chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

Helen & Ashley | closed

[daredtobelieve]

[Early in the aftermath of all the chaos, Helen sends word to Ashley to meet her in her room as soon as possible. This conversation isn't going to go well, but it's one that needs to happen. She leaves the door open for now, and pours herself a glass of wine to soothe her nerves a little.]

[bagsthem]

[She assumes it's about the mess in LA. She thinks it can't possibly be something different than that, right?

Hoo boy.

She knocks on the door once before she just opens it, stepping inside.]

Hey, what's up?

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen gets up and shuts the door behind Ashley, gesturing for her to have a seat.]

I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you about some things- mostly because they weren't my secrets to tell. But it seems that it's all coming to light and I thought it best that you hear it from me before rumors start to spread.

[bagsthem]

O....kay?

[THIS IS NOT WHAT SHE WANTS TO HEAR RIGHT NOW. When it rains, it pours.

She sits down.]

How freaked out should I be right now?

[daredtobelieve]

[She sits and tries to think of how best to approach this.] You remember my friend, Mr Descant? I've been close with him for some time. His husband as well. It became clear to me early on that his husband was... unique. But in this place, that's hardly so uncommon. Eventually, they trusted me enough to tell me the truth.

[No more stalling, Helen. You just gotta say it.]

Des and his husband reside in Hell, Ashley. My understanding is that his husband holds... a title there of some sort.

[bagsthem]

[...]

Please tell me you're kidding.

[Her will save was remarkably high but that sounds...ridiculous, Mom.]

You do realize how crazy that sounds, right?

[daredtobelieve]

I know precisely how it sounds. But it's true. Moreover, it hasn't changed how I feel about the both of them. But there are others here who feel differently, as I'm sure you can imagine. Rose Hathaway and Dean Winchester specifically are out for blood.

[bagsthem]

You're talking about, like, hellspawn or whatever. Hell's not even supposed to be a real place is it? Isn't it supposed to be like a metaphor or something?

So let me get this straight, these guys tell you they're something evil out of the freaking bible and you're like, sweet let's just keep doing what we're doing?

[Her nose crinkles up.]

I do not want to think about that.

[daredtobelieve]

Ashley, please. [She doesn't sound mad. She's practically begging.]

I've dedicated my life to protecting two worlds from one another. I raised you to be able to look past what people fear to find out the truth about something or someone.

After all we've seen, we both know that something can be feared simply because it isn't understood. I'm asking you to trust me. And I recognize that I'm not exactly entitled to that luxury anymore. But this is serious.

[bagsthem]

How can I?

[She's not yelling yet, but she's really having a hard time here.]

You weren't even going to tell me this at all. You're only telling me because I was going to end up finding out from someone else. I'm pretty sure that's a good sign that it's pretty fucked up.

[daredtobelieve]

I wasn't going to tell you because it didn't involve you. And I'm telling you now because it soon will.

[bagsthem]

You're my Mom! I knew Des! Of course it involved me!

[Her voice raises in anger, her teeth clenching painfully for a moment before she goes on.]

This is the third time you've done this to me. First Dad, then you bailed because of a vampire, and now this. I can't do this anymore, Mom. I can't. This is bullshit.

[daredtobelieve]

You're right. I didnt want to burden you with the secrecy of it, but... more than that, I didn't know if I could trust you to keep it secret at all.

[She sighs and looks down, shaking her head.]

I love him, you know. Des. Not-- romantically precisely. Our friendship has proven that my fleeting crush would have been disasterous if it had grown into anything more. But he's the first person I've met in a long time who comes close to understanding the life I've lived.

I was afraid if I told anyone- even you- that I'd lose him, one way or another.

Now that certainly doesn't excuse my actions. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm telling you all of this now because I have a choice to make... We have a choice to make.

[bagsthem]

[Only bits and pieces of what her mother says to her sink in, and each one is worse than the previous.

I didn't want to burden you.

I didn't know if I could trust you at all.

I love him.

I was afraid I'd lose him.

I have a choice to make.

Her face goes hot, her stomach goes cold, and she...crit fails her will save. Her expression is streaked with violent grief as she does the only thing she knows how to do when she's hurt.

She hurts back, taking a step forward and sending her fist into the side of Helen's face (atk 28, dmg 8).]

There is no WE. Not anymore. [Tears streak down her face as she takes one stumbling step back.] You two deserve each other.

[She doesn't wait for a reply. She doesn't want to hear another excuse or something new comment to rip through her. She doesn't even both walking out the door or slamming it behind her.

She simply phases in a shimmer and disappears, hoping Helen doesn't come looking for her.]

[daredtobelieve]

[It all happens too fast for Helen to really react. As Ashley's fist connects with her jaw, the physical pain doesn't compare to the heartbreak. She stands, tears blurring her vision, her lip busted and staining her chin with a little blood.]

Ashley, wait! Please!

[But it's too late. The room spins a little as panic sets into Helen's chest. She could run. She could leave the castle and give them all the space from her that they seem to want. Her time in France had made it clear that she couldn't run from her problems, though. And as much as Ashley deserved space, they simply didn't have time.

So she goes after her daughter. Of course she goes after her daughter. She has no idea where she could be, but she knows how angry Ashley is, so she uses her best guess and sprints for the training room.]

[bagsthem]

[A good guess, but incorrect. The training room no doubt has people in it, but Ashley does not appear to be one of them.

Wisdom...check?]

[daredtobelieve]

[Glancing around the training rooms, Helen takes a deep breath to try to ease the tightness in her chest. Memories flash through her mind. Countless fights with her daughter- little disagreements that escalated in the peak of her teenage years.

Helen turns and hurries down the hall to the Hide wing, slowing as she reaches Ashley's closed door. She tries the knob, but finding it locked, she drops her gaze and sighs.]

Ashley, please. [It's only then that she realizes how broken and tired she sounds.] Let me in.

[bagsthem]

[She crit failed again, jfc.]

GO AWAY OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL SHOOT YOU IF YOU COME THROUGH THAT DOOR!

[It's a bluff, but it sure fucking sounds convincing (bluff nat 20 what the hell dice you're trying to actually kill me here)]

[daredtobelieve]

[With a nat 20 sense motive that really only a mother could pull off, she doubts that Ashley would go that far. Or at least...it probably wouldn't be a fatal shot. She lets go of the doorknob, but doesn't step away. Instead, she speaks up to be heard through the door.]

I wouldn't blame you if you did. I deserve it and much more. I know I've hurt you and I'm so sorry. There's no excusing any of it. I've been selfish and I know that. Please, let me in. [Diplomacy 37]

[bagsthem]

[It would have been a warning shot over her shoulder, at best.

Either way, her will save versus her mother's diplomacy is trash, but she sits on her bed, breathing hard for a moment as she tries to not look like a fucking mess. That's an impossibility, but she'd rather look pissed than like she's been crying.

But, finally, she gets up, unlocks the door, and opens it slightly, standing in the crack she's created. She doesn't seem to want to let her in, but at least the door...is open?]

There's nothing to talk about. You know damn well that whatever it is that happens next, you've implicated me in something that's clearly really bad if you have to make some big choice after they've put the entire place on lockdown.

[daredtobelieve]

i know it's too little, too late, but I don't want to decide anything without discussing it with you. I made this bed and I'm prepared to lie in it. I'll make sure everyone knows I kept you in the dark, if that's what you want. But I didn't want to do that without making sure you knew the whole story.

[bagsthem]

Yeah, well, now I know.

[She gestures with the gun in her hand down the hall behind her.]

You can go with your conscience clear now.

[daredtobelieve]

[She isn't going anywhere and she still hasn't really gotten to the actual point of why she wanted to talk in the first place.] Des has urged me to publically denounce them. To say they manipulated me with...dark powers. Or to take you and run before anyone makes an example of me.

I told him that I want to stay, to make sure that one extreme voice isn't amplified by the panic and distracts us from the real danger.

But I don't want to do any of it alone. Whatever it is that I do.

[bagsthem]

Do whatever you want, Mom. It doesn't matter to me, anymore. You're going to do what you want in the end, anyway.

[Her fingers tighten on the door as she resists the urge to slam it.]

But I'm not going anywhere and I'm not getting involved. If you didn't want to do this alone, you should have thought of that a long time ago. You've got Des, apparently, so I hope that's good enough.

[daredtobelieve]

You don't mean that. [Or at least that's her intense wishful thinking.]

I know this is a lot. And I know you're angry with me, but... [Oh there's the shitty will save. Her voice cracks as the lump in her throat gives way to tears.]

After France, I didn't know how to explain. You stood by me when you had no reason to. I knew this would be too much. I never meant to hurt you by not telling you. I didnt know how to without it leading us here.