knightsoflegend | nyc ♔ all moonlight returned today

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nyc ♔ all moonlight returned today

WHO || Rafael, Isabella, Burt, Kat, Gar, Mark, Luthir, Buffy, Spike, Finnick, Violet, Elena, Archer, Des [closed]
WHAT || Burt invites everyone to celebrate their victory at the trial at the opening of his new nightclub in NYC
WHERE || New York City, NY
WHEN || Saturday, March 15th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's over. After months of being sidelined by the trial of their friend Rafael, the Knights are finally free to return to England and see what headway the Dragon's Claws have made on discovering the location of the Talisman they seek.

But not everyone is so free to return. The consequence of getting Burt's assistance in disentangling Finnick from his contract and super-stardom was an ironclad agreement that allows Burt to sink his claws fully into Rafael's career. Considering that Burt knows their secret identity, non-disclosure agreement or not, the executive's renowned moral gray-itude doesn't exactly make it seem like a great plan to back out on the compromise.

They've at least been able to put off their goodbyes for a few days since the end of the trial, as Burt invited all of them to New York City for the opening of his brand new nightclub. Some of them flew out, while Archer and Des presumably drove their matching El Caminos cross-country in the days between. But now they've all met again in the Big Apple, for a celebration - and farewell of sorts.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ vincent is nowhere to be seen outside of the private room, but rafael doesn't seem to notice. he pushes the door open, and a shaft of light comes splitting out of it, so bright and pure that it requires a fort save of 20+ to keep one's eyes open. otherwise, they are effectively blinded for about six seconds before their vision slowly returns.

the room is suffused with the strange light, but when they can see, it's easy now to see the source of it.

standing across the room, in front of the window panes, is a woman, although woman is a term that seems to fall short. her diaphanous gown appears to be compromised of nothing short of actual moonbeams, and looking at her directly requires a fort save of 15+. her face is youthful and ageless, but it is possible to recognize her facial features as elven. serenity surrounds her like a mantle of moondust, and the weight of her gaze when she makes eye contact with any of them is so strong that it requires a will save of 15+ to not look away.

the door shuts behind them, of its own accord, as her gaze falls across each of them in turn, filling them with the sensation of being studied, inside and out.]

[Des fails that first fort save TRULY AND UTTERLY and swears under his breath, rubbing his eyes. He's prepared for her when he looks again (fort save 19), but he realizes instinctively who she is (wis nat 20), and turns his eyes away (will save 20 total), as if he's ashamed of something she's going to see while she's looking at him.]

[ The light when they enter the room is blinding like nothing she's ever seen outside of the round table room in wynn's castle, but Buffy keeps her eyes open (fort 25) and catches sight of a beautiful woman standing before them (fort 27,will 21) that she can't seem to tear her eyes off. She does some mental math; jade's voice, the music. ]

Jade's mother? [ her voice is soft, more questioning the others than the woman (goddess?) herself. She expects Rafael or Des would know. ]

[Spike keeps his eyes open, though just barely (fort 20), as he steps into the room. But once he's in, he gets a better look (fort 31, will 23). He crosses his arms, not comfortable with how closely she's looking at him. He's a vampire. He doubts there's much in him for a Goddess to like. If that's who she is.]

[ rafael squints past the initial onslaught of light, but when he sees the moonlit form before them, he bows his head, looking all but ready to sink to his knees. his tone is downright worshipful as he cries in a half-choked whisper: ] Dio mio. [ he appears unable to speak to answer buffy's question, too overcome with awe at the moment to even process the other people in the room. ]

[ when she speaks, her words seem to brush against their minds like a tangible thing fluttering at the edges of their consciousness. her voice is indescribably light, without sacrificing any semblance of strength, like a particularly powerful echo, but there's an undeniable soothing quality to the utter calm she evinces. it is difficult to say whether she projects more warmth or coolness: she seems to encapsulate both, and neither. she wears a mysterious smile in her eyes, for those able to hold her gaze. ]

I am as I have ever been. Keeper of the Places In Between.

[Des still won't look at her.]

And you're here because you've always been a club girl at heart.

[there's no bite in the sarcasm.]

Places Between what?

[ buffy's happy to be the only person not overwhelmed and awed, to blurt out the stupid questions in the least respectful tone imaginable. something about the way this woman carries herself reminds buffy of the grays - the voice, it's not unlike david anders', encompassing all that warmth and support while at the same time retaining a cool, elevated distance. like it's from everywhere and nowhere at once. that just makes her project her frustrations with their vagueness onto her. ]

Do you mean the Veil? [ she holds up a hand. ] Wait. Better question. Why the entrance? What are you here for if you're just a keeper for - for somewhere else.

[ jfc rafael is mortified beyond belief at his friends smartmouthing his goddess. he figures des is a lost cause but he offers a pleading look at buffy at least to show even a modicum of respect.

he can't take you guys anywhere. ]

[ she, at least, doesn't seem bothered. ] All Places In Between. Between this world and every other. Between truth and ignorance.

Between life and death. [ her eyes fall on rafael, studying him with interest. ] That, you might say, is why I am here.

...cause he tried to kill himself? [Spike looks from the goddess to Rafael.] Or cause he's all hung up over a dead girl? [A beat. It's probably... rude to talk about the goddess' daughter like that.] Not that I've got anything against dead people. I'm dead. Technically.

[Now it's Des's turn to be mortified- mostly because he has actual experience in Jade's family's ISSUES with undead things. He elbows him sharply.]

You don't count. [You weren't even a virgin when you became a vampire. What's up with that. Weirdo.]

[ well now her attention goes to you spike. ] You walk between life and death. A blasphemous ill done to you in your life. You, however, possess a unique opportunity to rise above your state.

The light that burns inside you.

[He blinks at her and looks confused. (wis check crit fail.....)]

You mean cause I'm on fire all the time...?

I speak of the spark in you that drives you to goodness. You possess free will, in a way those of your kind do not, in the world you once walked.

[ she looks across them all, her gaze lingering on buffy ] Even the Slayer sees the difference in you.

She's talking about your soul.

[ the 'idiot' is implied tyvm. there's something suddenly heavy in her expression. she watches sehanine searchingly, forehead creasing. ]

Slayer of what? [ because that sounds prophetic, not ... an already earned title. she hasn't done much slaying, ok. mostly knocking unconscious. the pain of human enemies. ] Is this about the whole ... spider thing? 'Cause vague prophecies are beyond not my department.

Of those monsters who walk in the spaces in between. [ her repeated wording makes it clear that she's pointing out that buffy's responsible, in some way, for policing exactly the sort of things she's the divine protector of. ] Those creatures who walk a line between alive and dead, those demons who trod the path between the material world and the invisible.

You are here, Buffy, to drive the darkness from those spaces.

[Des gives Rafael a look. A look that basically says "uhhhh so were you thinking this conversation was supposed to be about us or what??"]

[His soul.

Vampires don't have souls. That's what Buffy said, and all his googling confirmed. That's why he's the only one that's part of the Knights. That's why Buffy doesn't love him.

Well that and his lack of an adorable Italian accent, of course.

He opens his mouth, but for once, finds himself speechless. A soul. He's not sure how to feel about that. He closes his mouth. This'll either change everything or not a bloody thing.]

[ not everything is about your dick, descant, god. ]

I - Drive the ... I can't even drive an El Camino. [ she's just going to casually point out that driving might not be her strongest suit. but mostly she's just haplessly incapable of finding something meaningful to respond to that with. a goddess telling her that she has some greater purpose? no thank you. ] You have the wrong person. Big time wrong person. I mean, I'm - I'm ... just one girl.

[ and comedically, she'll be the one to say aloud; ] You're here for them. [ des and rafael are indicated with a sweeping gesture of her hand. ]

On even the longest journeys, we may find paths converge that we never expected to cross.

Your arrival in this world was not by happenstance. We have great need of you, Slayer, to keep this realm from falling into darkness. [ a kindly light comes to her eyes, sympathetic ] But no one need walk such a path alone.

There are those who would place tremendous faith in you, if you will accept it. But you must never forget to hold faith in them, as well.

[no, really do we need to be here for this???

j/k

Des actually just looks mildly uncomfortable.]

[ yeah, well, buffy looks viscerally uncomfortable, so join the fucking club. in fact, she'll get tetchy to deflect. sry rafael your goddess' champion is going to continue being irreverent. ]

Okay! Gotcha. Blah blah, great destiny, blah blah. Do you and the Grays get together on the weekends for big ol' vague dinner parties where no one ever manages to say anything at all? God, I can't imagine what Pictionary'd be like.

[ she hunches her shoulders, rolling her eyes and glancing around. yep. trying to get off topic at this point, because her discomfort with the very palpable presence of des, rafael and spike is becoming evident. buffy may assert herself into the center of attention out of self-righteousness, but this is a whole different kind of attention that she certainly didn't ask for. ]

So, why now? I spent two years in the dark on the big mighty need you all seem to have, why are you coming to us tonight? You used Jade. [ to get rafael and des. buffy was happily oblivious, but even so there's a tiny accusation in her tone, because she holds des and rafael close to her heart. no matter what shit des pulls. ]

[ rafael is looking at buffy like w h a t is happening with my life and the women in it. he gently reaches out to brush his fingers against the back of her arm, but waits for sehanine to field that one. ]

[ ♬ a violent yet flammable world - au revoir simone

sehanine's eyes drift to rafael. ] I am not here to bring you any further suffering.

My daughter loves you, and her love has not diminished with her passage. To see the weight you have borne has burdened her heart, kept it from the peace she deserves, now that she has come home again.

And so I have come here to make Rafael an offer: a choice that he must make for himself.

moonlight ♔ raf, des, spike, buffy

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