The Silver Spire

[Jenny]

Athala was knocked off her feet. She hit the pavement with a breath-sucking thud. She gasped for breath, her eyes roaming for Faust. She wasn’t angry with him, only impressed with the force of his power.

The dweller line staggered back, while the police line stayed put, not daring to go forward into the fire.

Athala let in a deep breath, struggling to her feet.

At least there would be no damage this day.

“Dwellers, go back to your homes. We gave you a gesture of goodwill, it is time you gave us yours!” She shouted.

The dweller rabble did not know what to make of it, but they dreaded the force behind this strange happening.

The boldest of them relented. “We’ll withdraw, but this is not over, Tzeitelian. You can be sure of that.”

The dwellers retreated, going back the way they came.

[faust]

When the last had gone away, Faust waited for five more minutes, arms crossed, not budging. When he was sure the incident had subsided, he let the firewall dissipate.
He was exhausted, but he tightened his jaw. It would not do to show signs of weakness, now. His life, too, was on the line. He was painfully aware of his own tenuous position, here in the upper city, where everyone was a xenophobe. The Dwellers beat him like the proverbial red headed step child, and if he didn't play things right, these Tzeitelians would do worse things to him. He blew on his fingers nonchalantly, pretending not to care. He turned to rejoin Athala.

[Jenny]

As the firewall dissipated, Athala’s eyes were on him.

“How did you do that? I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

[faust]

"I'm special." he said a little boredly. "Forget everything else. I need to sleep again." He was moving slowly in the direction of his tower.

[Jenny]

“Policemen, stand down. Go back to your homes. It’s over, for now…” She turned towards them before they began to file away, not sure what to make of the experience.

Athala followed him towards the spire. “Sleep, then. I expect to talk to you in the morning.”

[faust]

He murmurred indistinctly. Getting back to his room, he didn't even make it to the bed, he just collapsed on the floor, passing out. Waking several hours later, in a puddle of drool, he got to his feet slowly, feeling ache in all his muscles. That was the thing about conjuring up magical effects, the physical cost was high. He took a long shower, and sat on the bed after, just staring out the window at the city panorama. Haze blocked his view of the under-city.

He was lucky they hadn't confiscated his belongings. He opened his tribal pouch and removed smoking implements. He dropped into semi-meditative state as he smoked his herbs, watching the sun dip below the horizon. When he had reached inner harmony, he put his things away and left his suite, headed for the labs.

[Jenny]

Athala saw him off, then went to his room, changing out of her clothes, singed from the blast of fire, dusty from the pavement.

She crawled into bed in her undergarments, falling asleep immediately. She woke to the sounds of morning, bleary-eyed, breathing in deeply, blinking at the morning sun as if it were a phantom. She bathed and dressed, taking in food mechanically. After dressing, she left her quarters and made her way to the labs, believing that was where Faust was to be found.

The technicians had been hard at work all night and allowed Faust to examine their findings, hoping that he, and the Guardian, who joined them, would be pleased.

[faust]

Faust was in the labs, and had been all night, hardly noticing the time pass by as he tinkered with the mods on his pistol. Once every part had been attached, he had done some test firing in the arms range. He was adjusting the sighting mechanism as Athala came in. He made the last twist of the screw, and looked up from his work, letting out a sigh, and rolling his neck. He wiped a hand over his face. Then, he regarded Athala.

"I should be about finished with repairing my gun. Would you like to see it in action?" Before she could respond he tossed her the gun.
"Here. How does it feel in your hand?" It was a bit heavy, but pretty light for a gun that big. When she stretched her arm out, a laser sight activated.

[Jenny]

“You look fatigued,” she commented, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully, her eyes trailing over his progress. She nodded, lifting her hands to catch the pistol in her hands.

“It’s heavier, for a start.” She maneuvered it to hold it right, her finger careful not to press the trigger. “We’ve only manufactured rifles, our smaller models overheat far too quickly to be of use. I wonder how you’ve circumvented the problem.”

She pointed it downrange to test the sight as it flipped open, her brows raising reflexively. “May I test the firing ability?” She turned her eyes on him, lowering the pistol so the barrel pointed safety to the floor.”

[faust]

"Go ahead." He pointed out a small dial on top that went up to three.
"Number one is single shot. Number two is a medium range burst fire. And number three is rapid fire mode."

[Jenny]

She nodded and took her position in front of the safety on the projectile testing range and tested all three modes, her face, business-like and in concentration, broke up into a smile. She activated the safety before handing back to Faust.

“It runs a little warm but it didn’t blow up in my hand. I’m impressed, outworlder.”

[faust]

(but wait! that's not all...)

[Jenny]

(oh?)

[faust]

"Just the first of many innovations to come." He took the weapon back. Not even a need to cock it, since the energy source was damn near infinite. He stuck it in his holster, where it still fit nicely, even with the added mods.

[Jenny]

She watched his motions. The dweller situation was currently under control, and Athan had been demoted and an older, wiser, Guardian had been chosen, for the Supreme Guardian had been more than wrathful than Athala at him for his incompetence, so there would be no need of firing it any time soon, she hoped. Besides, Faust had proven himself more than capable of handling himself by shows of power. It was some sort of magic, she was sure of it, but not a magician who conjured illusions, a true magic wielder. She had felt the heat of the flames after she had been knocked off her feet.

“Now we need to figure out how to get your home, Faust. A promise is a promise…”