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

[ex_ric243]

[What is shit Alaric was not prepared to hear for five hundred, Alex.

There's only silence from his end of the line after she's through explaining the meaning of Elena's cryptic journal entry. AND WHY IS THIS WEIRD GUY SUDDENLY STARING AT HIM. Turning away from Will because Jesus Christ.

But it made sense now, why Elena had taken it so hard. Yes, Kyp had hurt her friends and betrayed her trust, but her reaction to everything hadn't exactly been in line with that type of betrayal. And now he was just replaying that conversation with her in this very room and reading between the lines of everything she'd said, as if it all should have been so clear when she'd said it.]

I'm such an idiot. [For not noticing, for not killing that douche. Let me count the ways. Great pep-talk, dad.]

[mydesigns]

Why? [he has a feeling he already knows thx to that previous wis roll, but ... still asks.]

[ex_ric243]

Thank you. [For being there for her, mostly. Because as much as he appreciates the information, the fact that Elena had someone she had been able to confide in during all of this meant more to him than he could probably express.

But that's all he's going to say before he hangs up and turns back to face Will.]

She thinks there might be a possibility that Elena went with him willingly. Kyp had her doubting herself--who she is. [Please note his lack of the term "what" here. It's not that hard you insensitive assholes.] He might have been the only one who could give her the answers she was looking for.

[But he was like two hundred percent done right now. You're not getting the full disclosure, sorry. It may have been stupid, but heading out to look for them so that he could be the one to beat the life out of Kyp sounded pretty ace right about now.]

Are we done here?

[mydesigns]

[sense motive 26 — he reads right between those lines. and is fine with being done with talking to ric tbh.] I think so. [he'll also ... put elena's diary back on the shelf where he found it. bcuz he's polite.]

[theminotaur]

[ abigail just... pockets elena's phone. not because she's a klepto, but because she forgot it isn't hers. whoops. will says they're done so she just starts heading out. later guy, she'll remain the nameless sidekick. ]

[mydesigns]

[will notices (spot 18) but ... doesn't stop her. what a great not-dad. (unsure) he steps out into the hall so ric can't give them shit for hanging out in elena's room or wtfever, then pulls out his own phone.] I'm gonna make a call. [that's to abigail, who presumably followed him. and now ... he's calling francesca. HE DOESN'T KNOW SHE'S DRIVING, OKAY.]

[theminotaur]

Okay. [ she doesn't curr, dad. she's just going to loiter companionably near him, fiddling with her scarf to make it sit better against her neck. ]

[mydesigns]

[ "hello?" ]

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.

[franny basically just gets the info dump because she's his mentor. he trusts her like 5 percent more than he trusts any of these other bitches.]

[theminotaur]

[ l o i t e r s. eavesdropping. doing her creepy thing. ]

[mydesigns]

[ "...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. … 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."]

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.

[theminotaur]

[ all up in will's personal space, abigail manages to catch a handful of his mentor's words (listen 16) and feels hella validated because the bad guys getting him was what she said! a++ detective work, self? she's patting herself on the back. and still... in will's space, like a puppy that wants a pet. ]

Threadjacking half-elf here!

[attollores]

[as ric, will and abigail are hovering outside of elena's room, they would spot alainn trotting down the hallway towards them. she skids to a halt just outside the door to the room, looking the three of them over. it's obvious that she has just woken up since she is still in her pajamas though of course the shirt doesn't say josh groban, but rafael giovanni.]

Am I right in guessing that this is Sir Gilbert's room?

[ex_ric243]

[For someone who just rolled out of bed, Alainn still outshines most of these basic bitches. But her sudden slide to a halt is what gets his attention, because he's lingering there like a sad papa bear who just lost his cub. Except less sad and more pissed and ready to murder Kyp, but hey. Can anyone blame him?]

Yeah. This is Elena's room. [None of that Sir Gilbert crap for him, thank you. He's looking a little confused though.]

[attollores]

[her irish accent is very thick at the moment thanks to having only been awake for however long it took her to roll out of bed and book it through the castle here.]

I just got Wynn's video chat thing... I told him I can try a scrying spell te' see if I can find Elena. They usually work better if I have something to use as a focus during the spell, something of hers.

[she doesn't go in the room though, rather lingering outside with a look at ric, almost as if asking for permission.

[ex_ric243]

[And just like that, Will and Abigail are forgotten in favor of some real shit getting done to help find Elena. No offense, y'all. He doesn't even know either of you, but Alainn is legit.]

She didn't spend much time here. [Most of the stuff in her room probably lacks any sentimental value, in other words. He doesn't know if that makes a difference or not because I only rolled a 9 for his knowledge: arcane bullshit check.

Anyway, Alaric moves inside so permission granted please follow me.]

She kept her journals here though. [And he motions over to where they're lined up on the bookshelf. Look it didn't get much more sentimental than her entire life story.] Do you that will work?

[mydesigns]

[OMFG HE DOESN'T CARE HE'S ON THE PHONE. and apparently will have a message to check from wynn when he's not ... talking to francesca.]

[attollores]

[alainn steps past ric into the room, patting his arm as she does because biceps, yes please. her eyes light up at the mention of elena's journals because how perfect??]

Oh, aye, her journals would be perfect actually. They'll be more helpful than, say, a shirt for instance. They actually hold an emotional bond to the girl, and that might be just what we need to connect with her.

[she steps up to the book shelf, skimming over the titles until she reaches the journals, quickly leafing through them until she finds the one with the latest entry, the same one will had just put down moments ago. her nimble fingers flip through the pages to the last entry, skimming it quickly with a curt nod.]

Aye, this should be all I need. This and my mirror.

[ex_ric243]

[Alaric is hopeful that they might actually be able to find her. He's already texting this to Helen to keep her in the loop. If it turns out she and her group are moving toward a dead end at the hotel, he plans to redirect her based on the outcome of Alainn's spell.]

Where's that? [Her mirror. Do they have to wait for her to meditate or something?]

[unforgivably]

[ It's like waking up from a haze of memories he never knew he'd had. One second he had vague ideas of the girl that came between him and his brother (that he'd let go) and the next he'd heard her name on his phone. Everything clicks into place, including understanding of why Elena would do such a thing. Everybody is up in arms about nothing. Elena does this. She's steadfast. She makes decisions. She'll be fine.

But, she's also missing and she might not know who he is. Which is fun with a capitol F-U-N.

As it is, despite his attitude with Wynn he's talked through where Elena's room happens to be. So, immediately, he abandons whatever time he's been wasting for trying to find Elena like the rest of this crazy cast of characters. Only, he's late to the party. (Usually not the story of his life. He dislikes the veil more and more.) He rounds the corner and spots the entourage. Well, Will and Abigail.

Somehow he knows that must be Elena's door, but just in case, he checks the numbers as he walks towards them. with a bluff of 14, he looks pretty deliberate in his not noticing Elena's door, but what can you do. He's preoccupied.

And then he's at Elena's door. And there are more people inside. ] Looks like my invitation got lost in the mail. Any chance any of you have seen Elena?

[ex_ric243]

[Alaric was already prepared to step the fuck back out into the hallway with Alainn if need be, so he notices the new guy approach even before Damon speaks up. He watches him momentarily, pinged by something akin to deja vu, before getting the fuck over it real quick because there were more pressing matters than having seen this guy somewhere before.]

Who's asking?

[unforgivably]

[ Damon sees that deja vu and raises you a - a brief second of some kind of recognition and familiarity. But you can't feel like a complete stranger is a - well, he doesn't have friendly feelings. (But they're not the opposite either. Anyway, pressing matters!!

He wonders which tactic will be better, a friend to the Elena everyone knows or a knight sent by Wynn to help where he could. With a wisdom check of 21, hot damn, he, for once, knows he shouldn't just speak up about how he knows Elena from his world. ]

Ser Salvatore. [ He hates it (and kind of likes the sound of it) all at the same time. Can he be a ser without being knighted? Oh well, he'll be squired soon enough. ] Wynn called to arms, thought I'd do what I can to help. [ Straight up bluff 24, yo. ]

[ex_ric243]

[Really, bitch? Have a skeptical look because Alaric's sense motive of 26 tells him otherwise.]

[mydesigns]

["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."]

Sure. [then he hangs up and ... checks his phone for wynn's message and has his heartwarming chat i guess. you can continue now. :x ]

[theminotaur]

[ abigail stays near will, farewell personal space, all these people eep. wynn looks sad and angry, abigail can't figure out the emotion. smad maybe. any way, she's just gonna be quiet and side eye the new guy being side eyed by ric and... wait to leave. a++ she only pipes up to quietly defend elena's privacy. teenager solidarity idk. ]

[unforgivably]

[ the one time he thinks the smart way and you don't believe him. he used to be a great liar ] I'm a friend.