Florian

10. Lighthouse

Rowan scanned his security card to open the doors to the labs 'outside' area. A large dome where many of Simon's creatures roamed freely, used magic to hide itself from aerial view. He wasn't necessarily looking for him, but sighed in relief when he saw Simon standing there. He had a pensive look on his face, a brow raised as he stared at four elven men in front of him. His mind was everywhere but there in that moment, until Rowan stepped closer. Simon blinked as Rowan stopped walking, looking at him and half smiling, raising a glass of brown liquid at him before losing the smile, looking back at the men. Rowan could smell the liquor from a few feet away, wondering what this was about. Simon never drank, and never this much.

"We need to pay them a visit, Rowan..." Simon said after a moment of silence, arms now crossed. Rowan looked over at him, a confused look on his face.

"Who?" He asked. Simon scoffed, the men in front of him were in ripped up clothing, bloodied, and had been begging to be let go. Simon's facial expression slowly grew into obvious anger. In one swift motion he threw an arm back as if he had just back-handed someone, a flash of light forced Rowan to squint as he looked away for a moment. When he looked back, the men were now... unhuman. They resembled manticores. Rowan looked at the creatures, a rather disgusted look on his face.

"I've been reading up on mythical creatures.... I like this one..." Simon began. Rowan stared at him, then at the monsters in front of them. "So... this'll do. Perfect for what I need them for, this way I don't waste my talents." He smiled at Rowan as the creatures screamed in agony. Simon flinched and snapped his fingers, each one flying off towards the Kingdom of Aurora. Since it was nighttime, they eventually lost sight of them as they got farther. "Let's let them think they've won something."

Simon glanced over to Rowan once more, this time losing all expression on his face as he pulled a small piece of redwood tree bark from his pocket. He took it from him slowly. Both men looked at the piece of wood, then back up at each other. Rowan shook his head as Simon swished the liquid around in his mouth, then drank the rest of it. The glass disappeared from his hand as if it had just ceased to exist. Rowan scowled, looking down at the bark once more before Simon broke the silence.

"They found the love of your life, don't be such a drag."

"I don't know why you're so happy. She's found Demien.." Rowan said. Simon smirked, shrugging slightly, pursing his lips together.

"You're right. She has."

"That means she's probably begun working with him to learn dark magic..." Rowan continued. "The dark magic she needs to become extremely powerful. More so than you.. How is that a positive thing? How does this not bother you?" Those last few words were louder than the rest, making it clear he was growing angry. Rowan took a deep breath, clenched his jaw and threw the wood to the ground. Simon made a glass appear just to chuck it toward the lab, shattering it into small shards.

"What I had you inject her with, made her appearance change slightly. Yes. But it did something to her 'wiring'. Black magic is now a trigger for her nervous system. When she has it in her control, she simply wants to destroy things." He began. "If she learns how to control it without destroying the kingdom or killing those around her, being exiled once again, I'd be surprised."

"And how're we supposed to know how she's doing with that training?" Rowan asked. "Did you end up talking t-"

"Me?" A woman opened the door at the back of the lab, stepping out.  Her wavy red hair flew back off of her shoulders. Alice smiled at Rowan as she stepped up to Simon, wrapping her arms around his waist. Simon half smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. "Yes, he spoke to me. And to report on Jax.. she almost took my head off with Demien's magic if he hadn't stopped her. So I feel as though the serum is working. Slowly. But it's working."

Simon hugged her a bit tighter, smiling wide now. "Excellent."

Rowan sighed and nodded.

"Let's see what these creatures do then." He said.