Many of these could be posted as standalone oneshots, but I've decided (at least for now) not to break up the collection. I'm pacing the posts here but my tumblr tag "daily prompts with liv" will always be up to date with both of our fics if you'd like to read whatever we've done.
Oddly getting some Star Wars Episode One and Nimona vibes off of this one?
Exigent
4/26/16
Exacting or requiring immediate aid or action, pressing, critical
The ghosts shiver as another presence enters the room, one that is separate from theirs, distinctly different. Many of the strategists flinch as Vlad walks into the chamber, footsteps echoing on the floor that no one else uses.
The Observants do not flinch. But they scowl as much as they dare while trying to maintain control of the situation and keep everyone's attention on them.
No one bothers to ask Vlad how he knew they had convened.
Heads swivel (some in nearly a full circle) as he walks around the room. His red eyes pierce those of every being in attendance before he comes to a stop at the head of the table.
One of the Observants raises a pointed finger to continue his point but Vlad speaks before he can say a word.
"There is a new halfa," he says. There is shuffling around the room, but little surprise.
He stares at them hard. "You already knew," he bites, a statement more than a question. "And yet you haven't said a word about him."
He rises off the floor to hover cross-legged above them. One of the Observants begins to object as he starts to preside over the meeting but Vlad holds up a finger, crackling with deep pink energy, telling him to be patient.
The Observant veers back in surprise, too speechless to even respond to the outright usurpation of power. Vlad uses the time to his advantage.
"You cannot ignore him," Vlad says. "You cannot ignore this one."
The ghosts are all looking down now, refusing to meet his eyes.
"You are supposed to train them," he says, sparks flying across his cape as he realizes that they have no intention of doing so, that they never had any intention of doing so. "It is your responsibility," he presses.
Some of the council are shaking their heads. They have never liked this appointed task.
"Halfas never amount to much," one is stupid enough to say, and Vlad's eyes narrow to red darts. "Apart from you, of course," the ghost is quick to add.
But it's not worth it. No one can spare the time. He's already too old to truly be acclimated to a second world…
Vlad hears their excuses and something he thought long-conquered begins to stir inside him. He swoops down from his perch at the head of the table, now hovers behind them as he circles around the room.
He hmms as he moves from one ghost to the next, making each one shiver and fidget in turn.
"I know you're busy," he purrs. "I know you have other matters to attend to. I know that you're worried about the spate of recent disturbances in the Border Lands. The breaking of the Aragon's Treaty. The awakening of the Ancient Town."
He curls around a ghost before continuing his litany of woes. "The disappearance of nearly every level one ghost that tries to fly by sector 7-ax)…" Vlad makes his way full circle now to hover behind the two Observants. "Not to mention the disturbing rumors that the Ring of Rage wasn't actually destroyed…"
Heads turn to follow his movements in alarm.
"But you should find Daniel," he says, tone lightening but no less threatening than it had been. "At least… explain to him what he's become," he stresses. "You can't leave him to figure this out on his own."
"Not like we did with you, you mean?" a hazy ghost asks across from him, solidifying into impossibly long rows of teeth. "You turned out just fine."
Vlad's eyes never break contact as he floats through the table. The ghost cowers and shimmers back into fog when he stands in front of it. Satisfied, Vlad lands on the ground once more.
"The boy shows promise," he tries, switching tactics. "He can be powerful- very powerful."
The second Observant makes a noise of derision and turns on the orb behind him with a wave of his hand. "Look at him," he says, the disdain in his voice obvious as everyone turns to look at the gangly boy.
"He's a twig even by human standards. Unsocialized, with poor grades, an unremarkable family, if you put the research into ghosts aside. Insignificant by any standards," he declares. "Not unique," he continues, passing final judgment.
"Except for his powers," Vlad says.
"Even those do not make him completely unique," the Observant retorts scathingly, running its large eye up and down Vlad's frame.
Vlad sneers back at him. "I was," he says, "and that still wasn't enough for you, was it?"
The Observants bluster their false denials, and every ghost sitting around the table breaks eye contact again, except the one in the purple cloak. Vlad meets his scarred eye for a moment, aura flaring dangerously before he forces himself to look away and turn back to the Observants.
"Well let me tell you," he says, voice dropping low, though every other voice in the chamber suddenly falls quiet, "that you need this boy. You need him and what he will become. In fact," he says, the corners of his lip twitching upward, "it would have been the only way that you could possibly survive."
"Wha- what do you mean?" the first Observant asked, failing to cover the waver in his voice.
"I mean," Vlad says, fangs growing longer as the blue tint of his skin deepened. "That since you won't take him… I will." His hands flared to life with flaming power. "And you already have no chance of beating me."