Chapter 31: Early Afternoon

“ ... Wait! You want us to use it on you!?” exclaimed Kianna as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards in panic.

“Seriously!? We get to use it on you!?” cried Fiona as she raised her hand and stepped forward “I’ll go first! I’ll do it! I want it! I call it!”

“Okay. That’s fine.” chuckled Anton as he placed his hands in his pockets “Go ahead and step to the side Kianna ... Alright, Fiona, stand just in front of me here ... That’s fine right there. Now, first thing you need to do is flare your aura a bit and then try to concentrate it around me.”

Taking a deep and excited breath, Fiona’s eyes began to glow with a faint red light as she shook out her shoulders and smiled wickedly at Anton.

Returning her smile with his own calm grin, Anton remained relaxed and curbed the urge to put up a resistance as he felt the air around him begin to thicken and become heavy.

“Alright ... Now, when you feel like you’re ready, go ahead and let a bit of mana flow out into your aura. Be careful not to ignite your aura with this mana though. You’re just trying to let it flow through it, not burn it.” explained Anton “This is probably going to feel a little disconnecting at first. Almost like a floating sensation, but don’t worry, that’s normal. Just take your time and when you feel comfortable again, let me know.”

Brimming with eagerness, Fiona let her mana flow unimpeded out into her aura and quickly stopped short as she was nearly overcome by a sudden lightheadedness.

Anton began to chuckle as he watched her try to covertly shake the uncomfortable feeling away.

“I told you it was going to feel a little odd!” he teased “Just take a minute, and it’ll pass.”

Fiona gave him a thin glare before shaking her head again and looking down at the floor. Once the floating sensation became bearable, she glanced back up at Anton.

“ ... Ready?” asked Anton.

“Yeah ... I think I’m good...” mumbled Fiona.

“Alright then. For this next part you’re going to need to focus both your aura and the mana flowing through it into a concentrated ring that circles around me, but does not touch me.” explained Anton “This doesn’t necessarily have to be a perfect circle or anything at this point. So long as enough of both your aura and mana are present the ring will still be able to form. And it will fix its own shape once it does. Let me know when you’re ready with this.”

Fiona nodded as she narrowed her eyes and worked to guide the flow of her mana into a ring around Anton’s middle. When she felt that enough mana had been concentrated into the right space she looked up and met his eyes.

“ ... Okay, now, this is again going to be a little tricky to describe.” stated Anton as he rolled his head to the side in an effort to loosen the tension from his neck “What you need to do is activate the mana that’s around me, but you don’t want to ignite your aura with it. You aura is just there to guide the flow of the mana. It’s not meant to be part of the ring you’re trying to create. Does this make sense?”

“Yeah. I, guess...” mumbled Fiona “How do I ... activate the mana though? What does that mean?”

“You can still feel the mana you have flowing around me, right?” asked Anton “It’s still connected to you and your mana pool?”

“Yeah. I think so?” said Fiona.

“Can you move it?” asked Anton.

“ ... Yeah!” nodded Fiona.

“Okay, then it is. So, what you need to do is trace it back to yourself until you can feel its source, your mana pool.” explained Anton “This is where you’re going to activate it from. And how you do this is by ... Oh! Well, there you go!”

“Holy shit!” cried Fiona as her face became twisted and strained “What! What do I!? How do I!? ... How do I, do with this, now!?”

Anton laughed as he swiveled his head back and forth and looked over the green, glowing ring that now surrounded him.

“Just calm down. You’re doing fine ... It looks pretty stable.” said Anton as he turned in a complete circle and checked over the ring “ ... Yeah, it looks good!”

“ ... Ah, okay! So, what do I do now!?” exclaimed Fiona “I’m ... I feel like this thing is attached to my brain! Is that normal!?”

“Yes, that’s perfectly normal.” chuckled Anton as he looked back over at her “It technically is attached to your brain. That’s how you can control it. Try to think of it like its a thought that’s taken form.”

“ ... Okay, that, makes sense ... It, just feels weird!” said Fiona as she hunched down into her shoulders “ ... Can you give me a second!”

“Sure.” said Anton “Take your time. No rush.”

Nodding, Fiona took several deep breaths as she tried to come to grips with the sensation of having a piece of her mind suddenly existing outside of her head. After several minutes she looked over at her sister before turning back to Anton.

“Okay!” she mumbled “I think I’m good now...”

“Alright.” nodded Anton as he tucked his arms in against his sides “Then go ahead and get started.”

“ ... Wha, wait, what do I do!?” questioned Fiona.

Anton blinked in surprise and then started to laugh.

“Does it feel like you’ve got this ring in a tight grip?” he asked as he cocked an eyebrow “Like if you don’t hold it together it’ll blow apart?”

“It ... Yeah, kinda?” said Fiona.

“Well, why don’t you try letting it go a little?” smiled Anton “And let’s see what happens!”

Fiona went still for a moment before biting her lower lip and narrowing her eyes.

Anton’s smile never faltered as undulating bulges began to rise across the surface of the ring around him.

“You need to visualize what you want them to form into.” he explained as he met Fiona’s eyes “Chains are their traditional form, but it is possible for them to be something else if you’d like.”

“ ... No, chains are good.” mumbled Fiona as she furrowed her brow in concentration “ ... How, do I? Oh! Got it!”

Anton chuckled as several of the bulges erupted into withering chains that started to flail aimlessly about in the air.

“Dammit! How do I make them ... do it right!” exclaimed Fiona as she glared at the chains “Stop, fucking, moving!”

“Just keep trying!” laughed Anton “You’ll get the hang of it ... hopefully!”

“Shut up!” muttered Fiona as she took a step closer and continued to glare at the flailing chains “ ... Stupid! ... Chains! ... Just! ... Yes! Got it!”

Anton hummed in approval as the chains began to move as one and slowly wrap themselves around his arms and torso.

“Yes!” cried Fiona “Finally!”

“Not bad!” nodded Anton “Not bad at all.”

“ ... I’ll show you “not bad”!” mumbled Fiona as her smile became wicked “Let’s see how much you like this!”

Anton shook his head and continued to grin as more and more chains erupted out of the ring and immediately wrapped themselves around him.

“ ... Um, hey! You might want to calm it down a little!” stated Kianna as she turned to her sister.

“Why!? You don’t think our great and powerful “Master” can’t handle a few little chains!?” mocked Fiona “Tell you what! I’ll let him go! As soon as he says he can’t handle it anymore!”

“Fiona! Don’t be stupid! You’re gonna-!” exclaimed Kianna.

“It’s alright, Kianna!” interrupted Anton “She’s worked hard for this. So let’s let her have a little fun. I think she’s earned it at this point.”

“ ... Wha? Seriously?” questioned Kianna as Fiona began to laugh.

“Yes, seriously!” chuckled Anton “Though I would like you to stay in control of yourself and avoid going too far overboard Fiona. You’re still new to this after all.”

“Oh, I’ll show you overboard!” mumbled Fiona through her smiling teeth “You smug, arrogant human! I’ve got you now! And I’m gonna make you beg me to let you go!”

“ ... Right, well good luck with that.” sighed Anton as he shook his head “Just remember, stay in control of yourself.”

“Take this control!” snarled Fiona as she formed two more rings around Anton and entwined him with even more chains.

Kianna grimaced in obvious discomfort as the chains around Anton not only tightened in their embrace but also swelled in size until he literally began to disappear from sight behind them.

For his part, Anton appeared to be unfazed. Though it seemed likely that it should at least be getting difficult for him to breathe, that didn’t seem to be the case, as he not only made no effort to escape but didn’t even seem to be in any discomfort at all.

Interpreting his stillness as helplessness, Fiona started to laugh loudly and spurred on by her own sense of victory she began to feed more of her power into the chains around Anton.

“Let’s see you get out of this, Master!” she growled as her chains doubled in both size and number until they finally succeeded in completely cocooning Anton’s body and leaving nothing but his head still visible “Try not to get squeezed to death or ripped in half!”

Still merely watching in amusement, Anton kept a calm, casual expression on his face until he noticed just how far the still growing chains were beginning to bulge out around him.

“ ... Fiona, you may want to calm it down a bit.” he said as he narrowed his eyes in thought “It’s starting to look like you’re using up a lot of mana on this...”

“Are you serious!?” snapped Fiona “Do you honestly think that’s going to work right now!? I’ve got you on the ropes you motherfucker! Literally! Do you really think I’m just going to let you go!?”

“Excuse me?” said Anton as he brought his eyes back to her “What did you just call me?”

“Mother! Fucker!” repeated Fiona “I called you a motherfucker! And if you really think I’m stopping then you’re out of your mind! I’m not gonna stop until I squeeze every last breath right out of you, you-”

Fiona froze as the tip of a glowing, pink-colored riding crop suddenly whizzed through the air and stopped just short of striking her face.

“Let him go.” whispered Kianna as she let her aura expand out around herself and fill the area with her silent warning “Right now.”

Fiona’s ears pointed themselves straight back as she slowly turned her head, looked past the pointed whip and locked eyes with her sister.

The dark elves remained still and stared each other down for a moment before in unison their irises began to glow with an intense and angry red light.

“Girls!” warned Anton as a tired expression spread across his face “That’s enough! There will be no fighting during my class!”

“But she’s trying to kill you!” snarled Kianna through her teeth.

“Yes, she is. Unfortunately. But that isn’t anything she hasn’t tried before, and it’s no reason for you two to be fighting with each other now!” declared Anton.

“ ... Wha!? But ... Yes it is!” cried Kianna as she turned to him with both distress and confusion in her eyes “What are you saying!?”

“I’m saying that you, Fiona, are using up too much of your mana. At this rate you’ll drain your mana pool.” explained Anton as he addressed the second dark elf “You need to control yourself.”

“No!” growled Fiona as she continued to stare at her sister “I’m not gonna stop until you beg me to!”

“ ... Fiona, now is not the time for you to be draining your mana like this. We still have more that we need to go over today.” stated Anton in a calm, even tone “You are going to need to control yourself.”

Fiona’s irises were still aglow as she set her jaw and turned to face Anton.

“ ... Make me!” she hissed as the area around her began to darken.

Anton stared at her for a moment before sighing through his nose and shaking his head.

“I’m not going to say it again, Fiona.” he said as he locked eyes with the dark elf “Control, yourself.”

“ ... No.” whispered Fiona as her irises blazed with rage “ ... I said, no!”

Kianna couldn’t help but to take a step back as the air in the room was instantly filled with a thick, bloodthirsty malice. She gasped in shock as her own aura was overwhelmed by the cloud of power that was now swirling around her enraged sister. Breath now caught in her throat, she continued to back away as the light in Fiona’s irises reached a point that it seemed to overflow and set her entire eyes aflame. Kianna’s own eyes widened to their fullest as in the next instant her sister’s entire being began to darken before finally shifting to a solid, pitch black color.

Anton remained calm as he stared into the fiery red eyes of the featureless, living silhouette that now stood before him. His jaw tightened involuntarily as said silhouette suddenly opened its mouth and bared its bright, white teeth at him.

Fiona’s glistening fangs were on full display as she snarled in rage and released the full might of her power into a single targeted attack. Dozens of new rings suddenly winked into existence around Anton and immediately set about to engulfed him within a mass of withering chains.

Her senses now fully lost to her rage, Fiona’s maniacal laughter filled the room as Anton completely disappeared behind the wall of glowing green chains that had been created for the soul purpose of entombing him alive.

Panicked by the sight of Anton’s plight, Kianna steeled her resolve and turned to face the monstrosity that her sister had become. Taking a tentative step forward, she raised her whip to strike but stopped short as Anton’s voice suddenly spoke out from within the cocoon of chains.

“Such a stubborn dark elf...” he mumbled in a clearly disappointed tone “Always has to make everything as difficult as she possibly can...”

The mass of chains surrounding Anton swelled outwards for a split second before the circular form of an orange-colored aura field burst into existence from deep within its center. Fiona’s rings and chains were all instantly destroyed the moment this bubble took its full shape, and their tiny shattered pieces hung floating in the air for a single heartbeat before crumbling apart and melting away into nothing.

Kianna jumped back in surprise as her sister suddenly cried out.

Shocked by the sudden disconnection from her abilities, Fiona screamed loudly in pain and clutched her chest with both hands as she doubled over and fell to her knees. With what seemed like a thin puff of soot expelling itself away from her body, the blackness disappeared from around her and she appeared normal again. Trembling now, small desperate sounds escaped from the back of her throat as she made a clear attempt to keep herself from retching.

Kianna took another step back as Anton came forward and stood in front of her sister.

Sighing softly through his nose, Anton’s expression was stoic as he loomed over the downed dark elf and waited for her to finally quiet down and go still.

Noticing that Anton was now standing just before her, Fiona hesitated for several minutes before slowly raising her head and looking up at him. She gulped nervously as she registered the lack of emotion on his face.

“ ... Well? Was that everything you have?” asked Anton after a moment of silence “Are you drained again?”

Fiona couldn’t help but to hesitate again as she stared up at him. Defeated, she dropped her head to hang forward and nodded softly as heavy tears began to well in her eyes.

Anton nodded as he again sighed softly though his nose.

“I want you to know that what’s truly disappointing about this, is the lack of surprise ... I expected you to do exactly what you did.” he stated calmly “Though, I will say I was hoping I’d be wrong about you. And that for once, you would be better than that ... Unfortunately, you weren’t ... Oh well ... Maybe next time you will be.”

Clamping her eyes shut, Fiona remained silent as she flattened her ears down submissively behind her head.

Recognizing her gesture for the apology that it was, Anton nodded in acknowledgment.

“Are you in pain?” he asked as his face softened a bit.

Hesitating, Fiona tentatively nodded her head.

“I see. Can you move at least?” continued Anton.

Staying still for another moment, Fiona carefully shifted her legs back and forth before softly shaking her head.

“I see...” sighed Anton as he leaned forward and reached his hand out towards her “Very well. Lift your head.”

Gulping in nervousness, Fiona kept her eyes shut and her ears laid flat as she slowly raised her head.

Laying his hand down atop her bowed head, Anton carefully allowed a slow trickle of mana to seep into her being through the gem mounted to her collar.

“This will only be enough to ease the pain.” said Anton as he felt the dark elf stiffen beneath his hand “You’re done for the day. Is that clear?”

“ ... Yes.” whispered Fiona as the burning sensation within her immediately began to dull.

“Good.” stated Anton “It’s nice to hear that you’re not going to argue with me for once...”

Cowed and feeling humiliated, Fiona kept her arms wrapped around her torso as she stayed silent and stared at the floor.

While maintaining a slow pace with the mana, Anton turned to Kianna.

“Once your sister can move again, we’ll go ahead and get started with your turn.” he said as a thin grin took shape on his face “And hopefully you won’t be quite as dramatic as she was.”

Kianna was still for a moment as she stared down at her sister.

“ ... Do you want me to use that same ability on you?” she asked as she kept her eyes on Fiona.

“Yes.” said Anton.

“ ... I don’t want to do that though. I don’t want to use it on you.” said Kianna as she raised her eyes to his “I won’t do it! Even if ... If I have to use it on you ... then ... I don’t even want to learn it!”

“You need to learn this ability, Kianna. It will help to keep you safe.” stated Anton.

“ ... No, please! Not on you!” said Kianna as her eyes fell to her sister “I won’t do it to you!”

Following her gaze, Anton sighed as his own eyes landed on Fiona.

“I know that you’re angry. And I understand that.” said Anton “But I will not tolerate you two treating each other as enemies. Nor attacking one another. Is that clear!?”

Kianna said nothing as she balled her hands into fists and began to glare at her sister.

Shifting his eyes back up to her, Anton watched Kianna for a moment before shaking his head.

“If, I allow you to do this. You will be satisfied. And this will end here and now.” he said as Kianna looked up at him “You will not hold a grudge, and you will not seek out any other kind of revenge. Do you agree?”

“Yes! I do!” declared Kianna as a thin grin spread across her face.

“ ... Alright then. Fine. But like I said!” said Anton as he returned her grin with his own “This will end right now!”

“Okay! I agree!” exclaimed Kianna.

“ ... Alright then.” sighed Anton as he looked back down at the still bowed dark elf “Let’s go ahead and get started. Stand up, Fiona”

Fiona hesitated for a moment before shifting herself into motion.

“ ... Don’t I get any say in this!?” she mumbled as she tentatively got to her feet.

“Of course not.” said Anton as he let his hand fall away from her head “Why would you?”

Grumbling under her breath, Fiona kept her eyes on the floor as she made an effort to avoid looking at either Anton or her sister.

“Go stand over there where I was before and don’t move.” said Anton as he stepped to the side to let her pass.

Moving stiffly, Fiona made her way over to where Anton had been standing and, still keeping her eyes to the floor, turned back to face him and her sister.

“Keep you arms to your sides and don’t say a word.” ordered Anton as he turned away from Fiona and addressed Kianna “Now, were you paying attention during your sister’s turn? Do you have an idea of what you need to do?”

“Yes!” chirped Kianna as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards in excitement “I got this!”

“Alright then.” smiled Anton “Whenever you’re ready, go ahead.”

Her grin fading from her face, Kianna stepped away from him and turned to face her sister head on. Without a word she let her aura expand out from her being and spread forwards to where her sister now stood.

Fiona stiffened as she felt the air around her become heavy with a thin sense of foreboding.

Working to keep her emotions from showing on her face, Kianna wasted no time as she sent a wave of her mana to flow through her aura and surround her sister. Going over the steps that Fiona had just taken in her mind, she focused the mana into a crude ring shape before tracing it back to its source at her mana pool. After a few minutes of stillness she turned to Anton with a look of frustration on her face.

“How do I make it work!?” she questioned.

“Can you feel your mana pool?” asked Anton.

“Yeah, I think so?” answered Kianna.

“Alright, well what you need to do is visualize the ability you’re trying to use while activating the mana in your mana pool.” explained Anton “It’s a little difficult to really explain how to do this. One way to describe it is that it’s going to feel something like flexing a muscle, but in your mind.”

“ ... So, when I do it right will it just happen?” asked Kianna as her brow creased in concentration.

“More or less.” said Anton “We do have the rest of the day now, so there’s no rush. Take your time. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

Kianna huffed as she narrowed her eyes at her sister and focused on trying to figure out how to flex muscles that didn’t exist.

After some time she cried out in excitement as a pink-colored glowing ring suddenly winked into existence around Fiona.

“Yes!” she exclaimed through her smiling teeth “Finally!”

“Very nice.” nodded Anton “Great job, Kianna! And now comes the fun part!”

“Yes!” hissed Kianna as she began to carefully release the mental grip she had on the ring.

Pointing her ears straight back behind her head, Fiona groaned in irritation as she watched several thin, vine-like chains sprout from her sister’s ring and begin to wither about in the air.

“Whoa! Hang on! ... Hold, stop moving!” grumbled Kianna as she worked to wrangle the unruly chains “ ... They, they don’t listen!”

Anton began to chuckle as Kianna took a step closer to her sister and glared at the flailing chains. As if in response to her disapproving look, the chains began to sway in the same direction as they wrapped themselves around Fiona’s middle.

“Argh, not so tight...” grumbled Fiona as she scowled down at the entwining chains.

Kianna was silent for a moment as she stared at her.

“ ... No, it should be tight.” she whispered softly as a faint glow began to emanate from her irises.

Registering the ominous tone in her sister’s voice, Fiona slowly raised her head and locked eyes with her.

“ ... You deserve for it to be tight.” said Kianna in an eerily emotionless tone “No, you deserve worst than that...”

Fiona let out a frantic gasp as the chains around her middle tightened to such a degree that they began to painfully crush her arms into her ribs.

“You selfish, stupid bitch...” whispered Kianna as her eyes went wide with rage “After everything he’s done for you! All the danger he’s in! And all the things I have to worry about already ... I don’t want to have to worry about you too!”

“Wait! Wait, Kianna!” cried Fiona as the ring holding her in place began to rise into the air “Hold on a second!”

“No!” hissed Kianna.

“Stop! Stop! ... Ugh!” croaked Fiona as she was lifted off the floor.

A thin smile spread across Kianna’s face as she watched her sister frantically kick at the empty air.

“Kianna! ... Wait!” gasped Fiona as she struggled to take a breath around the chains that were quickly tightening to extreme levels “Stop! ... I can’t ... breathe!”

“Good!” giggled Kianna as she watched the panic set into her sister’s eyes “You don’t deserve to breathe right now!”

Flailing wildly now, Fiona’s eyes started to well with heavy tears as with each outward gasp the chains crushed her rib cage inwards more and more until she could barely pull in any breath at all. Unable to muster enough air to actually speak, she began to scream silently in panic.

“You deserve this! You stupid bitch!” smiled Kianna “You deserve to be punished!”

“And what exactly makes you think you have the right to decide that?” asked Anton in a clearly angry tone.

Blinking in surprise, Kianna turned to face him and was immediately taken aback by the dark expression on his face.

“I certainly don’t remember ever giving you permission to punish her.” growled Anton as he stepped forward and loomed over the shorter dark elf “So what exactly do you think you’re doing, Kianna?”

“ ... I, ... I!” stammered Kianna as she cringed back and laid her ears down submissively “B-but! She, she lost control! And then she tried to-!”

“And you haven’t!?” demanded Anton as he stuck his arm out and indicated Fiona “Would someone in control of themselves be strangling their own sister like this, Kianna!? Because personally I don’t think they would be!”

With her eyes darting to Fiona and back, Kianna silently opened and closed her mouth as she struggled to find the words to say.

“Can you even release her!?” questioned Anton “Do you even know how!?”

Kianna went still as her eyes widened to their fullest.

“ ... I didn’t think so.” mumbled Anton as he turned away from her and faced Fiona.

In the next instant an orange-colored aura field winked into existence between Fiona and the ring that held her in the air.

Kianna gasped as her ring was destroyed by the bubble expanding to its full size.

Landing in a crumbled heap on the floor, Fiona immediately began to take in one desperate breath after another as she laid where she fell.

“That was dangerous.” said Anton as he turned back to Kianna “What were you thinking!?”

Kianna was still for a moment before an agonized expression spread across her face.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed as she covered her eyes with both hands “I, I didn’t mean it like that! I’m sorry! Really! I didn’t want it to be dangerous!”

Anton remained still for several moments as he watched the sobbing dark elf. Folding his arms across his chest, he glanced at Fiona and found her now sitting on the floor in the center of his bubble with her legs drawn up and her face hidden behind her knees. With a soft sigh he turned back to Kianna.

“I am very disappointed in the both of you!” he declared “After everything you two have gone through! You finally learn to use your magic and the first thing you both do is lose control of yourselves!? The very first thing you do! Unbelievable!”

“Shut up!” snapped Fiona from behind her knees “Don’t talk to us like that! We’re not fucking kids!”

“That’s exactly what makes this so much worse!” snarled Anton “You’re not kids! You’re grown adults! Both of you! And yet here you are acting like monsters! Not that I don’t expect that from you, Fiona! This is just more proof that you do deserve to have that collar around your neck! You and-!”

“No, no, no, no!” wailed Kianna as she frantically shook her head “I’m not a monster! I don’t want to be a monster! I’m, I’m sorry!”

Anton stopped short and went still for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Recomposing himself, he looked back and forth between the two dark elves and sighed.

“Kianna, come here.” he said softly.

At the sound of his voice Kianna’s ears twitched before quickly laying flat again. After a slight hesitation she slowly started forward. Keeping her hands over her eyes, the nervous dark elf stopped just in front of him and waited for him to speak.

“You’re not a monster.” said Anton as he reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace “I shouldn’t have said that ... I’m sorry...”

“No! You ... I’m sorry...” whimpered Kianna as she gripped his shirt and pressed her face into his shoulder “I shouldn’t have even used that stupid ability! I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again!”

“What!? No, no!” said Anton as he shook his head and gave her a gentle squeeze “That’s not the issue, Kianna. You need to know how to use your abilities, all of them. They’re a part of you after all ... You just need to realize the damage you can do with them. And understand how important self-control really is.”

“I do know...” whimpered Kianna “But it’s ... I’m sorry!”

“You could have killed your sister, Kianna.” said Anton in an even tone “You do realize that, right?”

“I, I wasn’t trying to!” whined Kianna “I just wanted to make her pay for what she tried to do to you!”

“It’s not your place to do that though.” stated Anton “She’s not your responsibility.”

“Yeah, and I’m not yours either!” snapped Fiona.

“Actually you are.” stated Anton as he narrowed his eyes in annoyance “You both are. And unfortunately, it’s looking like I’ll have to put in a few more fail-safes ... At least for the time being...”

“ ... Wait!” exclaimed Fiona as she lifted her head “What does that mean!? What are you going to do!?”

“I just told you.” said Anton as he looked over at her “I’m going to put a few fail-safes in place to keep things from getting out of hand again. I don’t want to have to worry about today’s events being repeated in the future.”