He could see the man from the past look up quickly.

"We do not have much time, but if you lend me your necklace, I can help us both escape."

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