knightsoflegend | closed ♔ and when we collide

Entry tags:

closed ♔ and when we collide | we'll see what gets left over

WHO || Failboat [closed]
WHAT || After the announcement, Jack calls a meeting
WHERE || Thomas Bancroft's room, the Castle
WHEN || 8am, the day after LA
HOW || Actionspam or prose

Solace's announcement makes the situation unfortunately plain - those who have worked to stop Blade and company for the last five years have been side-lined, and will be until this ends, one way or another. Jack has sent out a secret communication to all members of the team, asking them to gather in Thomas Bancroft's old room, which has stood empty since his death, and is usually locked.

When they make their way there before 8am, however, they will find the door unlatched. Jack is already inside, with Gar seated near him, one hand on his arm. Kat leans against the wall behind Fred, who is seated in a chair. Her arms are folded, and she's grinding her teeth back and forth.

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Lack of trust and lack of bloody communication.

[He scowls sharply.]

I do appreciate that. Even if where you stand's with the actual bloody devil.

He does have a name, you know. I wouldn't want you confusing him with one of the other ones.

[It seems like she's teasing him, but it's difficult to say if that's the case or not.]

I assume that isn't why you wanted to talk to me though, is it?

Edited 2017-11-17 19:21 (UTC)

Right, my bad. Not all devils, right?

[He rolls his eyes.]

I don't know. I just... [He shrugs a shoulder.] It doesn't feel right not getting your side of the story, and no one before wanted to let you tell it.

Says the poster boy for 'not all vampires.' [Just saying.] But no, that's not what I meant. I meant there are nine and they're all very different. I also happen to know them all quite personally.

[No one likes being confused with someone else. Unless they're doing it on purpose.]

They don't want to hear it because it doesn't align with what they expected from me. They see it as a symbol of their own failures, that they couldn't 'save' me. Or they believe that, no matter what the journey was that took me there, it doesn't matter because the end result is unacceptable. [She says this all with a mild chill, though there's also resignation in her tone.] But if you want to hear it, I'll tell you what I can. Where would you like me to start?

I'm happy to acknowledge it's most vampires. Makes me specialer.

[He has good priorities.]

I want to hear it. How about you start with your meet cute with the devil. [He raises his hand before she can protest.] Sorry, a devil.

[Her lips screw into an amused grin.]

Well, I met Azrael the night most of us did, at The Eternal Jade. I didn't know who he truly was until after the attack on Andres. He introduced me to Lucifer nearly a year later, in a field outside of London. It was the same day that I sold him my soul, as you might put it.

[Spike just stares at her because is that really supposed to explain things? At all?]

Why?

He made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

[The corner of her mouth twitches upward, as if she finds that humorous.]

And why not? We all make sacrifices for the things we want, and placing my soul in the hands of the person I love? I don't see how that seems so strange. My life is still mine, my choices are still mine, so I've lost nothing and gained everything.

[Oh, Elena, you make Spike so concerned for you.]

Presumably you didn't love him yet, if this was your first meeting. What was the offer?

I believe I did, by the end of it all, even if I didn't realize it at the time. Things rarely go the way we expect, least of all in matters of the heart.

[But she shrugs her shoulders, as if she knows he won't believe her.]

Going into specifics would be telling a story that isn't mine to tell. But the short version?

I made The Devil's agenda my own, and in return, he gave me immortality and power that didn't require me to continue to be a slave to Azrael's blood. Azrael's home was also mine, for some time, until I took my true place at Lucifer's side.

Edited 2017-11-29 18:12 (UTC)

[.........there are so many red flags here. Spike is EXTREMELY concerned.

But, because he's Spike, he starts with what is probably the most frivolous of them.]

What, does this mean you were having threesomes with Des?

Threesome has a very wide definition, Spike. But if you're asking for my personal opinion, then no, I wasn't.

[She brushes hair back from her shoulder.]

It's a castle, not a cottage. There are plenty of bedrooms.

[They don't have that wide a definition, Elena. Spike is left with more questions than ever.]

Why the bugger were you a slave to Azrael's blood in the first place?

[Because what the FUCK?]

The term 'slave' might have been a bit overdramatic on my part. An addiction would be more accurate.

[That...doesn't really sound better, does it?

That's probably because it isn't. She sighs, any pretense that this is all casual and easy sliding away in the space of a moment. Her eyes focus on the road, and yet seem to see through it as she thinks back on a time that's now over a dozen lifetimes ago.]

You have to understand, Spike, I was...young. Young and angry and desperate. I had tried so hard to become everything I could so that I wasn't some liability, so that I wasn't a disappointment, so that I could actually be a force of change in the world instead of a victim that things simply happened to. And that...woman-

[Her voice chokes slightly, a dark fury rising in her eyes before she stamps it out with a single clench of her jaw.]

-she'd been in my mind against my will. Forced me to do things. She stole my free will and she hurt everyone around me, and she made me watch. I would have done anything to stop her, so I did.

I had to partake of the blood in his veins every two weeks to prevent a very quick and frightening withdrawal, and I made sure to never be late. It augmented my abilities, made me stronger, but it had its drawbacks, obviously. [She looks over at him.] It wasn't enough, obviously. It was never going to be enough. But without it, The Mind Master would have likely killed me in the library when the castle was attacked, or worse.

[Her eyes are drawn back to the road.]

There are things I regret, but none of what I've just told you is one of them.

Elena, love....

[There's sympathy in his voice, but also resignation. Maybe if he'd paid better attention he could have helped her sooner, saw what she was getting into, but it's far too late now. Years for him, thousands of years for her. She's made her choices. If they happen to be terrible, well, there's no going back now, and she doesn't regret it.]

I just hope you're happy.

[She gives him an almost sad, but grateful, smile.]

How many of us are as happy as we'd like to be? That number is frighteningly low, if you ask me.

[A cynical view of the world, maybe, but no less true in her eyes.]

There are plenty of times where I'm happy, though. I'm happy with him and with the family I've become a part of. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. [She leans her head back against the headrest.] But it's still Hell.

Love, if I were looking for red flags, that'd be one right there.

[He glances over at her, frowning a little. It's very far from the first red flag he's had from her. The whole talking like a brainwashed cult member part, not to mention being in love with him from basically the moment she sold her soul.... yeeeeah.....]

Obviously no one's happy all the time, but if you've got to qualify it like that... love, how deep in this are you?

I'm the Queen of Hell, Spike. I live in the lowest circle of Hell. It doesn't get much deeper than that, literally or figuratively.

[She says it with an air of amusement, like 'of course I'm deep in this, are u kidding me rn?]

You didn't want me to lie, remember? If I said I was blissfully happy, that would be one in my eyes. I live where the souls of the damned are tortured and their collective misery is all around me, a constant companion. What did you honestly expect me to say? That my life was a never-ending party of sin and debauchery?

I don't want you to lie. [He looks towards her intensely for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road.] I want to help you.

[Frustration starts to simmer in the back of her eyes, but she pushes it back as quickly as it appears.]

With what, exactly? Because unless you're going to help me kill the Mind Master, I don't need it.

[Well, he sure wis crit failed, so he's not going to be remotely delicate about this. I'm sure it's fine.]

Love, don't you think it's a bit odd that you fell in love with him right when you sold him your soul? Like, you have to see how that could raise some red flags. And the way you talk about him... you sound bloody brainwashed.

[She rolls her eyes visibly.]

Of course you'd take that so literally.

[She sighs, looking over at him.]

You say that as if I'm the first person to ever start to fall for someone the day they met them. It took decades before I even found the nerve to go speak to him again, to obtain what I needed to even try. It didn't happen overnight, Spike, but I felt for him long before I gave him my heart. I didn't think I was enough for him.

[She drags a hand through her hair as she looks away again.]

But I know better now. He gave me my life back. My purpose. My dignity. You can call it whatever you like, but-

[She turns back toward him, something sharp in her eyes.]

-don't you ever claim that he brainwashed me again. No one controls me.

[Intimidate...41]

[Spike has a very respectable will save of 27, but that's not enough in the face of Elena's wrath.

At least it's enough that he realizes maybe he should try being more tactful if he doesn't want to end up on fire. He's not... really attached to his own life, but he still has shit to do.]

I'm just worried about you, love. [Diplomacy 20 which is REALLY GOOD FOR HIM OK he's not very diplomatic.] I don't care that he's Lucifer. But I do care if he's good to you or not.

[Her will save was a 26, which is actually atrocious for her, so she seems to pull herself back in as she looks away, her expression bordering on confused. She shakes her head, as if dragging herself away from something she doesn't want to feel, and her expression is softened when she looks back over cautiously.]

I'm not who you need to worry about, Spike. [She somehow makes it sound less ominous than that phrase might be otherwise, but she still uses the words purposefully.] I went down that path before, chose people who didn't deserve me, who simply wanted to use me to make themselves feel better.

I wouldn't make that mistake again.

He is better than Archer, I'd wager. [SPIKE REALLY HATED ARCHER.] Just... know you can talk to me, all right? I may fret, but I won't judge.

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doubletake - 2017-12-22 06:18 (UTC) - Expand

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