CHAPTER FOUR ♔ does it run in your blood to betray the ones you love

[coldheritage]

♬ The Truth - Nonpoint

WHO || Failboat, Rafael, Isabella, Nadia  [Closed]
WHAT || After an exciting Grammy night, the Knights meet up with Nadia to hear what she has to say
WHERE || Staples Center, LA -->  Warehouse
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015  [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam

[  The Knights' mission to stop the signal and prevent Draken's cult from spreading whatever subliminal message  was lurking beneath Keijen Blade's performance was a success.  It didn't come without its bumps in the road, however:  Alexander Anderson showed up, and the Knights ran afoul of the Mind Master.    Buffy nearly died fighting Anderson, but in the end, he was defeated, beheaded, and hopefully put to death forever.   Finnick, though, found himself thrust into a mental illusion that convinced him he might still be in the Hunger Games, and left him uncertain about whether any of his life here was real.  

Another surprise came in the form of an announcement by Nadia Reichenov, an artist working with Crombe and company, that she was changing her band name and taking things in a 'new direction'.   This direction was perhaps revealed when after her performance, she approached the Knights in Rafael's dressing room - and handed them the necklace that connects her to the Nightmare God Malaak'a, saying she was willing to tell them everything.  ]

Comments

[coldheritage]

[ her eyes trace across those gathered, stopping for a moment on rafael, who has one hand curved into a fist as if to keep himself from saying anything. ] It's fine.

I'm not planning on running. There's no running from him. And if that makes me a target, then I'm ready to be one. It's better than going on living this way.

[bigbad]

[Wow he does not like the words better than going on living coming out of her mouth even with the "this way" tacked on the end. He steps forward.]

We'll stand with you, then. We're not letting him take you back.

[He knows what she's done can't have been easy. That makes it brave. Like hell is he going to let that be the end of her story.]

[coldheritage]

If he wants to, you're not going to get in his way forever. [ she sounds fatally resolved to the point, at least, folding her arms across her chest protectively ] But that's not what we're here to talk about.

You need to know the truth. About this tour, and Keijen, and us tieflings.

[ she pointedly looks in the other direction from where raf stands, and says with a tight muscle in her jaw ] About Jade.

[slay]

We heard plenty from Lazarus. About Sehanine, and what Corn Flakes and his dad did to her.

[ It's amazing how she makes that sound so dark and hateful despite calling Keijen "Corn Flakes." But she'll just never get "Kel'in'hrae."

Traitorous green eyes dart over to watch Rafael as Nadia looks at him. She can't help but be reluctant to hear it rehashed for him here and now, especially when he's already tripping balls and ready to shoot someone in the face over some hateboner for Nadia.

Buffy is very good at pretending not to care about people in that not at all way BUT HER FEELINGS ARE STILL HURT. ]

1/2

[rationalizes]

Buffy... [ gar's tone is half panicked, half warning over here, like OH MY GOD DONT TALK ABOUT OUR SECRET ELF WITH THE PERSON WE DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN TRUST YET WHILE THE EVIL GOD IS WATCHING MY LIFE IS SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL ]

[coldheritage]

[ it takes her a second to get what the fuck she's trying to say ]

... Kel'in'hrae.

That's only part of the story.

[bigbad]

[Spike notices a weird sensation in his brain, one that's... familiar. He growls suddenly and surges forward, grabbing Nadia's shoulders.]

Stop that. What are you doing?

[He wants to trust her. It'll be a hell of a lot easier if she doesn't mess with his brain.]

1/2

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ blood (empty promises) - papa roach

when spike grabs her, rafael reaches to his belt and draws out one gun smoothly, pulling it up in their direction just in case. ] I told you she cannot be trusted. She's a powerful telepath. He sent her here to spy on us.

[coldheritage]

[ nadia's eyes darken as spike shoots forward, but she stares up at him challengingly, not budging ] I thought it'd be faster to find out what you know than waste your time by making you explain it. You're the ones who said we didn't have much to spare.

[witchwoman]

[They're losing control of all of this so much faster than Myri hoped. Spike's rushing Nadia, which is slightly startling since she was also standing there, fairly close to her. Uhm, hi. The next thing she knows, Raf's got a gun out. Possibly Myri's gun.

In true "I only manage this during a finale post" fashion, Myri turns to Raf with a sharp mom look (intimidate nat 20).]

Put. It. Down. The last thing we need is more violence.

[bigbad]

[Just in case that's not enough, Spike turns around, fangs out, and growls at Rafael (intimidate 36 to help her out.)]

Don't you even bloody think about it.

[And he's going to position himself between Rafael and Nadia just to be safe IF THERE'S GONNA BE FRIENDLY FIRE IT BETTER BE AT HIM. He turns back to Nadia, shaking his fangs away (will 19).]

All right, that makes sense. But next time bloody ask first. With words, I mean. And just do me.

[He's pretty sure he doesn't know anything important that people haven't... blurted out already.]

[slay]

[ Son of a —

She's not remotely surprised by the way Myri and Spike lash out, and truthfully, she's on their team. Someone mark this date on the calendar because sometimes it feels like a goddamn national holiday when Buffy's knight allegiances win out over her Rafael allegiances.

Anyway, since Nadia responds better to Spike and Myri for obvious reasons, Buffy turns to play bouncer a bit and hold her hands up to pacify Rafael. Except her words are anything but pacifying, but there's really no point to being delicate when Myri looks like someone just woke the dragon. ]

Let's be clear: Jack might have okayed you coming in here, but I have no problem dropping you right back out if you can't keep that thing in your pants. Whatever issue you have with her? We'll get to it. But you didn't bother to tell us a thing about where this is coming from for five months: you can wait your turn.

1/-

[romanticidal]

[ for a moment, he just looks so lost, the gun still held up in place. but their apparent very real threats, convincing as they are, combined with buffy firmly taking that side, seem to break something in his resolve, and he drops his arm looking completely and thoroughly defeated, and at a loss as to what to say. ]

2/3

[rationalizes]

Everyone, please. [ gar's tone is quiet, but insistent. ] Nadia, we'd love to hear anything you're willing to tell us.

[coldheritage]

[ she just waits for y'all to back the fuck up a second before she speaks ] ... I was born in Romania, daughter of Ivana and Mikail Reichenov. Mine wasn't an easy childhood, least of all because my grandmother lost her mind, and killed herself - and my mother - in the same night. I never understood my heritage, never knew what I was, only that my mother had violent, angry tendencies, and that my father cautioned me that I was going to be like her. That I was bound in time to lose my mind as well, and that it was a part of 'my nature'. I grew up in fear of what I would become, of the devil that lurked inside me.

[witchwoman]

[As Nadia begins to speak, Myri turns back to her and forces some of the tension to leave her shoulders. Her expression slips to sympathy, knowing that fear. How many times had villagers called her a demon, turned on her because of something they thought they understood about her and the nature she was born into. Perhaps it wasn't entirely the same, but it still tugged at that particular heart string for her.

She doesn't speak, though, as she assumes there's more to the story and doesn't want to derail it with questions. They don't have much in the way of time for that.]

[bigbad]

[Spike also stays silent, but his expression softens as she speaks. No one should have to think themselves evil, no matter what they're born as. That's the point of free will, isn't it? Nothing's inevitable.]

[littledhampir]

[The only thing Rose looks surprised by is Myri's strong response, the shock quickly shifting into something caught between pride and amusement as the tension that had been making her body thrum at the pulling out of weapons, slips away and she, like the others, remains silent as Nadia's story unfolds.]

1/-

[rationalizes]

[ Gar looks really confused by this story as she tries to put this together with what they know of Keijen and Jade and their connection to Nadia and shit, but settles for: ] That's... that's a terrible burden for anyone. How old were you? When...

[coldheritage]

[ ♬ self deception - lacuna coil ]

Seven.

[ she looks down, black hair falling to frame her face as she avoids their gaze, her tone carefully even. ] I was seven when they died.

I was very aware as I grew of the impulses that came from what I am, but I understood none of them. Each was only proof of what a monster I was, of what fate waited for me. When my horns grew in, my father would cut them off, sometimes violently, reminding me all that time of what they meant.

[ she looks up sharply ] I'm not looking for your pity. But you need to understand what it meant for me when he found me. It was about four years ago that he first came to me - in a club, in Romania.

[ her eyes flash to buffy ] Blade.

He bought me a drink, convinced me to dance with him. [ she shifts in place ] While we were, he told me...

[ it takes her a moment to square herself enough to quote the words, but they're specific enough to have clearly stuck with her ] He said that he knew what dark thoughts lurked in my mind, the urges that drove me, the dark fire he saw in my eyes. [ she drags one hand back through her hair, unconsciously touching one of the horns there, visible for a moment. ] He said... 'I know who you really are, Alys'.

I did not know this name, did not understand how he seemed to know the darkest secrets of my heart. And yet there was something about him that called to every part of me. He knew it would, pressed that to his advantage. Took it as far as he could before he revealed the truth.

That he was my grandfather.

3/3

[romanticidal]

But Jade. You said she was your sister. [ that is the voice of a man when the floor falls out underneath his feet after he does a bunch of mental math that he really wishes he'd never done. the look on his face is basically like he's desperate for answers and doesn't want them ever all at once. ]

[attollores]

[while all of this is going on, Alainn is keeping half an ear on the conversation and the other half alert to the rest of the warehouse. Sure they have people outside, but there wasn't a guarantee that someone or something wasn't already in there with them. She's also checking in with Fede frequently, multitasking like she do. ]

[witchwoman]

[knowing what they do about Blade and his past with Jade, Myri swallows hard and shakes her head. Not sisters, no. Or at least she's starting to think she knows what's going on here.]

She was your...

[It's somehow hard to say the word, but her hand instinctively moves to her stomach.]

[bigbad]

Aunt. [He looks over at Rafael with something akin to pity in his eyes. (Wis 21) This isn't anything anyone should have to learn. This shouldn't be something that's true.] No one ever told you who Jade's father was, did they?

[slay]

Spike …

[ Buffy's voice has the warning tone of "I don't think that's what she means." And she looks like she might be ready to be sick. Turning to explain to Rafael, she gently begins, ] Jade wasn't the only one that Keijen was … fixated on.

[ The words are sour on her tongue, her stomach curdling as she finds herself forced into the position to explain something that no one should ever have to hear. ]

Something happened that gave him the chance to … to overpower Sehanine. He took it, and forced himself on her. Just like he did to their daughter, to Jade. [ As much as she wants to be cautious of Rafael's reaction in this (more than that, to reassure him as he processes that and leap to assure that Jade had always loved him, regardless of what they'd found in Venice), she turns back to Nadia with pain and sympathy in her eyes—fear that Keijen may have done to his granddaughter what he'd done to his daughter. ] She wasn't just your sister, was she? How many women has he done this to?