knightsoflegend | new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

WHO || Buffy, Alainn, Rose, Sam, Dean, Faith, Felicity, Isabella [closed]
WHAT || The Ex-Knights of Failboat head off to interrupt an auction for Rafael Giovanni's life...
WHERE || New Orleans, LA
WHEN || A couple weeks post-LA
HOW || Actionspam

Held in the grasp of the Knighthood's enemies for a stretch of time that has been an aching splinter in the heart of the ones who love him, Rafael Giovanni's life now stands up for auction. Having made a number of powerful enemies in his days as the vigilante assassin The Black Scourge, including the secret Vatican police known as Iscariot, Draken Crombe's organization sought to capitalize on the many who sought revenge by sending out word that Eterna Jade was not, as his trial had seemed to prove, the Black Scourge at all, and offer the chance to kill or torture Giovanni to whoever would pay the largest sum.

The Knights, being made aware of this, did what they could to stymie this auction from coming to pass, and Buffy Summer and Jack Chessing managed to at least thwart it several times, leading to its cancellation and inevitable rescheduling elsewhere. However, none of this led to Giovanni's actual location.

The capture of Draken Crombe finally allowed them to learn of the latest plans for the auction - to be held at a location in New Orleans, a temple of some sort. It seems that Crombe's other followers still intend to follow through with ridding themselves of Rafael, making it clear that even with Crombe in Knights' custody, the villains still have some organization or leadership. Tia Ellison rattled out the plan by invading Crombe's mind, learning of the way that he had been psychically manipulated by the Mind Master for years, and doing what she could to start to heal his shattered psyche.

Jack Chessing, eager to see Rafael rescued after their many efforts, cautioned however against sending too many on what might be a mission from which there is no returning. To that end, they've tried to split the forces of their magic-users, fighters, and researchers.

Now, it's up to a few to save their friend... without losing any more.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ isabella is a) very very injured, b) really unhappy with being in this trash heap, and c) ignoring a & b because rafael is alive and seems relatively well. she is going to spend a lot of time locked in the bathroom dressing and cleaning her wounds. ]

[ Buffy knocks on the bathroom at one point, after Isabella has had some time to herself and Rafael is all filled in. ]

Do you need any help in there?

[ there's a long pause, before a voice finally comes through the door, clearly not happy about the admission: ] I could... perhaps use a set of hands. [ which makes sense, given that a lot of her injuries are probably not easily reached by herself ]

I'm coming in.

[ Buffy announces this just before she opens the door. She has the good sense to keep it only cracked so that no one else who's watching can get a glimpse at Isa's injuries. It's not for modesty. It's for pride. She shuts the door behind her and glances over, frowning. ]

Just point me in the right direction. My wound care pretty much maxes out at CPR compressions, so ... [ Don't expect miracles, basically. ] But I'm an expert holder and taper.

[ isabella stands in front of the mirror, half undressed, with numerous bandages splayed out across the sink. she glances half back to make sure that buffy doesn't expose her to the entire room, before turning back to the mirror.

however bad buffy might have thought it was before, it's definitely worse, now that she can see all the injuries without clothes in the way. chopped, shot, electrocuted... all of them have left their marks, and while she's washed away a lot of the blood, the pile of stained towels thrown on the top of the toilet lid can attest to it. her clothes are soaking in the tub, as she clearly tries to get the stains out enough to walk around without attracting undue attention. ] Back here. [ she simply points to some of the injuries on her back that make for difficult reaching. ]

Why didn't you tell anyone how bad it was?

[ She says this with a frown as she steps up to Isabella's back, grabbing a wash cloth and crouching down to get a better look at the worst of it. She'll take ten on this treat injury, for a total of ... 14. It's a stupid question, of course. She knows why. Knows that she would have done the same, but ... Buffy is supernaturally gifted. Isa is not. ]

Because [ buffy would feel isabella stiffen beneath her touch ] it would have slowed us down. The important thing was to get him out.

At whatever cost.

[ She wants to say that makes Isa an idiot, but ... it doesn't. Not really. Buffy was approaching it from precisely the same angle; she just happened to be more durable, durable enough to make it out with cuts and bruises that had mostly healed. ]

He would think some costs were too high. Don't you know how important you are to him? [ She sounds only faintly frustrated, bandaging Isabella's burns. ] He'd be devastated to come back and lose you.

Maybe. [ at least she doesn't deny it, which seems to speak to at least some confidence maintained in the face of their recent history ] But at least he would have come back.

Yeah.

[ That, she gets at least. Maybe she can make another appeal. ]

He can't stay in this. You know that, don't you?

And he can't stay out of it either. It would kill him as certain as anything else would. [ she sounds both a little bitter, a little fond, and a little resigned to the fact ]

That's why you need to keep him out of it.

[ She says it evenly. ]

Even if he would listen to me - which I do not believe he would - I would never ask that of him.

Asking it of him could save his life.

Would that stop you? We all risk our lives for what we do.

We always have.

Some people cannot do any less.

I'm asking you not to give him the choice.

[ It's perhaps not the greatest girlfriend maneuver ever to try and forcibly bench bae, but here she is. ]

[ isa's mouth drops open a moment, but then presses closed. she doesn't act shocked at the suggestion, but she pulls her gaze away. ] I tried to control his actions once before, thinking it was to protect him.

I wound up hurting him more deeply than I ever have since. I won't do it again.

It's not protecting he needs.

That was before.

[ Now he's been literally tortured and traumatized, and now we're dealing with literal gods and apocalypse, but go off I guess. ]

And I think it applies now more than ever. [ there's a trademark stubbornness to her voice, but she sighs, the edges dropping a bit as she adds: ]

I don't think he should go plunging back in blindly. I'm not a fool, and I know that there are more risks than ever now.

But this is his fight, more than any in the world. For all that has been taken from him, he deserves to stand against it, and if he survives this - if we all do - and he does not give his all to win that fight, he will never be the same again. All he will have is the pain, and the hurt they have done to him.

If any of the man he was, the man we have both loved, has any hope of surviving, it will only come from continuing the fight.

Without it, he is only the shell they have tried to make of him.

[ alright that's ... actually a compelling argument. but buffy hates it. she hates it a lot because she knows that the choices are between 'shell' and 'maybe dead.' neither option is a good option, which is the big mood around the knighthood in general really. ]

I can't lose him, Isabella.

And neither can I, any more times than I already have.

That is why we must stay beside him, every step of the way.

[ She heaves out a sigh, reluctantly nodding, then straightens and draws away from Isa. ]

You're good over here.

[ She's done what she can. The rest is gonna need Myri. ]

[ isabella turns to see what she can in the mirror, nodding ]

... Thank you.

Don't mention it.

[ She doesn't know how to accept thanks from Isa, anyway. ]

new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

isabella ♔ (ota).

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