Royal Academy Forum Roleplay: CH. 2

Riley:

"No problem" I replied cheerfully. Although technically Josh and Jackson had done more of the hard work by carrying him up here. Pulling him out of the stable fire seemed easier than that... "and with Cass I understand the need to be delicate. She looks tough but she's not always that tough when it comes to herself."

Alessandra came running down the corridor in a panic. Fainted? Cass didn't faint. Unless... rounding the corner to her room I could tell with 100% certainty that she was having a vision. Of course Alessandra didn't know that... "I don't get why she's having so many visions. Paul said he has two a month if that. She's having about five a week!" I struggled to lift her when she was a dead weight. Xavier raised an eyebrow as if to ask if he should do it. Part of me wanted to say no out of pride but the other part was worried about hurting Cass more if I dropped her. "Go on then... probably easier for you with all that extra strength. She's quite heavy..." I glanced at Cass. Nothing. No reaction. She was deep in this vision that was for sure.

About half an hour later Cass was still unconscious. Her eyes were no longer glazed over though. I didn't really want to call Josh; he hadn't left in the best of moods earlier so I thought back to the little training I had had. "She been sleeping okay?" If she was going through one of her insomnia phases she was probably catching up on the lack of sleep. Xavier seemed unsure and didn't answer straight away. "Are you two okay?" I asked, a little more concerned.

Xavier:

"I, uh..." wasn't quite sure how to answer that... "Yeah, we're fine. The other night she fell asleep in the music room, so she must have been pretty exhausted. Then I think she probably was having trouble sleeping because..." I trailed off again and glanced at my sister who was looking at me suspiciously. "She had woken up and gotten out of bed. She didn't come back until awhile later." I finished quickly. "So yeah, she's not really had good sleep lately. But before that she was sleeping all the time." Damn, I sounded stupid. I didn't even know if my own wife was sleeping or not? How was supposed to look after a kid if I couldn't even pay enough attention to my wife to know how her sleep had been? We just really weren't ready for this... we were struggling just to look after ourselves...

Riley:

"She's having her insomniac phase of the year then..." He seemed uncertain in what he had said though. He was saying they were fine so I had to hope that they were. "Everything will be fine. There's so many people who will be more than happy to help" I reassured him. At least I hope I reassured him. "That's if she doesn't kill us first with her mega temper tantrums..." that received a little smile from him at least. "Um should I leave?" I glanced at Alessandra unsure of whether he was going to talk to her or not. "Or do you want me to stay here whilst you guys get something to eat. You need to eat something at least... by the sounds of your stomach you haven't eaten for a while. Oh that's another thing... she's eating alright isn't she? It's normal if she's skipping breakfast but other than that?" He frowned again. Alessandra contributed a few things though.

Alessandra:

"Shes actually eating healthier than I've ever seen her eat," I volunteered when my brother appeared lost. "Last night she ate a bunch of fruit and cheese; and didn't even want any chocolate." That, at least, got amused looks out of both the boys. Turning my attention back to my brother, I gave his sleeve a tug, "Come on, let's take Rileys advice and go find some food. He can look after Cass for a little bit."

"Yeah, ok," Xavier answered uncertainty as he cast a look at Cass. Reluctantly, though, he turned and left me with me. This had been quite a day for my brother, I thought as I wound my arm through his. "Riley's right, it will be fine. You will have all kinds of people wanting to help with the baby. I know I definitely will. I intend to spoil my little niece or nephew rotten." Finally getting a chuckle out of him, we continued on to the kitchen.

Riley:

I frowned when they left. Cass eating healthy was a new one. "What are we going to do with you Cass?" I sighed sitting on the bed next to her. "Cass is everything alright between you and Xavier?" I asked not really expecting her to answer. I sighed again. They seemed apart slightly more than normal; well aside from when we had walked in earlier... That had to be a good sign though? Right? "You know we're supposed to be going back to academy right?" By we I had meant Larissa, Alessandra and I. And maybe Xavier. There was the smallest fraction of possibility he would go back now.

An hour later and Cass was still asleep. I was beginning to get bored. Should I poke her? She might kill me if I poked her. At least I would know she was okay but then she was unlikely to go back to sleep. Instead I decided to tell her all about how I was going to be the fun Uncle and how Paul would be the boring Uncle. I didn't hear the door open at first until I heard a small noise behind me. I turned to see Alessandra and Xavier standing there. "Well... you never know. She might hear me... it was better than poking her because I was bored." Alessandra smiled and I flashed her a smile back. She blushed slightly. Oops... my bad; not the signal I'd intended to give off.

Xavier:

After her somewhat awkward blush, Alessandra excused herself, saying something about going to find Edward. I walked over to the bed and sat beside Cassandra, "Maybe we should just poke her," I told Riley with a smirk. But I didn't, not yet anyway. If she stayed out much longer I'd be seriously tempted.

"So..." I directed my attention to Riley, "while Cass is still in la-la land... How would you propose going about trying to figure out the situation with my crest on Cass' attacker? I've not really been in a situation before where I need to investigate something like this and I'm not really sure where to start. I don't want to bring my parents into it. We haven't been on the best terms since the engagement, so if possible, I'd rather just do it on my own. Any advice?"

Riley:

"Well that depends what they fought like. Although I don't think that anyone stood much hope against a Wolf." I paused to think. "Cass said they also possessed caster skills..." He looked confused for a moment. "Caster is what we call ourselves and then there's all these different subcategories but I'll go through those later. So maybe looking at individuals who have joined your army or whatever you call your assassin members in the last 2 years and then go from there " I paused trying to think what else there was. "You didn't by any chance find any identification on the guy because that would make it a lot easier." I glanced at my watch. "I would say we give her a maximum of an hour before we wake her. I don't think she's had anything to eat either and she could probably do with a drink as well." Xavier nodded and then we settled on the couch discussing more ideas. He seemed quite shocked about what I did know on finding things out. I guess he thought I would have a little knowledge but not this much. "If push comes to shove you'd have to go over there and sniff them out. Also gotta work out motive too... maybe someone favoured you for king and then found out you werent going to be king? that's if it's actually an individual from your Kingdom and it's not being used to cause an issue between the two kingdoms as a distraction for something else. I cant help but think my Uncle had something to do with this so we should do something to at least try and find him..."

Xavier:

I was a little confused, had I not killed their uncle in the woods, had he survived? Maybe... I guess it was possible, but I had thought I killed him. But did I want to say that to Riley? Hey, I thought I killed your uncle. That sounded pretty weird... I never could have imagined I'd be in the position of trying to clarify with someone if I hadn't or hadn't killed their relative with my teeth. Oh god... "So, yeah... about your uncle...and the thing in the woods. See, I chased after him and, well... I bit him before he shot me. I thought he was, well... Dead. Was he not?" Yeah, this was awkward. I glanced back to Cass, still on the bed. I wasn't sure if I wished she were awake or glad she was out for this.

Rileh:

"Oh..." I wasn't sure how to process this information. "I guess you forgot to share that piece of information with someone. Although I can see why you didn't share the information." I fell silent for a while. "Then I guess it wasn't him. Cause he would be dead... even if he survived the attack the venom would have killed him within a week." I spoke at last. He frowned confused; glancing at Cass. "Well you know Cass... always has to be different and survive a year and a half with it." I laughed nervously. I sighed. "Well that just means that there is another individual out there who would like us dead." I'd lost count a while back. Cass made a small noise and we both glanced at her; hoping she was going to wake up. She didn't. I checked my watch. "Half an hour left..." He nodded in agreement.

Xavier: "Well..." This felt awkward. Should I apologize to his uncle? Do you apologize for killing someone who was trying to kill your wife? I didn't think so... "So when are you and Larissa getting married?" I finally ask, tired of talking about me and Cass. "Our kid will need a cousin to grow up with," I add with a smirk, amused by Riley's reaction, definitely understanding the feeling.

Riley:

"Oh... err..." I ran my hand through my hair. "We were thinking an autumn wedding but we'll have to see... I don't want it to fall on Cass' due date if we can help it. We've still got a just under year yet though till next autumn so it should work out." I paused. "I've still got to work out what to get her for Christmas..." I frowned nodding towards Cass. What do you get someone who has everything she already wants? "Oh and plus with the whole wedding thing I still need to get her fathers permission but she seems reluctant to do so. And I dont think Larissa is thinking about kids right now... theres other stuff on her mind...Although I suppose you werent thinking of having kids either... youre coping alright though? Oh and Cass freaking out is purely her self-esteem issues. I don't need to read her mind to know that... it'll work out. I know it will." I added cheerfully. Cass always said I was too optimistic but I couldn't help it. I knew it would all work out in the end and everything would be just right. "Going to try and convince Larissa to meet up with her father tomorrow. This sounds like a cliché but out of all the girls... I'm convinced she's the one" I found myself smiling and didn't bother to hide it. I walked over to where Cass was sleeping and crouched down. "Huh?" I tilted my head slightly. "When the hell did she perfect air??" There was now a light blue streak in her hair a few centimetres away from the green streak. Well this wasn't fair... Cass had already mastered 2 elements and I'd literally only just mastered one last week. I felt like poking her just because I was irritated. Although I suppose I should be happy I'd perfected an element she hadn't mastered yet...

Xavier: "I'm coping," I told him, though I wasn't exactly sure what coping well would look like. "No, it wasn't anything I was thinking about at all... But it is what it is. We'll do our best." I fell silent as I watched him look at Cass. "Why does she doubt herself so much?" I asked, not really meaning to ask it aloud. He hesitated with answering and I quickly changed the subject, feeling a little awkward at having asked the question. "But yeah," I grinned, "pretty cliche, Riley." I again looked to where he sat beside Cass, "But, I get it."

Riley:

"Well there's always someone about if you ever need something..." I sighed. "And to be honest I don't really know why... I know partly why... Josh was controlled to tell her she wasnt good enough but then there was our step-Father and from the parts I saw it wasn't pretty." I took a breath before I continued. "And I'm not sure what happened behind closed doors but it involved a lot of screaming. Shes locked those memories away so I can't see what happened to try and help her; I know her tattoos cover up the worst of it though. She survived. We always will." I attempted a smile. "And you do understand? That's good... just need to arrange everything now. There's too much to arrange but it's gotta be done. Cass is going to be crazy excited and with her emotions running higher then shes going to be even more excited. Which is terrifying actually.. " Cass seemed to shiver in her sleep. I frowned and checked her temperature... she was cold. I whistled and Nimbus came trotting in. "Nimbus... go find a doctor?" I patted her head. "Not Josh..." I added quickly.

Xavier:

I approached the bed, my concern mounting. As long as Riley wasn't concerned, I hadn't really been either. He was used to this stuff, he knew what was normal in this land of weird. But if he was concerned it meant something was real wrong! The thought of something happening to Cass was too much, but the realization that it would also mean our baby being in peril almost made me dizzy. Holy s**t, who knew you could care so fast for something that you couldn't see any evidence of yet....

"Is she ok?" I asked Riley.

"Riley"

"Yeah; she's okay... just a little cold is all." I told him. I turned away from him to mask most my concern. Cass never got cold unless there were extreme external influences assisting. Soon enough a doctor came and started examining her; after receiving most of the details of what happened. He woke her up. Xavier and I backed away to a safe distance on instinct and I let out a small chuckle when I realised what we had done.
"No! I want to sleep!" She yelled at the poor doctor. He was fairly old by the look of it which was a major achievement come to think of it... not many people lived to the age of grey hair around here.
"You've done enough sleeping... you need some food" I called from my safe distance. "How about some cake?"
"Cheese and biscuit sounds better .." Xavier and I exchanged a look.
"She should be fine... just get her under the covers and keep her warm. I think it's a result of her going to sleep directly from having a vision. She told me her vision involved the cold so somehow she's brought that out of the vision as if she's been stuck in the vision. Just to be safe though you should always wake her if she falls asleep after a vision." I nodded and thanked the doctor who said he'd pop back in the morning. I looked over at Cass.
"See; she's fine. I'm gonna go get some sleep myself. You're alright from here?" I asked; again hiding my concern. She shouldn't be stuck in her visions. It was barely heard of. If Xavier didn't need me I would go straight to the library. Without letting him know if possible. If he got anxious then who knows what could happen. He looked tired himself though and I'd forgotten he'd been attacked this morning. "You should get yourself some rest... you've had one hell of a day yourself" I said to attempt to persuade him to let me go. "Oh and if Josh offers to help you train tomorrow I'd refuse if I were you... unless Cass is going with you."

Xavier:

He probably had a point, it had been one hell of a day all around. "Josh doesn't intimidate me," I replied as I stifled a yawn. "But yeah..." I wasn't really sure what to say, maybe I was just tired. "Maybe I'll go train with him for kicks," I commented with a half shrug, "and if wants to start something with me, he is welcome to." It really didn't matter if Josh wanted to throw a temper tantrum. Cass was my wife and the baby we just found out about was ours. Josh could accept it or kiss my a*s, it really didn't matter anymore. And on a better day, I wouldn't mind hashing it out with him... But just now, I wasn't feeling quite up for it.

I glanced at Cass, asleep again. I wondered briefly what her vision was and if she would trust me enough to share it with me. Something about cold evidently... "Good night, Riley," I finally said, almost forgetting he was still there. He left quickly, almost eagerly, but in the moment I didn't think twice about it. Just as eagerly, I crawled into bed beside Cass and wrapped her up in my arms. In moments, I was out cold. When I woke, my arms were empty, Cass nowhere to be seen.

Riley:

"It's not that he's intimidating... it's more that he will kill you and then take your place quite happily. Due to the dark magic in him; his control over 3 elements and whatever other caster magic he knows it all means he doesn't know when to stop. Also I think it's better for Cass if you're alive. Train against Jackson first if you really want to go up against Josh... Jackson is quite a bit stronger than Josh" I sighed. "Just be careful and don't do anything stupid that could hurt Cass or to stress her out cause if she gets too stressed then she might lose..." I trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished and exited straight into the library opposite.

Cassandra:

The damn thing wouldn't budge. I felt like screaming at the wardrobe but then that would wake Xavier... Although he was sleeping heavily for a change. Everything was just in the wrong damn place and everything was too cold. Everything needed to be moved apart from the bed for now. This was just really really annoying. I frowned again before once more returning to my attempt to move the wardrobe. It was no good. I let out a huff and sat down on the floor... although it was more of a fall down rather ungracefully. Xavier stirred and I swore... I hadn't meant to wake him. He sat up in bed quickly as if in a panic and relaxed a little when he saw me sitting on the floor. I waved a little wave and he smirked. He was so cute when he did that! He than glanced around the room and saw that I had moved everything apart from the wardrobe and bed. I shrugged in response to his raised eyebrow and looked away not meeting his eyes and began to play with my hair. I shivered again.

Xavier:

"Cass, Darling?" I called to her softly, part inquiry and part reassurance. "Doing a little remodeling, are we?" I was a bit unnerved by it, but I tried not to let it show. Then I recalled the baby. Rising quickly, I went to her, grasped her by the shoulders and directed her back to sit on the bed. "Leave the heavy stuff to me," I told her with a grin as I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. With a kiss to the tip of her nose, I left her and moved to the wardrobe. "Where would you like this, Love?" I asked her with a smirk.

Cassandra:

"Um.." His sudden quick movements had thrown me a little. I stood up, swayed a little and decided it was best to sit down. Xaviers smirk faltered slightly. Or was that my imagination? Must have been because he was still standing there smirking. "Well I moved the bookcase over there so it could go where the bookcase was but there needs to be enough room to put the bed by the fireplace because at the moment we are like a million miles away from it..." He frowned slightly when he'd seen I'd moved the bookcase by myself but I had taken all the books out. I was going to put them back in alphabetical order... I'd do it tonight if he let me. Xavier appeared to be in deep thought for a second... probably wondering how he slept through it all. "And someone took Nimbus' bed so we will have to make her a new one." He glanced at me and I realised I sounded upset. "They don't think she should be in the castle because she is..." I trailed off. "I don't like her being outside alone though."

Xavier:

"Ok, Cass, we can get a new bed for Nimbus. No worries." I paused as I looked around the room, unsure if going along with this was a good idea or not. "Um..." I hesitated, not at all sure what to do. "Cassie," I asked softly as I went to the bed and sat beside her, "how are you feeling?" But she shrugged off my question and seemed consumed with her thoughts about what needed to change in the room. "Cassie," I tried to get her attention again as she took the blanket off of her and began trying to rip it, saying something about having to make a bed... for Nimbus, I assumed. "Cassie, Babe," I took the blanket from her, "can you focus for me? How are you feeling?"