CHAPTER THREE ♔ what's done in the dark will be brought to the light

[wynn]

♬ god's gonna cut you down - johnny cash

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || The aftermath of Chapter 2
WHERE || London, England and variou
WHEN || Evening of June 7th --> onwards
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

In less than twenty-four hours, everything has turned on its head.

A Knight and her allies were kidnapped by Iscariot agents for execution in Rome, barely escaping with their lives.

A mission meant to free one Knight from the influence of a dark god succeeded - at the price of another's life.

A simple recon mission at a Keijen Blade concert nearly led to two Knights committing mind-controlled suicide in front of an eager crowd.

Several Knights went to see Draken Crombe, leader of the Church of the Lord's Humanity, speak in person, and learned just how sinister his religion's dogma is.

A call from Sir Hathaway alerted Wynn to the escape of the doppelganger from the Knight's dungeons, an escape perhaps aided by Elena Gilbert.

A demigod interrupted what might have been a simple smash and grab retrieval of an artifact.

And most horrific of all, in the middle of the night, hundreds of Shadowkind in New York City awoke, and walked in a mindless trance down to the Hudson River to drown themselves. Only the quick thinking and combined efforts of the Knights present and their allies prevented all of them from succeeding.

Beset on all sides, a dark time awaits for the Knighthood - who were already suffering from the capture of Dragon's Claw Sir Thomas Bancroft at the hands of their long time enemy Dimitris Sarandis of Andres Isle.

In times such as these, the light can be difficult to find. Hope itself seems somewhere just out of reach.

Comments

[trebond]

Have they found her?!

[ that was fast :o ]

[parsecs]

Could be they were still in the castle after all. Seeing as they can look like anyone.

[socialgraces]

[ god wouldn't that be nice, but francesca's trying not to get her hopes up. she'll just keep driving for now, but maybe slow it down a bit. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen is very quiet for a moment, looking conflicted.]

Ric, I don't think this is something we should be discussing right now. She came to me as a patient.

[trebond]

That's a 'no,' then.

[ she frowns, settling back in her seat. ]

[parsecs]

[Han nudges Francesca's arm.] Why're you slowing down?

[daredtobelieve]

[Now off speaker, Helen glances at those in the car with her. She knows each of them, trusts them. And while this is still a betrayal of Elena's trust, it's one that she can make with more assurance that those involved will respect the knowledge gained through unfortunate circumstances.]

She came to me to run a test. A pregnancy test. Before you ask- it was negative, but it was him. This doppelgänger is targeting her in more than one way. He used the face of someone she trusted, tricked her into into it. But she told me that it's made her doubt so much about who she is. I think it's possible that she might have gone with him willingly if he promised her answers. I'm terrified that he's using that to his advantage.

[socialgraces]

[ francesca glares at han from beneath her shades before stepping on the gas again.

god what a creep, is all francesca can think now, but she's not going to offer any outward comment at this point. if only they had killed him at the hotel when they had the chance, they could have saved a lot of people at lot of heartache. ]

[trebond]

[ pregnancy ??? oh christ.

alanna's heart sinks into her stomach and she shuts her eyes, turning her face away. what a horrible thing to happen to anyone. she keeps quiet so as to not interrupt the phone call, realizing it's rather personal. ]

[daredtobelieve]

You aren't, Ric. Please- she didn't want anyone to know. I didn't think it was my place to- [She sighs.] Whatever decision she made from those results, I can only pray she meant to take back the control he took from her.

[socialgraces]

[ she nods sagely at helen's words, b/c that seems like something appropriate for a woman to do in elena's situation. and she hopes to hell that that's what this is, even if she's still beyond worried about what elena might have gotten herself into.

and then her own phone vibrates in her pocket. she quickly digs it out, looking at the name on the caller id curiously before answering (which she can do fine all while driving b/c she's just that awesome with the dex checks, ok). ] Hello?

[trebond]

At this rate, we'd perhaps have been better with one great conference call between cars. [ knowledge current shit 16. alanna's adapting well ok. ]

[daredtobelieve]

Ric's back at the castle. I'm not sure who's calling her now. [Pulling herself back together to not be so caught up in feeling terrible.]

[socialgraces]

[ "Hey, Francesca, it's Will. I've been doing some investigative work around the castle. You know, just ... doing what I do best. I don't think Kyp tried to escape. It doesn't fit what I understand about him. It doesn't fit what I know about Elena to do it of her own volition, either. I think she was coerced into helping him escape by someone Kyp was working for. It's not like he has any other connections who would miss him. Him as he really is, anyway. If you know anything about his employers, I would check there first. They'd want him to check in. If Kyp and Elena aren't actually with them, they'd probably at least know where they were heading." ]

...That's amazing, Will. We're actually headed to the hotel we believe Draken Crombe may be staying at while in London right now. Crombe has been working closely with those known to have employed Kyp in the past, so we thought we might start there.

[ she pauses for a slightest moment, clearly hesitant to ask: ] Are we sure this isn't just what Kyp and Elena wanted us to think? Some sort of distraction to lead us off their trail.

[trebond]

She's a teenage girl, not a bloody criminal mastermind.

[ alanna can only hear half this conversation, but she's sharing her input anyway. ]

[daredtobelieve]

But he is. I truly believe he's pulling the strings here, even if he's leading her to believe that she's making these choices on her own.

[parsecs]

Either way, he's sure to give her some pointers. Can't underestimate her. [He shrugs a shoulder, looking at Helen in the mirror.] It might be a false lead, but someone's gotta follow it. In case it's not.

[trebond]

[ Alanna sits up because she's pretty determinedly team hotel and WHY AREN'T WE THERE YET. ]

Can't this thing go any faster?!

[socialgraces]

[ "Elena didn't leave any clues to where she was going. She didn't even bring her phone. And Kyp didn't leave any clues, either. He was bored. He wasn't expecting anyone to swoop in and save him, but it didn't bother him. He didn't care. I — I don't know. It's just a hunch. But if you're going in that direction anyway, it's worth looking into."

francesca's trying to take in what will says and what's being said in the car around her, and she's actually doing quite well at managing it ] We'll definitely see what we can find. Like Han here says, what if it's the right lead? We can't just ignore it. Besides, it's a lot more than we had before.

Thank you, Will. Let me know if you come across anything else of importance, please.

[parsecs]

[Han looks over at Francesca.] He have anything useful to add?

[socialgraces]

Will took the time to search Elena's room and Kyp's cell and he believes Elena must have been coerced into helping Kyp escape, but that it wasn't Kyp compelling her to do so. Rather, he has a hunch it was someone Kyp had previously worked for ... So, someone with ties to Chad Becksworth. [ which means maybe they're on the right track?? ]

[trebond]

The same sort of coercion that spurred on the Shadowkind population of New York, you think? [ wis 14! ] That is the same group they've been investigating, is it not?

[socialgraces]

It is. Seems a bit coincidental, doesn't it? Except we haven't heard of anyone outside of New York being affected.

[parsecs]

Yeah, I don't believe in coincidences. [Han frowns, staring out in front of them thoughtfully.] Just cause we haven't heard of it doesn't mean it hasn't been happening. Bet you anything there've been trial runs.

[daredtobelieve]

Hopefully something at the hotel will give us a clue as to who might be behind it.

[She doesn't want to speculate much more. They need more evidence before they can even begin to guess what's going on here.]