SEOUL ♔ NOW THE SUN IS UP AND I'M GOING BLIND

[hacker]

delilah - florence + the machine

WHO || Anastasia, Jeanne, Doyle, Skye, Ward, Abbie
WHAT || The Knights are assigned to protect South Korea's President-Elect from assassination attempts.
WHERE || Seoul, South Korea
WHEN || End of April, 2016
HOW || Actionspam

Four days after the briefing, President Kim sends a plane for the team of Knights dispatched by Wynn, and their flight to Seoul—what could have been a grueling 12-hour affair—is spent in the most comfort that can be afforded by a highly regarded politician. The seats are roomy, the staff is attentive, and no one shouts at them to return to their seats.

They're put up in a hotel near the Blue House, the seat of the executive powers of South Korea, where the President-Elect has asked to meet them to go over the security plans for the inauguration.

Comments

[hacker]

Oh my god you made food.

[ Skye hurries to the kitchenette of the hotel room when she smells the promise of pasta, leaning against the wall. ]

Real food. You're a lifesaver. If I eat another cheeto I'm gonna die.

[arretez]

Luckily, Anastacia is here to revive you had you expired. [ she smiles softly over her shoulder, nodding slightly toward the small table as if inviting skye to sit. ]

[hacker]

Yeah, about that. Is that the norm? Cleric on board. I didn't think the Dragon's Light had a lot of members. Do you think Wynn's expecting there to be real trouble?

[arretez]

I believe Wynn errs to the side of caution when it comes to politicians. Assassinations can throw entire nations into chaos, after all.

[hacker]

Franz Ferdinand may or may not come to mind. The ... archduke, not the band. Basically, point taken.

[arretez]

You would think after the first failed attempt they would have stopped, but I suppose you must give them credit for perseverance.

[hacker]

Yeah, I actually maxed out my history points on knowing that he was the one who triggered it all. There were multiple attempts?

[arretez]

There were six, I believe. A group, each of whom had their own part to play, all of which failed miserably until the last one stumbled upon him by happenstance. A horrible end to such a lovely romance with his Princess Sophie.

[hacker]

I don't understand. You're human. How have you been alive this long?

[arretez]

[ skye's blantant curiosity makes a smile touch her lips, obviously finding the trait charming. ] Have you heard of Nicholas Flamel?

[hacker]

Uh, in Harry Potter. With the Philosopher's Stone, right?

[arretez]

[ that draws an outright laugh, soft and pleased. ] He is very real, but yes, one and the same. Ms Rowling was actually rather accurate with his story. Nicholas possesses the stone and can in fact brew a potion to induce his own sort of immortality.

[hacker]

So you've been taking his potion. You ... You wanted this?

[arretez]

No. [ she shakes her head slowly. ] The book in which Nicholas found the recipe for his potion also contained a ritual. I was dying. History claims that I was burned for my treason, but the reality is that I was rescued by a dear friend before the flames reached too far. The soldiers at the keep would not allow us to escape however and so my sentence was nearly carried through. [ she tugs at the neck of her tee shirt, revealing a scar above her collarbone. ] The ritual Nicholas had involved a blood transfusion. Scathach, my friend, provided the blood, but her vampiric blood combined with the ritual had unforeseen effects. My longevity, notably. I was not meant to be immortal, Nicholas only sought to save my life.

[hacker]

I can see why he wouldn't want to spread that around—"vampire blood extends lives." Publish that study, and the hunt for Shadowkind gets even worse, trying to use their blood to further transhumanism.

[arretez]

The ritual he used as since been lost, destroyed I believe, though he won't tell me one way or another. I lost my ability to channel the elements, as is a gift of my bloodline, I don't think he's ever forgiven himself for that. [ with the sudden billowing scent of lavender, a silvery gauntlet coalesces over her hand, eyes flaring the same silver. a moment later it fades, though the scent lingers. ] This is all I am capable of anymore.

But yes, Nicholas would never let it fall into anyone else's hands for that reason alone.

[hacker]

So you were a sorcerer, before?

[arretez]

Not quite. My abilities had never awakened, I didn't even realize I had some untapped potential within me. But I was rather preoccupied by the Lord speaking to me, for some time.

[hacker]

The ... Lord?

[arretez]

God? The Christian god. [ she doesn't seem ashamed, but there is a care to her tone, as if she doesn't want to push the idea of it on skye. ]

[hacker]

Right. Thought so. [ Awkward. ] I, uh, grew up around some nuns. They felt pretty close to Him too, but I think when they said 'speaking to' they usually meant ... metaphorically. Symbolically. The kind of thing that requires translation.

[arretez]

Perhaps it was only in my head, but that made it no less real to me. [ her faith drove her then and it drives her now, anyone else's disbelief does little to dissuade her. they're entitled to that. ]

[hacker]

[ She nods, sympathetic. ]

I don't want it to sound like I'm judging. I'm not. Everyone has their own thing. It seems ... comforting, in the right lens. Sometimes, I wish I believed.

[arretez]

I understand. But surely you find comfort in something else. Your technology?

[hacker]

Guilty as charged. [ She shrugged her shoulders. ] Not exactly as warm and fuzzy as some big guy upstairs looking out for you over your shoulder, but ... it's reliable.