Two opposites

[redblood]

Jonathan was finally relaxed, and trusted Marie to do the right thing. After all, why would such an innocent girl lie? He started to walk back to his own hut, but as he reached it he started to wonder if he shouldn't go with her to talk to Phillip. Sure, he didn't want Phillip to know, but if Marie wanted to tell him, he shouldn't stop her. He was fairly certain she would tell him about it sooner or later, and now he started to think that it might be better if he was there when she told him. After all, she was the second hand source, she couldn't answer all the questions he might have. Wasn't it better if Jonathan himself was there to explain how such a lie and misunderstanding could have occurred?

With those thoughts he rushed around, trying to find Marie. He weren't sure if the girl had decided to tell Phillip immediately or if she would wait a few days, either way he needed to tell her that he wanted to be there when she did, if she did. But finding her was far from easy. When he spoke to people, they told him that she had been running around just like him, seemingly searching after someone. That probably meant that she had decided to find Phillip immediately.

Eventually he spotted her just as she went into a very strange direction, out of view from the rest of the city. Jonathan stopped himself from screaming out to get her attention. Why would she got to a place no one lived? Who would ever go there? As the teen became slightly suspicious he started to stalk after her, using all the skills he had to hide in the shadows. Marie stopped at a stone wall, and Jonathan could vaguely see how she did a complicated hand movement before a secret door opened. Why did they have a secret door there? He first sneaked towards the door, but when it started to close, he started to run. He even had to lay down on the ground and crawl in once he reached it. It closed just as he was fully inside.

He kept stalking Marie, but on a greater distance this time. There weren't any hiding spots in those tunnels, so he only had the dark to shield him if she turned around. Eventually he noticed that it became brighter at the end of the tunnel and he stayed behind for a bit before going forward into the light, not wanting to be noticed by Marie.

Phillip had been making sure that everything was working perfectly. They didn't want a disaster where the drug bags suddenly ran empty and the magicians suddenly woke up, or that their food bags got empty for too long and they starved to death. Then there was the teen that had died that morning which they had to take care of. It had lasted twelve years. While it wasn't unusual for adults to make it that long, children often died much faster. Five to eight years was usually max for them because of their age.

The news did not make his mood better. Not only had they lost one of their energy sources, Jonathan was also doubting them now. "What?" Phillip glared at her. He definitely thought it was partly her fault, but he hadn't really thought of checking their place for her things either, so Marie wasn't the only one to blame. "There's always something." He almost growled out the words, not sure who to be most angry with at the moment. Himself or Marie. "I can't believe we were so stupid not to check the hut. He was gone for a fucking week damn it." It was unusual for him to swear, but right now it was more than appropriate in his opinion.

Then Marie continued to speak. A smile cracked through his grim expression. "Ohoo, well that's good news. It seems like you made yourself deserved of the role of his friend and teacher after all." Phillip said quite cheerfully. A friend that could pick him up from his depressed state, and a teacher to show him the way of their people. The way to save them all from the corrupt magical society. Jonathan was hearing it all from the distance. He was now hiding behind one of the machines a magician slept in. Though he did not know they were there. He had just gotten used to the light and was leaning his back against it, only listening to their conversation. At first he thought he had misunderstood Marie's words, but when Phillip spoke about going into their hut, and Marie playing a role, he doubted it was some kind of misunderstanding. They were trying to trick him in some way.

"You'll just have to convince him that his suspicions are unfounded. And in the meantime, I will make sure that he won't have any reason to suspect me any longer. He saw the attention I gave the girl during her first week with us, I just have to play the role of a heart broken guy." Phillip told her. It seemed like an easy enough plan. He had only spoken with Jonathan on the day he came back from his search for Leilani. He had no idea what Phillip's mental state of mind on the matter was at the moment. It was just to make sure to bring it up elegantly into a normal conversation. "At least it's good to see that he has started to become a bit energetic now. It shows what a strong person the chosen one is. Just a bit more time and he will understand his purpose and lead us to the surface."

Jonathan could barely believe what he was hearing. The chosen one? Purpose? What were they talking about? Wasn't Nougami their paradise? Why would they want to go back to the normal world where they were discriminated against? Nothing made any sense.

 

[Elflady]

Marie was biting her cheek while listening to Philip speak, but she was getting off the hook easier than she'd thought, maybe due to her still retaining the teen's trust despite the mistake. That was something she would have to make sure to not lose but as things were going that didnt appear to be a problem. "I'll make him drop his supsicions that anyone in Noumagi had anything to do with her disappearance," she said firmly. Even if she was quite collected normally and never showed much of her real feelings outwards she couldn't help the pride that swelled in her chest as her efforts had been recognized. With Philip as their leader basically any praise, direct or indirect, from him meant more to her than from anyone else.

"If you play your role nicely to convince him you're innocent then it will go smoothly I'm sure. Jonathan will come to accept that Leilani left on her own and he'll stay here with us." After all, suspicions could be handled, dimmed down with time and effort but to convince someone to stay while they believed their friend was lost and lonely out in the wild without anything to aid them, that was much harder.

The blonde nodded in agreement, pushing back her hair behind an ear. "He's strong, sure he'll grieve a bit but then he'll be fit to be our saviour. If only we could figure out his immunity, one immune won't do much in the long run, we'd still not be able to change anything but if more of us could have that benefit then we could succeed." As soon as Jonathan had rcovered enough and started to get around to their way of seeing things then they could start to figure out the secret. To find a way to spread the immunity to others, then they could get revenge and finally get the life they all should have had from the start.

She cast an eye on the many glass containers noting the loss of one, a teen, so it was a decent amount of magic lost even if they'd gained one extra body with Leilani. "How's our supply looking by the way? Any more about to run out?" She wasn't too involved with the draining of magic and the machine, she knew all about it but it was her brother who normally worked in the cave which also meant Marie had less insight in how the supply looked and when it was time to find more magicians.

 

[redblood]

"Indeed, knowing his power and how to duplicate it would be helpful. But that has to wait until he's ready." Phillip said. Before Jonathan saw things their way, he doubted the teen would let them experiment with him. After all, they already had a perfect shield as far as he knew, so why need his powers too? It would just make him more suspicious if they tried to trick him into helping them obtain it. Once they saw eye to eye, they would be able to tell Jonathan everything, and he would accept his destiny and help them with their mission of cleansing the world.

The man sighed at the reminder of their supply. "We'll have to send out a few groups soon, we might loose as much as ten just this year. If we're lucky half of them might survive until autumn next year, but the chances are slim." He replied. It wasn't too weird for quite a few of them to die some weeks to months apart from each other. They might take them from different places, but they usually got them at the same time. At least five groups made out of one or two people was out at the same time, kidnapping one person, usually a child, each.

"But I guess we shouldn't complain. Some of the kids has survived quite long. Either we're damn lucky, or the doctor's talk about changing the drugs and the food supply wasn't such a bad idea. Let's hope he'll come up with another one soon. The longer they stay, the less we'll have to bother with all those lengthy trips." He had never been out on one, but it was quite a pain for him to take care of things at the base while they were gone. There were a lot of people still living without knowing about the secret of the shield. People whom were not ready to know of it yet. And it was hard to explain why their friends suddenly disappeared for sometimes months at a time.

Jonathan couldn't believe his ears. Survived? Why would some kids die? The teen tried to puzzle together the pieces. There were too much they didn't say, so their conversation didn't make much sense to him. But he knew that he had stumbled upon something really bad. Nougami, their paradise, was doing something he couldn't even imagine at this point. Jonathan turned around to try and see the two, but before he could lay his eyes on them, he noticed something else. The body in the glass container.

A weak, skinny, completely starved girl, not older than ten, with four different tubes going into her arms. Drugs, food supply, survive. It made sense. But why? Why did they keep people down there? Were they sick? No. If it had been that simple, why did they need to make an expedition every time some of them died? They needed them for something, but only when they weren't awake for some reason. And why was it so important to figure out how his immunity worked? It wasn't like they could leave Nougami, and if they did they would be in more danger if they were immune like him. Nothign made sense.

"Let's go back. If we don't show up for lunch people will start gossiping." Phillip then told her. In such a small community, things like gossip spread like a wildfire. And two people being gone during a meal without one of them being sick or being on a mission always started some creepy rumors.

 

[Elflady]

Marie frown a bit at the high number, it was prolematic to say the least, but also not something easily avoided unless the doctor continued to improve on the drug unless there was a limit to how much the human body could endure. Sure in a large hospital with magic and top notch equipment people cold be kept in a coma forever practically, altough they got to keep their magic so those people were not put under such stress as these were. Having your magic continually sapped were similar to using your magic non stop and that took its toll on a person, or that was what Marie guessed, it wasn't like she could use magic herself to test that theory.

"Hmm, at least the people down here are eager to believe what they are told, after all this is a paradise to us and when you live in a paradise you are often willing to overlook what doesn't quite fit in." She said, tricking the people in Noumagi wasn't an ideal situation but they had no choice until the time was right. "But it sure would be helpful to have that immunity on the searches, then we wouldn't be restricted to young people with little magic."

It was not very likely that Jonathan would ever help out with the kidnappings though, unless he changed his mind after some time down in Noumagi, but it was no denying that their search parties could capture adults with a lot of magic to drain if they were immune to whatever spell were thrown at them and it would probably go much faster than now. If that ever would work then they wouldn't have to figure out elaborate exuses to why the teams out to search for food or some other supplies were gone for so long.

"Yeah," maybe it was because of their remote and lonely place that gossip seemed so popular, even more so than on the surface, it was a way to make it seem more normal maybe. "I'll try to find Jonathan after lunch as well, the more he is left alone to think the harder it will be to push the magician from his mind as well." Marie made her way back to the door, not paying the glass containers any heed as she passed and was soon swalloed by the dark as she entered the short tunnel.

 

[redblood]

Jonathan was completely frozen in place. How could the perfect paradise he had been searching for half his life be such a cruel place? He weren't sure of the full story, but somehow they were using the sleeping people as fuel of sorts. But for what? If only they could have spoken a bit more. But now they were both on their way out, and Jonathan was left alone in the bright room. Once he was sure both of them were gone, and no one else was walking around in there, he made his way through the many glass containers.

A few of the people he saw was middle aged, but most of them were somewhere between eight and twenty. Some of the kids has survived quite long. The words echoed in Jonathan's mind. The longer they stay, the less we'll have to bother with all those lengthy trips. Were they kidnapping children? The teen stopped at a container which held a small child. He still had some color on his cheeks and he weren't as bony as many of the others. He couldn't have been plugged in for more than half a year, Jonathan thought. The child had probably just gotten to the age when his parents dared to allow him to run around on his own. And suddenly he just disappeared. What grief those parents must have felt.

He started walking again. He wasn't sure what he should do about it, nor why he kept looking at them. He couldn't just leave them there. They were all dying. But if he let them out, what would happen? A lot of them were weak, a lot of them were kids, or had been kids when they were taken. How would they be able to fight their way out of there? And the people of Nougami who knew nothing of this monstrosity, was it right to let them be taken by the authorities together with the guilty parties? Because once the innocent people stuck in the containers were freed, they would run off to tell the authorities, and guards would come to take every last one of Nougami's people away.

Then Jonathan stopped. In a container he find something he hadn't been prepared for. "Leilani." He whispered. It should have been obvious from the moment he figured out they used people for some kind of fuel. But somehow he hadn't connected the dots. He ran up to the container and forced the lid open. It did take a while because it was so heavy, but eventually it worked. Usually there was two people lifting or closing it. There were tubes stuck in Leilani's arms. Jonathan carefully pulled them out.

Phillip had spoken of a drug, so one of the tubes must have been pumping her for at least a week. It would take time for her to wake up. But Jonathan might only have until after lunch. He couldn't even sneak her out of the cave, because he couldn't open the door. Suddenly an idea came. He couldn't open the door, but Leilani might. He pulled her body to the cave door, covered his hand with his shirt, took the girls hand and started to do the hand gesture he had seen. But it didn't work. "What?" Jonathan was sure he remembered it correctly. He did it in the opposite direction in case it was mirrored on the inside of the case. Nothing. "They must have different passwords on both sides of the door." He mumbled. That was not good.

He pulled Leilani back into the bright room and hid with her in a secluded corner of the room far behind all the glass containers. He just had to hope no one entered the room before Leilani got a chance to wake up. And if someone did enter, then he hoped they just wouldn't notice that Leilani's container was empty.

The hours passed, and a few men did enter, but they didn't notice the empty container. They were gone within minutes. After that the room stayed empty for a long while. Jonathan couldn't tell the time, but he guessed it was getting late because he started to feel sleepy. Maybe Marie was trying to find him since he hadn't showed up to neither lunch nor dinner. If that was the case, Phillip might be helping her. There was no chance they would search for him in there though, because there was no way he could get in there.

The teen dozed off at some point, but was later awoken as he heard some noises coming from Leilani. She seemed to be waking up. He looked around, worried that someone might have entered while he was asleep. But he couldn't see anyone as he peeked out from his hiding place, nor could he hear anyone. "Leilani. Wake up, Leilani." He shook her carefully, knowing she must be exhausted after all the drugs and only being fed through tubes. "What happened?" He asked once she seemed somewhat awake.

 

[Elflady]

Slowly the complete darkness faded, not much but it drew back slightly, at first it was just vague sounds and the feeling that she was moving, which was odd since she couldn't move on her own. The more that she became aware of her surroundings Leilani tried to move, but her brain didn't want to send the signals to her limbs, in fact it didn't want to do much of anything. She couldn't remember where she was or what had happened for her to be like this, and when a piece of her memory floated by it just slipped away when she reached for it. And no matter how much she tried she couldn't focus on anything, whether it was to move or remember she couldn't keep her mind on something for long.

But ever so slowly the fog in her mind cleared, she felt the sting of a bright light against her eyelids and the low hum of something electric nearby and then a voice. Was someone calling her name? Someone shook her and it seemed to shake her brain as well and she managed to squeeze her eyes open. Something she instantly regretted as the bright light blinded her sending jolts of pain through her head, bright spots filled her vision whether her eyes were closed or not.

The more time that passed however the clearer her head got, raising a shaky arm, which to her seemed as difficult a task as to move a mountain, to shade her eyes she tried opening them again. This time she was prepared for the light and her confused gaze fell on a boy with an unusual shade of pale brown hair. "Jonathan?" Her voice hoarse and a bit shaky, blinking to focus her vision and make sense of what was happening.

"What happened?" She wanted the answer to that question just as much as he did. Trying to push herself up Leilani only managed to press up against the wall so she was half sitting, even if her mind was becoming clearer fast her body was still weak. Searching the cave for clues her eyes fell on the glass containers and her brain kicked into gear as things started to come back to her. "He tricked me," she said flatly as the realisation came. "That bastard tricked me! If I get my hands on him..." She threatened, an empty threat at the moment of course but she was thouroughly pissed, which for her was mostly expressed through silent fury kept on the inside, but for Philip's sake she was willing to become more physical.

"It was Philip," she clarified since Jonathan might not understand who she was speaking about. "He came when you were away, said they were going to collect plants or somtehing I think, then two men grabbed me in the tunnel, or I think they were only two." Her memories were not entirely back in order but the events were clear enough to understand. "How long was I out? And how did you even find this place? I saw when Philip opened the door and it was like the main one, I didn't think you could open those."

 

[redblood]

"I knew it." Jonathan muttered when she mentioned Phillip. Of course it had been him. And if his little discussion with Marie before hadn't clarified it, then Leilani's testimony certainly did. Looking over the girl, he wished he had brought a piece of bread or something. She hadn't eaten in almost two weeks, so her body must be very starved even though she got fluids pushed in through tubes.

As she asked her question, Jonathan looked ashamed and turned his gaze into the ground. "You've been gone for one week and four, five, maybe six days. I don't know. I didn't keep much track of the time at first." It was rather funny how he had been able to keep track of time so well once he came back to the cave, but when he had been outside, he hadn't really cared to remember the sun rise. Every day had felt the same. All he had been focused on was to find Leilani, the days did not matter. When he tried to count the days from memory, he just weren't sure when what had happened, so it could as well have been fifty days or two.

"Marie tricked me into believing you had ran off on your own. I ran out to search for you, but of course I couldn't find you. After I came back to Nougami I eventually noticed that your bag was still lying in your room. I talked to Marie about it, and she said she was going to ask Phillip what he thought. Luckily I followed her, without her knowing it of course, and were able to sneak in behind her to this place. That's when I heard Phillip and her speak about some kind of plan. I couldn't understand much of it though. Something about using people for something, and wanting to find a way for others to use my immunity." He was clearly still confused about what he had heard, even when he had gotten time to think it all through.

"I have no idea what they're planning. But it's definitely something bad. We need to get all these people out of here somehow." But how? What plan could they possibly come up with to get those people out of there unseen? Phillip and Marie had mentioned that there were people in Nougami that had no idea about that place, and they weren't ready to know about it either. If Jonathan could find them, then they might be able to get them over to their side. Make them understand how bad Nougami was and get them to help out with freeing the trapped. But that plan would be hard to accomplish. Not only did he have to figure out who knew and didn't know. But he would also have to hide Leilani for all that time. They needed a faster plan.

 

[Elflady]

Almost two weeks, that explained why she felt so weak. Of course she had been receiving whatever nutrition her body needed to survive but that would hardly sustain the body fully, which is probably why the kidnapped people only survived for around a decade. Her brain was starting to catch up as the minutes ticked by and she remembered more about what had happened when she was caught, including how long a human lasted in this horrid machine. "Marie is in on this too?" She asked, eyes widening slightly. She had only known the blonde girl for a week but Leilani would never have guessed the sweet girl to be involved in such a plot, maybe she was a bit single minded when it came to magicians but that she'd go this far.

Biting her lip as she thought over Jonathan's question Leilani couldn't think of anything that would work, even if there was a way to get these people out unnoticed how would they even start. Many were not in good health judging by their pale, sunken faces and skinny bodies, and even if they woke up it was not likely they could walk out of the cave on their own and how would they even survive the mountain to reach the closest town? "I don't know how to get all these people out but I do know what their plan is," she said, raising a hand to push back her hair from her face.

"Philip told me while the drugs were taking effect, apperently he felt certain that I wouldn't wake up again so he spilled everything. They want you, or rather your immunity, they hope to find out how it works and to give it to others so that they can return to the surface. Then they'll kill every single magician so they can live freely without being mistreated, creating their paradise on the deaths of the majority of the population and no one will be able to stop them if they are immune." The plan was simple, and terrifying, because if they actually learned how Jonathan's immunity worked and actually could spread it to others then the only thing that could stop them would be traditional weapons. But people with no magic had most likely more experience with such weapons since they had no magic to use in the first place so Leilani doubted their smaller number would matter much in the end.

"I'm sorry Jonathan," she said after a while, casting an apologetic look at him. "You said from the start that you didn't trust Philip but I didn't listen, and when I did it was too late." She knew she had an easy time trusting people and never really thought of the worst case scenario first but she that she had been fooled so easily was a painful realization. But while she was furious with him and very easily could bury Philip in a rockslide if he came in right now she was honestly just as sad as she was angry.

 

[redblood]

"Yeah." Jonathan sighed. Marie had been the person even he had believed they could trust. He hadn't sensed anything from her. He couldn't even use the excuse that he was so saddened by Leilani's disappearance that he would have trusted anyone in that moment. Because he had trusted Marie even before that. He might not have spoken to her earlier, but he had seen her with Leilani and never thought she had been suspicious.

What Leilani told him was baffling to hear. Didn't Phillip understand how many people would die if he went through with his plan? Not only magicians, but Immune people and non-magicians too. The majority of the magicians didn't know how to deal with immune people, but there existed a special task force who's purpose was to chase people like Jonathan. Those would definitely become a problem and probably kill a big portion of the rebellion. No matter which side won, both would come out with such great losses, nothing in the world would make up for it.

"It's alright. It wasn't just Phillip. If he hadn't been able to trick you away, he would just have made someone else do his dirty work. Like Marie." Jonathan reassured the girl. It wasn't her fault things had become so wrong. But now they had to stop it before it got out of hand. "So we know what they want me for. But why trap all these people down here in the machines? They already have all the magic they need from the stones it seems, and all the food they need from their hunts and greenhouse. So what are the people meant to fuel?" He couldn't wrap his head around it. They had all they needed, but still they needed these people to get fuel for something. Though it was suspicious how they could have so much magic around in the cave, and it never seemed to run out. And that shield.

"If not... They are the magic." He mumbled. It couldn't be. How did one even take someone else's magic to use it for themselves?

 

[Elflady]

Not only was it a hard blow to realize that out of all the new people encountered during a week the two she'd spent the most time with and started to trust turned out to be the two people she definitely could not trust. But it also showed how hard it would be to find someone in Noumagi that wasn't included in Philip's grand plan, it must be a lot of people who knew nothing but to find those under time constraints and without tipping off those involved would be hard. Especially since she couldn't be seen since the news would travel fast, both Philip and Marie would quickly find out she had escaped.

Leilani nodded grimly as the truth dawned on him. "Yeah, the shield is powered by the magicians they capture but most only survive for a decade, they usually take kids because they are easy targets but that also means they need many of them since their magic is weaker." She shuddered at the thought, children were innocent and even those who early on learned to bully those without magic only did what they had been taught directly or indirectly by their parents. It was not fair to put them in this machine, of course no one deserved that fate but to put a child through it seemed so much worse. "Somehow they've found a way to take magic from humans and use it to power their own shield to throw off the guards as well as various small stuff around like the light stones I guess."

As she spoke Leilani sat up straighter, flexing her limbs carefully as she did so, while she still felt hungry and tired, she was beginning to recover as much as possible without eating or sleeping. A hesitant probe inwards for her magic proved what she had feared, it was still there but not in plenty supply, it was as if she had used magic continually until exhaustion leaving little behind although it would return in full in time. Hopefully she wouldn't need to use a large portion of magic for a long time in the near future. "I doubt there is any chance of making Philip, or anyone in their little group, see the fault in their plan. I tried speaking with him but it's no use, whatever argument I brought up he had an answer that justified it."

"But how are we going to get out of here, and what are we supposed to do about them?" She added with a frown, motioning to the glass containers. "It will be hard enough fo us two to move around undetected, with all these it would be impossible. Besides they all need medical attention and most could probably not handle much, if any, exertion." It would be the best for them if she and Jonathan could call over the authorites to the cave but at the same time how many innocent people in Noumagi would be sucked back into the miserable situation they tried to escape?

 

[redblood]

They were stealing magic from children? And they could only live for a decade? That was far too cruel. If it only had been adults, Jonathan could somehow have understood their reasoning. Magicians had hurt them for so long, so what did it matter if they used them against their will to get their shield up? But taking children like that, innocent human beings that hadn't even gotten the chance to turn to evil or good yet. It was just wrong.

Jonathan thought for quite some time of what to do about the whole matter. "Phillip has definitely fallen too low for us to convince him. But there are many people in Nougami whom doesn't know that this is going on." Jonathan looked over the many glass containers that was put in rows. It was such a disgusting sight. How could anyone think that it was okay? "The only reason people believe this is right is because they are slowly taught to trust everything they are told. Once the leaders are certain their pupils will be able to handle it without turning on them, they tell them. If we get to them first however, then we can show them how awful these ways are."

It was quite a dangerous plan, because one couldn't know for sure that those he told didn't already know about it, or would turn to accept it. "If we tell those we believe doesn't know of it, then Nougami will be split in two. When they start to protest for this horrible treatment of magicians children, maybe Phillip and Nougamis leaders will be pressured into letting them go. If that doesn't work, we can always warn those who are on our side before we send in tips to the authorities about this place and how they can get in. That way, those who deserve to escape will be able to." Jonathan wasn't the kind of person who thought ill even of criminals. But what Phillip and the others did was too much. He couldn't forgive it. People like them should be locked up. Sure, they had their pasts, and it had shaped them. But Jonathan had a harsh past too, still he understood what was right and wrong. No matter what their story was, nothing could justify those horrible actions.

"First off we'll need to wait for someone to open the door, otherwise we won't be able to get out. It has different codes on each side." He then explained. "Do you think you would be able to do a spell to knock the person whom opens the door out? After having rested a bit of course. Otherwise I'll have to do it the old fashioned way." Violence wasn't something Jonathan wished to use. He'd rather just have Leilani put the man or woman to sleep or something like that. But if she couldn't they'd just have to take the second best. If only there had been a hiding spot close to the exit.

 

[Elflady]

Leilani agreed with his plan, if they got most of the people on their side this would be much easier and even if it was not enough to stop this cruel plan they could still help the innocent to avoid the authorities, and hopefully most people would not be willing to join Philip and his crazy plan. "It certainly would help as long as we don't speak to the wrong person, I'm guessing the majority don't know anything but maybe concentrating on those who are not so close with Philip or Marie and anyone they know or are related to may make it a bit safer." It would make more sense that those involved in all this knew each other and also interacted more, of course everyone knew everyone down here but still it was something at least.

"I can do that," she nodded in answer at Jonathan's question. "Perhaps nothing too strenuous but I can knock someone out no problem." Especially if you thought of it like payback, whether or not the next person to enter had been one to attack her didn't matter much in her eyes, they were all still in on all this. If she could deal out some revenge for her capture then she could coax out more magic then she might have just for that. Apparently she had quite the vengeful streak in her, another thing this ordeal had revealed that she hadn't had the chance to discover yet having lived such a peaceful life until now.

While waiting for the door the open and someone to enter Leilani pondered on the task to find people who knew nothing of this machine and how to avoid those who did. They would have an unknown timelimit as well, depending on how often the glass containers were checked and someone would notice she was gone. There would be some kind of search most likely and the question of how she escaped would rise, even if Jonathan couldn't open the door's on his own he would be the most likely suspect unless they believed she had somehow woken up due to a lack in the drugs. "Once they notice I'm not here anymore though they will start looking so I hope you can play your innocent puppy eyes well enough to fool them, because if we have to stay and convince the rest of Noumagi then you can't avoid neither Philip nor Marie for long." But if they felt certain Jonathan had fallen for their ruse then they might trust him to speak the truth, besides you'd have to be made of stone to ignore that look.

 

[redblood]

"Leilani. Are you doubting my acting ability?" Jonathan asked with a shocked expression. "I've been on the run for ages and no one has ever been able to resist my puppy eyes. Not before the guards interfered at least." He continued, pretending to be somewhat hurt by her words. "But even if they do suspect me, they won't dare to ask me about it. What are they going to say? 'Did you help Leilani escape from our evil machine, Jonathan?' Even they are smart enough to understand that if I wasn't involved, then they would ruin all their chances of their plan succeeding. I'll just have to make sure that there's some doubt in their minds." The teen grinned knowingly. They might keep their eyes on him after Leilani's escape, and considering he was gone during the time of her escape they'll have reasons to believe it was him. But as long as there was any doubt, and Jonathan didn't say the wrong thing to the wrong people, then they wouldn't dare to voice their concerns to him in fear of revealing themselves.

"There's one thing we'll have to figure out though." Jonathan then said and instantly became serious. "Where are you going to hide in the meantime?" He asked. Outside of Nougami could be tough, since Jonathan couldn't come and go as he pleased without someone opening the door for him. And Phillip would certainly keep his eyes on the teen after Leilani's escape. The guards would probably not be a problem now though. Leilani had been within Nougamis walls for over two weeks. If they hadn't found her with magic by now, then they had probably given up trying. She wasn't a hardcore criminal after all, and they probably thought she would show up wherever Jonathan showed up next.

"You can't be in our hut, since Phillip and his companions probably will keep a close eye on the places where you and I usually are. Actually staying in the cave at all would be risky. But staying outside of it would hinder us from communicating because I can't get outside freely, and it would be dangerous for you to enter in such visible places without knowing if anyone are on the other side." It was a problem. And at the moment he weren't sure how to solve it. "Can you stand?" He asked and offered her a hand. They could as well move towards the door. They could never know when someone would come, so they should prepare themselves.

 

[Elflady]

"How silly of me to doubt your skills especially down here where there are no guards to thwart you." Leilani said with an amused chuckle at his playfully injured tone. "But you have a point there," she agreed. Of course Philip wouldn't dare to risk loosing his precious saviour by revealing the ugly truth about Noumagi so he was probably safe even if they suspected him. There was no way they could ask him about it without having to admit his friend had not left voluntarily and that would not be very smart. Faced with the question of whre she would hide out she was at a loss, gnawing her lower lip as she thought it over, both options were unsafe and had many drawbacks but inside the cave was perhaps the best choice anyway.

If she sneaked outside they could not get in touch if Jonathan didn't get someone to let him out and then in again which would be hard to do and rise suspicions It would be harder to hid inside Noumagi but at the same time it provided everything except safety but there must be someplace that was hardly visited where she could keep out of sight. "Oh, sure I can I'm felling much better already," she said and rose to her feet quickly, taking his offered hand. Once she stood up the room spun around her and she grabbed Jonathan's arm to keep from swaying and most likely fall back down. "Maybe not in tip top shape yet but almost." She said as the world stopped moving, lying in a comatose state for a week was apparently not so good for you.

Leilani was prevented from answering by sounds coming from the corridor behind the stone door and soon enough it swung open and a tall blonde haired man came in. He didn't appear to notice her and Jonathan as they had moved to the side of the door and near the wall, she had no idea if this man was one who had helped to catch her but it didn't really matter. Leilani was very tempted to throw a rock to knock him out but it was a bit risky since it could kill him so she settled for manipulating the air just around him. There were spells centered on stealth that could put people to sleep but she had never learned to master them well enough to actually get them to work instead it was much simpler to manipulate the elements which she had a knack for.

In a matter of seconds the man started to react, clawing at his throat as if something hindered his breathing, which it was but nothing physical. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and it was obvious that her magic had been drained since such a simple usage should't bother her normally. After a short while he sagged to the floor and after keeping the air from him awhile longer Leilani released the hold on it and drew a sigh of relief. "That should keep him down for awhile at least. We should get out before he wakes up, the door in here was shielded if I remember that correctly so we won't be seen instantly at least."

 

[redblood]

"Tip top shape huh." Jonathan grinned as Leilani swayed. At that point he made himself ready to have to attack the person opening the door, just in case Leilani wouldn't be able to use her magic. Sometimes people overestimated their abilities. She might not be as fine as she tried to make him believe. But he would give her a chance first. If it took too long though, and they were at risk of being spotted, he would have to rush in and take over. Even though he hated violence, it was better than them being caught.

Luckily it didn't have to come to that. Leilani did a splendid job with taking out the man. "Agreed. Quickly before the door closes." Jonathan said and pulled Leilani forward. He preferred to be quick rather than caring for the body, but he still tried to be careful so that he wouldn't walk on him when they had to get across his body. Though it was rather hard to miss him in the dark tunnel where he laid spread out. He wasn't sure what he had accidentally stepped on, but he guessed it had been an arm or a leg, because it made him stumble over it like rolling-pin. "Oops. He'll get a bruise in the morning." Jonathan mumbled, only half apologetic. The other half thought the man deserved it. After all, he was part of such a cruel thing.

Once out of the door, he stopped. They were perfectly shielded by rocks back there, no one would see them. Soon the door closed, so even if the man woke up soon, he wouldn't know they were out on the other hand. Though he might want want to run to Phillip immediately after his experience. But it probably wouldn't do much to stay for just five minutes and try to figure things out. If they just ran out in the open without a plan they would be spotted fast.

"Okay, we need to figure out what to do. If you hide outside of the cave, then we won't be able to keep in touch, and if you hide inside you might be found easily... What to do..." Jonathan stomped his foot countless of times while thinking, and slowly an idea started to arise. "Hey... What if we don't hide you. What if we let you be in plain sight." The teen's expression shone as the idea came to him. It was a crazy plan, but it could work.

"I know it sounds insane, but hear me out. Everyone that isn't in on their plan thinks that you left of your own free will. If Phillip doesn't think those people can handle the truth yet, then they won't be able to tell everyone that they got rid of you for being a witch. If they tell everyone that you're a witch, we'll tell everyone that they're hiding magicians in their secret room. We know the code, it's just for us to show the others. If Phillip and the others promises to keep our secret, we'll promise to keep theirs. They will think that because we're outlaws, we are desperate for a place to stay, thus we'll take even this wretch." Jonathan paused for a moment and let Leilani take in everything he said.

"Of course we won't be on their side. We try to figure out whom we might get over onto our side, and who are too lost, then tell those we trust the most. Once we have enough of a following we'll make a public announcement of how Nougami has fallen and reveals everything to everyone, both those who knows and those who doesn't. After that it will probably be a debate between those who believes it's right and those who believes it's wrong with many in the middle. If it's settles itself we might be able to release the magicians without needing to involve the guards. But if it goes the other way around... Well, in that case we'll contact the authorities and warn the people who deserves to be warned." It was a political move, something the teen was far from used too. But in this case he was ready to try. It would definitely be a challenge, but as long as they played their cards right, it might work. "It is a risky plan, and it could take time, and you probably need to stay close to me and eventually people we know we can trust. I will go back to our previous plan if you think it's a bad idea, but with this, we might be able to make Nougami into a somewhat safe place without destroying the lives of those who has nothing to do with this."

They might be found out eventually in their hiding spot in the mountains, but it was so secluded it would most likely take a long time. Most people thought of Nougami as a myth, it was definitely not the authorities highest priority.

 

[Elflady]

Leilani looked doubtfully at Jonathan, wondering what he could possibly mean by not keep her hidden. At first thought it appeared to be a very stupid plan but when he continued and her brain caught up she realized the brilliance with his idea. It was not like Philip and his lackey's could just grab her among the unknowing people of Noumagi and say she had escaped the machine that sucked magic from magicians, if they wanted to keep their own plan hidded then they could do nothing about her. "That is such a simple plan that it's brilliant," she said out loud. Of course there were som risks involved and it probably would be a good idea to keep near Jonathan and other people just in case they would try something but it was certainly leagues better than anything else they could ever plan.

"Let's do it then, of course I'd lie if I said I didn't want to leave right now but we can't just ignore this, not the magicians down here or the rest of Noumagi." Leilani said, it would be much easier and safer to just leave at once but the same part of her that had gotten her to help Jonathan and later to ignore the law because it was morally wrong couldn't ignore this either. "On the plus side it will be hilarious to see Philip's face when he sees I got out and the realisation that he can't do anything about it." She added with a grin, she would really like to take out some anger on the man but since that was not an option for now then this would at least be a good substitute.

Leilani looked around trying to judge the time like she would have done on the surface, which of course was futile since the light was created by stones and whatever her body had learned down here to tell the time was gone after being asleep like this. "What time is it by the way, I've lost all track of time." She hoped it was late enough that they could return to the hut without being seen, and if no one was around to see her now she could just pretend to have come back during the night.

"You've been gone for awhile by now right? Wonder if people are worried for you by now or are searching for you?" By people she mostly meant Philip or Marie since they had kept Jonathan quite close it seemed and was probably keeping an eye on him to not lose their saviour. Which by the way was a freaky word, like they were some religious cult waiting for their saviour to aid them with whatever they now wanted, it was a bit different here and she had no idea how many down here were religious but all in all it was a similar concept.

 

[redblood]

Jonathan was glad Leilani agreed with him. Most people would probably have been far too frightened after such an experience and rather preferred to leave. Even if leaving meant to either let those magicians suffer or the whole of Nougami suffer by contacting the authorities.

"Yeah, watching Phillip being in pain sounds like a rather nice bonus." Jonathan agreed. Emotional pain would definitely be more than enough. He hadn't like the man from the very start, and now he had gotten a reason to really dislike him. Watching him confused and angry trying to take over an uncontrollable situation would be hilarious. Especially if things went their way and they got the majority of Nougami on their side. Then he would have to let the magicians go even if he didn't like it.

"Sorry, but I've lost the track of time too." The teen confessed. "All I know is that I'm hungry and it was lunchtime when I brought you out of that thing." The last word was said with contempt. He hated that machine. It was nothing short of evil. It had been built by evil people with evil intentions. No good person, no matter what they had been through, would let people suffer like that. "I fell asleep while waiting for you to wake up, so it could be the middle of the night or early morning, maybe even lunch again. But I'm guessing they started to search for me when they noticed I didn't show up for lunch." Considering Phillips obsession with Jonathan, he wouldn't be surprised if the man was pulling his hair out by now in an full out anxiety attack. That would be quite funny to see. First his surprise when Jonathan finally came back from having disappeared into the blue, and then his heart attack from seeing Leilani.

"Either way, if everyone's asleep we can just announce your return at breakfast, and give Phillip some hints not to make a fuss by mentioning that interesting cave we found. He's smart. He'll get it. If it's day time and everyone's outside, it's just to say that you just came back when we meet people. Eventually Phillip will get the news and come forth. He'll probably try to get us to come somewhere alone. Of course we'll decline. We'll have our negotiating where people can see us, but not hear us. That way we can be sure not to be attacked if they decide to get rid of you." Of course they wouldn't get rid of her that easily once knowing that Jonathan would tell everyone about their little secret. But if it only was his powers they wanted, eventually Phillip might realize that the savior might just be his body and not his mind. Taking him by force wouldn't be too hard for them as long as they made a surprise attack. Hopefully Phillip wouldn't think that far.

 

[Elflady]

Leilani nodded in agreement, going anywhere alone with Philip was not high on her to do list although it would be just as important to make sure there was always a lot of people nearby, maybe it would be safest to never go far from the center of Noumagi where most people often could be found. As long as they didn't surprise her again she could possibley keep them off with magic though, but using magic openly down here, even when they started telling people what was going on may not be so smart, people had moved here to get away from magicians and not to see more of them, and might see her magic as bad whatever it was used for. Philip might try to use what she was to get Noumagi against her but surely he would also realise Jonathan could just counter with their secret magician draining cave. For now Leilani felt she and JOnathan had the advantage but only for as long as Philip didn't do anything drastic or found a way to get what he wanted without Jonathan cooperating.

Looking out beyond the rock shielding to entrance revealed it was either night time or the people were gathered to eat, but since no one was around she hoped it was the first. "It doesn't look like there's any people around, so whether it's night or not no one will at least see us coming from here." It seemed more likely that it was late evening or even in the middle of the night since even when they reached the huts no one was around and in none of the few, small windows could a light be seen. Well inside the small hut Leilani gave a small sigh of relief, both for having gone unnoticed and because the small and quite simple hut was like a mansion in comparison to the last two weeks, granted she hadn't been awake to experience the glass container, luckily since she would most likely have flipped out being locked inside such a small space. "I'm going to bed right away, it's a bit ironic how I can feel so tired despite having slept for so long." Of course the magic draining and bad nutrion most likely were the cause for that but it was still so backwards to only sleep for all that time and still be tired.

When she awoke Leilani was tempted to fall asleep again, another week or so sounded just about right but she could hear noises from outside, voices and doors opening and closing. Sighing she got out of bed, straightening out her clothes since she had not bothered to take them off when she went to bed, she would have to see if she could get something else to wear again and this time she wouldn't feel bad for borrowing or being given an extra pair by Marie or some other girl that was in on all this. Yawning she pulled her hair loose and combed through the tangled mess with her fingers before pulling it back up into a ponytail and left the small bedroom to find Jonathan so they could head out and see what time it was, and hopefully find that it was meal time.

 

[redblood]

Carefully they made their way forward while making sure no one saw them. While they had to be seen by people eventually, it would still be bad if Phillip, Marie or someone else of their gang noticed them first. Without the oblivious people in Nougami as witnesses, they could as well just be taken away immediately. Though that would depend on if Phillip would think they needed Jonathan's cooperation or not. If not, he would definitely just take them both away back to the cave and lock the teen up somewhere. Though he doubted the man would go that far for now. Except if he panicked. People could make very weird decisions when they panicked.

Luckily they didn't run into anyone on their way to the hut, which meant it was probably night time. Jonathan had heard someone walking around among the huts, but at that time that person had been moving away from them and was somewhere behind a few houses. Maybe it was someone searching for him. He had been gone since lunch. Whether it was lunch that day or the day before that, he wasn't sure.

"I'm not surprised. They pumped you full of God knows what." Jonathan commented. "Good night. I'll keep guard in case someone decides to sneak around and reports to the prophet himself."It probably wouldn't happen. No one had seen them as far as he knew, and the chances of them checking his hut when they were outside searching for him was rather slim. Maybe they would knock to see if he had gotten back, but in that case they would probably wait till morning.

Staying up all night was not a problem. At times he had been forced to keep himself awake for several days when being in a dangerous zone. Though this time it hadn't been necessary. No one came around, and no one seemed to have noticed them. "Good morning, you're just in time for breakfast it seems."Jonathan smiled. "I suggest we wait until people has stopped walking around though. The reveal will be so much more awesome if no one can run ahead and tell Phillip about us." The smile turned into a childish grin. He would love this.

"It won't take long, most people around here has already left their huts. Just a couple of them left, and they're already walking." Clearly he had been spying out the window for quite some time.

At the breakfast table, a distraught and quite annoyed Phillip sat muttering to himself. "He couldn't just have disappeared. No one has let him out, otherwise they would have told us during lunch yesterday... But we've searched everywhere. This does not make sense." His murmuring couldn't be heard over the people talking happily to each other about the day. Most of them was sure Jonathan would show up eventually. He had been gone for a week once, and that was outside of Nougami, and he still came back alright. He probably just wanted some alone time they thought.

"Hey guys, guess who's back." A familiar voice shouted over the crowd. They all went silent rather fast as heads started to turn. Phillip also looked towards the voice. His eyes showed something between fear, anger and disbelief. Jonathan was back, but he wasn't alone.

Jonathan kept a close eye on peoples reactions. Those whom didn't seem happy over her return could not be trusted, and those whom seemed to fake happiness could not be trusted. At that point he was sure that at least thirty percent of Nougami was truth worthy, and another thirtyfive-forty percent was potentially trust worthy. People flocked around them. "Where have you been Leilani. We were worried about you." Someone said. "I'm glad you're back." Someone else said. Some people definitely blamed Leilani for disappearing and causing Jonathan so much grief, but they simply just didn't say anything.

"Hey hey. She came back late last night so she's a bit tired. Give her some space." The teen chuckled and eventually the group of people surrounding them started to go back to their seats. It had been enough time for Phillip to get his expression in order. He was now looking completely emotionless. Few would realize what was going on inside his head, but Jonathan did. Oh he knew far too well. He couldn't help but give the man a devilish smirk as they sat down in front of him.

"Hey Phillip, Marie. Isn't it great when old friends comes back?" He asked, knowing both of them would be forced to hold their feelings back for now. "After having slept in a cave for two weeks, Leilani became quite bored and lonely. She was rather happy when I finally found her and told her to come back to Nougami with me. I'm sure you're as happy as me that she accepted the invitation." His smile had turned into an almost angelic one, just to fill the wounds with some salt. The cards were now on the table. Now they knew that he knew about the cave, that he had gotten her out, but it would be impossible to speak any further about negotiation when the oblivious sat right beside them. That would have to wait for later.

 

[Elflady]

After having waited some time to make sure everyone where gathered in the large hut Leilani followed Jonathan towards it, getting more nervous for every step she took. It was worse then the first day in Noumagi, this time it wasn't just meeting a town full of new people though, now it was facing them again and wondering who to trust. Of course her sudden appearance like this would surely rattle those in on the plan, especially Philip, Marie and those who helped capturing her, but depending on how god they were at hiding it and her not wanting to think the worst of people might not work in her favour to spot them. Jonathan was way better at that though so perhaps he could spot some villagers that weren't wholly trustworthy.

By the time they reached the hut Leilani was very certain she had made the wrong decision and that it would be better to take the opportunity to leave right now when no one watched the way in and out of Noumagi but before she could do anything or even push away her worried thoughts for reason Jonathan had opened the doors and captured everyone's attention. If nothing else this was an effective way of silencing a room, for a few seconds at least. Soon people surrounded them like a sick deja vu froom three weeks ago spouting questions way faster than she could answer them. A bit overwhelmed with all the questions and attention Leilani still found two familiar faces, both still seated by the table looking all else but happy, their obvious shock being quite uplifting actually.

Marie had been sitting silently, eating her breakfast, ignoring Philip's low mutterings about what bothered him at the moment, probably Jonathan since he was still missing, wondering if the man even knew he spoke out loud, albeit silently. She may not be as agitated as Philip but she couldn't understand where he had disappeared to. Some people said he just wanted some alone time and sure, she could believe that but why couldn't they find him then. He had not left Noumagi that they knew, and since he could not open the doors on his own there was no chance of him having left on his own. The blonde froze with her spoon halfway to her mouth as a voice called out, making everyone at the table fall silent, a very familiar voice, and Marie looked up in relief, at last he was back and Philip could stop driving her mad with his worries. But relief was quickly replaced with pure and utter shock. The colour drained from her face as her eyes fell on the black haired person standing beside the teen, her hand dropped back down but no one noticed the clang when her spoon hit the plate, too occupied with Leilani's return.

Gaining enough control of herself she closed her mouth, getting her expression in order, and listened on as Jonathan explained to the rest about his friend's return, his words clearly directed to a certain group among all the people gathered. A cave and two weeks, it coudn't get any more obvious than that. Jonathan had been the one helping the magician out of the machine, but how? How had he gotten to her, or even known about it? No doubt she would not be happy to learn that it had in fact been she herself that had let him inside and by that destroyed what they had done so far to slowly push Jonathan to their side.

Forcing a smile as Jonathan directed his words directly to her and Philip, she nodded, everyone at the table would probably be too occupied to notice her stiffness and still pale face. "Of course," she said to the teen, pulling a hand through her hair and willed herself to relax and her voice to sound natural. "Leilani, I'm so glad you're back, you left so suddenly, I honestly didn't think you would come back." All the while her mind worked trying to figure out their motive for staying, surely it would have been smarter if they had left, especially when no one would have seen them. Why would they risk staying? Wouldn't they have realised they wouldn't be safe? On the other hand if Leilani disappeared out of the blue again so soon after coming back the people not in the loop might start asking question, some might even become suspicious.

"Well, neither did I actually, but two weeks was more than enough time to learn that Noumagi was much better than what I had ended up in. I was more than happy when Jonathan helped me find my way back here." She said with as sweet of a smile she could pull off. "It's too bad your plan don't work out like you think sometimes but I'm glad to be back and I'm sorry if I caused any problems by disappearing like that." Even if the prospect of continuing to antagonize the two in front of her the food was more tempting, if not for people having started to talk normally again her rumbling stomach would probably have been heard clearly. So she wasted no time filling her plate with what was nearby, for once not being as picky as she could be sometimes and just took what was closest.