Silverborn?

Chapter 23

"Morrigan! Sit up, take it easy, that's it." A ball of fires cooed. Not a ball of fire, Jupiter.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jupiter asked, anxiously holding up one of his hands.
"Seven." Morrigan stated woozily.
"I don't have seven fingers!" Jupiter groaned.
"Oh."
The sound of stomping feet has Jupiter standing up to greet the newcomer, leaving Morrigan to blink the world into focus.

When she did, it was not Courage Square that met her gaze, but a grimy alley wall.
"Where are we? Where's Hawthorne and Cadence?" She croaked, looking around. She spots Jack beside her, fiddling with his dagger.
"We're in a dirty alley two streets away from courage square. Oh, and they're with their families a street over." Jack replied.

"Captain North, let me through." A man's raised voice draws Morrigans attention away from Jack.
"She has a concussion, you can't speak to her yet!" Jupiter replied, standing in the way of Inspector Flintlock.
"Sir, move or you will be moved." Said an officer to the inspector's left as he steps forward.
Jupiter sighs, not wanting to get detained, leaving Morrigan by herself with these vultures.
"Fine. But, if she starts getting overwhelmed we are leaving and you can speak to her when she's recovered."
"Fair enough." Flintlock agreed, holding up his hands like Charlie does when the horses are spooked during a storm. "Five minutes is all I need North." He continued, striding over to a still slightly dazed Morrigan.

"Inspector." Morrigan said, attempting to stand, but falling back against the wall. Jupiter places a steadying hand on her shoulder. Just his touch alone reinvigorates her.
"Miss Crow," The inspector whips out a small notebook and pen. "I would like you to tell me what happened tonight." He asked.
Morrigan looks towards Jupiter, unspoken questions flooding her eyes.
Jupiter nods.
We can't hide it. It's okay. He seems to say.
Morrigan takes a deep breath, trying to clear the haze from her brain.

"Ezra Squall kidnapped my friends, Hawthorne and Cadence. The Wunderous Society was taking care of it, but I couldn't just sit around when my friends were in danger." She said slowly, waiting for him to interrupt.
He doesn't.
Instead, Inspector Flintlock only blinks and scribbles something down, allowing her to continue.
"There was a letter from Squall-"
"Do you have this letter?" The Inspector queried.
"I- uh, no. No, the Elders do."
Flintlock nods, gesturing for her to continue.
"Right, erm... Oh yeah. So, the letter said to meet him here at midnight. So Jack and I came here to get my friends back."
"Did you come alone? Just the two of you?" Inspector Flintlock interrogated.
"Erm... Yeah. Well, Jupiter arrived just after Squall, but at first we came alone." Morrigan answered, face flushing.
"Mhm." Flintlock muttered, jotting down more notes.
"Squall, then through Jupiter into a wall, so we started fighting, because no one hurts my family." She said, voice growing stronger with each word.
"It was chaos, fire was being thrown, acid too. I slowed down time so I could get Cadence and Hawthorne away from Squall's Hunt Of Smoke And Shadow. He was going to cast some sort of powerful and probably dangerous spell, when he stopped. It looked like he had heard something. Before he vanished he hit us with one more blast of energy. I blacked out after that." Morrigan informed the Inspector. She looks to Jupiter, urging him to fill in the blanks of her memory.

"Yeah, he let off a massive blast of energy which had us all flying. Morrigan hit her head. The Square was in chaos, everything was burning, we barely got out in one piece. Then you showed up. I reckon that your arrival was what Squall heard, which made him flee so abruptly." Jupiter stated.

Inspector Flintlock just laughs. A cold, humourless laugh.
"You can't seriously expect me to believe that?! The most evil Wundersmith in the world kidnapped two junior scholars, from a city he is banished from, just to get to you? You're having a laugh, you are!"
He turns to Morrigan.

"You see, I have multiple eyewitness accounts that say Miss Crow exploded into an inferno and started burning everything in her path. There was no mention of another man, never mind Ezra Squall." He scoffed.
"So, I think what happened was that you went rouge, Miss Crow, and you," he gestures to Jack and Jupiter. "Tried to stop her."
"What! No!" Jupiter cried out, outraged.
Inspector Flintlock holds up a hand, silencing Jupiter's outburst with a glare.

"So, Miss Morrigan Crow, I'm sorry to say," He didn't look at all sorry as he uttered his next words. "That you, are under arrest."