The Blessed War

13

The loving, vibrant energy of the Heart never failed to bring peace to all Scholars, no matter who you were. The opalescent blue and emerald green light radiating from it touched the minds and hearts of all.
And Lubnov hated it. Hence her seclusion to the basement of her mansion.
All Lubnov wanted was answers to the frustrating eons-old question; what IS the void?
Furthermore, what were the portals? How was the void healed by Tybriel? Was this 'healed' energy really void at all?
With the Heart meddling with her mind she would never even ask such daring questions, much less try to answer them.

The irritable fairy huffed in impatience. She was due a renewal of her life force harmonisis but Tybriel's throne room was occupied by another. She had an idea as to who was obstructing her appointment but wanted to be certain. Perhaps she could psycho-project beyond the door, maybe induce a vision and see who was there, or even morph into a field mouse and squeeze under the door,
...
This magic was no longer at her disposal. She made it known that she had no concern for giving it up. In regard to feelings, only Calophael ever asked...

Speak of the devil- uh, angel, the Astral Medic herself came clip-clopping upon her steed, heading through the grand hallway toward the throne room too. Her eyes were closed, as per her job; she mustn't be so attentive to her surroundings in order to see the astral plane, so her steed would take care of transporting her physical body while her astral body watched elsewhere. Lubnov pretended not to notice the clop of Felix's hooves echoing around an otherwise silent hallway, wearing a posture of irritation at the closed door of the throne room. The unicorn brayed as his horn glowed its signature deep pink, letting the magical energy spiral to his keeper's head, gently awakening her physical body and calling her astral back. Calophael slowly sighed, stretching her arms and resting her gaze on Felix. She thanked him silently, returning her sight to the one ahead on the path he walked.
An old friend.

As if to prevent an unsavoury encounter, the Grand Advisor's previous visitor rushed out of the door, not knowing anyone was behind it. The oak door swung open, narrowly missing Lubnov's nose, though giving her just as much of a startle. An instinctive hiss escaped her throat, causing the poor angel to flinch and teleport away. ... Teleporting was forbidden within the Palace.
Numerous Astrals materialised to the scene, loudly using their magic - much to Felix's now folded ears' discomfort - to detect and locate who teleported and where to. The rule had to be strictly enforced, possibly most strictly of all, so that any malicious intentions could be squashed before anything could avail. For all the Astrals knew, the escapee could have stolen something from the throne room, or left passage for someone else to sneak in, or even attempted to flee from a just punishment.

"CEASE!"
The Grand Advisor's voice was so sharp, so loud that it shook the Astrals back into the astral plane, dismissing them away but leaving them to hear his explanation.
"Lubnov scared Deuriel again. Resume your duties, Astrals."
The astral bodies of various angels could be felt, on a subtle level, scattering from the scene to their designated posts. It was like a breeze that washed smoothly over one's soul. Astrals usually avoided this, especially around Lubnov, because despite the pleasant feeling...
The familiar green colour was returning to the fairy's irises as her life force reacted to the subtle disturbance. She started to struggle for breath, though the flashes of visions didn't cloud her mind, just pain. Felix was about to ready himself to heal her again, though he stopped as Tybriel swooshed to her side and physically lifted the poisonous manifestation from her mind. Her eyes and breath returned to normal.
Tybriel's glowing-scarred arm beckoned Lubnov to enter the room, taking her rare appointment as priority to Calophael's equally rare in-person reports.
Calophael didn't mind; in fact, she was about to reenter the astral plane. One of her colleagues was headed off in some direction he wasn't supposed to be...