2013.09.01 - Stranger Danger

The Hallet Nature Sanctuary is by far the best secret hangout Amethyst has found. Theoretically she could just fly out to the deep woods somewhere, but that would take all the fun out of breaking into someplace she's not supposed to be.

It's not like she's hurting the place. If anything, the animals and plants are benefiting from her presence. Amethyst's magical campsite includes spells woven to put the animals at ease and allow them to continue on as if she were a natural part of the landscape. It survived a purple cat man showing up and getting into an argument with her, so Amethyst sitting quietly and reading is definitely okay.

The princess is in the middle of a clearing, cross-legged with a large book in her lap. A gem hovers whimsically above her, casting a sphere of shadowless light that abruptly ends after five feet. There are less obvious spells at work here, too: wards of warning, proof against both the magical and mundane.

The ring glew bright green and shined a line to the nearest magical object. The glow and the energy line is only seeable by those with magical power and soon Grant makes his way through the sanctuary, the animals ignoring him. Wards are broken and she is alerted of the intruder and she may even see the green line connecting to her magical objects.

Amethyst turns a page. This is definitely not helpful at all. Why was it so easy to find endless things to read about Asgard and so difficult to find anything about fallen angels who may or may not be from another dimension? It's criminal.

Then, a green light reaches out and touches her necklace. The princess looks up, her gaze following it into the distance. There's another pointing to the light gem by her side.

"What."

Ring, ring. Tiny bells chime as each ward is broken. Amethyst tosses the book aside, scrambling to her feet. She does not reach for her sword. Instead, the princess exhales, flexing her hands and carefully spreading her fingers apart in preparation to start chucking fireballs.

Amethyst glances up at the bird-filled trees. Maybe fireballs aren't the best idea. Ugh.

Good thing for the mask of shadows and it's enchantment, it allows him to actually get close before he slowly draws the revolver, aims it at the woman. Whereever the last ward was set, it broke and then nothing. He wasnt invisible but he just simply didnt register as anything new, as if he blended into the backgorund.

"Fireballs arent good for the trees." He says and he seems to just appeared out of the background, revolver aimed at her. "Think my bullet travels faster then your spell." He says and she can see his ring was where the lines came from.

The princess raises her hands just before the last ward is broken, right on schedule with the others. She's half-expecting Keith to come strolling out of the darkness again.

Nothing so relieving.

As a foe does not present itself, Amethyst raises her hands and makes the proper flowy magical gestures. It still might be Keith, invisible. More concerning to her is that it might be Keith's insane doppelganger. She's pretty sure it's dead, but they don't teach much about evil clones in magic princess school.

"--hey!" Amethyst hisses as Grant speaks. Her first response is anger and her body language shows it: she crouches slightly in preparation, like a coiled snake.

Her eyes linger on the gun even as she tries to pry some useful information about of what she hears. Could this guy read her mind, or is he implying that he's going to be throwing fire? Never mind. Gun. Magical ring it looked like, but still. Gun.

"What are you, like twelve? Little far from Gotham to be robbing women at your age."

"15 actually. And it is my job to be keeping magical toys from falling in the wrong hands." He says as he pulls the hammer back on the gun. "So, Lets try this, you lower your hands and if I even see a hint of power, I pull the trigger." He says. She can make out a few arcane symbols along the revolver but other then that, it seemed normal enough. "Now who are you." He says as he keeps his eyes on her.

Amethyst shakes her head, eyes locked on Grant. "You're the big man with the gun. Afraid to introduce yourself?"

Notably, the princess does not lower her hands. Her posture relaxes ever so slightly because this guy just admitted that he's fifteen. Just slightly. It wouldn't be the first time she had to beat the hell out of a fifteen year old.

Granted, she was fifteen at the time.

"I am the current Scion of the Zein legacy." He says to the woman as if expecting her to know what he was talking about. "Now, I really dont want to rob you, so I am going to lower the gun. We can do this nice and politely." He says as he keeps the gun up to see if she would acknowledge his putting it away. "Then we can talk about your magical trinkets." He says calmly as he eases the hammer forward, grip relaxing on the gun a little, about as relaxed as her posture got.

Nope. Hands still in attack mode. It's not the most comfortable pose to maintain, but Amethyst has done extensive finger-waggling exercises to prepare for times like these.

"Thanks," the princess heaps on the sarcasm. "I'm seriously not going to be giving you anything, though."

The very moment Grant's stops moving the hammer forward, Amethyst gestures with a flourish. She's fast. Not superhuman by any stretch, but really fast. A pale, translucent bubble encircles the teen with a surprisingly subdued shower of sparkles.

Grant sighs as the bubble surrounds him. "And now I see why my ancestors shot first and asked questions later." He mutters as he pulls the hammer of the gun back again and opens the cylinder, spinning it till a specific bullet was in place before sliding the cylinder back and holds it up to the bubble and pulls the trigger. What happens next is probably something Amethyst didnt expect because instantly a plasma bolt explodes from the barrel to try and break the bubble he is entrapped in. He didnt use any magical energy, didnt use incantation or gestures and the bolt was clearly magical.

All this bullet preparation gives Amethyst plenty of time. She steps forward, her hands blazing with thematically colored light. The spell weaves stronger and stronger still--she is tethering it to the world itself, rather than letting it exist solely by the grace of her magic.

When Grant pulls the trigger, the entire bubble lights up. Amethyst shields her eyes. She's seen magic guns before. Despite the display, Amethyst's forcefield remains intact.

Not that she cares. The princess waves a hand before her, palm out. Another ghostly barrier springs up, a wall cutting the clearing in half. "Were your ancestors also weird jerks who try to steal things? Because I think I can totally point you toward the source of your people problems."

Amethyst glowers at the younger teen, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, tell me why you think I'm 'the wrong hands' and you're 'the right hands' and maybe I won't kick your ass."

"Lets see, your misusing magic to trespass in this area of the woods where your not supposed to be, and my ancestors were tasked by a divine being to keep magical artifacts from being used by the wrong hands...Forgive me if I think your not the right hands." Grant says sarcastically as he raises the gun again and fires, this time a normal bullet fired from the gun to see if the bubble keeps the mundane in. "Actually my ancestors were worse then jerks, they were murderers and thieves. How do you think the library of constantinoble got sacked?" He says as he looks to her. "Look, I am not trying to steal anything, I am asking, nicely. If you are the right hands your really not making a good case for yourself."

"You're trying to bring me in on trespassing charges? Really?!" Amethyst raises her voice, practically shouting. The birds above her remain asleep. Still works.

The bullet pings off of the magical shield. Cracks visibly form along its glittering surface, radiating from each ricochet point. Its appearance does not inspire confidence in its ability to take more of a beating. Then again, Amethyst has another shield to protect her.

The princess narrows her eyes and points through the barriers at Grant. "Divine beings say a lot of things. Divine beings kill people for no good reason. Unless you got some ID that says Magical FBI on it, I'm gonna pass on turning anything over to you."

Amethyst pauses. She gets a far away look in her eyes. Her hand strays down to her side. Maybe that coin could... nah. But something like it.

A crack. Grant smirks as he opens the cylinder again and pulls out a couple of colored bullets and puts in normal ones. He just has to be careful not to get shot, as he aims at the crack. He then chuckles as he looks to her. "You want ID? I I guess I shouldnt havent left it in my other coat then huh? Look, let down this barrier, I put my gun away and we can talk this over. I will even show the first sign of trust." He says as he holsters the gun.

Amethyst focuses on Grant again, looking up. Her expression is tempered by amusement, making her look more fierce than angry.

"Whatever." No, seriously, whatever. She can tell that bubble's about to shatter anyway. The princess wiggles her fingers and it shimmers into nothingness, leaving behind the twilight of a twinkle. The wall between her and Grant remains.

"If I just left here right now," Amethyst says, hands poised for a quick draw competition, "what would you do? Would you try to track me down and steal my totally illegal lamp gem?"

"I would try and track you down and ask once again and again and again. It's my mandate and duty and such." Grant says as he walks to the edge of that barrier now as he sighs. "Look lets try this again. Hi I am the current Scion of the Zein Legacy. Who are you so I can make a decision about wether or not you intend to misuse your magical toys."

"This Zein legacy stuff doesn't make any sense to me, so you might as well stop namedropping, okay?" Amethyst says. She brushes some of her hair back behind her ear. Heated gesturing is bad for hair composure.

The princess grits her teeth. She can't call Strange. Bringing the Sorcerer Supreme himself into this would definitely get this guy out of here, but it just seemed so... so... lame. No, she can't go to authority.

"I still don't trust you. Your boss could be any number of magical assholes. I'm not going to let you tell me how I can use my magic. If I don't recognize your name, then you're not from where I'm from, which means I have a duty to protect my 'toys' from you, too."

Amethyst lifts a hand to her lips. She whistles loudly and then raises her chin to look defiantly at Grant.

"Okay let me explain. Long ago, a divine being asked a powerful sorcerer named Zein to gather all magical objects and keep them from being used by those who will misuse them. Zein continued this task and passed it on to his children. I am his descendant, continuing his task. If you want, I can show you that I am serious but it requires you to let down the field." Grant says seriously, seeming annoyed that he has to explain this to the woman, seeming to realize she was a newbie in magic.

Amethyst purses her lips and rolls her eyes. "That's really not helping me out with the thing about your boss maybe being evil. It kind of hurts, like, the rest of your story if this divine being at step one is a jerk."

The trees rustle above. A giant shape slips into the clearing, white and graceful. It lands gracefully on Amethyst's side of the barrier and shakes its head. It's a winged horse. A winged unicorn, actually.

"So, no, I'm not opening the door. In fact, I'm leaving. If you try this again, I'm going to get mean. Okay?"

"I am my own boss!" He calls to her and sighs as he puts his ring to the barrier. "I command you to open, VAULT OF ZEIN!" He calls and all of a sudden, the surging of magic is heard and the barrier literally opens into a doorway and she can inside a massive place filled with relics from nearly every era, even a massive ship. He then moves into the opening and the energy barrier closes, the doorway vanishing and so does Grant.

Amethyst nimbly leaps onto the unicorn's back. As she settles into the saddle, the other teen begins shouting about vaults.

The princess's hand snaps upward, fingers splayed and already dancing with fairy fire. It's useless, though. The 'Vault of Zein' disappears, along with the Scion of Zein.

"Seriously, what," she murmurs. Her book, still laying on the ground, floats upward. It's closely followed by the glowing gem, which kindly extinguishes itself before slipping into a saddlebag. Amethyst takes the book, the sparkles disappearing from her hand as she does so.

The unicorn whinnies. "I know, right? I really hope they have some kind of alarm system for this at Legion HQ," Amethyst agrees. "Probably going to see that guy again. I hope he doesn't have, like, magical sniper rifles or anything. I'm already paranoid enough as it is."

The unicorn shakes her mane, then spreads her wings and takes to the night sky.