I8DT - Weighs the same as a duck

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:15 pm

"Now," Ms. McManus said as they approached the door, "best you go into this fresh, and don't pay any mind to what you may have heard about her."

by **Sean Hall** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:23 pm

"Alright," Sean said holding a sketchbook under one arm, "Consider the slate clean."

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:35 pm

With what she hoped was a reassuring smile to Sean, she knocked on Victoria's door.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:37 pm

Victoria, as was her wont lately, wasn't... exactly looking happy. Granted, this might be because she'd had all morning in her dorm room which, lacking all the baby stuff now, looked entirely too empty to her now. Still, she was obviously still taking care of herself, and didn't look like a wreck.

She opened the door, looked at the boy in a sort of questioning, 'what the hell is he doing here' look, then managed a smile to Sam. "Hello. Something I can do for you today?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:40 pm

"This is Mister Hall. He's encountered a sort of terra incognita that you're rather suited to, but I can't say much more out here."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:43 pm

Victoria cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged. It wasn't like there was anything mystical about someone needing permission into a room INSIDE a building they were invited into. "All right," she said. "Come in. Anything to drink for you two, then?"

by **Sean Hall** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:47 am

Sean stepped into the common area.

"Some water would be wonderful," Sean said.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:52 pm

"Nothing for me, but thank you."

She shut the door behind them.

"Sean brought some things for you to go over. I'll warn you, we've found it's something to do with the Elder Gods."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:17 pm

Victoria glanced at Sam as she brought Sean a bottle of water. "Well, someone doesn't mess around. All right, let's see what you've brought me."

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 7:49 pm

Sean passed a sketchbook over to Victoria. It was filled with creepy drawings of faces each with a unique rune branded onto their foreheads, a large ancient looking tree with blue leaves, an incomplete ritual circle, runes that were laid out on various limbs (arms, legs, etc), a drawing in part of various stages of the ritual itself, some partials of other runes that made up the circle including the eerie looking one for birth. It painted an all together frightening picture of ritual sacrifice.

"I...this was difficult to draw," Sean said thinking he was supposed to say something but unsure what exactly.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:41 pm

Victoria took the pictures as she walked into the room ahead of them, starting to flip through them.

And again, it wasn't apparent where, exactly, the dagger came from. But suddenly, it was in her hand as she spun back toward Sean. She held it along her arm, with the crystal on the pommel pointed at Sean, and while the blade wasn't immediately available for use, something about the way she held it indicated that this, really, was the more dangerous end. Her other hand thrust the pictures back at Sean. "Burn. Those. Now," she said coldly.

Everyone was a critic, apparently.

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:48 pm

There was a sort of static as Sean grew somewhat frustrated, but grabbed the papers anyways.

"Would you kindly point that in a different direction," Sean said some of the frustration leaking into his tone. Apparently though he didn't mind burning the drawings, they could always be redrawn after all. The runes on one hand glowed before the papers began to curl and then turned to ash.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:51 pm

"Not while those are inside my wards," Victoria said, lowering the dagger (which, on second glance, was gone) as the flames licked the pages. "Some things shouldn't be written down. Like something that black."

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:00 pm

"It was that or try to play charades," Sean said testily.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:03 pm

"You shouldn't be playing with them at all," Victoria snapped. "There's something that people who deal with Chthon all have in common: they end up either soulless, dead, or both."

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:09 pm

"Well, my parents ended up dead and I ended up with a...somewhat normal life," Sean said, "And I'm kind of trying to figure out why they died and I'm marked."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:13 pm

If Victoria could have paled, she would have. "Marked? With what," she asked, taking an involuntary step back.

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:20 pm

"Runes. Runes painted in blood," Sean said raising an arm and channeled magic into them. They glowed a dull blue. "And one carved into my chest which you had me burn the copy of."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:33 pm

"Which one was it," Victoria asked, already not liking where this was going.

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:35 pm

"Professor Weaver said it was one for birth," Sean said, "Though they didn't finish carving the rune, so we can't be completely sure."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:39 pm

"Then let me make this very simple for you. They died because they touched powers that should never be touched, and you lived because they didn't finish it. And because you haven't played with those powers either yet. If you want to continue living? Drop this, and stay as far from it as you can."

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:49 pm

"I'm not going to drop this," Sean said, "Whoever did this hasn't tried to finish since I was little, so I don't think I'll be walking into the gates of hell by trying to find out why and where my family was killed."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:59 pm

"They haven't tried anything because you've stayed away from it so far. You open that door, and they will. Nothing good will come of this."

by **Sean Hall** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:40 pm

"I don't think you can know that," Sean said.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:47 pm

"I think she has good reason to believe as she does."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:07 pm

She turned her attention to Sam. "I think you have the wrong room. The counselor deals with suicidal cases, I think he's in the other building."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:45 pm

"There was a spell on him, keeping his memories of this from him. It was driving him mad. Around it in his mindscape was something like an abscess. It couldn't be allowed to remain in there."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:52 pm

"Finding out what was in there and getting it out is one thing. Actively searching for... that is another thing altogether," Victoria said, indicating the ashes. "If this is about fixing something in his mind, fine, I'll help. If it's some misguided 'I have to find out what my mommy and daddy were doing' thing, it needs to be abandoned, and abandoned as hard as it can be."

by **Sean Hall** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:03 pm

"That's certainly a part of it," Sean said, "I don't like the idea of being half-open to whatever was trying to reach through when the Headmistress was breaking down the barriers around the memory. The door was never fully closed in the first place. It's more slightly ajar."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 6:37 pm

Victoria was quiet for a moment. "There are two methods open here. The first is to pursue your leads to this group, and use what is learned to undo this. This is a bit iffy because there's no guarantee that this will lead to a way to undo what you did. And in the process, you could dig yourself in deeper and get unwanted attention from the other various powers who are watching." She gave Sean an enigmatic smile. "And trust me, they're watching you."

by **Sean Hall** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:23 pm

"Well that's wonderful," Sean said, "And the second method?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:27 pm

"You pick the sorcerer of your choice, and I'm talking someone in league with the Sorcerer Supreme, and make a deal with them to get it done. And hope that the payment for getting them to do it is something that isn't long-term."

by **Sean Hall** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:29 pm

"The second one sounds somewhat unlikely," Sean said.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:41 pm

Victoria frowned a moment. "All right. What do you want to know?"

by **Sean Hall** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:53 pm

"All I remember is bits and pieces a child chained to an altar isn't exactly in a position to look for what might be needed later. The runes aren't complete, the words don't don't make sense, and the circle is hard to make sense of without knowing the other two," Sean said, "I'm trying to narrow down ritual sites, so we can find it and try to figure out the why and how."

Sean held one piece of the sketches still of an ancient tree with blue leaves.

"That is the only landmark I have. Not really much to go on."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:06 pm

"Why? You can guess most of that from the runes carved. Death, void, blood and birth? A reasonable guess, as in I can't think of anything else, is that they were trying to use your body to bring Chthon back into this world."

by **Sean Hall** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:47 pm

Sean shrugged.

"Reasonable, yes," Sean said, "But a reasonable guess isn't a certainty. Runes are only a focus for power, purposes and meanings can be twisted into a different shape, they could mean something entirely different in a different context.

Retracing this might also help me figure out who my family was. Why they chose me for this. How to change it back to how it should be."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:16 pm

"Oh, that? Because they were black-magic cultists and thought it would be an 'honor' for their flesh and blood to house their elder god of choice. And define 'how things should be' if you want an answer to that."

by **Sean Hall** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:27 pm

Sean's face went through a series of emotions one of which was certainly anger.

"The memories don't mesh with them being black-magic cultists. That and them being sacrificed and using their last moments to fight back by animating their own blood," Sean said his tone not exactly even, "And I generally prefer the idea of not being an Elder God's almost finished home. My idea of how it should be involves not being some kind of prepped host."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:38 pm

"Well, you see, them 'choosing' this for you tends to imply that they had a hand in this. Perhaps if you actually say what happened instead of giving vague clues, there won't be misunderstandings like that," Victoria shot back. "And if they weren't, then they made some sort of deal that, knowing or unknowing, gave you to them. There's a reason that faeries and demons make bargains for someone's firstborn instead of, say, their neighbor's. You can only bargain away something that's your own, souls included. And until someone is an adult or is abandoned to their own fate in the world, metaphysically their being belongs to their parents."

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