Do you know anything more about what I'm looking for, or where it might be.
( Maybe if she succeeds, she can have a few, real moments.
"I care. I care, cause you care. That's how this works. Just like every time that one Salvatore School mom goes on about the safety of the school and how horrible your husband is as headmaster, you want to grab the letter opener on the edge of the desk--")
[She sighs as she lets her hand rest on the spine of the book.]
I don't want them to worry. I want to go home and tell them the curse is broken so that it's not their problem to worry about anymore. This is my job. I'm their mother.
[Sheila offers her a small smile, before shaking her head. "I can't help. I'm just here to be tempting. But we can talk. You can tell me what you've been up to."]
And a damn good one at that. I think. At least you think so. And I'm 80% sure Ricky thinks so, too. Even though, you do got some 'splainin' to do.
( But, now he searches titles, fingers running along the titles on the spines, tapping along one. )
Do you think there's a key for me, too?
( Because they're two different people? He asks it with a wide open smile. But, then cuts that off. )
If there are only two, one of your keys is probably in some Disney's version of Gray's Anatomy. The one with the 'A.' Some G-rated, rhyming whatever bone's connected to the whatever bone.
( Bonnie nods, getting to work. She works and talks all the time. It's only when she needs to be in deep research mode when she can't be bothered. a (12) makes it clear she likes that her grams is here for her, at least.
"I've been doing a lot of traveling. I was in England for a while and Scotland before that. And I went to Paris. Oh. We're in Williamsburg, Virginia. So, there's that," she says, turning to her grandmother and turning back, walking along the wall, keeping a wide berth between them. "And, I have a boyfriend.")
[Jo raises an eyebrow, before turning and looking at him gently. Perhaps it's been all the time they've been bound together, but part of her can't help but feel a piece of sympathy for the boy who just wanted to survive, even if he went about it the wrong way.]
Maybe. But I think when this is all over, we just go back to being the same person again.
[Which is a shame, given that the curse they're breaking is the thing that forced them to be this.
Sheila smiles at that last addition, long fingers playing with one of her necklaces. "And hopefully this boyfriend is better than some of the boyfriends of the past."
Not that she overly dislikes Jeremy or what she saw of Enzo but, well. They each had their own complications.]
( He shakes the next book in his hand. He flips through it, holds it by it's spine. Shakes. Drops it behind him. Done with being patient, he starts shaking books and dropping them back behind him leaving a pile at the bottom of his ladder.
Bonnie flips through a book she finds. Returns it to its' shelf.
"Grams," she laughs, turning her head. "Jeremy was young and then he thought I died. Again." Which always sucks to say. "And I loved Enzo. I really did. I wish you could have met him, I thought..." Well, her grandmother knows what she thought. She wore his necklace. She cured Stefan. "He's got a temper, but all werewolves do," she adds nonchalantly, returning to her search. Let her grandmother react. )
Not really. Curse or not, I'd probably still be the apple of dad's eye.
( Read: the exact opposite.
For him, it's a nonstarter. He was born a sociopath. What would a curse change? Did a curse make him? Give him a complex, why don't you, Jo. His sociopathy did smooth over time, merged with his sister. He felt her empathy. Her love for her kids. And her husband. He felt her wedding.
Her grandmother joked about her exes, she gets the temper conversation.
"No, only at the people that deserve it. He's very self aware and has a past, and, does real good in an organization I met him through. But, now, he's with me and cousin Danny in England.")
[Sociopath, maybe. But maybe if he wasn't fighting to outrun something bound to kill them, he wouldn't have snapped the way he did. They may not have been close, but ... maybe they wouldn't have been at each other's throats.]
Yeah, but ... maybe things would have been different with us.
[Sheila nods because good. That is what she wants to hear. "Good. You sound happy."]
( He comes down the ladder to roll it further to the left and continue his search for this "key," he doubts is actually here. He does get partially distracted by his animated hand. )
What do you think animated blood is like?
( Bonnie smiles to herself, happy her grandmother can see her like this.
"I am. Things are scary and complicated and Danny's -- well, Isaac and I are there for him. He inherited his coven." She can't say it and won't jinx it. He's not hers. He's not her kid. He's almost nineteen. But, it feels like he is. He's family.)
Probably lots of red. With this color palette, probably very vibrant.
[Sheila moves to stand next to her, nearly shoulder to shoulder, the closest they can get to touch. "I know I've told you before, but I'm very proud of you. You've built your own place in the world, specifically in a world that isn't built to give you one. Enjoy every bit of it."]
("What if bringing up the rating gets us out of here," he says, slowly dragging a finger along one of the pages. It would just take one paper cut. Except, he does remember, he hates papercuts.
Bonnie can feel her presence, her power, her wisdom right beside her as she spots - of course. )
I had to carve it out myself. ( She trails off, finding it. ) That's our Grimoire.
( She braces herself against the shelf, holds herself in place as she reaches up. Pulling it down, she grips it tight. )
[As she pulls it down, she'll hear the muffled rattle in the spine of the key emerging. "What you all are doing here is a big working. It's undoing a long-lasting evil." It's worth doing, worth the sacrifices that were made to get Bonnie here. "The Inner Circle has been allowed to do what they've done for far too long."
Jo scans over the books, keeping her eyes away from the blood until she catches sight of a worn but familiar book sitting on the shelves. Not a grimmoire, the way it was for Bonnie, but an old family history that the coven kept. The names of all the witches who lost the merge, so they wouldn't be forgotten. She reaches up to pull it down.]
And, they've had tabs on Elena all her life. ( Everything she learned about the Inner Circle has her in her grandmother's corner. There's been bloodshed. And years of betrayals. And shackles. The book flops open in her hand, revealing the house key she used to use to get into her grandmother's house. She holds it up to show her grandmother. She probably recognizes it, too. ) You're always with me.
( Kai pulls his hand away, looking at its' animated structure. He had himself for - ten? Fifteen? Minutes? Enough to snark somewhere other than his sister's mind. )
["Always," Sheila nods with a smile, before nodding towards the door appearing in the middle of the room. "I love you." And once Bonnie goes, she'll fade back into the shadows again.
Jo opens the book and the key appears in the middle of it, the familiar shape of the one in the old house in Portland. She picks it up, placing the book to the side, before looking back at her brother.
She has all the reasons in the world not to trust him, but for some reason she wants to try. She shifts, and extends it out to him.]
( Bonnie comes back down the stairs as Kai studies his sister's gesture. The old Kai would accept it, throw a little invisique flair in, hold the two of them hostage. Maybe pull Bonnie's gran-gran back into the proceedings. Make it everyone else's problem.
But, he knows what awaits him. And, he'd rather the coven be in his debt - so to speak - then to cause them more and more trouble. He's just getting stuffed back down inside his sister's mind after this, anyway.
His footsteps echo as he meets his sister there and takes the key in his hand. )
Come on, Bonster, we got a door to catch. ( He sing-songs his call-out, spinning around just as Bonnie takes the last step.
"I'm right here, Kai." She can see Jo is all in one piece. She frowns, seeing that the key is in Kai's possession. Because Jo isn't reacting and there isn't far to go, she tries to temper her questioning look as she also turns toward the big door.
She and Kai approach together, with Jo right behind. She eyes Kai, hand regripping her key, finding the left keyhole, waiting for Kai to do the same. "On three." He better do it on three, and she hopes Jo will count down with her. "One, two, three." )
[The keys turn, the door opens, and they find themselves stepping through to the other side in time with the rest of the rooms. All eight of them stand over a basin that flows down into a ceremonial setting flanked by six coffins. In the center of the setting is a stone pillar with six names carved in relief that they can see:
John Gainor Elizabeth Howe Susannah Gainor George Harper Louis Melroux Celeste Marchant
Beneath them, four more names seem to have been struck from the roster, bodies destroyed and witches dead.
But in between them and that basin are a proverbial flood - but instead of water, it's spirits. Every spirit who was forced out of their bodies so the parents could ascend. Every child abused by their ancestor so they could remain encased in flesh. They stand guard, faces flickering as they wait for the coven who came to challenge them to descend and try to get to the last remaining anchor of the spell.
( Luke's steps up next to his sister, their brother to his right, and then his friend Annie rounds them off. On his left, Jo, Bonnie, Rowena, and then finally Freya come up beside him.
The room is ornate and ceremonial. It would be pretty if they're weren't a bevy of trapped souls below them. )
Are they waiting for us to free them or are they looking for a fight?
All spirits are different, but Sam told me about what happens when a spirit doesn't crossover. Sometimes, their humanity strips away and madness sets in. They could act like rabid dogs if unleashed.
( And do they have to be unleashed?
Bonnie walks the line along the river, Shepherd peers into the infinite abyss of souls and Rowena does an arcana check: (13 with advantage, she'd old, but, not Inner Circle) )
[Rowena feels ... something like a magnet. A very specific magnet designed for a very specific kind of spirit. She doesn't know for sure, but she senses that the Inner Circle likely needed somewhere to stash the souls of all the bodies they were hijacking.
Freya also tries to sense something off the ghosts (13), but she sees the sigils built into the walls and she squints at them curiously.]
I think the only thing that's keeping them from finding peace is what's holding them here.
[One of the spirits leans closer to Bonnie, and there is something familiar in his features. The sandy dark hair, the sharp angle of his face reminds her of someone she hasn't spoken to in a while. "Bennett ... Bennett witch ..." The voice fades, and he struggles to find the words again. "Will you ... release ... " The runes flare, and he flickers before being forced back into his original position.]
( She stiffens, the spirit approaching her, but she'd recognize the mischief, the facial hair, the scowl. )
Mr. Gainor?
( She watches him flicker and end up a few feet away again as she notices the sigils.
"This chamber acts as a magnet for the souls they absorb," Rowena says, eyeing the spirits and then the sigils. "If we overpower these sigils, I believe they'll be nothing standing in the way between us and victory."
Hell, if they do it right, these spirits could probably take the bodies down with them. They are poised.
Luke reaches a hand out, testing.
Shepherd feels the nearby wall to see what he can glean (15). Can a siphon drain the nearest sigil? )
[Luke's hand is met with a small amount of magical resistance, almost as though he's pressing just against the edge of a bubble, and one of the witches near him presses closer, almost as though sensing the life it's been deprived of.
Annie notices Shep siphoning, and she can't help a hesitant:]
Careful.
[This is a trap made for Gemini witches. They might be prepared.
The first thing he notices when he starts is that there is a great deal of magic behind the sigils. Even with the little bit he takes, there seems to be a well of magic to fill back in and take it's place.
Not re-siphoning him the way it did for the twins in Prague. But he can feel the edges of a trap lurking there, even if he can't figure out exactly how it's going to snap.]
There's endless power here. Keeps reconstituting itself. I took some in, just to see if I could. If I kept going, I don't know if I could ever stop. it's probably designed that way.
[There are ways. They just have to find a way to cut the rune off from it's power supply and that may take more time than they have.
Annie makes a face. "Are you regretting not taking the boss instead of me?" It's mostly a joke, but Abernathy is the runes expert. Not that he would have been as happy to help.]
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everyonelives2025-07-26 07:05 pm
no subject
( Maybe if she succeeds, she can have a few, real moments.
"I care. I care, cause you care. That's how this works. Just like every time that one Salvatore School mom goes on about the safety of the school and how horrible your husband is as headmaster, you want to grab the letter opener on the edge of the desk--" )
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[She sighs as she lets her hand rest on the spine of the book.]
I don't want them to worry. I want to go home and tell them the curse is broken so that it's not their problem to worry about anymore. This is my job. I'm their mother.
[Sheila offers her a small smile, before shaking her head. "I can't help. I'm just here to be tempting. But we can talk. You can tell me what you've been up to."]
no subject
( But, now he searches titles, fingers running along the titles on the spines, tapping along one. )
Do you think there's a key for me, too?
( Because they're two different people? He asks it with a wide open smile. But, then cuts that off. )
If there are only two, one of your keys is probably in some Disney's version of Gray's Anatomy. The one with the 'A.' Some G-rated, rhyming whatever bone's connected to the whatever bone.
( Bonnie nods, getting to work. She works and talks all the time. It's only when she needs to be in deep research mode when she can't be bothered. a (12) makes it clear she likes that her grams is here for her, at least.
"I've been doing a lot of traveling. I was in England for a while and Scotland before that. And I went to Paris. Oh. We're in Williamsburg, Virginia. So, there's that," she says, turning to her grandmother and turning back, walking along the wall, keeping a wide berth between them. "And, I have a boyfriend." )
no subject
Maybe. But I think when this is all over, we just go back to being the same person again.
[Which is a shame, given that the curse they're breaking is the thing that forced them to be this.
Sheila smiles at that last addition, long fingers playing with one of her necklaces. "And hopefully this boyfriend is better than some of the boyfriends of the past."
Not that she overly dislikes Jeremy or what she saw of Enzo but, well. They each had their own complications.]
no subject
( He shakes the next book in his hand. He flips through it, holds it by it's spine. Shakes. Drops it behind him. Done with being patient, he starts shaking books and dropping them back behind him leaving a pile at the bottom of his ladder.
Bonnie flips through a book she finds. Returns it to its' shelf.
"Grams," she laughs, turning her head. "Jeremy was young and then he thought I died. Again." Which always sucks to say. "And I loved Enzo. I really did. I wish you could have met him, I thought..." Well, her grandmother knows what she thought. She wore his necklace. She cured Stefan. "He's got a temper, but all werewolves do," she adds nonchalantly, returning to her search. Let her grandmother react. )
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Do you ever think about what we could have been like, without the curse?
[He likely knows that those thoughts have been on repeat, ever since they realized that the means of breaking it could actually be in reach.
Sheila raises an eyebrow, not necessarily at the werewolf part, but at the mention of a temper. "As long as he's not turning that temper on you."]
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( Read: the exact opposite.
For him, it's a nonstarter. He was born a sociopath. What would a curse change? Did a curse make him? Give him a complex, why don't you, Jo. His sociopathy did smooth over time, merged with his sister. He felt her empathy. Her love for her kids. And her husband. He felt her wedding.
Her grandmother joked about her exes, she gets the temper conversation.
"No, only at the people that deserve it. He's very self aware and has a past, and, does real good in an organization I met him through. But, now, he's with me and cousin Danny in England." )
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Yeah, but ... maybe things would have been different with us.
[Sheila nods because good. That is what she wants to hear. "Good. You sound happy."]
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( He comes down the ladder to roll it further to the left and continue his search for this "key," he doubts is actually here. He does get partially distracted by his animated hand. )
What do you think animated blood is like?
( Bonnie smiles to herself, happy her grandmother can see her like this.
"I am. Things are scary and complicated and Danny's -- well, Isaac and I are there for him. He inherited his coven." She can't say it and won't jinx it. He's not hers. He's not her kid. He's almost nineteen. But, it feels like he is. He's family. )
no subject
Probably lots of red. With this color palette, probably very vibrant.
[Sheila moves to stand next to her, nearly shoulder to shoulder, the closest they can get to touch. "I know I've told you before, but I'm very proud of you. You've built your own place in the world, specifically in a world that isn't built to give you one. Enjoy every bit of it."]
no subject
Bonnie can feel her presence, her power, her wisdom right beside her as she spots - of course. )
I had to carve it out myself. ( She trails off, finding it. ) That's our Grimoire.
( She braces herself against the shelf, holds herself in place as she reaches up. Pulling it down, she grips it tight. )
no subject
Jo scans over the books, keeping her eyes away from the blood until she catches sight of a worn but familiar book sitting on the shelves. Not a grimmoire, the way it was for Bonnie, but an old family history that the coven kept. The names of all the witches who lost the merge, so they wouldn't be forgotten. She reaches up to pull it down.]
Or we find the thing they want us to find.
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( Kai pulls his hand away, looking at its' animated structure. He had himself for - ten? Fifteen? Minutes? Enough to snark somewhere other than his sister's mind. )
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Jo opens the book and the key appears in the middle of it, the familiar shape of the one in the old house in Portland. She picks it up, placing the book to the side, before looking back at her brother.
She has all the reasons in the world not to trust him, but for some reason she wants to try. She shifts, and extends it out to him.]
You want to do the honors?
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But, he knows what awaits him. And, he'd rather the coven be in his debt - so to speak - then to cause them more and more trouble. He's just getting stuffed back down inside his sister's mind after this, anyway.
His footsteps echo as he meets his sister there and takes the key in his hand. )
Come on, Bonster, we got a door to catch. ( He sing-songs his call-out, spinning around just as Bonnie takes the last step.
"I'm right here, Kai." She can see Jo is all in one piece. She frowns, seeing that the key is in Kai's possession. Because Jo isn't reacting and there isn't far to go, she tries to temper her questioning look as she also turns toward the big door.
She and Kai approach together, with Jo right behind. She eyes Kai, hand regripping her key, finding the left keyhole, waiting for Kai to do the same. "On three." He better do it on three, and she hopes Jo will count down with her. "One, two, three." )
no subject
John Gainor
Elizabeth Howe
Susannah Gainor
George Harper
Louis Melroux
Celeste Marchant
Beneath them, four more names seem to have been struck from the roster, bodies destroyed and witches dead.
But in between them and that basin are a proverbial flood - but instead of water, it's spirits. Every spirit who was forced out of their bodies so the parents could ascend. Every child abused by their ancestor so they could remain encased in flesh. They stand guard, faces flickering as they wait for the coven who came to challenge them to descend and try to get to the last remaining anchor of the spell.
Liv stares down at the mass of them, eyes wide.]
Holy shit.
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The room is ornate and ceremonial. It would be pretty if they're weren't a bevy of trapped souls below them. )
Are they waiting for us to free them or are they looking for a fight?
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[The she pauses, because the more accurate answer is likely:]
Both. If they've been collecting the ghosts here since the beginning, some of them may only have the rage left.
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( And do they have to be unleashed?
Bonnie walks the line along the river, Shepherd peers into the infinite abyss of souls and Rowena does an arcana check: (13 with advantage, she'd old, but, not Inner Circle) )
no subject
Freya also tries to sense something off the ghosts (13), but she sees the sigils built into the walls and she squints at them curiously.]
I think the only thing that's keeping them from finding peace is what's holding them here.
[One of the spirits leans closer to Bonnie, and there is something familiar in his features. The sandy dark hair, the sharp angle of his face reminds her of someone she hasn't spoken to in a while. "Bennett ... Bennett witch ..." The voice fades, and he struggles to find the words again. "Will you ... release ... " The runes flare, and he flickers before being forced back into his original position.]
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Mr. Gainor?
( She watches him flicker and end up a few feet away again as she notices the sigils.
"This chamber acts as a magnet for the souls they absorb," Rowena says, eyeing the spirits and then the sigils. "If we overpower these sigils, I believe they'll be nothing standing in the way between us and victory."
Hell, if they do it right, these spirits could probably take the bodies down with them. They are poised.
Luke reaches a hand out, testing.
Shepherd feels the nearby wall to see what he can glean (15). Can a siphon drain the nearest sigil? )
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Annie notices Shep siphoning, and she can't help a hesitant:]
Careful.
[This is a trap made for Gemini witches. They might be prepared.
The first thing he notices when he starts is that there is a great deal of magic behind the sigils. Even with the little bit he takes, there seems to be a well of magic to fill back in and take it's place.
Not re-siphoning him the way it did for the twins in Prague. But he can feel the edges of a trap lurking there, even if he can't figure out exactly how it's going to snap.]
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There's endless power here. Keeps reconstituting itself. I took some in, just to see if I could. If I kept going, I don't know if I could ever stop. it's probably designed that way.
( It could probably overpower any of them. )
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[There are ways. They just have to find a way to cut the rune off from it's power supply and that may take more time than they have.
Annie makes a face. "Are you regretting not taking the boss instead of me?" It's mostly a joke, but Abernathy is the runes expert. Not that he would have been as happy to help.]
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( He promises.
Luke studies the runes, the walls, the invisible forcefield, and closes his eyes, doing his own sensing. What does he glean from his (17) )
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