BROKEN SWORDS AND DRAGON'S BONES ♛ private

It had only been a matter of weeks since the lightning dragon had let him go. The shimmering reptile had kept the young blonde in the mountains for a few years, abruptly training him as time went on. Though both minds preferred fighting methods and strategies, the dragon did not let him go without a dozen long history sessions to learn more about the dragons. Why be a dragon slayer, after all, if one knew nothing about the beast that they hunted? Rain chose to take the lessons to heart and appreciated the dragon’s wisdom. He later learned that his mentor was no ancient dragon, but a rather young one in age. He could only guess that the dragon had been regarded as a young and ambitious hothead among his kind, but that did not phaze his chosen apprentice.

After proving to the dragon-- who had never once revealed his name-- that he had learned everything there was to know about the use of his magic, Rain was encouraged to set off on his own. Now that he had the theory and the power, he only had to practice his use of the unique lost magic in order to truly grow stronger. Having left the mountains where the lightning dragon made his lair, the young mage and former knight arrived in the smelly town of Lavanitir Port City. With a harbor and the sea on its borders, the town often smelled of saltwater and fish. It was unpleasant, but after having spent a few days doing odd jobs to fill his pockets with a bit of change, he was slowly becoming accustomed to the sharp smell against his keen senses.

Having finished handling and carrying some heavy boxes and crates to load on a ship, Rain collected his pay and began to wander the streets once more. He was not yet hungry, finding the ships generally sickening to stand on. The motion of the water made his stomach churn and his head hurt due to some sort of motion sickness. If he wanted to find more work that would not make him so dizzy, he would need to move inland to a new town. For now, however, the youthful mage simply looked for a quiet place to perhaps take a quick outdoor nap to recharge. Softly and quietly, the blonde moved from the busy streets to the much slower and quieter parts of town.



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Lavanitir Port City, this place was remote. Perfect really it was a place where few faces recognised him and those who did hadn't a care in the world for who he was. The King of Fiore could dance into this place with all of his bells and whistles, the bright colours meaning nothing until the jewels fell from his steps. Only then did those in this town look up with their eyes glistening hoping for a chance to snatch something priceless away. Not that everyone here was thieves, many in the city just wished for a place to escape, to be free of someone or somethings clutches and have nothing hanging over their head. Laws were simple here and no one was rich enough to play foolish games. He could find things here, sort new routes for the ship to travel and restock. A couple of the pages in his notebook were here, there was an idea he had come across, brought on by the revealing of an ancient artefact one of his members had dug up. Whilst many other had glanced over the ancient symbols on it only for a moment he had realised what they meant. Crystals of magic from deep tombs and caves had been ground into powder and inserted into the blood of those who had been taught magic by greater beings. You name it this civilisation had tried it, a group he could come to respect as they played with those who had been taught by angels demons and gods, dragons too those creatures seemed to be in bedded in history. Dragon Slayers, with more magic implanted in them the crystallised magic of other slayers added to a current slayer. There wasn't really much else after that, he wanted to know what happened to a slayer who had more slayer added to them. Almost like wandering up to a coffee shop and asking for a double shot of slayer!

A rich chocolate brown his chino's looked rather delightful, yet not nearly as ravishing as the small ham and cucumber sandwiches which sat on a plate in front of him. Notebook closing with a snap as he picked up the last slice of sandwich for a snack whilst wandering. His pollen senses were tingling, quite literally the map in his mind was laying out the area as he hoped to find the blond he was searching for. Quite alone in the world with no close family or friends a dragon slayer indeed this one was a lightening or electricity. Quite interesting indeed and a perfect match to pick up off the street. A quiet street indeed, he was walking on the one parallel to it, houses blocking the two he was merely a man taking a stroll with a snack. He could try and persuade, yet it would be far easier to take his catch and go. The other stopped for a moment, he didn't know why yet lester didn't mind. Pressing his hand to the stone of the ground he sent a bloom under the houses dividing them and to the slayer on the other side, a man slightly older than him if all went well a small vine would snake up his leg like a plant centipede it crawled its way up to his collar, blossoming and blooming its scent would intoxicate, not quite knock out but put any who smelt it deeply into a dazed state much like that of a drunken man. After all dragging a limp body through the streets would arouse suspicion where as helping a drunk friend home was considered perfectly normal.

The last thing the young man expected as he walked through the streets was for the ground to suddenly break directly below him. Just like that, the paved road broke open and released a snakey green vine that began to travel up his leg. The movement was too fast for Rain to fully acknowledge, the vine having surrounded him, twisting around and stopping at his neck. Just as the slayer was about to rip it off, the plant began to sprout flowers in sudden full bloom.

The smell of the flowers was enticing and ever so sweet to the keen dragon slayer senses. However, as he unwillingly took in their scent, he felt his vision and mind become increasingly foggy, with no relent. There was a mild sense of tingling throughout his body and a burning sensation in a number of his senses. Unable to keep his balance, the blonde staggered slightly. One hand attempted to rip the vine off of him, but lacked the complete strength to do so. A bit of lightning crackled at his palms and fingers before dissipating, his magic responding to the thick intoxication. Taking another step, the man floundered in his path once again, this time trying to keep his stomach from rolling and becoming too upset with motion sickness. It felt like the entire world was moving, rocking back and forth slowly, which tricked the downside of his newfound slayer magic into thinking he was on a moving vessel.

Regardless of how he suddenly felt, Rain tried to continue walking, not realizing who or what he would be on course for crashing into. He was not certain of where he was, but attempted to walk forward anyway. He just needed to find a place to sleep, and then maybe all of this would leave him. The fact of the existence of the blossoming vine twined around his leg, torso, and neck was beginning to slip from his mind as he no longer paid as much heed to it, finding it more of a nuisance than an imminent danger. As he found that walking only made him sicker in his stomach, however, the blonde stopped in his tracks and once again began to pathetically and clumsily attempt to remove the vine from his throat and torso with shaking fingers, hoping that focusing on one little task would calm his dizzying and blurry mind and sick stomach.



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It seemed to be working smoothly, he could see the effects of it taking over as the slayer wandered slightly, the balance would have been disrupted and the strength leaving. futile attempts. The slight use of magic only confirmed that this was light lightening mage he had a page in his notebook dedicated to this man, soon he wouldn't need it much longer. Stuttering along slowly like a child with an unfamiliar walk the man wandered, trying to find his place in the world where his head would clear yet it wouldn't for a while.
With a soft breath he teleported over, steps behind the other he slid Rain's arm across his own shoulders supporting the older man as if they had been friends for many years. No one suspected a thing, not the old lady carryin her shopping home or the kids a decade younger than them playing with a ball. To the protectors of this place the duo was a common sight, one friend drunk and hungover found by another and helped home.

What was perhaps less typical was how when they reached quite streets a door opened into a wall,and they wandered through to a room which was not in their original location.

The silence broken by a slight bleeping of machines, cold steel and the pure white of something recently cleaned and the metallic smell was either from the benches or the lingering remains of times past. Lester just cooed kind words at him, "Hey Rain right, it's okay, you can just sit down here and rest." Voice deeper than normal with only the scent of bleach in the airhe had secured a scarf across the others eyes, not that it mattered too much, memories weren't too hard to manipulate or change, harder to add or erase after all the best lies are always built around the truth. He lead the other to a laid back chair, rather high tech looking it could have sat in a modern house if only it hadn't the restrsaints. "Rain right, you're a dragon slayer from what my information says, and today I'm going to give you another magic. You see I got this crystal from somewhere very special. he technique of implanting this is far less- experimental than what I used on myself so there should be minimal damage don't worry." As he spoke to the man Lester had quickly begun working to restrain Rain Cicero, arms and legs were a given yet there was also a belt secured across the torso and forehead. Really quite restraining indeed yet it would serve the job. Whilst the flower was still active there was little harm the male had to him with the exception of a few stinging sparks, yet with that starting to wither he would have to inject him soon, without magic mages were perfectly useless. "You see Rain I was researching into lacrimas, and oddly enough I injected a Marjeek, they're little magical monkeys which have command over water. This lacrima completely halted the Majeek's control over water, then another dose and it made water the cute little guys enemy. Well I had forgotten briefly that the majority of the body was made of water, really it is hard to fight whats inside you- But never mind Im drawling on again and if you don't mind I'll be giving you one shot of this to halt any little magical spells you might have planned!" A lump had formed in his throat,n sometimes the disregard he held for life- even if it was of those abandoned and forgotten, it still caught up with him.

Crouching down he gently held the needle before making a move to insert it into the soft tissue between the toes right into the muscle and nerves. Really it was much easier to stick it there than through the hole of the iris and into the back of the eye.

The pathetic attempts at tearing the vine off of himself were futile, and before long someone had come alongside him quite suddenly. With his senses in disarray, the slayer was unable to recognize where they came from or who they were. They took one arm of his and helped steady him to walk, which Rain begrudgingly yet gratefully accepted. Was this some former client who had recognized him, noticed the intoxicated symptoms, and had wanted to help him, or was it just some kind do-gooder scouring the town? “Thanks,” the blonde-haired man slurred out slowly, thankful to no longer be so harshly stumbling like before.

The sudden white almost blinded Rain, who was unable to make out any details in the overwhelming haze in his blue eyes. The gentle voice mentioned his name, which as inebriated as he was, led him to believe that this was likely some recent client who was kind enough to help. He was led and laid back in a chair, which was a welcomed comfort. The toxicity of the flowering vine was beginning to wear off, but only enough for him to somewhat understand words that were being said to him. The haze, though thinner, was still present and thick in his mind and vision. The mention of his name again and his magic, however, put the ex-knight on a drunken guard. New magic sounded far from what he was comfortable with, especially after having spent years training with the lightning dragon.

The instant sense of danger and presence of the blindfold sent enough adrenaline through the young blonde to make him try to jump up. It was too late, however, as the slayer found himself restrained and unable to move or stand up from the chair. The toxicity of the flower was being fought by his adrenaline and cortisol, as well as current awareness of the imminent danger he was in. Rain attempted to send some electricity through his body to both energize and jolt his sensory and body to further battle the intoxication, and to hopefully give his new captor a few sharp and painful shocks. He could feel the blossoming vine weakening, fortunately, but found himself panicking more as the low toned voice continued on about monkeys and water. The indication was clear-- the bit of spark he had would be doused.

“Damn you-- let me go!” Rain shouted, at least blessed with the fact that his mouth had not been restrained or muffled. He could try to communicate with the crazed scientist, and potentially reason as the intoxicating haze lifted from his mind. The slayer gritted his teeth as he felt a sharp poke at the tip of his foot, close to his toes. It was not painful; the ex-knight had been through worse than what one would experience on a trip to a doctor’s office. Regardless, the thought of what was to come did indeed frighten the slayer. Would it undo the years of work he had done to obtain his present magic, or would the damage be long lasting and thus cripple or make him weak? It was not quite pain that he slayer feared, but the possible outcomes, alongside the immense blow to his pride and the threat of being an eternal guinea pig or caged lab rat.




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He seemed a little energetic, really now where was that billion dollar smile. He had given the other a nice relaxing bedtime story about monkeys, yet all he got in reward was a couple of sharp shocks, the volts of electricity winding their way up his arm causing a couple of flowers to bud bloom then wither across his forearms. Poor little things were killed in such a horrific way.

The subject was no longer of great interest to him, for now at least he took a few steps away gathering a clipboard in hand to note down what had just happened. He had injected Rain with a small dose, 0.02 mol^-1 of it, the lacrima which had been dissolved into the serum was that of this other lacrima. A treasure one, he wasn't quite sure of how some lacrimas were sued to power technology but other contained the essence and power of a dragon. A dragon standing on a pile of treasure controlling the temples of the desert, great jewels and gems cast into creations of gold and silver. With the paperwork done he took a glance back, a pitiful body shouting for freedom. Well no matter, the first shot would last six hours, it would kick in soon. Not too painful yet the feeling would be similar to that of a continual sea sickness, the distorted of nerves as well, the disconnection between you telling your brain how you wanted to move your body. So they parted ways, simple enough.

0.02 mol^-1 needed to be upped, it was six hours ago that he had injected the first dose he could go as high as eight now, yet perhaps six would be better.
He swirled into the room, yet only the soft sounds of his shoes would alert Rain of his reentrance. A moment in time stopped there, he halted, silence just letting his eyes wandering across Rain. He would have to give him the next dose soon. After that it would be another six hours, then two hours of recovery and well who knew.

Rain would have very much loved to sleep in the long hours he was left alone. However, the adrenaline and cortisol kept his mind awake and lively. His brain kept grappling with unfortunate outcomes of his predicament, many of them quite messy and depressing. The serum taking root and making him lose his ability to exert magic was sickening and annoying. He was not even on a moving vessel, yet it felt like he was laying in a moving vehicle or on a rocky ship. The reclining position he was in kept him from actually getting sick, but it was not without a burning sensation starting from his belly and rising in his throat. His held felt dizzy yet again, but not with the thick intoxication from before.

How long had it been? A couple minutes or a few hours? Had days somehow passed without his knowledge? The blindfolded man could not be certain as he lied there, losing his ability to try and move his body as he wished, not only from the restraints, but the strange serum circulating through his veins and arteries. Eventually, the silence was broken by soft footsteps re-entering the unseen white room. He recognized them as the steps from the man before, the one who held him captive in the cold laboratory and planned to somehow ‘give him a new magic’. “Done yet, asshole?” the blonde rhetorically asked in a low voice laced with venom. He could not see the scientist, but knew he was there in the room, well within earshot. “Or what’s next? Get it over with,” he hissed, clenching his teeth in frustration, desperate to be free. His magic had been long blocked off by the experimental serum first used on the water monkeys, or marjeeks. If he were able to send volts of electricity at the man, much more than before, he would have by now. Instead of soft footsteps, he would much rather hear the soft thud of the man’s body falling to the floor.



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Was he done yet? Brows drew together in thought as the watermelon eyes were cast towards the ceiling in thought, no, no he was not. But really this youthful man here did not know the kindness that he was being shown, he did not understand the opportunity that lay before him just waiting to be grasped. Yes, asshole he was perhaps, yet in time the pages of history and textbooks forgot personality and erased sin if the good marks one left behind were great enough. Would the revelation that Lester Drynedi brings on be enough to blanket the sins which were accumulating? Would they ignore the rot that he had caused, skipping over that to look at how a farm boy from Clover Town had become a florist only to later learn of the magic within him and start rising to the top.

The glucose slayer was just helping this little lightening child, who would not benefit from a new type of magic after all, yet all the florist was rewarded with were the sharp retorts, acid laced remarks laced with the venom of hatred and despite. Getting it over with was not so simple, he could not simply abandon the subject now, after going so far the effects of halting mid procedure would surely not be positive in any light and dropping his tools would leave Rain with more than a couple of negative effects. A sight slid from him. "No, no I cannot just stop here. You do have my apologies for now as the procedure is not pleasant yet at the end of it a power will come to you."

The needle once again plunged in, yet he had upped the dosage. "Its likely you will be overcome with a could of hallucinations. Times when you and those close to you have been affected by wealth- whatever wealth means to you be it emotions, money or power. It is completely normal. If I return and it has not gone well I shall have to figure something out.." Voiced trailed off towards the end as he stepped back, having inserted the serum in he would just have to wait, if it failed what next? Transplant, the nerves were too risky, he was currently doing blood. It needed to be something deep which could seep out over time.

Though the idea of power was certainly tempting to the young slayer, it was the last thing he wanted in the current moment. The Lightning Dragon had been adamant, to not accept magic from any other person or source. The electric slaying magic was to be his primary source of power. The dragon would tolerate nothing else for a pupil of his, yet here he was, being forced to accept a new power against his will. Perhaps many years ago, he would have dared the scientist to continue, but now he only wanted the soft-spoken voice to stop and free him. He never asked for this, so why was the world as cruel to deprive him of what he wanted and to force into his hands that which he did not want or need?

The needle pricked his skin once more, this time a much denser liquid beginning to flow through his veins. Unlike last time, where it had barely been a problem to the strong mage, this time his magical flow had been cut off and he was trapped in the darkness, unable to see or anticipate what would happen. The substance he had yet to know the name of, a dissolved lacrima, sent a mild burning sensation through his blood vessels as the magical solution was fought off by his natural white blood cells. The blonde clenched his teeth during the process before visions raced forward in his mind. Rain saw something shiny with his mind’s eye, golden and glittering in fantasy lighting. He saw treasure, tucked away and hidden in deep caverns and under solidified soil. During the hallucinations, the slayer felt his senses open up further, his ears taking in more sound than before and the various scents of the room far more noticeable. He was certain that if he were not blindfolded, his keen blue eyes would pick up on more tiny details than before. Whatever magic this was, it was already enhancing his senses.

Along with the hallucinations, Rain began to feel his hunger for power in general double, extending to the point of avarice. His poisoned and chemically induced mind would tell him he wanted the power that was being offered, while deep inside and with every other fiber of his being, he attempted to fight it-- both the substance in his veins and the greedy impulses. “Stop the procedure,” he forced out through gritted teeth. “I don’t care about the aftermath if you stop early, I’ve had enough of this.”

Surely the scientist had some shred of sympathy. After all, the slayer had been kidnapped and brought to this lab. If this was truly for the sake of science and research, they would do it on a more human and consensual level, not acting out like some stark raving mad individual. “What do you even gain by doing this?” Rain asked with a scowl, at least wanting answers if the person did not adhere to his requests.



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