{"sf1_id":766841,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chillin After the Battle","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1710,"posted_at":"2014-10-11T21:36:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Leonardo Da Vinci","Plot Development","Reunited","Story Progression","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/766841-chillin-after-the-battle","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/766841","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=766841\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#52 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                When\nMaggie regained consciousness, she was mostly aware of the darkness. There were\nno stars within her vision, or a moon. There was no sound, no wind; nothing. On\na good note, she wasn't in pain. The only real sensation she had was with her\nnose. But that was only marginally helpful. All she could smell was dankness\nand dirt. \n                Unintentionally,\nshe spoke out loud. \"I guess I died and they buried me.\"\n                Nothing\nhappened right away, but then a little light came into view. She heard Emile's\nvoice. \"Détendez-vous Maggie, vous êtes très bien.\"\n                Her eyes\nadjusted to the lantern he was holding.  \"Where\nam I?\" Then she squeezed her internal muscles. \"And where are the rings?\"\n                \"Tout\nva bien. Vous devez vous détendre et venir avec moi.\" He held out his hand to\nher. She leaned up for just a moment.\n                She\nfelt like she had been run over by a steamroller. There was no pain, but she\nfelt drained and squished. But she was alive. Remembering Edward, she felt that\nliving wasn't something she wanted anymore. She was beginning to understand how\nhe had felt when he thought he had lost her. She fell back against the board\nwhere she had been sleeping.\n                \"Leave\nme alone. I just want to die!\"\n                \"Nul\nn'est autorisé à être mourir aujourd'hui. Les commandes de Maître de Vinci.\"\n                Another\nvoice came to her ears, and while his words made no sense, she was still glad\nthe master remained alive. Then she felt something slip onto her finger. It was\none of the rings. \n                \"You\ndid very well young lady, but at a cost.\"\n                She didn't\nbother to try sitting up. \"Yes. I lost part of my soul.\"\n                \"Tsk\ntsk! You only lose the parts you let go of. I was referring to the stab wounds.\nOne does not simply suffer an attack by weapons devised by Giovanni Angelo\nMissaglias. Especially when they were designed by yours truly.\"\n                Maggie felt\na little spark take hold inside her. \"You! I am beginning to think that\nbringing you back to life was a mistake!\"\n                He\npatted her hand. \"You may be right. We can never tell what the future will\nbring. So now you're stuck with me.\"\n                \"I'd\nrather have Edward back.\"\n                \"Was he\never gone?\" Leonardo's eyes sparkled.\n                \"What's\nup, you old fakir?\" She was suddenly suspicious of him and his intentions.\n                \"Fakir?\nI take exception to that. Come. Come.\" He held out his hand. She took it and put\nher feet on the floor. \n                \"Where\nare we, by the way?\"\n                \"In my\nworkshop. It's not as comfy and hospitable as I would have liked, but\napparently there have been changes over the years to destroy some of my\nworkings. So for now, I feel we must remain in the dark. What I wouldn't give\nto have your magic lantern.\"\n                \"You don't\nbelieve in magic.\" She said deadpan.\n                \"Neither\ndo you. So we know automatically that it must be something else. But come.\" He\nwas growing insistent.\n                They\nmoved back to the main room, where there were a few lanterns and candles\nflickering. The casket was closed, and there were a few diagrams and charts lying\non top. Corinne smiled from a corner, where she was sitting quietly. Emile was\nthere a head of them, walking rather stiffly.\n                \"What happened\nto him?\"\n                \"He\nbroke his back when he hit the metal vehicles. He is just learning to use his\nlegs again.\" \n                \"And\nwhat of me?\"\n                \"I can't\nsay for certain, but from what I could determine, you broke your chest. And I\nthink you will always have the scars from the daggers. I apologize about that.\"\n                \"I don't\ngive a fuck. What about Edward? Where is his body?\"\n                She\nheard a tap on come from the casket and a faint voice. \"Close by.\"\n                She\njumped back. \"What the hell did you do to him?!\"\n                \"Relax\nmy dear. I had to freeze him to remove the sword without completely killing him.\nSo I have given him three of the rings to speed his healing. Remember, he was,\nfor all intents and purposes, dead. That takes a lot of healing to reverse. The\nother ring I gave to Emile. I borrowed it back to show you that you were still\namong friends.\"\n                She\nshook her head. This was a lot to take in. She slipped off the ring and handed\nto the boy. \"Take it.\"\n                Emile\nlooked confused. \"But you need it.\"\n                \"Take\nit, before I change my mind.\" He frowned, but took it and slipped it on his\nfinger.\n                \"Open\nthe lid!\"\n                Leonardo\nopened the top. Inside, looking a bit frosty was Edward. He opened his eyes. \"Hey\nMags. How's it going?\"\n                She\nstartled everyone by climbing right in with him. \"Look you stupid, jackass of a\nman. If you hadn't already died on me, I would so kill you right now for\nworrying me so!\"\n                \"Careful!\"\nhe cried. \"My chest is still pretty tender. I had a sword stuck in me from my sternum,\nall the way through my heart and out my spine. I shouldn't be alive, much less talking\nright now.\"\n                \"Then\nshut the fuck up and kiss me!\" She pressed her lips against his, and while the\nrest of him was twenty degrees below normal, his lips went warm in no time. So\ndid other parts of him.\n                She\nnoticed the three rings, each one on different fingers. She turned to the\nmaster. \"Why do you persist in lying about the rings?\" She couldn't understand\nhis reply until she pulled one off and placed it on her own finger. \n                \"Because\nsometimes the truth is too much for people to handle. Yes, you are correct in\nassuming that gathering them all together would make one of the kind very\npowerful. I was the only one who knew the power they contained. Back in my day,\nI sent them away. All scraps of the stone were also hidden away, except for\nsome I sent to Giovanni. He was able to get the metal and silver to bond. Of\ncourse, that armor and weaponry were never meant to be used by the kind. It was\ntoo dangerous. It was to go to another, someone who was to police our\nactivities. But it seems that, over the years that purpose was corroded and\nabused.\n                \"Where are\nthe other rings then?\"\n                \"I\ncannot say after all this time.\"\n                \"I\nthink you're lying. But luckily for you, I don't care. I trust to you keep the\nfacts secret. The damn things have been more of a curse than a boon.\"\n                \"You don't\nwant yours back?\"\n                \"Leo, I\nlike you, but right now I have what I want. So shut the fuck up. When Emile is\nhealed, I'll take it back. But I would never purposely take something when I don't\nneed it.\"\n                Edward\nsmiled. \"Not even two million dollars?\"\n                She\npressed her thumb against his chest, but she didn't push. \"Say something smart again,\nwise-guy and I'll make you wish you hadn't!\"\n                He grinned.\n\"You are too worked up right now. Besides, that money has come in handy, now hasn't\nit?\"\n                \"You\nhad better believe it!\"\n                Leonardo\nwas shaking his head. \"Some things never change. Couples still argue I see.\"\n                \"Couple?\"\nThis was Maggie, and there was surprise in her voice. \n                \"You\nheard me. I don't know what your standards are today, but your ages are no\ndifferent from those in my day. And you are lucky enough to be in love. Relish\nit.\"\n                \"But he's\nalready married!\"\n                \"And\nsince when has that ever stopped anyone?\"\n                \"Are\nyou saying that we should sin?\" This time there was as slight grin on her face.\n\n                \"You\nmay call it what you wish. Love is love, and transcends all other boundaries.\nThe pope had children of his own, after all.\"\n                She\ngiggled. \"Yeah, I know. I have a feeling that sits pretty poorly with modern\nreligious scholars.\"\n                He\nshrugged. \"It was what it was. If God invented love, who are we to argue\nagainst it?\"\n                Edward\nsmiled. \"Who indeed?\"\n                \"Not I.\nAnd with that decision, you can either watch or find somewhere else to be.\"                       \n                \"I beg\nyour pardon?\"\n                \"I'm\ngoing to show this stupid man how much I love him. So if you wish to watch how\nit's done, you may stay. Otherwise, I'd suggest you find somewhere to be for\nthe time being.\"\n                Edward\nbegan to protest. She had no patience for it. \"Shut up. I may never be able to\ncall you husband, but you are my father and my lover. So, under those auspices,\nhow dare you counter any suggestion I make in regards to matters of family or\nof love?\"\n                \"I\nguess I can't.\"\n                \"Smart\nman.\"\n                She turned\nto Leonardo. \"And don't think that I'm done with my questions for you, old man.\nYou have a lot to answer for. Such as the rings. I intend to know as much as\nyou do about these damn things. Especially what happens when they are all worn\ntogether. So I would suggest you get your thoughts sorted out, because I do not\ntake no for an answer.\"\n                Edward\nsnorted. \"She's right you know, she doesn't.\"\n                She\nturned on him and placed her thumb against his chest again. \"What were you\nsaying?\"\n                \"I was\njust telling the great master Leonardo how accommodating you were.\"\n                \"Oh\nshut up! We all know how I am. Get over it.\"\n                Edward\nstifled a smile. \"How about I just get into it?\"\n                \"I\nthought you'd never make the offer!\" She turned her attention to him, ignoring\nthe others in the room. They in turn drifted off into another chamber, granting\nthe reunited couple a little privacy."}