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 Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:58 pm
Seven in the evening had rolled around, and Shun was soon to be entering the coffee shop after another day at the precinct. This was a meeting long overdue, really. A lot of things had happened. Wearily, he ran a hand through his hair as he entered the building, then ordered himself a drink. It was about then that he looked around to see if the werewolf happened to be here already.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:02 pm
The werewolf was there, but he didn't expect Shun to recognize him. He saw the detective come in, standing as the man placed an order and approaching him at the counter. When Shun turned, he smiled faintly with tired grey eyes; his hair was shorter now, cut to the nape of his neck where it curled in protest, swept backwards -- he was clean shaven as well, which made him look much younger than his years. "Shun," he greeted the man amicably, his tone still warm. "Good to see you alive and well. Or at least, in one piece." He chuckled, motioning back to the booth he'd been sitting at. "Want to sit, or walk? I think we've got quite a bit to play catch up on."
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:07 pm
Indeed, Shun hadn't immediately recognized the man, having expected him to look more or less the same as when he last spoke with him. Once he realized who it was, he first nodded in greeting to the other. "Lucas," he returned before taking in a deep breath, "Yes... I apologize for not contacting you sooner. As poor of an excuse as it is, a lot of things kept coming up."That was a bit of an understatement. He was worn. Dark circles around his eyes suggested he at least wasn't getting a whole lot of rest. "Sitting will be fine for now," he murmured, making his way over to the booth to settle down.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:11 pm
"I'm just as guilty," he chuckled with a forgiving shrug. "I'm not your keeper, detective, and you've probably got a lot more going on than I do. Don't worry about it. We're doing what we can, when we can." Tipping his head in acknowledgment, Lucas followed the tired man and slid into the booth opposite of him, folding his hands together as he leaned on the table. He had no drink this time, and quite frankly, caffeine seemed like it would only work against him with all the stress he was under anyway. "So. Fill me in: what's new, what's horrible, what awful thing is coming our way?" The words were said in the way one might mention how someone was doing or if the weather was agreeable; it was truly the way of their life, and as far as he was concerned, there was no beating around the bush.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:17 pm
A low grunt escaped him while he thought about where to begin. He had no issue with going straight into the meat of it. There was little point in beating around the bush. "You may have guessed by now, but I have been to the place where it always rains. Several times. Experiences were mostly unpleasant. But the biggest thing you should know is another part of the cage has fallen," he stated plainly. "Have you heard anything of a Fae ball during the last full moon?"Lucas had other contacts after all. Shun wasn't sure how much the moonwalker may or may not have heard already. He only knew that he didn't recall seeing him at the ball.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:23 pm
A faint sound returned Shun's words. "Color me unsuprrised," he murmured, given that their last meeting had ended with Lucas practically predicting as much. The expression he wore mirrored Shun's for weariness, his jaw tightening visibly, tongue pressing against the back of his teeth against all the angry words that wanted to spill out at the mention of the ball. "Some," he replied, voice tight, "from Lieutenant Rylan. I avoided it like the plague, after what the ******** did to Autumn last time. That was just one, like hell I was going to walk into that lion's den." Truly, the idea of willingly accepting that invitation...he was seriously questioning the sanity of the denizens of Ashdown. "Treat me like a blank slate. Assume I know nothing. I want to hear whatever you'll tell me."
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:38 pm
Shun took in a sip of his drink, then leaned back into his chair, letting out a sigh. He glanced around, then let his voice drop a bit lower as he began to explain things. "Basically I and many others were invited to this ball where there was to be a tithe, a sacrifice, held to strengthen the cage of the enemy. Those without masks were marked as potential tithes. By dawn, one would be selected to be slain. Several of these were people who were stolen away from Ashdown a few months back, replaced by doppelgangers. Thorne, Alois, and Shiloh were among these," he started. There were others, but he wasn't quite as familiar with them. After giving Lucas a moment to take that in, he continued. "From what I know, their lives have been utter hell over those months. Turned into slaves of the one known as the Spinel Lady, Melany. Tortured into obedience. Memories taken from them. They called her 'Mother'. They called the Burning Man 'father'."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:50 am
Lucas slowly nodded as the tale was told, but his eyes went sharp when the names were mentioned -- the two he recognized, anyway. "Are they okay now?" he asked with a bit of tightness in his tone, his lips pursed against the instinct to bare his teeth like...well, a wolf. "E -- Thorne, he's -- ? Going to be okay?" Again? That poor man. They'd broken up shortly after the first full moon, but he felt like he may have noticed something was wrong, if he'd had the chance... "Did anyone die?" There was a false tone in the claim of a tithe to strengthen the cage, something that made his already tense shoulders feel positively granite, his stomach sinking a little.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:31 am
Shun nodded slowly, "As far as I know, they have all returned to Ashdown. I am uncertain of all the fates of their doubles. Some of those were killed. I saw Thorne recently... he seems fine physically but..."He had seen a broken man. s**t like that wasn't easily fixed. "One of the teens, Adoelle, was there as a tithe. But in her case, she was willing. She wanted to die in order to weaken the cage of the enemy. In the end, she was the one who was chosen..." he answered, "So she is now gone. And such, the cage has been weakened further. But things did not end there. One of the doppelgangers stabbed the Spinel Lady. She could have died that night, but there were several who worked to save her life. I failed to stop them. And so she lives."His tone had taken a slight bitter turn towards the end. "That said, Thorne, or any of the others who were taken, will likely not have any real respite for awhile, knowing she still walks."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:42 pm
He tried to smile, but it was faint and half-hearted. "It's not bad enough he gets to call me an ex, those assholes really seem to have a hard on for him." Lucas sighed through his nose, eyes a little unfocused, a little downcast. "I miss him. I never wanted this s**t for him." His gaze sharpened at the mention of the name, jaw setting hard suddenly. "Had I been there, I'd have torn our her throat with my teeth." The words were said calmly, but there was a finality in his tone, no room for discussion. "Before I comment further, though, I'm going to share a little." Lacing flesh and metal fingers together, he leaned forward on the table, words heavy. "Ry and I went to the Otherworld at the end of June. We were...'let' into a library, where we saw some past versions of Sunny and some strange place that other-Ry used to live, but..." He paused, tongue slowly tracing over the edges of his teeth. "I met Michael. I talked to him. He said the only way to end this was to kill the Bad Guy, and the only way to do that was to kill the three seals. Two are broken. But..." He wasn't ready to open the rest of that can of worms yet, instead fixing Shun with a heavy stare. "Is making people murderers, is protecting murderers, really worth all this? Shun, every time we go over there, or it comes over here, it's not Him, it's...it's the supposed good guys." He paused again, and clearly, his struggle was greater than before to understand. "I don't know what's right and wrong here anymore."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:39 pm
Ex? Oh. Right. He did recall awhile back that Thorne was his boyfriend. He didn't know how things were between the two of them now, and it wasn't his place to ask. Maybe Thorne could use more people close to him right now. He wasn't sure. "I tried to kill her," he stated quietly, calmly. Maybe he should have remained in that room longer. Tried again. Or had just gone straight in for the kill himself rather than try his little magic trick to send the knife straight through her skull. It was too late now. Shun fell silent as Lucas began to describe some things he had seen and learned. So Michael had the same sentiments as Adoelle. Did Heliodora feel the same way? As far as the questions on murderers went, he considered it for some time. "According to Autumn... we are currently stuck in this cycle. Fifteen times we have gone through this, and the enemy has won each time. Maybe not everyone has to get their hands dirty... but I think a few of us are going to need to do so in order to change things. What is right or wrong... That is difficult to say. All I can really offer is try and think in the long run. Saving a life might feel good now, but if they turn around and cause more grief as a result, then the problem persists. "It wasn't like he could just arrest Melany, or the burning man, or the enemy. The human system of law... really didn't apply to the other side. "But...speaking of Sunny. I learned something of her as well. Her real name, Ascension... points to the fact that she will Ascend if we let her. Unfortunately I do not know what that means."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:52 pm
"Good," was his answer, plain and simple. "My only upset is you didn't succeed." Lucas wrinkled his nose a little. "Shun, I love Autumn, but she is not the go-to for this. She is completely on Pax's side, and accepts everything we've been told as gospel. She wants the best outcome but I'm of the mind that we have to make that outcome, not just work towards what strangers tell us. I think Michael mentioned nineteen times, and they've tried to break the cage before -- or maybe they did, and failed, so why are we doing the same thing over and over again?" The werewolf shook his head slowly. It made no sense. And just like that, his stern expression fell into darkness. "Sunny is the cage. She'll have to die too if you guys really want to free the Bad Guy."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:29 pm
Closing his eyes, Shun nodded slowly at that bit of advice. There wasn't any way for him to know what they've done in the past. There wasn't really any way for any of them to know. "The cage is not just for the enemy, but also for ourselves," he stated, echoing some of the other details he had heard from the ball, "Maybe this time is different. Maybe it is not. How can we know?"He paused and drew in a breath. "So that is a minimum of four deaths that need to happen for this task... We are halfway there."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:52 pm
"So we've been told, Detective. I'm not buying what they're selling, not anymore." Lucas shook his head, and his expression was a little tight. "I'm not sure I can let anyone hurt Sunny. She's my Pack, she's family, and she didn't ask for any of this. I'm not even sure she knows she's the cage, and -- " He bit back angrier words, trying to simply stick with the truth as he knew it. "The Bad Guy is apparently here, in some form. Someone calling himself her father has been at her place." Not that he expected anyone to check on her. Not that he expect anyone to care. She was the witch that granted people what they wanted, but if she needed help? If she needed someone on her side? "Five, by the way. The Bad Guy himself. There's parts of him that have to be destroyed, but that's what Red said and I'm not sure I trust her either." Unlacing his tightly held hands, he ran one through his hair, pursing his lips. "Ry is seeing dead people, I'm talking to dead people, and people are dying. This can't be the right way of things."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 4:06 pm
There was a furrow of his brow at this. The way he saw it, they were going to be ******** no matter what they did. Regardless if it was right or wrong. "People will die no matter what course of action we take. It is just a matter of trying to figure out how to prevent the most. I doubt there is such thing as a truly happy ending for us."If they survive and defeat the enemy, chances were that they had to sacrifice a lot to accomplish it. And if not... then they would be stuck in this cycle for who knows how much longer. "What would be the right way? Is there even a right way in the first place?"The mention of Red caused for another pause. "Lady Red. That is right... she was another of the taken. It... is quite possible the one you have been speaking with was her doppelganger..."
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