as we pass through arrangements of shadows

[shreds]

Comments

[tearhiseyesout]

Crusade is too strong a word. If this were a crusade, we would not be standing here, talking.

[She would have killed him already, and not lost any sleep about it.]

Unfortunately for you, we've been asked to bring you in alive. Which means the Colony has other plans for you. Depending on how high you are on their shit list, you might wish I was on a crusade. But one way or another, Barnet, you're coming with us out that door and we're turning you over to Allura. That is how today is going to go.

[David points to her when she finishes. "What she said."]

[praevaricatio]

( And if they were the polite sort of company, they'd be seated.

"That sounds like a series of threats," he says, simply. "And all for the Colony, an outdated notion trying to modernize against every ancient impulse. Tell me, why the modernization? Why fix what isn't broke?" )

[tearhiseyesout]

Because what doesn't evolve, goes extinct.

[It's the one thing that she and David actually did agree on. They were going to revitalize the Colony, make it work for the modern age, now they're doing it with different people, for different ends.]

And let's face it, Barnet. You're a dinosaur. You're not even recognizing the major players anymore. Especially considering, the woman who "escaped" you? She's a fucking Melroux.

[And with that, her magic begins creeping in, fringing on the edges of his mind. It's not a nudge, she's knows he's too strong to respond to that so she goes for the works, reaching into his mind to pluck out his greatest fears and turn the dial up to eleven (17).]

And I take after my father.

[tramplemain]

( Here he thought they all could talk this out. Jacqueline Melroux has other ideas, ideas that haven't and don't give him the foggiest. Melroux is a name that doesn't carry any weight with him (5), like her magic. She does do her very best, but Barnet doesn't indicate that anything he fears has taken up any residence inside his or anyone's minds. (17)

David and Ezra, too, can do a sense magic check. )

Perhaps, you should've taken after your mother.

[maleficum]

[Jaqueline is too frustrated that things didn't go her way that she's not paying attention (3), but David is (19). It's part of the reason why he let her run her mouth, get in over her head. So that he could stand back and make sure that he understands what happening here.

And he feels it.

There's too much magic in this room. Too much power to be contained to just one man. And as much as he may have brushed off Jaqueline's assault, David knows how strong she is. That's not actually an easy feat.]

Let's leave Helene out of this.

[It's for the best. He steps forward and leans forward to rest his hands against the table.]

Look, Barnet. She's not wrong when she says there's only one way this is going to go. We don't bring you in, we don't go home. But I'm also willing to bet this isn't about some one you killed. You're sitting on a conduit, and they want it.

[tramplemain]

( He really doesn't know who David is talking about in the slightest. )

My, my, David Gainor all grown up. And, not the demon inside, yes? Time tends to weave together, the older you are. To which conduit would you be referring?

[maleficum]

Any of them. All of them.

[He really doesn't enjoy that mention of his demoic days and his ability to give a fuck about whether or not he lets Jaqueline tear into him more is slowly whittling away. But he shrugs and tries to keep his expression casual (5). He's not doing a very good job.]

There's way too much magic in this room, even with the magical powerhouses that happen to be here. You're drawing on something, and I'm willing to bet they want it. Or you've really just shit in too many people's Cheerio's. Either could be true.

[tramplemain]

You're right. There is too much magic. But, do you really think that this much magic can be drawn from something, Mr. Gainor?

( Ezra straightens up, stepping closer to his husband, already unnerved by the demonic mention (12) but managing to hold it together.

"It's someone." )

[maleficum]

[Yeah, David's really not great at keeping the anger out of his expression now (3). His face darkens almost instantly and he closes his eyes, trying to pull deeper and see if he can get a better handle on the tether, and if he is given enough leeway, he wants to put himself in a position to snap it if it won't hurt the conduit itself (20).]

And that's supposed to make me feel differently about bringing you in? That you're using people as a battery, so we should just let you go?

[tramplemain]

( Barnet's tether is no match for David's anger, and how personal he would take to a person being used for their power. His tether is someone in fact, and that power is stripped as quickly as he latched on.

There is no leeway, no defense Barnet has in his posturing with the (1) he got to defend himself.

The magic cripples him, as he props himself up, hands bracing against the table. The magic leaves him in stretches, his young face wrinkling before them, as he rapidly ages. )

[maleficum]

[... Oops. But hopefully the backlash isn't happening to the person he was draining.

David rolls his eyes, then swears as he steps forward. Because they do have to bring him in alive. They can't just let him age to death. Fortunately, this is a fix he's made before.

Reaching into his pockets, he fishes out a few supplies, mixes a quick collection of herbs and ingredients, before speaking to Jaqueline:]

Hold him still.

[Jaqueline does as she's told, holding the old man down, before David shoves the ingredients down his throat. It'll stop the rapid aging, and sustain his life, but only long enough to get him to the Colony.]

[tramplemain]

( No, with a perfect 20 there is no backlash. Although, there is also no indication to whom he was tethering himself to.

Barnet unsuccessfully tries to spit whatever it is out as he passes out from everything leaving him. But, his premature aging does seem to be slowing down, stopping somewhere around the 50's and 60's.

"Go team?" Ezra asks. )

[maleficum]

[David runs a hand over his face, before glancing around.]

Ez and I will get him out to the car. Can you see if you can find the person he was tethered to? If they're here?

[Jaqueline's face pinches into the frown. "Shouldn't you have the doctor do that?"]

Jaq, please. Just ... do the nice thing? It won't make you burst into hives, I promise.

[She rolls her eyes before venturing off, trying to find where the liminal space ends and the real world begins (13).]

[praevaricatio]

( "I don't know if that's a promise you can make, Dave," he says, getting his own words in. He thinks she may be allergic to doing the nice thing. He and David foist the great Barnet over their shoulders and drag him out.

Jaq finds no sign of his conduit, no sign that his conduit was there, either. But, as the group departs and Jaq leaves the liminal space, the entranceway disappears and things are back as they were. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[She does her due diligence, making sure the person wasn't somewhere terribly obvious, before giving up and heading back to the car. The conduit clearly wasn't there. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum can debate the merits of her actions later.

That being said, she makes her way out to the car and slides into the backseat next to the old man. She takes a picture and sends it to Sierra as she does.]

Now he's an actual dinosaur.

[But, to the rest of the group she sighs.]

There was no one there. Let's go.

[praevaricatio]

( while the chance that the living, breathing conduit was there, David knows a conduit doesn't have to be in anyone's immediate vicinity once the connection has been made. it is an ethereal tether, not physical once. considering the power and scope, Barnet has been moving from conduit from conduit throughout his life and this may have been what was prolonging him. (more often than not, these sad sob stories). There are also mutually beneficial conduit situations, too, if it comes to two witches parlaying power, much like two marrieds might with a joint checking account.

that said, conduits are tricky and sometimes require a middle-man, so to speak, like something that grounds electricity. this relationship would have to be more symbiotic.

so he knows a lot.

Big head. Little arms.

Ezra only got an (11) for conduits. )

We're bringing him back alive.

[tearhiseyesout]

That's what we were told to do.

[David makes a note to himself to return and try to find the person later, mostly to just assuage his own conscience, but that's Future David's problem. For now, he's going to play the good Colony boy and do as he's told.

"She's right. Let's get this over with."]

[praevaricatio]

Only the Colony would keep us safe by putting us back into danger.

( "You think that just because you don't agree with my methods that the Colony isn't above doing exactly what I do? Just in a more acceptable way," Barnet says, voice older like his newly acquired lines. He's even adopted a nice wease. )

[maleficum]

[David looks back at him in the rearview mirror as he pulls out onto the street.]

And I would do to every single one of them exactly what I did to you. You were just the one in my crosshairs today.

[So fuck you, Barnet. Try and get someone else's sympathy.]

[praevaricatio]

( "You would blaspheme your namesake with a nobody and this outsider." )

Not that I have to prove anything, but I'm more a part of this coven than you've been in decades.

[maleficum]

And that nobody you're sitting next to is still a far more formidable witch than you are. Do you want to see what her natural talent has to offer now that you're not being buffed by the power of someone else?

[Jaqueline's eyes light up, as though she's just waiting for permission.]

[praevaricatio]

( He may not be linked, but he knows how, and he snatches a hand out, trying to get a hold of her wrist (2) but he is feeble and older, and this is clearly a desperate move. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Jaqueline is going to take that for permission. She bats his hand away (8), before pushing him back into his seat and meeting his eyes, starting to dig in and see what kind of juicy fears she can find (16).]

[praevaricatio]

( a man of his age has pretty specific mechanical fears, specifically, mechanical failure. and while he doesn't fight her, (he can't (12)), he does try to manifest that fear, and send them all off the road. if she can instill them in him, maybe he can amplify them with her connected. he taps into her and her family line, taps into that promise she made him before. what was it? extinction?

let's flip a car.

(20) )

[tearhiseyesout]

[The thing about being in-tune with your ability is that you know when someone is trying to fuck you. Barnet's age may give him an advantage in intensity, but this is still her fucking power, and she's going to do what she can to contain it (16).

She can't stop it completely, but it's enough for David to take back control of the wheel (19).

Once that's done, she reaches forward to grab him by the throat, rage blinding her (6).]

You fucker.

["We need him alive, Jaq!"]