Latet anguis in herba (IC)

[Supercape]

""

He touched Etain, and within a few seconds, a wobble occurred in space time, and they collapsed into the wormhole.

They reappeared on a featureless rocky plain in twilight. Two distant suns shone a dim red in the horizon, and the stars in the night sky were few and faint. The air was cold, and thin, like a mountain top, and the gravity felt low.

"<very far from civilisation. A few parsecs to the nearest star. And earth isn't even in this galaxy>"

He breathed out. It was cold.

""

"

[Aoiroo]

She looked over the horizon of the desolant place breathing lightly at the place. It was pretty but somewhat dead looking at the same time. Taking in a deep breath she glanced at Quentin,

""

She peeled her eyes from the landscape and her pecuilar and powerful companion to the totem. It was good he had come with her, good they were far away from anyone who could interfer, but mostly it was good that this thing was going to disappear forever.

[Supercape]

""

He shivered. The planet was breathable but that was about it. He had taken to exploring a few planets (or rather, scanning them) every evening, and of course most where completely intolerable. By luck, he had come across this barren, waterless world, with just enough atmosphere to breathe, enough gravity to walk on, and enough sunlight from the dim binary stars to heat it. But otherwise it was completely dead.

"" he was already shivering ""

He took Etain's shoulder and with another wobble of space-time, they were standing a couple of hundred yards away.

"" he looked at Etain, uncertainly.

[Aoiroo]

She looked over at him and then around at the planet not really noticing the cold,

""

She had a slight edge of distain, though she kept her eyes completely focused on the totem as she waited for it's disappearance.

[Supercape]

Quentin looked at the distant object. He could only just see it, even in the barren planet and thin atmosphere. "Only" was enough however. He started unpicking the molecular forces that held it together, and it was only a matter of time before the thing started to crack, and ultimately crumble.

And eventually, it dissolved into dust. Nothing visible could be seen, and nothing audible could be heard, and yet something horrible could be felt. Like a wailing in his soul. A ghastly wrenching of his spirit that filled him with dread and despair.

[Aoiroo]

The crumbling of the statuette may not of looked like much to him, but she could see everything. It was like it was alive, a horrible creature of a spell resembling the statue's form tearing and riving as it started to crumble as well in violent bursts until finally the wave hit them. She prepared herself for the assualt but found it a bit draining. Still she managed to keep her bearings as she looked at her companion.

"

Etain knew nothing of the jokes or the accents about the stuff, she just knew that a warm drink was settling for the nerves, and what they just experienced did nothing if not unsettle them.

[Supercape]

"My word" mumbled Quentin, forgetting his Latin. He felt cold inside as well as out. "That felt... pretty horrible. "

He gulped and reached, as was his habit, to adjust his bow tie. "Yes my dear, some tea would be sterling. "

He was trembling, and not just from the cold of this distant planet.

"I think I would like to leave now. Where too?"

[Aoiroo]

"Drinks at Wintergreen is very nice, the workers are too."

She spoke in English if only because she was so used to switching. Still had her eyes closed since the remnants of the terrible magic clung to the planet even with the totem long gone,

""

[Supercape]

Quentin put his trembling hand on Etain, and with another characteristic wobble, they were back in Freedom City, Latern Hill. Wintergreen Cafe was next door to them. He had chosen a side alley where nobody was around.

"Cup of tea would be splendid. A hot one, too. I'm still freezing."

[Aoiroo]

Leading him quietly, they made it inside the warm coffee shop and got a table on their own. They got two orders of tea quietly from the waiter as she looked up at her companion she sighed,

""

Pulling up the book she brought with her, she flipped through the pages quickly before she found the one she was looking at,

""

[Supercape]

"" replied Quentin sipping at his tea. ". "

He looked at the book Etain was holding. Most of it was in Latin, but it was still obscure and arcane to him. He was out of his depth, and he knew it.

"

[Aoiroo]

She smiled as brightly as she could after that previous predictament and as the cups of tea made it to the paper she had already skimmed through the book before finding her page and then pulling the scry paper out from her sleeve,

""

Reaching into her purse she retrieved a pencil that she held to the paper, looking at the book she wrote in latin Remnants of Una on the paper. The mark faded into the paper and she set it to the side as she put some sugar into her tea,

""

[Supercape]

Quentin continued sipping at his tea. Despite being virtually clueless as to the proceedings, he remained interested.

"

He sat back "

He looked around in a slightly paranoid manner, still shaken by the events of the last hour.

[Aoiroo]

She let out a sigh as she sipped her tea,

""

Pointing down at the picture of the totem in the book she let out a sigh,

""

[Supercape]

Quentin scratched his head.

""

He took another gulp of tea. His bones were finally feeling warm again. He really should do something to his costume to help him survive such horrid climes.

"

[Aoiroo]

""

Sipping her tea for a second she reached for the paper and unrolled it to reveal the names of the remenants, two of the three names that matched the totems in the book was crossed out.

""

She took out the pencil and wrote on the top Tracking Arrow. Letting it sit once more, she started to stir her tea,

"

[Supercape]

"" required Quentin. "" he joked, honestly.

""

"" he added, again, honestly.

[Aoiroo]

She shrugged her shoulders and gave a quick glance around, she had been so vague before because she had been asked to but she was sharing a secret with him as well about the strange things he could do. He had kept his word so far, helped her even with some of her stranger requests, information was powerful but it was a fair trade.

""

Taking another sip of her tea she gave him a smile,

""

[Supercape]

Qunetin shrugged. Etain somehow combined being evasive with being polite. She should have been a French madam with that air of mystery, he concluded.

It was coming out in small pieces, none of it particular useful. He just hoped their fates would note depend on it. On fates larger than their own.

She was gracious about it, damn her! he smiled to himself.

"" he smiled. "" he added, raising his mug.

[Aoiroo]

""

Setting down her cup she too out a small white candle and set it on the table in front of her. Reaching for her cup she didn't so much as glance back at it before it lit a nice even flame on the end of the wick that cast a small amount of light on the already well lit table. After taking another sip she said,

""

[Supercape]

Quentin stared at the flame intently, with more than his eyes. It was hot and bright as a flame should be, but the wick was still bright white, and the candle had, as yet, not melted.

"" he commented. "" he added, after further scrutiny, scratching his chin.

"

[Aoiroo]

""

The flame disappeared like nothing was there at all, not even a whisp.

""

[Supercape]

"" replied Quentin, still staring at the candle.

""

He sat back in wonder, and drank the rest of his tea. "".

[Aoiroo]

""

Picking up her cup, she finished her tea with a few more sips took a napkin to wipe her lip clean then waved over the waiter for the check. She examined the bill and left a ten dollar on it before grabbing the scry paper and standing out of the chair quietly straightening her skirt of wrinkles. Opening the paper she saw very simple representation of squares and dots as well as an arrow pointing on it.

"

[Supercape]

""

He say back and, in a rare moment of bravado, cracked his knuckles. "