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

[dragonsclaw]

♫ Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

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.

Comments

[familybusiness]

[The group has had enough boat rocking to last a lifetime. Some smooth sailing would be welcome.]

No matter how bad things are, they can always get worse.

[klep]

[Indeed.]

Ain't that the truth.

[familybusiness]

[In other news...]

By the way, I talked to Dean about that Hell 101 class. He agreed that it was a good idea, so we're gonna do it when we get back to the rest of the group.

[klep]

[Her eyes light up when she looks up, and honestly she may be a little surprised. Dean and Rose have been so withholding of information in the past, that she honestly thought they were just going to continue to ask them to operate on faith and hoarding the answers like a pair of cranky dragons.

It's a pleasant surprise though. It's good to know that at least one of them is willing to be a team player.]

Really? That's awesome. Thank you.

[No really, thank you, she's tired of feeling like she's five steps behind all the time.]

[familybusiness]

You guys deserve to know what might get thrown our way.

[It might not be the focus right now, but there's a good chance they'll show up again. Considering the circumstances surrounding a bunch of people in the group, hell involvement might just be something they have to deal with from now on.]

[klep]

[She nods again because yes, exactly. They deserve to know what the stakes are.]

It's kind of hard to understand when things seem so abstract. Hopefully this should help.

[familybusiness]

Well, it can't hurt, right?

[Knock on wood.]

I'm always willing to answer any questions, too. If I know the answers, I'll give them to you.

[klep]

[She nods because she's not really sure off the top of her head, but there is one about the current situation that could use some clarification.]

So why the whole She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named schtick? Is this some kind of power in a name thing like faerie deals in stories or something?

[familybusiness]

Because if you say a god's true name out loud, they sense it and can listen in on your conversation.

[Pretty self-explanatory after that.]

[klep]

Oh. So it's like a magical bug. That makes sense.

[Sort of.]

So can our two hell-adjacent friends do the same thing?

[familybusiness]

I wouldn't really call them adjacent. They're in it as deep as you can get.

[Just saying. However...]

Dean's got a scrying block on him from Heaven and Hell, so even if they could, it wouldn't work while he's nearby. But they're fiends, not gods. I don't think they would be able to, but I guess if they ever got powerful enough it wouldn't be impossible? [A beat.] That said, I'm sure the people they serve sure can and they're probably watching whenever they get the chance.

[klep]

[Okay, but on that adjacent point ...]

I mean, it's not like they were born in Hell. Theoretically they were human once. So is it like vampires where you get converted into something else, or is it just a matter of loyalty?

[... This is why they need that 101 class, honestly.]

[familybusiness]

From what I understand, there's some kind of oath, they're no longer even remotely human, and there's no way to undo it. No coming back from it. They're tied to Hell permanently.

[A beat.]

But considering the source of information I got that from, take it with a grain of salt.

[klep]

So Hell vampires. Got it.

[She very much wants to question about that source, but won't for now.]

Though that's probably not the best analogy because not all vampires are evil, and you're saying that there's nothing redeemable about these two now.

[familybusiness]

Yeah, I guess. If vampires could teleport between different planes and could go out in the sun. Plus whatever other abilities they already had. They're immortal and time stretches out different where they live, so they have a lot more time to do whatever it is they want to do, to get stronger.

[She'll probably find out at some point. He doesn't keep it much of a secret. Better people know than get blindsided just by being around him.

It happened to Skye, after all.]

Even if there's something in them that's still human, it doesn't matter. With vampires, you know what you're dealing with, you know what they want. [Blood, generally.] With these guys...they keep everything so close to their chest that you don't know if they're just having a casual conversation or if they're playing some kind of long game. They can read your mind like an open book and use that information to get exactly what they want. We're just a bunch of chess pieces to them.

[klep]

[Felicity's opinions on these things are mixed, honestly. She understand the knee-jerk want to be protected from being manipulated, especially if they've lived lives that have been as consumed by this as they have. It's not fair, and it's not right, but it also just sounds like people.

Being calculated and closed off is just as human as it is demonic. They're not great traits, but they're not exclusive ones. She also could point out that Dean and Rose have been doing the exact same thing and so it seems just a smidge hypocritical, even if it was in the name of compartmentalizing information, but she's not here to pick a fight with Sam right now, or even argue a case for Elena and Des when she doesn't know either of them very well at all.

(To be honest, the only one she truly feels comfortable trying to argue for is Elena, as she was a child when this all started, and she is the one that Vi loves, but Elena is also the more hot button issue in this whole thing - and Felicity can read a room.)

So she just nods.]

Makes sense.

[Because it does.]

[familybusiness]

[He's been there. He understands that line of thinking more than anyone might realize.

It got him burned really bad.]

We just need to be careful.

[klep]

[There, they don't disagree.]

That's totally fair. Which is why it's good to know what we're actually being careful against. Which is why I'm really glad your brother is willing to share more.

[She knows this is personal and therefore not easy, so she wants to make sure the fact that she appreciates it and isn't taking it for granted is clear.]

[familybusiness]

Yeah, me too.

[He has a hard time getting Dean to talk about it with him as well. There's clearly a lot to unpack and it's not something he deals with very well.]

Thanks for being patient.

[klep]

[She nods.]

Thanks for not trying force me into an exorcism or something.

[Given her situation, the least she could do is be patient.]