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

[prosecutorial]

[There is definitely something she's missing in the exchange between the receptionist, but she also catches on to the fact that Oliver doesn't know who she is either (wisdom 17). Which ... is something, she supposes.

But if he's going to offer, the least she could do is talk to him after she made a nuisance of herself.]

Sure. That would be great.

[And she will turn back to the receptionist with a friendly smile, that's only just so - more of a tactic than something genuine, since she seems so offended by her.]

Thank you for your help.

[yeahihidmypants]

[He raps his knuckles on the counter a few times before leaving her desk and starting for the front doors. He holds it open for Dinah, gesturing for her to exit first.]

It's no problem. I have a friend named Dinah, is this about her?

[prosecutorial]

Uh, no.

[She makes her way out onto the sidewalk, before waiting for him to join her once she was outside.]

I'm Dinah. But ... I was hoping you might be able to fill in some blanks for me, but I'm starting to think that's not the case.

[yeahihidmypants]

Oh. [He slows his steps, glancing ahead to the diner.]

I'ms sorry, but you don't look familiar. The Dinah that I know is Dinah Lance. She's a talk show host. She's usually behind a lot of the bad press that I get. I thought maybe you had some insider information. [He chuckles.] But you're the one looking for insider information.

[prosecutorial]

[ ... But that's her name.

Though that doesn't sound like her. She doesn't think she's the talk show host type, though how she can make that assertion with six months of actual memories and a name that has her accosting a billionaire in the lobby of his business.

Yeah, this is totally a thing a sane person would do.

But she can't help the tiniest, most hesitant question, just to be on the safe side:]

Dinah Laurel Lance?

[yeahihidmypants]

... yes? [He looks at her suspiciously. This is getting a little weird. Thankfully, he has another door to open. This time to the diner.]

Let's ... get a booth. [The hostess knows him and just waves him on to pick whatever booth he wants. He finds one near the window, but one that allows him to have a clear view of the front door. This could be a set-up. Or just another weird coincidence.]

Here, take a seat. Is your name Dinah Laurel Lance?

[prosecutorial]

Yeah.

[And she doesn't necessarily feel comfortable with sitting with her back to the door - old habits die hard, even when you don't remember them - but she let's him have that since she's the one being an imposition here. She slides into her seat, and folds her fingers in front of her.]

I came through the Veil. Or at least that's what the clerics who found me seem to think. I also almost died before they found me so it's kind of a toss up on what caused the issue, but I don't remember anything from before six months ago. Or at least I didn't before I saw your name in the newspaper, and I don't know why but I knew that whoever Oliver Queen was, he was important to me.

[She gives a small shrug.]

I know it sounds ... crazy. I'm starting to wonder why I even thought it was a good idea in the first place, but when you've got nothing else to go on in terms of who you actually are, you can get a little desperate.

[yeahihidmypants]

[As she unfolds her story, it all starts to slide into place. The Oliver she was thinking of - the one that had his name stuck in her memory is the Oliver that passed away. The one that had borrowed his name and assets to keep himself afloat here.]

It's fine and it's not crazy. I think I've experienced crazy and this is actually sounding sort of normal to me by now.

See, I didn't come through the Veil. I've been here. Born here, actually. However, there was an Oliver Queen that did come through the Veil. He arrived with a woman, Felicity Smoak. I'm sure they didn't have much choice, but they used my identity - my accounts and I'm not sure what all they did, but I have a few inklings.

Anyway, there was a plane crash in LA. Probably the article you saw. Oliver and Felicity were on board. It caused a little bit of an issue for me, since we shared a name and a few of our accounts were linked.

Oliver has a sister, though. She's here, too. Thea Queen. Does her name sound familiar?

[prosecutorial]

[It takes a minute for the pieces to fall into place, but when they do they make sense. Her Oliver is a different Oliver, not the one sitting in front of her, which makes her feel even worse for interrupting his day, but at least that makes sense. She doesn't recognize the name "Felicity Smoak," but she's still sorry they're both dead all the same. From what she's heard about what happened in LA, it seems to have been a grisly night.

But something changes when he says Thea's name, however. The name triggers an image of a person, and while it's not much of a memory, the fact that she can put a face to a name is something of a relief. Maybe her brain isn't completely broken after all.]

Yes. Is she here in Metropolis?

[Can she see her right now, because she would like to.]

[yeahihidmypants]

[He's relieved that she knows the name, but his relief is short-lived. The fact that Thea is in London and not anywhere nearby isn't the easiest thing. He's more than willing to help her get in touch with her, though. He knows he should be more wary of a strange woman just showing up, but he's a good judge of character and her upset at finding him instead of someone that can help her seemed genuine. If she was looking to con him, she would have tried something else. A different angle. Not one of loss and hurt.]

No. She's not. She's in London. I -- I actually only recently reached out to her. I [He smiles awkwardly.] I thought her brother was part of an identity theft ring. It was an interesting call, but she does know me and so if I called her - she would recognize the number.

Do you want me to call her or do you need a minute?

[prosecutorial]

[There's a moment where she doesn't know what to say to that exactly. This woman's brother just died and she isn't sure if she should give herself time to grieve or not. At the same time, this is Thea, and everything she has is telling her that she should be trying to get to her faster, not linger out of some kind of misjudged respect.

She knows that Thea has dealt with a lot of loss. That much is sneaking in as the memories slip through like a cascade. The least she could do is give Thea a win.]

No, call her. I want to talk to her, if I can.

[yeahihidmypants]

Okay. [He takes a moment.] Do you want to order anything? A drink? Coffee or something stronger? [He doesn't think they have anything stronger at the diner, but who knows.]

[prosecutorial]

[Oh, right. They're in a diner, they should probably order some food or something. And this is, technically supposed to be his lunch.]

Coffee would be good. Thank you.

[She leans back in the booth for a moment.]

I'm sorry for hijacking your lunch.

[yeahihidmypants]

[He waves her off the apology and waves over the waitress to order them two coffees.]

It's fine. Don't worry about it. [He reaches into his pocket and dials Thea's number, hoping that she answers and doesn't think he's a weird not-her-real-brother stalker.]

[withasouvenir]

[ gosh oliver, give her some space, she's still trying to make leaving happen. out of habit alone and because she sees the name OLIVER pop up on her phone she answers it automatically with: ]

Hey Ollie.

[ and then. ] Hi Oliver.

[yeahihidmypants]

[He feels a pang of guilt, the casual way she answers the phone. It's clear that she still hasn't really let it sink in that the Oliver that calls her now isn't the one she's known all her life. Nope. Just the weird one that calls her at random times.]

Hey. [It sounds odd, like he didn't know what to say. He still doesn't know what to say, but he starts it out the same as he did the last one.] I swear I'm not going to make a habit out of this, but do you know a Dinah Lance?

[withasouvenir]

[ laurel never went by dinah for as long as thea can remember, even in school and at work, and while mrs lance usually went by mrs lance (and then professor lance when she dropped the missus) thea remembers her parents calling her dinah so that is the woman thea associates with dinah lance.

whoops. ]

Yeah, she's Laurel and Sara's mom. [ thea huffs a sigh that sounds more confused than upset. ] She's a professor at Central City U.

[yeahihidmypants]

[He frowns, because ... he doesn't know those names. He's not sure Dinah would know them either, but still -- he continues.]

There's a woman here, she came looking for me - because of my name. She's come through and she says her name is Dinah Lance. [He takes a moment.] She doesn't seem to be old enough to be [He pauses again, glancing to Dinah across from him and mouths 'Sorry' to her.] a mother of two. She says that your name is familiar to her. I offered to call you for her.

[withasouvenir]

Maybe the veil has invested in time travel, too.

[ she doesn't know! she doesn't have all the information here. ]

[yeahihidmypants]

[Who knows! Definitely not Oliver.]

Can I -- can I hand the phone to her and you can .. I don't know, see if you spark anything for her?

[withasouvenir]

[ no, thea wants to go back to bed, she doesn't want to talk to some other stranger with a familiar name, she wants a nap and a chocolate croissant in paris. ]

I guess.

[yeahihidmypants]

[He will buy you a dozen croissants, okay. He will buy you a bakery.]

Okay. [A beat.] Thank you, Thea.

[He hands the phone to Dinah.]

[prosecutorial]

[And she will take the phone and place it to her ear, not really sure what to expect on the other end, but she is also fairly certain she isn't a mother of two. So she'll just see how Thea responds and go from there.]

Thea?

[withasouvenir]

[ is that...? no, the woman literally only said her name, her grief is obviously manifesting in wildly ridiculous and hopeful ways. ]

Hi.

[prosecutorial]

Hi.

[She honestly doesn't know where to start, glancing back to Oliver as she tries to find the words that would make some kind of recognition happen on the other end of the phone. She needs to actually say something, but she has no idea what that something would be beyond:]

Oliver told me about your brother. I'm so sorry, and I'm especially sorry to be dumping this on you now, but ... you're the first person I've actually remembered, and I thought ... maybe you might be able to help me. When you're ready to.

[There is obviously no rush, she has plenty of time to grieve. But she wanted to make the connection.]