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 [right][b]Interactions:[/b]  Edict[@AtomicEmperor] Ruby[@Shin Ghost Note] Anya [@Fernstone] Alizee Deux[@Estylwen]
[code] The House on the Hill[/code][/right][hr]

Sully would say everything was going well for a Coven meeting. Sure, sure, Linqian was going off on Anya and showing that Sycamore, as a whole, lacked cohesion. Sure, sure, Layla must’ve taken too big of a rip from Aislin’s bong before the meeting that had sparked some kind of panic attack, spouting out what sounded like harebrained, paranoia induced conspiracy theories. At least Sully assumed that was the case, unable to imagine that Layla was willfully deluding herself to the point where she’d just ignored Alizée’s attempted kidnapping of Jess simply to stir shit.  Worst of all, the pizza place had totally stiffed them on those little yellow peppers that come on the side. Still, nobody had pointed a magical sword against anybody’s throat and the pistol had been put away instead of placed against a head so, overall, pretty good. Ruby was even busting out the weed. Maybe she’d share it for once.

Across the bar Sully heard someone quietly cough.

[color=f49ac2]"Now, I do wanna ask: If y'all already shacked up with 317 [i]and[/i] The Temple? And you claim the kill for the nastiest Nazi on the west coast since Walt Disney? Th'fuck do you need to get wrapped up in our business for? Lynette put you up to it or something?"[/color] said Greyson.

Sully heard another faint cough as Greyson lit his cigarette.

[color=goldenrod]“You cut that cigarette with more than tobacco, Greyson? She doesn’t have anything to do with Greenwood, man,”[/color] said Sully after Greyson finished, confusing the Lynette that Greyson had been referencing and jerking his thumb towards Dominguez.  [color=goldenrod]“Anyway, Ruby already said why they’re helping us out. Greenwood’s good people. And Sycamore might be a little disorganized, and maybe some people can’t stand each other, but from what I’ve seen Sycamore’s good people too.”[/color]

Mostly, anyway. No point in highlighting that though. Sully wanted Greenwood and Sycamore to work together. He couldn’t understand why Linqian and Greyson would go out of their way to point out that Greenwood was definitely getting the short end of the stick here. If Sully took a moment to look a little bit deeper, maybe he would’ve realized that Greenwood lacked something that Sycamore had: numbers. Only a fraction of the Coven had bothered responding to Auri’s call to arm, but they still outnumbered the Greenwood Coven nearly three to one. After all, Greenwood’s greatest accomplishment—taking out Das Sonnenrad—hadn’t been achieved on their own. That was something that Sully didn’t know.

However, Sloane knew. She coughed again into her fist, annoyed that the others were smoking indoors. 8th Street also claimed to be responsible for the destruction of Das Sonnenrad, but Sloane was aware they had outside help. She just never got an answer as to who the help was until now. She wondered if it had just been an “enemy of my enemy” situation, or if Greenwood’s roots expanded further beneath 8th Street than that. She leaned over to Anya in a move that looked as if she was going to say something secretly disparaging about Linqian.

[color=silver]“Greenwood’s worked with 8th Street,”[/color] she whispered so that only Anya could hear. 

Perhaps it meant nothing. 

Perhaps they were being played.

Sloane raised her hand again, waiting her turn.

[color=goldenrod]“I get why you’d be suspicious of others, Greyson, but there’s no hustle here. If people don’t want to return the favor after Greenwood helps us settle our problems that’s no problem. It’s an alliance, not a takeover. You’re free to scurry back to run whatever [i]legitimate business[/i] whenever. It’s cool, man. Th others will help,”[/color] said Sully, turning his attention to Ruby as if he was trying to convince her this was true. [color=goldenrod]“We’ve all had a rough go, but when times get tough Sycamore always pulls through. This is the best for everyone here.”[/color]

Sully mouthed “trust me”. Before he could continue his appeal, he was interrupted by Sloane. [color=silver]“Excuse me, I have another ques—”[/color] 

Sloane coughed, this time involuntarily, as a wisp of smoke tickled her nose. Okay, fuck this  tact nonsense. She had managed to keep her cool when Linqian had pointlessly gone off on Anya and she had chosen to ignore Ruby’s eye rolling, but smoking inside was an unforgivable transgression of a shared space. Her head snapped between Greyson and Ruby, unable to determine who to bury under a mountain of shame, when her vision was drawn towards Jack as Sully hollered out, [color=goldenrod]“What the hell is that?”[/color]

Something thin and skeletal ripped out of a portal and grabbed Jack by the collar. It started to speak, but its words were lost to the sound of blood pumping in Sloane’s ears as she moved to defend one of her few friends. Her sometimes annoying, boundary ignoring friend, but a friend nonetheless. A growl in her throat erupted into a roar as she grabbed the Chrysalis Staff.

[color=silver][b]“Can we not have just one,”[/b][/color] Sloane screamed, turning towards the apparition as she jumped form her seat.
[h3][color=silver][b]“Normal.”[/b][/color][/h3]
Her chair clattered to the ground.
[h2][color=silver][b]“FUCKING!”[/b][/color][/h2]
She pointed the staff at Alizée.
[h1][color=silver][b][i]“MEETING!?”[/i][/b][/color][/h1]
A swarm of spectral, blue butterflies burst from around the Chrysalis Staff, crystalizing instantaneously and crashing upon the ground where they shattered into a fine powder. The tip of the staff pulsated between a dim blue and orange light as Sloane tried to curse Alizée, wisps of orange light leaving trails of blue lux crawled around Alizée’s body like larva. As long as the staff stayed on the apparition, assuming it could even work on one, Alizée would begin to feel her body start to harden and become more and more difficult to move until she would be turned into nothing more than a colorful statue.