Caleb leaned forward on his perch atop a upturned garbage can, grimacing as the four girls resumed in their long silences followed by the same question they'd asked for thirty minutes now, only asked in a different way: "Where's Will? Without the crystal, we can't get all W.i.t.c.h.y!"
"Typical girl," Caleb frowned, he knew Will was not above torturing him with long waits that scarcely ever resulted in her, but he was quite sure that he would not manage much more of Cornelia's thick, engulfing perfume, which' stench seemed to coil around the inners of his throat and make his breaths harder to swallow. "Late, late, late, late, late."
"Excuse me!" Caleb glared with slitted eyes at the blonde, who's poison was provoking his headache, and thus bad mood. It was a joke that she was even bothering to sound offended, when he could simply work a charming smile over his face and she would undoubtedly hush. "We're here!"
Caleb took one final ragged breath and decided that as much as he had indeed planned to take Will's side himself, he doubted that her need for protection would suffer quite as much as his need for air. And punctuality. "I'm out of here. C'mon Blunk. Warm up your portal sniffer."
Caleb scowled at the ground and knew he was being childish, but the original excitement was wearing off and the adrenaline from the thought of going back to his weapons and maps had been replaced with a resentment for she of whom had allowed him to believe she'd actually pull through this time.
...
"What we done when we find Elyon?" Caleb frowned, but shook his conscience away as it told him about how he ought to have stayed. How Will could've been there in time.. Why would she be late? For all he knew she was dealing with bigger problems than Elyon. And instead of going to help her, manish pride was directing him to stride on with the annoying passling at his side.
"First we make sure she's real." Caleb glanced around; pulling his cloak a little further over his features, hoping not to be spotted in the meek 'daylight' that currently beckoned out several Galhots and mixed-breeds. Sure he wasn't being watched, he stopped and tured to Blunk, revealing to the small passling a Frisbee from Earth. "With this."
Blunk jumped for the frisbee and bit into it, "Blunk fetch!"
"You don't even make a cute pet! Miktó; gross!" Caleb yanked the frisbee away and slipped it back under the dark material of the cloak, before crouching down to Blunk's height. "Throw it at Elyon okay? If it flies through her, she's a.. A double."
"Or real bad catch!" Caleb shushed the creature without acknowledgment, his eyes on Elyon and his mind flashing back to how Phobos' hand had been resting so comfortably on Elyon's shoulder.. But Phobos wouldn't.. It was below the Prince's self-image, and Phobos would not still have Elyon's trust if he had as it was below Earthly standards. But he had to focus now. Caleb stepped forward, twisting the frisbee in his hand, ready to throw until he felt a tug on his cloak, "CALEB!"
"Shht!" Caleb span around, pushing his palm to cover the smuggler's mouth. A few recognisable people's eyes flashed over, but everyone knew better than to make a scene, epecially considering he'd been lucky enough that a guard hadn't been within earshot as far as he could tell.
Caleb glared daggers at Blunk, but the passling only pointed when he removed his hand from the slightly sticky green skin, "What we throw at her?"
"Uh-ohh.." Caleb gulped as he looked between the version of Elyon he'd just spotted and that which Blunk had pointed to. They were exactly identical as far as he could see; each in a long bluish dress and richly dressed with a jeweled assortment of accessories. His Elyon was smiling happily, her eyes gleaming as she looked over the baked goods of a stall, while Blunk's was picking and smelling the prettier of the flowers at the edge of a village.
"Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh!" Green eyes skimmed over Blunk and along the passlings small, lanky, pointing arm to the latter of the Elyons retreating, Caleb noted that the same was true for the other; though the one he'd spotted seemed to travel away from the castle. If Elyon was going to Phobos, Caleb couldn't be as cruel to risk sending Blunk and pointed the short being in the direction of the stalls.
"You take her, I'll take the other one." Before the passling could nod or disagree, Caleb was sprinting with skill between the crowds which had turned out to be thicker than he'd originally concluded. He reached the edge of the village's market and made his way toward the forest into which Elyon was walking, "ELYON! Catch!"
As soon as the figure turned around Caleb threw the frisbee and became sure that this was the one he wanted when a Lurden jumped between them, biting into the frisbee and crushing it. Suddenly Caleb's doubts dissolved into a feeling of gladness that Will wasn't with him. He already knew he'd been trapped as at least six more of the filthy Lurdens surrounded and covered him in a net. They roared as he was dragged away, and reaching for his belt his green eyes flashed. He'd forgotten his blade. His knife. He asked himself pointlessly how he could ever be so stupid, but he knew. He'd been far too adament to get here.