coming at you fast, midnight

[cosmiccon]

Comments

[tearhiseyesout]

[Hallewell lets out a laugh. "You make that sound like you have something to offer me."]

Only our condolences.

[Jaqueline leans in closer, trying to gauge his expression.]

H is dead. Apparently he got on the wrong side of a French Quarter witch, and she took it personally.

[Hallewell arches an eyebrow. "Did he? Where did he find a French Quarter witch in Baltimore?"]

[praevaricatio]

We were going to ask you the same thing, seeing as he was on your cosmic payroll.

( It's no secret the devil's deal H made with the man. One that nullified the minute he was rendered useless. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["I haven't been in New Orleans in decades, not since that Gerard kid took over. What H does is his business, but as far as I'm aware, he hasn't been there either."]

Not even to meet with Davina Claire?

[Hallewell's eyebrows climb even higher. "I definitely would have known if he had gotten a get that good. It must have happened after you all took me in."]

[praevaricatio]

( "Should we be able to do anything about your accommodations, know that coincidences won't help your cause," Max says. )

Let's try this. What do you know about the Gauntlet.

[tearhiseyesout]

[Hallewell arches an eyebrow in Ezra's direction, before leaning back in his seat. "They're pulling out that old chestnut? Well, they must really be desperate."

Jaqueline grits her teeth because it's hard to feel like a threat to her life is an "old chestnut."]

What do you mean, desperate?

["In my experience, the Gauntlet only comes into play when they're worried about the passing of power. You kids must be getting up to some shenanigans that makes them think they're at risk of losing their seat of power."]

[praevaricatio]

You're saying they're doing this because they feel threatened?

( "Need I have to remind you, our parents are all too happy to throw us in." Well, throw him in, anyway, as much as Jaq would take that bullet. David doesn't have a choice, not having a sibling. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Hallewell huffs, before shifting to lean forward and face them more. Old eyes scan over the three faces in front of him, lingering mostly on the Melrauxs. "The Inner Circle is all about maintaining control. They have been for almost five hundred years. We didn't get where we are because they're good at giving up the reins."]

So what? They're worried we won't march to the family line when we get to be the ones in charge?

[Something isn't right about what Hallewell is saying, and she can't put her finger on what it is yet.]

[praevaricatio]

Their parents aren't five hundred years old.

( They're in their forties. But the way he talks, it sounds like the Inner Circle has always been the inner circle. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["Sure they're not."

He says it so flippantly that Jaqueline is immediately set on edge. That there's something he knows that she doesn't about her parents, and she immediately wants an answer. Fortunately, she doesn't have to wait long - Hallewell always does love to twist the knife and drive it a little deeper.

"At least their bodies aren't."]

[maxxx]

( It sinks in for Ezra, but it sinks even harder for Max who follows that train of thought. They don't have the best relationship with their parents, but they're their parents. They don't have to. Except, are they not their parents?

He doesn't know what to say. Ezra ends the silence.

"Are you saying their parents are possessed by the founding members of the inner circle?" )

[tearhiseyesout]

["What did you think they were ascending to?" Hallewell gives them each a long lingering look as they process that statement. "The whole ceremony is a transference spell."]

[maxxx]

They take our bodies.

( "They always have," Ezra considers, quietly. "Literal ascendance." )

Our parents have... never been our parents.

[tearhiseyesout]

I assume they can only occupy one body at a time.

[Hallewell reaches up and taps his nose in Jaqueline's direction, and she nods.]

So technically they're our parents until the ghost founders could no longer possess our grandparents.

[Jaqueline didn't really know hers, they died when she and Max were young, but David's grandfather didn't die until after he met Ezra.]

[maxxx]

They're making their move against us.

( Because they are the first generation that haven't seeked out their ascendance. Max and Jaqueline are the only siblings that have followed in their parents' footsteps. David does reluctantly, as does his husband by proxy.

"Sierra disappeared." Someone who's disappeared can't ascend. "They don't trust you. They never have." He sighs, turning back to Hallewell. "Aren't you as old in your actual body?"

[tearhiseyesout]

["More or less. I always found it an abhorrent practice. At least my methods of keeping young involve consent."

But it's a very veiled, very twisted form of consent.

"I've found the rest of the Inner Circle doesn't really care."]

[maxxx]

( "Coercion isn't consent," Ezra says, but Hallewell is giving them answers, so he stops there. )

Why'd they oust you anyway?

( Why is he no longer in the inner circle. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["Because I preferred to keep my own dashing form, rather than body hop every sixty to seventy years. Well, formerly dashing form anyway."

He looks pretty ragged right now.

"They thought my means of doing things was rather gauche, and cast me out." He snorts. "Sure. I was the gauche one."]

[praevaricatio]

Why do you think they let you live, knowing their secret?

( Item one would be to eliminate the only living immortal aware of their ascendancy, but he has always had a ruthless streak right beneath the surface. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["Leverage." He smirks as he leans back in his seat. "But you're not going to get that little nugget for free."

And yes, all of this information has been free. His leverage will stay close to his chest until what he deems the most advantageous option possible.]

[praevaricatio]

So, it's on us then. Vet whether or not your little nugget is worth it.

( "We didn't come into this as a negotiation," Max adds. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["Well, that's your first mistake, kiddo. You should come into everything as a negotiation." It makes your life a lot easier when you already know what you're willing to lose - or what you're able to hold over someone's head.]

Let me guess? You want out.

["When the Gauntlet is about to start? No. I'm quite comfortable in my magic-proof prison, thank you."]

[praevaricatio]

He wants life.

( "He wants his youth," Max says, knowing full well he'd negotiate for the same thing. )

Probably a favor for good measure.

[tearhiseyesout]

["And you don't have the power to offer me any of that." Hallewell leans back, picking up a magazine from one of the side tables. "If it's all the same to you, kiddos, I'll wait to see who's still standing when the dust settles."]

[maxxx]

You don't know what we have old man.

( Max's glare settles on Hallewell's feeble form, but Ezra steps in, speaking for everyone.

"You'll come down on one side, and we're the side that will hesitate when it comes to what our parents would do with your life. They're the ones who ordered we bring you in. So, I'm just going to ask. Why now, all of a sudden, if they let you live this long doing what you do?" )

[tearhiseyesout]

["They didn't want me thinking I could throw my hat into the ring. Not that I would. I don't have a death wish, clearly."

Hallewell leans back in his seat and crosses one leg over the other. He eyes each of them, though he's clearly not bothered with sharing.

"They'll keep me in here until the Gauntlet is over, and once the ascension is complete, they'll send me on my merry way."]