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

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

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know if he originally did it with the intentions to do what they're doing now. With how hard they've had to search to find some of them, I think the plan was laid after the fact.

But he met Draken Crombe - the one you've known as Chad Becksworth for so long - and his church, through Decker Greenwall, and made them aware of the abilities that he possesses. Blade and almost all of us who are descended from him have some latent psionic power; even those who can't find a way to manifest it otherwise have the potential to receive the dark gift that was offered to us. The ability to hypnotize masses, to implant suggestions into their mind and bury them in a protective shell.

Draken wants a world where all non-human Shadowkind bend to the will of humanity, acknowledging them as our masters. He's certain that his vision will come to pass and has gone to great lengths to secure it. Part of that plan involves 'preparing' the masses for when he gains the power he believes he'll receive from the Talisman, making them pliable to his belief system.

We were each found and given the same offer: in return for maintaining our freedom when that day inevitably comes, we would receive power from a dark god and help him enact his plan.

At least that's the plan as Crombe posed it to us. Blade told us something different. He wanted our help in undermining the Church's goals, said that he was the one who planted the idea for the plan in their minds in the first place, all while playing dumb about it and pretending to be interested in only saving his own skin in the end. Our ancestor was to return from his imprisonment, he said, and when he did, we would all live as gods while humanity bent knee to us.

What he offered each of us was unique, for the Nightmare Lord would grant us each a wish - our heart's desire - in return for accepting his 'gift'. The price for which, as you know by now, was to allow him to the freedom to use us as his eyes and ears, to see what we saw, hear all we heard in this realm. And to be present always in our minds, unable to hear our thoughts, but-- But there, a malevolent force that we could always feel, reminding us of his power.

I was terrified of what I would become on my own, especially with what glimpse Blade had given me of my true nature. The Nightmare Lord offered me the ability to control my powers, to master them. To make certain I would never lose my mind, become a monster, and kill those I loved most.

Is it so surprising that I took it?

[She sees the relief that rolls through Myri and immediately understands it, knowing that somehow this explanation only manages to be half as awful as what she’d started to imagine when Nadia began her story.

The relief is only momentary however, the story taking yet another twist into a world of depravity that she’d not even considered, her hand gripping the silver stake in her hand so tight that her knuckles turn white.

Rose looks at Nadia, face a mask (WS 25) as she asks herself that question; Is it so surprising that she took it? For Rose the answer is simple, black and white. Better to die than live as a monster or be turned into a pawn but she swallows her answer rather than give it voice, instead asking the next question that burns in the back of her mind.]

And where do the non-human Shadowkind fit into his master plan?

Blade gave us instructions separately for what message to really impart through our songs. Save for New York, where we went along with what Crombe desired for his test - making Shadowkind kill themselves - we haven't been spreading his message at all.

We've been doing the opposite.

[Spike has been listening to all of this, a lump in his chest where his heart doesn't beat and sympathy written all over his face. What can he say to all of that? That he understands? He does, even if he doesn't like it, doesn't think anything would be worse than letting the nightmare god into your head. But it's not like they'd get the full helping of information. It's not like there's a sticker attached to the necklace that says Disclaimer: Side Effects include exposing yourself to ABSOLUTE EVIL.

He blinks those thoughts back. It's not the time for sympathy or for reiterating that what Blade is doing is awful. There'll be time for that later.]

The opposite? Why do I get the feeling this'll end in a lot of dead humans?

Because that's Blade's plan. He wants chaos to reign when his father returns, and he wants the humans to be the ones to suffer - the ones who planned to punish the rest of us in the first place.

NOVA had the resources, and had their hands on the Talisman, so it's only made sense for Blade to continue to string them along while it's benefited him. Some of the others have bought fully into his plan, are happy to stand by him and hate humanity with every ounce of their being. I was the problem child, you might say, though nowhere near as problematic as Jade. [ her mouth twists into a grimace ] Jade was three-quarters divine, moreso than even Keijen himself, thanks to her parentage. Her abilities when coupled with the dark gift ... Well. It's not hard to see why Blade was hellbent on convincing her to join him.

Sure. Sounds reasonable, if you're a total megalomaniacal whackjob.

[ The sharp bite of her reply comes entirely unimpressed. But something else catches her attention, and she doubles back. ]

Wait. If you've been imparting this anti-human message in all your songs all this time, why hasn't there been a human massacre like the Hudson River? What exactly did he pull off at the Grammy's? [ Please don't say sleeper agents please don't say sleeper agents. ]

Because just like with the Hudson River, it's on a time release. He wants the time to spread the message as far as he can before--

Well, before the killing starts.

But there... there has to be a way to reverse it, doesn't there? There has to be.

There's not. Individually, people might be able to break free of it when the time comes but... there's no way to remove the influence once it's there, short of killing them before it can go off.

Could you... I don't know, try and plant a different influence right back? Like add "in video games" to the end of the "kill lots of people" order?

Not exactly as such, but something like that. It's what I intend to do with Devil's Bane. I'm going to go public, tell people not to listen to Blade, and release my own album.

Gotta appreciate the irony. He got you famous to spread his message, now you'll be the one blocking it.

[ #respect. ]

What can we do to help?

Anything you can do to spread the music I release, for one. But beyond that, your best bet is on making certain that the Nightmare Lord is never released in the first place. Stopping Keijen alone wouldn't do it, even if facing him weren't practically a suicide mission. Crombe and his followers won't believe the truth about the Talisman - trying to convince them it's anything but what they think it is will look exactly like a ploy to get them not to take its 'power' for themselves.

But it can't be unlocked without certain elements. The blood of Lazarus for one. [ she shoots buffy a look ] If you truly know where he is, you'd best do everything you can to wipe the knowledge from your mind. NOVA has its share of telepaths, and finding Lazarus is at the top of Blade's to do list. [ her eyes skate unwittingly again towards rafael ] He's convinced the lot of you already know how to find him. [ she looks away again, back at the knights ] He also needs an artifact of Sehanine's.

What artifact? [Myri says, wondering if this is another wild goose chase like the talisman was.] We've never heard of an artifact we would need for any of this.

[She glances around the room for confirmation that she isn't missing something.]

Any artifact. It's why Blade was interested in Jade's necklace in the first place.

[Well that makes a little more sense as to why they dug up that grave at least.]

Can you help us remove the knowledge of Lazarus? Or do you know what we need to do so?

[Myri's starting to think that none of them should know. Any of it. It made their mission clearer, yes, but at what cost?]

I could ... try. But psychic surgery is dangerous, as you might imagine. There are risks.

[Rose doesn't even try to hide the fact that she's unsettled by the idea of somebody poking around in her head. #issues.]

What kind of risks are we talking here? It might not work or it might completely wipe our memories?

It might wipe some of the wrong ones. The mind is a web, and things are interconnected. It's impossible to predict what would happen if it went awry.

[Watch Myri crit fail her self preservation check...]

Try with me.

What? No. We're not bloody mind wiping everyone who knows about Lazarus. [He turns towards Myri and frowns at her.] Especially not you. You can't... you've got a child on the way. [And he's tactful enough not to say that one of the parents already has a broken brain but it's worth thinking of.]

[With the lowest Will Save Rose can possibly get without Crit Failing (12), all the color drains from her face as she considers the possibilities, what could be lost if something were to go wrong. Her memories are all that help her to separate who she is from Lissa’s near constant stream of thoughts in her head. Every piece of herself that she loses is one step closer to losing any sense of identity that she has.

And then there’s Dean. Everything they had been through in the last six months, everything that had changed for them. It wasn’t just herself that she was scared of losing, it was him too and Sam’s words to her echo in her head, making her chest tighten; Dean can't lose any more people Rose.

And yet when Myri speaks up, Rose finds herself stepping closer, ready to put herself between Myri and Nadia if need be, not about to let her do this, be the guinea pig.]

And Finnick… [Voice surprisingly gentle.] He needs you.

[She looks at Spike and Rose in turn, emotion twisted all over her expression.]

Finnick doesn't think I exist. [Saying it out loud hurts but it needs to be said.]

And it's not about him. It's about doing what we must to stop this madness. What good am I to anyone- Finnick or you or Wynn- if they pluck the knowledge we are meant to protect from my mind?

If she can do this, it will need to be done on all of us. Or as many as will volunteer.

Edited 2015-04-09 18:55 (UTC)

I'm not letting you do this to yourself. [ A hand settles on Myri's shoulder. ] If and when we know it's safe, then we'll talk about whether it needs to happen to you.

[ Buffy steps forward, resolve steely.

It seems obvious to her. Myri has a family to consider—Finnick and her child. They can't risk shattering her mind when she's already been through so much. Rose and Spike and Gar ... They all have people. Buffy turns to look at Isabella and Rafael, a watery and pained look crossing her vision.

If she forgets something beyond what they mean to happen or if her mind is fractured, they're likely to lose the least. In fact, it may well make things easier for everyone. Pulling her lips between her teeth, she settles on it and looks to Nadia. ]

It's me. If we're testing this on anyone, it's going to be me. That's final. [ Turning fully to Myri, she explains softly, ] Jack sent me in here to protect you. That's exactly what I'm going to do.

[ rafael looks over at her sharply, but nadia is just looking between them all as if spike had just jumped to grabbing her by the shoulders again like how did we get here why are people bodily thrusting themselves between me and myri as if i'm about to surprise ~~buttsex~~ amnesia her. ] -- It's not something I can do quickly. It would take some time. And before we do anything of the kind, I've more to tell you.

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