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Post by Krakenbox on Jul 8, 2021 21:52:46 GMT -8
 Phones light up with Eis and Gavin Graves—they had a cure. The details of what could happen with an experiment weren't as important once Roger reported in that Chantelle Morris had erupted at home only yesterday. Over the last twenty four hours, after some investigation, they had narrowed down the trigger that she had received the promotion she was working towards since before the car accident—the neurological issues giving her superiors pause miraculously clearing up in the last few months. The Chevaliers were antsy, knowing they were unable to hold and monitor a person without crossing the line of confinement. Instead, they got the clear to start harassing, with courtiers pretending to be angry relatives of those lost in Peter's bus accident as they vandalized. Oren and Lucas went to far as to impersonate Calvin Martinez's budding romance, staging a scenario that hinted straying egregiously enough to break it off with gas lighting and pressure. Tipping the scales towards misery was the goal, which wasn't as disquieting when lives were on the line and the Courts of Wrath and Sorrow were directly involved. While the mitigating was happening, Kai hunted alongside. Loki had not expected to capture Cinderella of all people, but with the Polychromatic's interrogation skills, she was shocked to find the Sun's Tongue had found out about the Rite with her own motley and were looking to shield Martinez from the inevitable reaping when she noticed the signs. She had set up her own warding spells, which was suspicious in itself, but Lucas confirmed they were curses related to mitigating Spring's presence over anything actively harmful to the mundie. It was the same Martinez that worked for Buck Chausseur, who she suspected. The group how more context, however: the situation didn't add up, as he wasn't middle nobility. Someone was possibly setting up to frame him...? Nevertheless, Martinez was given his medication. With questioning the addled man and Loki's truth sight—Martinez was still recovering from the ghosts of Moonborn's psychological torture—Oren and Kai trace that he used to frequent an establishment that Loki confirmed as Eurydice's. It would appear she had handed off the man to Buck during her time as Sage Escort, consequently washing her hands of the Rite she had been expected to complete herself, but it was suspicious she did nothing to protect him. Peter Hennigar had been touched by the Revenant Crisis, with Lucas recognizing his face from the last mission he was sent on while chaos was reigning. Loki had him tagged when he left the house late at night, assuming he had been invited somewhere by someone that would be connected to this trafficking. Gavin found the event with a combination of his familiarity of the street and Eis' intimidation, carried on by sheer spite despite the days of slaving over lab equipment. Infiltrating the seedy party with their combined social prowess and Loki's mundane status, the presence of the Chevaliers flushed the Changeling with Summer's punishing ray that destroyed all lies and deceiving spell craft. Two Spring courtiers and Stheno were violently arrested, while Lucas and Gavin found the ritual equipment for culling while Peter's medication was easily slipped with his drink. Loki was up, wanting to exercise the sanctioned execution granted by Bloody Mary when he informed her of the investigation. Cinderella suggested rather they hand Stheno's group to the Queen of Spring and her Clavigers to avoid a political explosion, but quieted with glowing frustration when Loki pointed out that even she didn't believe the Emeralds would enact proper justice. Now what? |
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jul 8, 2021 23:41:40 GMT -8
Lucas thought long and hard on what direction he was in favor of, his face remaining neutral the entire time. His usual empathy was tucked away behind his stoic facade. Innocent lives had been lost in this mess. Any time he reflected on the more merciful option, the image of Yasmine's desecrated body violently took over his thoughts, forcing him to confront the horror of what had happened again and again.
Spring made this mess and they needed to clean it up. They need to be forced to confront the full horror of what their courtiers had been up to.
"If you execute them, anyone connected with them will try to twist your actions for their own gain. Spring is responsible for this. They need to be forced to look at the cost of their blind ambition. We've cleaned up enough of their messes. If they buckle and try to downplay what happened, then that tells us all we need to know about their Monarch. However, Queen Philicia is pragmatic. She made a show out of declaring human sacrifices were off the table. Even if she doesn't care about this situation on a morality level, she's not going to want to lose face. It would be too damning when her ascension to power was turbulent and caused a deep divide in Spring. Showing any signs of weakness in this situation will start to alienate her from her political support base."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jul 9, 2021 0:04:37 GMT -8
Gavin would have been exhausted from the days on end working in the lab were it not for his Beastly gifts to sustain him. It was exhilarating for him to have been party to developing a cure and working with the mysteriously engineered goblin fruit's core. He was thoroughly pleased with the effort and achievement. He think it sad that they were unable to save all three of the innocents. It was a small miracle they'd saved any of them, really, especially given the timeframe. It was an astounding success despite the loss of life.
He listened intently to what others had to say on the matters before them. He expected the others to continue to focus on crime and punishment as they had before and planned to raise his other concern to the table.
"I got a bit to say. Bear with me. Now I'm no expert in Freehold politics, but this ritual they were doing was bungled, right. This was amateurs playing with advanced ritual tools," Gavin set the statement out as fact and stressed the relative skill required. "This ball got rolling by someone else's hand and the lot caught were left to manage the mess. I'm not saying they should be off the hook or anything, but there is someone else out there who's more responsible for this mess, yeah." He added on to what Lucas had been saying.
He decided he would leave Callahan's apparent innocence in the project for Eis to speak on.
"Oh, and the scheduled ritual is going to fail and leave a big hole in Spring's requirements for the season. I know that sounds like a Spring problem, but it isn't. Things are going to get rough for all of us with the trajectory they left us on," his expression slid into grim concern. "We sought out an answer to fill in the gap on the ride over toward working the cure. It's not pretty. The only thing that can meet the burden now, with the time we have left, is willing self-sacrifice using this Wyrd provided gun and this silver to pay the way in the underworld." Careful not to point it at anyone, he placed the gun with a weighty clunk on the central table along with its attendant bag of coins. The coins rang out their presence to confirm what he'd said they were when the bag settled.
While the other Lost were staring at the ominous gun and absorbing the weight of Gavin's words, he queued a suggestion.
"Perhaps one of the guilty might like to speak the name of the truly responsible, or to take on the burden for the Freehold and atone rather than endure whatever you lot have planned for them. Clemency for the others if one does the thing? I don't know--maybe one of them likes one of the others more than their own skin." Gavin wasn't set on any of the suggestions he had just made for handling the guilty. He even avoided directly mentioning the act required: it was obvious. Even he found what he was saying distasteful, or even taboo. He was however certain about it being the only way to fulfill Spring's obligation and keep the Freehold as safe as it could be.
Chunhua's vague warning of what would become necessary in the future motivated Gavin to talk despite his discomfort. He bore the responsibility of putting the option literally on the table. The Wyrd was cruel in its price and Gavin did not want to pay it himself.
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jul 9, 2021 0:11:41 GMT -8
Lucas gave the gun a contemplative look, his eyes lingering on long enough that it may make those around him uncomfortable.
"Are you sure it has to be that gun? What if we had another way to open the Underworld and we took the Silver with us? Or is the Wyrd specifically asking for a sacrifice?"
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jul 9, 2021 0:20:12 GMT -8
Gavin put down his phone which displayed images of the pad of paper the others had known previously for holding 'The Plan.' It contained a new ' The Plan.' This plan was an ominous mess of options written out in the Wyrd's hand, each crossed out or the words having apparently grown into an incoherent mess. All options save one. "Not sure about the particular gun being required, but it was literally manifest in front of us for this purpose. So was the silver."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jul 9, 2021 0:56:04 GMT -8
Lucas stared at the plan, shifting his jaw as tension built up all along his jawline.
"It would make the most sense for Spring to be the one to sacrifice themselves to make right with the Wyrd. But it would have to be someone who was generally repentant or wanted to make amends for their court. Once the trigger is pulled, whoever goes to the other side can't be influenced by the living anymore. They could instead try to barter for their life back or something else."
He studied the plan, ruminating through his own thoughts. Would their Kith blessings follow them into the Underworld? Usually, when someone died it was an echo of who they were. Unless a powerful Lost offed themselves, he doubted the ghost would be sentient enough to negotiate. The Wyrd gun may allow whoever pulls the trigger to bring their gifts with them or at least the permanent alterations made to their souls from being fae-touched. There was a chance he would still remain a Gravewight if he pulled the trigger...
"If we don't find anyone from Spring to do it, I'll do it. As a Gravewight, negotiating with the dead is what I do."
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Post by Loki on Jul 9, 2021 9:10:36 GMT -8
The Knight Commander's eye trailed from the gun, to Gavin's mangled slip of paper, and Lucas mulling over how to properly off oneself so they can hopefully cut a deal with hell itself.
Blink.
"...Do either of you know how fucking stupid you sound right now?"
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 9, 2021 9:11:21 GMT -8
Kai stared at the occultists like they were on crack.
"...sorry, you want to have them shoot themselves? Based on whatever that clusterfuck is?" A hand gestured to the mess of scratches and ink. "And they call Solomon nasty. Jesus."
She shook her head.
"Autumn came through and will be credited for their incredible scientific work, but justice will be done properly for all three of them. Loki, I get it, but we need to give Philicia the chance to put her money where her mouth is. She put that law out there, she needs to demonstrate her resolve. Sacrificing the mundane to power rituals is an offence. What the Wyrd requires, the Lost will pay." Kai glanced at the prisoners and held up a finger. "But we don't just hand them over to Spring blindly. Queen Uriel could exert a fair bit of guidance on her friend here. Litha is coming. Her Majesty has choices to make about which laws continue forward and which don't. She could do a lot of good with this. I'm going to call Sir Solomon now."
The Wizened produced her phone, looking to the others to see if anyone was going to try to stop her.
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Eis
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Post by Eis on Jul 9, 2021 12:20:46 GMT -8
The ordeal with Stephen had been... draining. To say the very bloody least. She was entirely too mentally exhausted to give much input on the matter of dealing with the guilty party. Handing them over to Spring seemed the least problematic, but all she could offer on it were a brief nod in acknowledgement of Lucas' words. Gavin fills in the majority of what needed to be passed tot he group, bless him, and it gives Eis a moment or two to collect her thoughts on what she can bring to the table. The only thing she is certain of, 'right off the bat', is that she has no intention of bringing up the pistol and silver. Perhaps maybe the failing of the contract... but definitely not ---
But there it is. Plain as day. Gavin tells them everything, and she could slam her head against the wall for not asking him beforehand to keep it quiet. For one thing, it sounded ludicrous. For another? Well, frankly, she was the one who weaved the Glamour to produce such a bizarre result. She'd made every effort to keep the memory in the back of her mind for a rainy day; only revealing it when she felt she could properly 'pad' her explanation and maybe... help?
Her mouth hangs agape in a most unrefined manner when Lucas then volunteers to take on the insane task, barring the lack of a Spring volunteer. Bastard! He's not going to just 'off himself' on a whim and leave her life forever...
"It's nonsense." she agrees, with a tone of finality, after both Loki and Kai rebuff the suggestion. "Not even worth discussing."
Eis gives Kai a nod, satisfied with praise over persecution. The potential fallout of not clearing Callahan's name may have been avoided. It was, after all, Kai's idea. Eis doesn't offer dissent to Kai's choice. On the contrary; it makes sense to control the 'hows' and 'whens' of turning over the guilty. If they weren't already cowed, she'd enjoy putting a little fear into their hearts.
"They'll get whatever justice Spring wants to mete out. If Queen Uriel happens to influence that decision? So be it. Anything to further control the political fallout."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jul 9, 2021 17:46:25 GMT -8
Lucas appeared unphased by the efforts to rebuff him by the others. If anything, he took a step closer to examine the magical Wyrd gun.
"We have a way to test out this theory. " Regardless if anyone tried to stop him, he forged forward with his plan.
"Ghosts aren't fractions of our souls. They are fractions of our emotions that are created by a combination of trauma and the strange magics in this world.
The only way for this plan to work is if the gun knocks someone's spirit out of their body. Their body would have to be in tact. If they experienced significant trauma like an actual bullet to the brain, it won't work. Ghosts are not sentient enough to be able to understand detailed instructions independently unless they are exceptionally powerful. "
Lucas turned his attention over towards Kai as she reached for her phone.
"We can use your time rewind power to test this out a couple of different ways.
If we want to avoid too many political complications, then I can shoot myself. If my body suffers blunt force trauma from the bullet then rewind time. We will know it's a failure.
We can also try it out on one of the Spring courtiers and I can peer into twilight to see if their soul pops up. If it doesn't then we also know it's a failure. Hit rewind. If it works, then that gives us options in terms of who we want to send. "
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Post by Loki on Jul 9, 2021 18:36:12 GMT -8
The Elemental scratches a finger idly along the weapon, as if removing grease or dust.
The gun vibrated, jumping after Loki's hand as if to follow it for more scratching while he crossed his arms.
"Seems like a normal gun to me, hombre."
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Oren
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written by Hiver
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Post by Oren on Jul 9, 2021 18:55:35 GMT -8
"Lucas, it isn't worth the Glamour or your life."
That was the extent of the Thought, Rehearsed. Oren was now improvising the rest. A read on his intention would reveal genuine concern for the Gravewight's safety. He thought this foolhardy and dangerous, and frankly, unnecessary.
"This is....one of those things where an answer is demanded in service of a very important question. What is to become of those who do this sort of thing? How are we, to respond?"
Did he mean the Freehold, or the Iron Spear? "Full disclosure, this feels like cheating. If the Wyrd is fickle and we're on the wrong side of it, we could make the matter worse. Your Jennifer Love Hewitt routine, as attractive as the reach-around sounds, could tip us over the edge. You're betting a lot on Kai's ability to give you a do-over. One slip up, no offense love, and we're out an exceptional dancer and a very decent Speaker for the Dead. If you're wrong, that is."
"I'd much rather have someone who has wronged the Lost to pay the cost for their transgression. A death, made in error, does not a good Freehold make."
Awfully pithy, but that was his two cents. Kill the right one. Save the experiment for something more fulfilling. This was a guillotine, pure and simple.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 9, 2021 19:05:52 GMT -8
Kai continued to stare at Lucas, except now it was a stare of sheer worry.
"Luke, that's a regular gun. I... I am not going to let you kill lawfully arrested people or help you commit suicide or violate your Freehold Oath to test an occult theory. Even if I can rewind time, I won't. Not to support that. That's... no. Just no."
Even shooting the Spring Courtiers was wrong. Luke didn't have the warrant, Loki did. The Polychromatic shuddered at the thought of it, the notion of him killing himself or another to test some half-baked occult nonsense Fall had come up with making her feel a little sick. Her skin washed in green as she glanced at Oren.
"We trust to our Queen, and we let justice be done. The Lost pay the price of the Wyrd's demands, and the people who best know how to make that so are our Monarchs. Let's not lose a piece of ourselves here today."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jul 9, 2021 21:14:26 GMT -8
This was the part where someone in his position was meant to be grateful. The powers of logic had prevailed, they saved him from making a "mistake", and they could go on being good Freeholders once again. That was the Summer way, right? Everyone wanted to fall in line and be the Good Soldier.
Except he wasn't one of their soldiers. He didn't serve the living, he bartered with the dead.
Gavin had offered him absolution with the gun and coins. If Gavin was right in any capacity, then he could be free from this borrowed time the Wyrd forced onto him. He didn't ask for his fucking life warranty to be extended. The more Lucas dug into his own trauma, practically digging his fingers into the open mental wound, the more a volatile anger surged through his body causing his thoughts to turn violent.
When Kai denied him, he wanted to grab her head, drag her over the Underworld Gate, and shove her head through. He wanted to force her to see the horrors the Freehold expected of this soldier. He wanted to burn the image of the reverent ghosts into her mind, make her wake up every morning to see the desperation in their eyes, and hear their pained screams echo throughout her dreams. The longer he latched onto the disjointed image, the more the anger raged through him like a wild howl.
They weren't being his friend; they were being his enslaver. They were no better than Necropolis.
Necropolis had taken his peace in dying and they were doing the exact same thing.
In this moment, he resented every last one of them for it.
The teethers in his mind that kept him grounded to reality almost snapped under the weight of his anger. As the teethers twisted and turned to compensate his anger, they released other memories from his mind. Oren, Kai, and Eis had all shown him kindness in their own way. Oren's words in particular hit a chord with him. The Elemental was right; the Wyrd was a fickle creature. The Wyrd wasn't going to reward him for rushing into death without exploring other options first, especially when the source came from a contract that was malfunctioning. If he pulled that trigger, he would likely send himself right back into Necropolis' arms to punish him for being so eager to leave the land of the living.
The same anger that crashed through like him a wave in the ocean pulled back into the tide leaving an empty space where the anger had once been. It was quickly filled with a sorrow as he reflected on how desperate he had been in that moment. All he had accomplished with his actions was worrying the others and if he wasn't careful, they were going to have someone from Winter babysit him to make sure he didn't act on any impulse after this was done.
"You're right."
He stepped away from the gun, sliding his hands inside of his pocket. All of the fight in him regarding the ritual was gone.
"We don't want to cheat death. I don't want to violate my oath and it's not my call if someone lives or dies. I agree with contacting your Monarch, Kai."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jul 9, 2021 22:50:01 GMT -8
When the others unloaded on Gavin for his interpretation of the Wyrd's demands it was almost amusing to him. If it weren't for the weighty consequences that were piling up behind the impending and nearly inevitable failed rite, he would be amused. They'd just sought out Autumn's wisdom to solve a magical murder and save the other victims from with a medicine magicked up in a lab using the remnants of a magical fruit from the land of the Faerie. Suddenly there is doubt. It wasn't really even Gavin saying what would sate the Wyrd's demands. It was right there on the screen.
"Dame Chunhua reviewed this before I brought it forward. Yes, it had occurred to me, but then I saw there weren't humans around and also there's the Summer magic positively radiating out of you. Fuck me for thinking you knew something about our magic, right?" Gavin delivers flatly, making sure to make eye contact with both Loki and then Eis, where he raised his eyebrow. His bestial instinct was to tear a strip out of them while demonstrating their ignorance with as much condescension as he could muster, but what purpose would that have served? He thought he might have felt better somehow. Was it always going to be an uphill battle with this knowledge? Just call me Cassandra.
Turning to Kai, "'Want' is a very strong word for what I'm feeling. It was more a delivery of an awful option that would meet the requirements and hopefully get people thinking. This is very real and, within the bounds of equivalent exchange, the only option the Wyrd had left to offer us within the time remaining was the sacrifice of one of us Lost. It also had to fit within our laws--which was one of the limiters we put on this at the outset. I added the slightly more moral edge to it that it should be a volunteer. The Wyrd likely doesn't care. Sacrifice through justice might work if put through the right ritual trappings. It's a good idea to consider."
He looked back to Eis a moment. Why did it bother him that Eis had just done an about-face on the subject? She had just been working with him on this very subject earlier in the week. There was something more to the situation he needed to sort out. She hadn't mentioned anything earlier. He couldn't help but feel disappointed and a little betrayed.
Lucas was a whole other issue. As much as Gavin had been looking for support in taking the gap in the seasonal rituals seriously, Lucas had taken it to a whole different level. Gavin immediately jumped to deep concern since the possibility of someone innocent volunteering was the single largest reason he almost said nothing. He made no attempt to hide his alarm either. Where was the self-preservation?
"Right, man, I'm glad someone sees the seriousness of a seasonal ritual going unfulfilled, but no. It shouldn't have to be you, even if there are no volunteers," he paused momentarily.
"I like Kai's idea. Push it to the monarchs and have them do the leaning and lifting," there was a small break in his composure as the thought of possibly being responsible for suggesting this whole thing and Lucas actually going through with it. Wearing a plaintive expression, "Naw, man," he said again while shaking his head at Lucas, trying to lose the thought.
He redirected his mind toward working Kai's solution within the occult principles he knew. Another innocent was on the line now.
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