everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

The shifty brunette.

( What's the Gauntlet? She's a little lost in the order, it's true, but the seriousness rings through. She remembers. Neither her nor Josie trusts the woman but they had no choice and everything happened so fast. )

Making a play for what, Danny? For you? Are you in danger?

Well. Again, yes and no. The shifty brunette is Colony and she knows I'm alive but they're currently trying to find her so ... I don't know. I don't know what that means. But according to David as far as the rest of the Colony is concerned, I'm dead.

[He runs his hands through his hair as he leans back.]

They're going after the collective power. The coven power. So either I try to get it at the autumn solstice, or I might never be able to get it back.

What happens if they get to it before you do? It's theirs? It's not theirs. It's yours. It's your legacy.

( The Colony sounds like old school bad news. )

Technically it's theirs too. The Colony used to be part of my coven, but they parted ways a long time ago.

[And it was a very messy divorce.]

So if one of their heirs tried to take it, they could, if they knew the ritual. The Colony's Inner Circle is offering it up as the prize for a giant witch bloodbath. So I could try and take it now, and really put myself on their radar, for better or worse. Or I could let them have it, and fade into obscurity, where I always should have been.

You're not a footnote.

( She doesn't date footnotes. )

You're meant for something. It would've been your sister's and then yours. It's meant for you. That coven branched off all on their own, you owe them nothing. And if you take all that power then they can't. It's yours and yours alone.

And then I become a target in a bloody witch war. Not just me, you and your sister and Bonnie and Eliza and ...

[He huffs as he runs a hand through his hair.]

I never even wanted it. I don't know if I want it now. Right now all I know is that I don't want them to have it and I'm not sure that that's a good enough reason to take it.

Wasn't it going to be yours eventually? When you were ready. After New York.

( Why wouldn't he want it? )

Can you take it and hide it? Josie kept her magic in a coin back when she wanted to live without it.

No, not really. It's not just a pour source, it's centuries of knowledge. And how is that fair to my coven if I do? The person who takes this is supposed to lead them.

[The person who takes it is stepping up and saying yes, I will keep you safe, and lead you in the right direction. He can't take it and turn it off, leaving his coven floundering until he decides he's "ready."]

Honestly, I've already waited too long.

So, David's forcing you?

( She's a little lost in all this. )

What happens if you take it? Am I dating a future walking bullseye?

No. He wanted me to know the choice was there before it was taken away.

[David was making sure he was aware of how the playing field was changing.]

And maybe? It's not just about me. What does it say about me if I leave my coven in the hands of the Colony just to save my own neck?

I don't care what it says. I was the crazy Saltzman girl who could never regulate her emotions so don't ask me to care about what other people think.

( She was able to decide when she made her big transition, knowing it would end only one way with Hope. )

I care about your neck, not your coven's. But if you care, if you want to stand up for them, I'll be there with you.

I care what you think.

[Of him. Given that she is his girlfriend, and he would like her to continue being with him. But she does answer the question, and he nods.]

I don't know what to do. I have a week to figure it out. But ... we should be prepared for a witch war, regardless of what I do.

Then it's a good thing you have a heretic for a girlfriend.

( Try her. Just try her. )

What do you want to do?

It still doesn't feel like it's mine.

[Not his birthright, even if it is. He drums his fingers against his thigh and sighs.]

I want my coven to be safe. They've sacrificed a lot to protect me, I don't want that to be for nothing.

[But he also doesn't feel like he's ready.]

It won't be. It could never be, Danny.

( She flops back against the couch, arm over her forehead. )

First hunters who worked with witches and now witches who hunt other witches.

Colony's always been ... messy.

[At least as far as the stories are concerned.]

You should talk to Hope's family. Make sure you have somewhere safe to go, just in case.

Hope's family is not my family. But, she does have an Original vampire-turned-witch aunt.

( Which means she needs to talk to her sister. )

Are we all in the crossfire?

Probably.

[There's no way around that.]

The last time the Colony decided to hold a Gauntlet, we wound up with the Spanish Inquisition.

Which nobody expects. Boy, when you had to talk you really had to talk. Damn it.

( Can she or her sister ever just have a normal college experience? )

[He winces before nodding.]

Sorry, but I did warn you.

[A beat.]

I can make it up to you?

( She sits up at that. )

I don't know what you could possibly do, but I'm not blaming you. I'm starting to really hate this David guy. Representation is great and all, even with shadowy witches, but all he does is get you involved in really shady shit.

You know how they say there's no ethical consumption under capitalism?

[He's a teen on the internet, you hear stuff even if you're not in college absorbing the knowledge.]

I don't think there's non-shady witchcraft under the Colony. You just do the best you can to keep your head above water. Especially if you're an heir.

[He didn't know this about David before but he knows now and honestly it makes him respect him a little bit more.]

And the fact that he was here to warn me and not kill me to assure his place in the hierarchy, I think that buys him a little bit of trust. Honestly simplest route would have been not telling me at all and stealing the power at the solstice for himself.

( So, blame the corporations. She can see that, at least. )

Or killing you, himself. ( She's the blunt sister. ) And, he didn't. And he was there in London and in Prague. He's like our bad fairy. ( Give her a second. ) I heard it back.

[He smirks.]

It's still kind of amusing. Picturing him in one of those gauze-y dresses with a magic wand.

[It's a good picture for such a scary witch. But he lets it go after that.]

I don't know. I'll figure it out. Should probably talk to Eliza and let her know what's coming.

Whatever you need from me, Danny.

( She didn't think she'd be signing up for ending her college career so early, and maybe she doesn't mean something that drastic, but she's a bit in love with her British guy. So, she says what she says. What comes next, then she'll determined. )

the ground could open, he could still say please

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)