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Chapter 33: Purpose

Chapter 33: Purpose

THIS WAS THE AMBER HE KNEW. He was sure of it, because she sat on the shoulder of the massive humanoid, ankles locked and legs swinging, and hadn't gotten eaten yet. Also because she had her arms crossed, face adorned with a heavy scowl, glowering down at them like she’d make the Demon step on their faces just so she could watch.

When all of their forces were frozen, either in shock or in fear, she patted the berserker's shoulder. "Hey, put me down." As silent as a shadow, the giant Demon eased her off its shoulder and knelt to let her step from its palm to the floor. She turned first to him and Calida, paused, looked at the slight flash of trepidation on Calida’s face and said, "If I was myself, I would've left my idiot self for dead too."

Calida started forward. "You're--"

"Alive." She snorted. "Surprised? You don't have to state the obvious." Before any more questions could be asked, Amber turned away. As she passed by him, they made eye contact and he saw his own intent mirrored in her gaze. When she started walking towards the Delegates, he was at her side. When she stopped in front of Leone, he stopped as well. "What the hell did you do to me?" Her voice was a low growl. 

"I'm sorry? What are you referring to?" Leone asked, her eyebrows furrowed. A hint of a gentle but confused smile played about her lips. 

"You damn well know what I'm referring to," she snarled, hands twitching. "What did you and your bastard Mind Adepts do to my magic?  You got into my head and did something to screw over my Metal powers, didn't you?"

Leone raised a finger. "Language, Amber."

"Like we give a shit about language right now." It was his turn. "Let me modify the question: What the hell did you make me do to Amber?" The gaze of the girl in question flicked towards him, before sliding smoothly back to Leone like nothing had happened. He'd expected to slap him, or something along those lines, but his words had only seemed to make her focus even more on Leone.

“This is a private matter for the both of you,” Leone said. She gestured at the armed Adepts around them, as well as the Demons that waited for Amber at the doorway to the training grounds. Both parties looked wary of the other, shifting uncomfortably. “I think it would be better if we could discuss this in, perhaps, the Daron twins’ office?”

“No,” he said and had to quell the urge to congratulate himself when the word sounded like a gavel striking the table in court.

Amber nodded. “We do this here and we do this now. Answer the question, or I’ll make someone else ask.” She nodded towards the Demons at the door. The berserker that had carried her lifted its mace as if in agreement.

The Human Delegate sighed finally, resigned. He blinked, a little surprised. No villain would give out the truth so easily. Does she want us to know? “Have it your way, but I simply hope that you will understand our reasons for the actions that we have taken.”

She looked to Amber and continued, “When we started working with you on your Metal powers, it soon became clear that the problem resided in our mind, as there was another entity sharing the space. We knew that removing it had the chance of killing you, and we can’t let that happen till you have your full potential.” He almost frowned. What’s up with that phrasing? “In the end we decided that we didn’t want to violate your mind any further, so we got Daniel, whom we know has already accessed your mind once, to seal the Demon away at the edge of your consciousness.”