Pt. 24

Draco glanced at his brother, one brow lifted quizzically. "What ever do you mean, little brother?" he asked innocently.

Marianne rolled her eyes. "Please! Innocence doesn't become you. You lured these poor people here by putting their friend into a Dreaming just so you could snatch that silly box from them. And you didn't do it for any altruistic motive – you did it because you were bored."

Gideon looked at the box still on the table with a frown. "You have heard there's a disaster about to explode on Earth, right? That box may hold the key to finding the cure to the plague that is about to kill the planet's inhabitants."

Andre sighed. "Not likely. The best lies are those that have a kernel of truth to them, and this box lies quite well. But, that being said, the box only knows what its creators allowed it to know. And the plague was a creation of its creator's children so …"

"So it doesn't know anything more than you were a convenient pair of legs to take it to where it wanted to go, which is back to its creator's children." Marianne thumped the now silent box vengefully. "You were played, Captain Gideon. You were used."

"A fitting toy for the king" a voice remarked from the doorway.

Gideon blinked in confusion at the sight before him. From the looks on his crew's faces, they were also taken aback by the two men at the door. One was Galen, in his dark cloak and holding his staff. But the man beside him could also be the Technomage, wearing dark pants and shirt with a sword slung across his back. A second look changed his initial impression. There was a palatable air of menace about the other man, a coldness that hung in the air around him. Galen was dangerous, of that Gideon was certain, but this man was something more.

Marianne and Andre smiled at the sight of the two men. "About time you joined us" Andre said, sliding off the table to stand beside his sister.

"My apologies for being late" the Swordsman said, standing beside the door. "Little brother had a hard time awakening from the Dreaming."

Galen sighed in annoyance. "I'm not your little brother" he began.

Marianne held up a hand with a smile. "Peace, " she laughed. "The Swordsman's words were kindly meant." She glared at the blond man behind her. "I must apologize for my elder brother's foolishness. Sometimes he needs a babysitter and I've not had the energy of late to keep watch over him."

"Mind your tongue, girl. I'm your King" Draco replied mildly, frowning at his sister. "I do not need to be watched."

"Careful, " Andre snorted. "You don't want to hear what she really thinks about your little stunt. She's likely to not be very polite."

"Oh very well" Draco huffed, waving a hand in the direction of the Apocalypse box. It slid across the table into his arms. He stared at it intently for a moment, muttering words similar to those that Andre had used to summon the box from its concealment. A shimmering haze covered the box then flared. When the light died, the box was gone. "Say goodbye to our visitors, my siblings. It is time for us to return home."

Marianne sighed. "As you wish brother." She rose gracefully from her chair. Draco held out his hand to his sister, a cold smile on his face. In a blink of an eye the Swordsman moved across the room and inserted himself between the siblings, a blade in his hand. His cold eyes were locked on the other man in challenge.

"Stand back," The Swordsman said coldly, "you will not touch her."

Galen frowned, shifting his staff from one hand to another. "Is there a problem here?"

"No problem," Draco replied coldly, a staff appearing in his hand. "Only a servant who does not know his place. I told you to chain your beast before you went visiting, sister."

Marianne reached up and swatted both men on the back of the head. "Don't make me send you to your rooms. You know I will. And you," she pointed to her elder brother "being rude isn't the way to my heart. We both remember what happened the last time you annoyed me."

Draco rounded on his sister. "You will not…" he said angrily.

"Oh yes I will" she replied in annoyance, punching her brother hard in the chest with a finger. "You may be King of the world at home but you're still that same, spoiled brat whose ass Andre and I have had to save over and over again since we were teens." She continued to punch him angrily with two fingers for emphasis, backing the taller man into the wall. "The same entitled idiot who would have died a dozen times on that battlefield if I hadn't been there to protect you. The same brainless twit I took a blade through the heart for and would do so again. Don't start with me boy, or I'll make your life a living hell for weeks." She glared at the silent figure beside her, his hands clenched at his sides. "And that goes for you too. I'm in no mood for your attitude."

Andre sighed, rolling his eyes. "My apologies, Captain. Siblings – can't live with them, can't live without them, can't legally kill them. They've fought like this for years. Usually I'm the mediator but today…"

"Today you'll stay out of it" Marianne replied, crossing her arms and glaring at her elder brother. "You've got your pretty box to torture – go home and play with it." She sat back down and leaned back with a cold smile. "Go. I'll come home when I'm good and ready."

Draco sighed, his anger gone as suddenly as it came. "Women!" He tossed something at the floor and was covered by a burst of light and smoke. When the smoke cleared, the tall blond was gone.