Kli's tired eyes looked out onto the familiar structure that she had many times revisited. It had been almost a year since she had last visited and it seemed that each time she went away, the longer she stayed away. Her hair was still the same red and black that it had always been, but something was strangely different about her. Her face had grown tired with age and stress, and it seemed as if she had finally grown away from the simple view of life that she had held for so long. She was no longer a childish women, and now her eyes told the truth whether she wanted them to or not. She was now in her twenties somewhere, but she couldn't quite remember her age anymore. It had been way too long since she had tried to keep track. Pulling on her cloak slightly, she walked into the academy with soft footsteps that seemed to resonate throughout the echoing hallway. With every movement, the sound was lifted dramatically until you could not hear anything but the past movements of her feet and the flowing of her petticoat. She stopped in the midst of the hall, looking to a lump that was wrapped in a blanket and giving a small smile.

Pushing back the blanket, there lay a bouncing baby with blood red eyes and a smile that could kill. The child seemed to be amused with Kli's long hair and was pulling tightly on it, sticking it into its' mouth and trying to bite it to see what it tasted like. "Now, now, my child, that's not for eating.." She explained with a laugh, pulling it away from the baby and swinging the strands of hair over her shoulder. She pulled a small handmade toy horse from the pocket of her skirts and handed it to the baby who hastily put it in its mouth and started to chew it without any delay. She gave a small sigh, looking to her stain ridden dress and knowing that eventually all of her clothes would end up looking just as pathetic as the one she had on if she decided to keep the child for any length of time. She looked around, wondering where the teacher would be. Maybe, just maybe, he or she could help. "Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked.

Someone was there, all right. It wasn't the teacher, however. No, it was Marinias. He had come to the Academy to see if they could teach him a bit more magic. He had learned one spell, but it never seemed to work for some reason. He smiled. The woman seemed to be very kind. After all, judging by the eyes, he didn't very well think that the child was HERS. He laughed lightly, a soft musical laugh akin to the sound of falling water on metal. "Hello, there," he said, shifting the bow across his shoulders slightly, stepping out of the doorway he was in, his golden hair swaying slightly as he did so.

He looked her over. Looked like she'd seen a bit of wear and tear in her life. And she was only in her twenties. Geez. She made him feel YOUNG for his two hundred some odd years of life. "I apologize if I startled you. My name is Marinias Delamar. Call me Marin, though," he said, kneeling in front of the child. He laughed as the child tried to grasp his hair with one hand. "Adorable child. Whose is he?" he asked, looking up at her for a moment, before looking back at the child again. The red eyes were the most startling feature the child had.

Kli gave a heavy sigh as she looked at the child and then looked up to see a man of some kind walk towards her. He didn't seem to be old, but, of course, she knew that looks could be decieving. Her mother was two hundred years old when she bore her, so she couldn't judge well. She twitched slightly, wondering where the magister was since she needed to find someone who could possibly know what to do in this situation. She couldn't very well take this child as her own, could she? The child's parents would want him back and might even attack her if they thought that she had stolen the child. It was too dangerous to take care of the child in her own home. "Hello.." She finally spit out softly, shifting the weight of the baby from one side to the other. She let out a small laugh as she watched the child, shaking her head slightly as he reached out to grab the mans hair with his grimey little fingers. "Sorry about that.. He thinks anything he can grab is free game.." She said with a shrug.

"You may call me Kli.." She said simply, not intending to give her full name since it always gave people a bit of a shock. "Thank you, but it isn't mine.. In fact, that is why I am here.. I have no idea whose child this is and I am looking for the Magister to counsel me for advice. The child has a magical aura, so I figured this would be the best place to start.." She said simply, the baby wiggling around in her arms and giving a grin which showed one sharp baby tooth that had been comming in. He was teething and seemed to be trying to chew everything lately. His practical jokes weren't going too well with Kli. She had her dress singed from him spitting out fire, her hair in tangles from him pulling on it, and everything in between. "What are you here for anyway? Are you a magic student?" She said as she tilted her head slightly before watching the child once again as she tried to bite the bracelet she had on.

Ace had finished off most of his tasks as a magister for the day and sadly had no classes to teach either, a fact that Ace wished weren't so even if it was on a more boring subject matter. Ace loved teaching and learning about. He had excelled beyond the other magisters and their years of wisdom, and he had even seemed to master the study of alchemy a feat none of the other magisters could claim to hold in all their years. Ace was presently practicing an area of magic that he seldom looked into, scrying. After his attempts had failed to give him leads on either his mother or his father he had stopped using it. He didn't have much use for it personally, but he had resumed his practice when it was expressed that a few of the students had an interest in the class.

Ace muttered a simple incantation as he tapped the surface of the water in th basin, causing gentle ripples to expand from the spot. An image that was neither the reflection off the water nor the basin's bottom expanded into view as the last ripple die marched to its end at the basin's side. The image instead was another part of the academy. With the amount of students that frequented the academy and the fact that he wasn't scrying the library which was the only place that often held visitors, Ace wasn't expecting to see anyone, least of all the person he saw. He recognized her immediately, despite the fact that it had been quite some time since he had last seen her. Back when she had left to return to Lorian. Not getting a good look at the baby, Ace assumed it was hers. Perhaps she had married in her last visit to Lorian, though this didn't entirely explain why she came by herself. Either way it was a small matter Kli could solve once Ace greeted her. Ace tapped the water's surface again and the image was pushed away by the ripples, disappearing as it pressed into the basin's edges. Hastily Ace got up and rushed to the door.

Kli was not far at all so Ace made after her with merely a speedy walk. When he reached her he was surprised to see an elf with her as well. Perhaps he had been with her while he was scrying and was just out of sight, yet the baby did not seem eleven as it was quite characteristic of elves and half-elves to have long pointy ears. “Greetings Kli, it has been far too long since our last meeting. You should have informed me when you got married, I’m sure you could have sent some messenger,” Ace smiled has he looked over his old friend. She hadn’t really seemed to have gotten older, but it was quite apparent on her face had been through some rough and stressful times. Aside from burn marks there was no real surprised at the state of her dress. The adventurous woman had managed to do that in one way or another to all of her dresses when he knew and he doubted she had changed much in that respect. “Greetings to you as well, I am Master Ace, the Archmage Training Master and one of the Magisters here at the academy,” Ace said as he turned to the elf. It would be ill not speak to him as well.

When Ace turned his gaze to the child he immediately guessed that the child was not of Kli and released a soft “Oh. Perhaps you didn’t get married…” The oddest thing about the child was not the red eyes, but the curious aura of magic. Many things would cause red eyes, such as demon or devilish heritage, but Ace could not think immediately of a cause for an aura of magic aside from some magical enchantment upon the child. He had noticed the aura before as he approached, but he brushed it off in his excitement to see Kli.

He nodded to the man that had come in, and was taken aback at his comment. He... He had to have assumed that Marinias was married to Kli. He shook his head, just as the man uttered the Oh. He shook his head with a smile, and then the name clicked.

"Master Ace? The Magister in charge of training those who wish to learn and have the aptitude in magic?" He laughed. "This is a fortuitous meeting indeed." He bowed, the pendant that the Shining One had given him showing through his tunic. "You see... I have been given a task by my patron, and I believe that learning magic couldn't hurt. I already have a bit of aptitude, but... well..." He laughed, and smiled. "Not quite enough, I think."

Turning, he saw Ace's look when he saw the child. He raised a thin eyebrow. "Something wrong, Master Ace?" he said, looking from the Magister to the child. Something had obviously caught Ace's attention with the child. He had to assume it was the red eyes. He waited to see if Master Ace could explain that.

Kli looked up, only to see Ace once again grace her presence. It had been a long time, and if she wasn't holding the child she probably would have ran to give him a hug just because it had been so long. "Master Ace.." She smiled, her eyes twinkling. Of course, his words snapped her from her memories of the times they had spent together and now she gave a blank stare. "M... Married??" She asked, completely confused for a few moments. "Why.." She started, the baby struggling slightly as he pulled the bracelet from her wrist and stuck half of it in his mouth, chewing on the metal hastily. "No.." She said after he had given his last comment to her. "No, I'm definately not married.. No man could ever catch me.." She said jokingly, though it wasn't the kind of conversation she had wanted to talk about since it was very unusual to any maiden to be her age and not even be betrothed to a man. She kind of liked it that way, though. "Ah, I see.." She said, glancing at Maranias as he started going off into his little babbling spree with Ace. "I knew you were in search of training.." She laughed softly, shaking her head as she watched the scene.

The child seemed wild, gnawing at the bracelet like an animal. He suddenly looked to master ace, though, and hissed lightly almost as if this was how he said hello. Of course, what Kli did not expect is what happened next. Out of nowhere a stream of fire burst from the babes' mouth and barely singed the wall of the school, leaving a small burnt mark. "As I was saying to marinias, the child is in need of finding his parents.. I don't know what he is, but I am not made fireproof.." She said, twitching ever so slightly as she bent down and put the child on the floor where he hastily dropped the bracelet and crawled around the room, starting to explore. Kli watched him carefully, picking up her bracelet and stuffing it into the pocket of her dress. "Oh yes, if it is training you want, Master Ace is the one to go to.."

(Sorry if I seem to go back and forth, I'm in a library and it's hard to focus right now lol)

Kli's reaction didn't entirely surprised Ace. She was not that much of a conventional woman. "Yes, that is indeed the Kli I know," laughed after she told him that no man could ever catch her. Somethings never changed. Maybe some day she would find herself a husband, but certainly not the other way around and she certainly wouldn't be following anyone's advice save her own on the matter.

Ace looked at Marinias and away from the baby while the elf spoke. He didn't fail to notice the pendant upon his neck. It was enchanted with holy energy, probably the workings of the elf's patron. Ace could not quite think of many holy mages that would bother going to enchanting and not applying their skills in a more useful manner, like ousting evil. He could probably narrow the search when the time came to teaching the elf magic for his task. "I'd be pleasured to help you with that, what sort of task did your patron give you, or do you wish for a more private meeting to divuldge that?" Ace replied as heturned hs gaze back to the strange child wondering more on this aura of magic. Ace was about to reply as to what had caught his attention, yet was held back by the child's curious greeting complete with a strong plast of fire. Far too strong for any child, even that child happened to be a wyrmling hellfire dragon.

"What has me perplexed is that the magical aura about the child. The child is either under some bizzare enchanment or more likely was created with magic, and I think the later is more plausible. I can think of no other reason why it would have this aura of magic which I can not quite decipher," Ace explained as he watched the child crawl about. It was most likely the fault of some student here. Though there were few advanced students, magic often had fairly random results when used improperly. "Where and when did you find the child?" Ace asked as he turned his gaze back to her. It had to bee somewhere near the Academy or else finding good answers would be rather difficult.

Marin started slightly as the child cut loose a burst of fire from its mouth, and flinched slightly. That was hot, even to one such as himself. He grimaced, and shook his head, sighing. Moving back, he leaned on the wall, waiting for this conversation to continue on. "Well, in answer to your question, Magister, I am not sure whether I am at liberty to say what my errand is to any but those that will aid me." He laughed, and smiled. "I'm not even sure if I am allowed to ask for aid at all. But if you will grant me some of your time, I will elaborate on my task further in private. No offense to you, Lady Kli," he said, nodding to her.

He shook his head at the camaraderie between the two, and knew there had to be something more there between them than first met the eye. He chuckled slightly, and sighed. "To put it simply, it is quite the daunting task that I have been set. I'm in grave need of better magic than what little I already possess. And even with that magic, I do not know for certain whether I shall be able to complete it."

"What can I say, Ace, I rarely ever change my ways.." She laughed. "Unless mister right appears out of nowhere, I will not agree to marriage.." Kli let out a heavy sigh, pulling up a chair and taking a seat since her legs had grown tired from trying to run around and keep up with the child. Now she knew what it's like being a mother, and it was a lot harder than she had originally thought. Of course, with this child, it is completely different. The child had fire comming from his mouth and a strange aura that made it seem like he was to be the one who would destroy Imythess. That was the one thing, though, that scared her. He was too powerful for a small child, and what would happen when he was all grown and his powers multiplied? If this child was as evil as he appeared, Imythess would be in big trouble. In the end, Imythess could drown in flames before his twentieth birthday. The child crawled over to her once again, trying desperately to get into her lap. She complied, picking him up and setting him into her lap once again as he tried to get a hold of her hair.

"Oh, do not worry about offending me, good sir, I do understand the secrecy of a person's quest. Though, I must divulge that I am not completely without warrant. Master Ace can confirm that I have been a teacher in this same academy and I am knowlegable about many things regarding magic." She said, figetting slightly before watching the faces of Master Ace and Marinias. "The child was found in the back of a tavern yesterday afternoon.. I figured that someone would come for him, so I didn't move him at first. But, then, when he was still there when I had left, I knew that I would have to find out why he was left there." She sighed softly, not very happy about the child who was grabbing onto her dress and putting it into his mouth. "The child isn't normal, and that's why I came here.. But, created with magic? How would that be possible.. The students here can't be that advanced.." She said, confused. "It may be possible that they might have tampered with the fetus before it was birth as an experiment, but I can't imagine that they could make a child from just magic.."

"Kli is quite right. She is quite a talent mage and anything could posssibley tie her down to one spot long enough, she'd probably be Head magister and as well as the archmage training master. Yet, I do understand that you would like to keep your task as private as possible. I shall have to see you after we figure out what to to do with this child. Hopefully you are overestimating your task as well as underestimating magic," Ace answered to Marinias after Kli said that she also had her merit as a teacher of magic. He did wonder at what task this apparently holy patron had tasked him with. It sounded quite dangerous and akin to slaying a dragon or some fell beast like it.

Ace bit his lip softly he thought about where Kli said the child was from, it wasn't very far at all and by the sound of it someone had likely used the chaos of the tavern to get rid of the baby without being noticed too much. "Tampering with the child would actually be something expected from students much more advanced than mine. Even if the spell went horribly wrong there is no way a chaotic blip of magic could create this lasting aura or enchant this child so. It is much more likely that the child was created by the random blip of magic, though it possibley that this was certainly not the intention of the mage which would certainly give him or her even more reason to try and get rid of it. It may also be possible that this child was not created, but summoned, obviously not from anywhere on this plane. But, no I guess that wouldn't exactly be the case unless there is some plane I know not of where there a babies that blow strong fire and give of an aura of magic. And if the aura were a result of the summoning it would mean that dispelling the magic was all that would be needed to return the child to his rightful home, but I'm not quite sure that is the case," Ace explained. Ace had studied abnormalties and the theories around them and was quite glad he did or else he'd have even less of a clue about the child. Ace also wondered at the quick rate at which the child had obiously become attached to Kli. It only been a day and he was acting as if she were his mother, well maybe aside from trying to bite her hair.

(O.o not as good as I hoped. *curses headache*)

(((EDIT: GAH! Wrong character again! Sorry. *laughs*)))

Marinias sighed, and shook his head. Though he didn't realize it, he agreed completely with Ace's train of thought. The child had quickly become attached to Kli, so quickly it was astounding. Abruptly, Marinias felt a sharp pain, like something had just struck the back of his head, and he crumpled, no object in sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The young elven boy smiled as he watched the little girl crawling over their mother. Several times, the child tried to put Sarinia's hair in her mouth, but each time she pulled the child back. "Mama? Can I ask you something?" said the fair haired boy, his eyes twinkling slightly.

The fae woman smiled. "Certainly, Marin. You can ask me ANYTHING, you know that."

Young Marinias hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Mama? Why didn't my daddy stay here with you? Why did he leave like he did?"

It was clear that this question had caught her off guard. "Well... sweetie... you see... mommy is what's known as a fae. We can't leave the area of nature that we are native to. For instance. I am a wood nymph, and as such, I can't leave my woods for an extended period of time. Your father... he was an adventurer, and couldn't stand being tied to one spot." She sighed, and sat up, cradling the baby. "I know I haven't raised you the way I could have if your father had helped me, but I've done my best. And now, my child, it is time for you to go out into the world. Good luck, my son."

Kli sighed slightly, wandering in her own thoughts as she stared at the child. She knew that there had to be something that she could do, but she couldn't imagine what. The thought of keeping the child was scary enough, but the fact that the child seemed to be of pure evil was worse. She wouldn't mind an evil child if he wasn't so powerful, but she didn't want Imythess to become ruins. She loved her home, and she didn't want it to disapear out from under her. "Well.." She said softly letting the boy hold onto her pinky finger. "Whether it was made by one thing or another is unknown or not, the powers of the child must be binded or partially sealed for the sake of the land.." She explained, looking up to Ace and Marinias. "That is why I have come here. There has to be a spell, an incantation, or something that may lessen his powers until we find out what to do with him. If the child ends up growing, his magic will indeed grow beyond our control.. He was born evil, and I doubt anything will change that.." She explained softly. "We cannot let the child grow up only to wreak havoc on our land.. And, even if he doesn't turn evil, his powers would grow out of control if not mastered.."

The child seemed to be a bit cranky, and started to get out of control, crying as he thrashed about when she took his hands from her hair. Muttering a small sleeping spell (Sleep), she forced the child to fall into a deep sleep. Sure, it would only last for a small amount of time, but she knew that she really didn't want to deal with it right now. Glancing over at marinias, she noticed that he seemed to be having some sort of flash back. She put down the sleeping child, leaning over to see if the man was okay. "Marinias?" She asked softly, putting her hand to his arm. She gasped for breath, a quick shot of memory jumping into her mind. It was only a small glance of what he had been thinking, but she quickly pulled away from him, shaking her head slightly as she tried not to think about it. "Sorry.." She said simply, though didn't explain what had happened. Sometimes, she didn't have complete control of her powers, and sometimes if someone was thinking of their past, she would accidentally see.

(*pokes post* next one will be better >.<)
Kli was right once again, finding the child’s parents was something that was not likely to happen and that meant that where the child came from was rather unimportant. The child did indeed have notable power within it, more than any mere child should and if Kli was right in her assumption that these powers would grow with age then the world could be in trouble if the child's destructive nature continued on as time passed. Ace had indeed researched seals some as well as curses. The two were virtually identical and differed only in connotation. Still to make an appropriate seal upon the child he needed an idea of the extent and focus of the child's strange powers. From what he could tell the child was quite tied to fire. Measuring the extent of the child's power was simply guess work. Ace could have Kli aid him in making the seal, but there was the possibility that the work of even two archmages wouldn’t be enough particularly with the bit of guesswork involved. They’d need the help from the divine to ensure the seal was neither too weak nor too easily broken.

As he was about to explain his thoughts to Kli, but Marinias blacked out, bringing a new problem to be solved. It didn’t seem to be from the spell Kli had cast to put the child to sleep as he fell before she could finish casting the spell. “Are you okay Marinias?” Ace exclaimed immediately as he focused on the elf. Ace bent down to see if there was something physically wrong with the elf or if it was possibly a sign of his patron’s displeasure. Kli also came to check up on the elf, but strangely she seemed to see something that he hadn’t. Ace wasn’t quite sure what she was apologizing about. “Is something wrong with you too Kli?” Ace asked as he nudged the elf.

Marinias came slowly back to his feet, and a light was in his eyes that wasn't there before. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Master Ace," he said. "I just... I remembered my mother. You see..." He paused for a moment, and then looked around the room. "I don't remember much of my past except for the four or so weeks that I've been wandering around in this land. And... well, I just recalled a memory from my childhood. I remembered a discussion my mother and I had." And with that, he went on to recount just what it was he had remembered. "I just... it's been so long since I've been home... I wonder if she's even alive anymore," he said sadly, looking down at the ground.