Avatar of Mixtape Ghost N
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Status

Recent Statuses

4 days ago
Current Did somebody say... hookers?
1 like
15 days ago
"Never could trust you, I still got your location on, fell out of love, I delete all the nudes out your phone. Can't get a reaction out of me, that's what you want."
25 days ago
You have to live every day as if you've dropped your pants and told the whole world to suck your dick.
3 likes
25 days ago
so are these nuts
3 likes
1 mo ago
"We have got to try and find DOOM!" "Good luck!"
1 like

Bio

"You're a fine warrior. Call me sentimental..."







Currently updating...




"I'm a dominant..."
THE DISAPPOINTMENT CLUB
_______________________________
@Spoopy Scary
@Junkmail
@Maxx
@Luminous Beings
@Dragonbud
OTHER SCRUBS
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@Zombiedude101
@Lord Wraith
@FernStone
@Atrophy
[@Moth]
@Skai
@silvermist1116
SETTINGS
_______________________________
The Tyrant Shell Universe - Mechapunk (Mecha and Cyberpunk mixed together).
The Black Fall Universe - Modern-Superhuman tale.
LINKS
_______________________________
The Collective - My Discord Server.
The Ghost Lounge - My 1x1 Thread.
The Ghost Archives - Character storage.

Most Recent Posts

Mirage Springs NPCs

Multiversal Threats

The Child & The Ancients

The Elite

The House of Cards Mafia

The 317

Dollhouse

The.Vulture


??? | The Vulture | It/Is
*Screech*

Description:
The Vulture is one of the Three Calamities, formidable beings of destruction that roam the All-Verse, leaving devastation in their wake. The Vulture is a nightmarish fusion of bird and beast, with colossal wings that blot out the sun, feathers like dark steel, and glowing eyes. Its body is a grotesque abomination of skeletal remains and decayed flesh, perpetually decaying and renewing. Its shadow brings a sense of dread as it soars from dimension to dimension. It is drawn to places steeped in death, from ancient battlefields to mass graves, where it feeds on the energy of the deceased and grows even more powerful. The Vulture's passage is marked by a resurgence of the dead, who claw their way out of the earth to serve their new master.


Abstraction:
Abominable - Deathstorm.
The Vulture's Abstraction grants it unparalleled control over death and decay. With each beat of its colossal wings, the Vulture summons winds that carry necrotic energy that reanimates corpses, transforming them into twisted, degraded versions of their former selves. The resurrected dead are not mere shambling zombies; they are imbued with necrotic energy that enhances their strength and ferocity, making them formidable opponents. If a Paranormal-Being is resurrected, they retain the ability to use their Abstraction, adding to the Vulture's already immense power. The Vulture’s power to raise the dead is not confined by time. It can call forth those who perished centuries ago and the recently deceased, drawing them from their graves and into its service. This resurrection has no known limit, allowing the Vulture to amass vast armies of the undead wherever it goes.

The Vulture can sense the presence of death across dimensions and draws it to areas where death is most prevalent, such as ancient battlefields, mass graves, or disaster sites. Wherever there is death, the Vulture follows, ensuring it is never without a supply of corpses to reanimate. In addition, its colossal wings, made of feathers like steel, allow it to soar through the skies with incredible speed and agility. These wings are not just for flight; with a mighty flap, the Vulture can generate destructive waves of air, capable of toppling buildings and tearing through the most formidable defenses. These air blasts are imbued with the same necrotic energy that fuels its resurrection winds, causing anything they touch to decay and reanimate any dead within its path.

Despite the Vulture's potent necromancy, its physical capabilities are as equally frightening. Its body is solid and durable, a grotesque amalgamation of skeletal remains and decayed flesh. It can withstand immense damage, shrugging off all but the most potent Paranormal attacks. Furthermore, the Vulture can teleport between dimensions, spreading its influence across the All-Verse.
Goro.Hatanaka


28 | Hatanaka Goro | He/Him
"We can change the world by reaching out and connecting to others, even people we personally dislike."

Description:
The embodiment of everything the Hatanakas stood for: honorable, courageous, adventurous, generous, and protective of everyone he loved. He is also seen as the gold standard in the Old Coven.

The older brother of Yoko Hatanaka, Goro was, like Yoko, born in Shirakawa-Go, and his early life was marked by books, studying, and learning how to become the next patriarch of the Hatanaka Family. From a young age, he showed wisdom beyond his years and potential like no other, and his parents put their utmost faith in Goro by getting him the best education they could afford. Though the boy knew there was more to the Hatanakas than just being old money, those old books they kept locked away in the basement told different things. After digging through them, Goro learned about the world of magic and could only feel wonder. He read about the adventures the Hatanakas went on and what they were capable of - where others would see it as tales of fantasy; Goro knew that all the information lined up.

Naturally, the boy kept this to himself but looked at his home village in a new light. However, one night changed everything for Goro; he found himself facing one of the beings in his books: a Yokai. He got thoroughly trounced and almost killed, and this event unlocked a new potential in Goro: his Kindling-Event. He got to talk to his ancestors, who went on all those journeys, made all those weapons, and saved their world so many times. It renewed him with a new sense of purpose... even though the Yokai was still kicking his ass. However, he was saved by a girl with a magical ōdachi, who introduced herself as one of the Spirit Wardens that protected Japan: Akira Shinjo, and then the two parted ways.

Afterward, Goro returned to those books and read so much about one place: The Hatanaka Sanctuary. He found the gate, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any way to get in, so he had to go to America to meet with his grandfather, who taught him how to get in. After Goro got in, he found a place of wonder and amazement, his private universe, and entered the castle. Goro found the remaining Hatanaka spellbooks and vigorously studied them, learning all the spells he could. It was easy for him, more accessible than most, as he learned the three cornerstones of the Hatanaka Spellbook: Ritual, Armandant, and Weaponmaster.

Goro returned to his grandfather, who was amazed he learned about all of this as a teenager; he called Goro a prodigy. Goro would need to use these spells to their fullest potential when the Stygian Snake attacked St. Portwell. One of the Yokai's minions almost killed Yoko, but he saved her with one of the blades he created and joined the Sycamore Tree Coven. He was one of the influential members of the Old Coven, who used his talent with Orange Lux to boost the Abstractions of heavy hitters like Trinity and create artifacts and weapons for the Coven to use. In between that, he was managing his crazy sister and trying to temper her ego and rage and stop her from causing too much trouble in the Old Coven. During this time, Goro got close to several members of the Old Coven, such as the Blackmore siblings, Kenshiro Murakin, Stormy Carson, Jack Hawthorn, Britney Williams, Kari Wilson, Jinhai Han, Sloane Faris, and so forth.

The Stygian Snake was defeated, and Goro mourned all who were lost, but their time in America ended, and Goro and Yoko were sent back to Japan. This created a new sense of purpose in Goro, who returned to the Old Coven for a bit before its eventual dissolution. However, Goro knew that unlocking the true potential in magic required one to connect to others and learn from them. When he graduated, he attended university in St. Portwell to be close to the magic and his Old Coven members. He collaborated a lot with the lots of Kenshiro Murakin and Kari Wilson to create several different artifacts. Though he was initially disappointed in his sister for turning her back on magic, she eventually came around, and he trained her in all that he had learned.

However, their Grandfather was on his deathbed, and his dying wish was to find their family's missing artifacts and reinvigorate the Hatanaka Legacy. Goro knew he was up to the task, but his rambunctious sister wanted to come along, and while he would have loved for her to come along, she just wasn't ready. He told her to train more in the Hatanaka Sanctuary, then set off. He kept in touch and returned constantly to help Yoko with her training...

... Until he went missing while chasing after the Aberration Killer in New York.


Abstraction:
Adept - Orange-Lux. Channeler:
Ritual: Goro's mastery of Ritual Discipline centers on channeling Orange Lux through ancient rituals steeped in profound symbolism and spiritual connection. Using Soul's Radiance, he enhances allies' Abstractions with kanji-inscribed stones, boosting their strength. Song of the Heart fortifies Emotional-Fields against magical influences. Fortitude of Spirit reinforces and shields allies from emotional and mental manipulations. Harmony of Ascendance links participants to empower a chosen individual while temporarily dampening others' abilities. Spirit Ward enables Goro to imbue locations with barriers that prevent Apparitions and Apparition-based Aberrations from entering.

Armantant Goro enhances mundane objects with formidable magical abilities through precise Orange Lux manipulation. Sharpness imbues objects with supernatural cutting prowess, glowing with Orange Lux to slice effortlessly through materials. Armor-piercing grants objects the ability to breach magical defenses temporarily. Hardening reinforces objects with unparalleled durability and offensive strength. Extend magically elongates objects. Impact magnifies objects' kinetic force. Absorption converts incoming magical energy into stored power within objects and can be released as an explosion. Parry erects temporary defensive barriers that deflect physical attacks. Flash grants Goro brief bursts of incredible speed to deliver devastating strikes. Swift temporarily boosts his speed and reflexes for agile combat maneuvers. Disruption imbues objects with the ability to disable the effects of any artifact they strike temporarily. Awaken amplifies the magical properties of any artifact Goro holds.

Weaponmaster: Goro's Weaponmaster Discipline transcends traditional enchantment, harnessing collaborative magic with other Paranormals to empower objects. Through rituals and ancestral symbols guided by Orange Lux, Empower enhances weapons and artifacts with versatile magical attributes. Whether imbuing a weapon with elemental fury alongside a Red Lux Adept or granting an artifact truth-revealing abilities with a White Lux Adept.
Mass-Production Goro's Magnum Opus, a spell of profound ingenuity and cunning. Goro channels his Orange Lux into a designated artifact through an intricate ritual and replicates these attributes across multiple other objects. Each object imbued with this spell inherits a diminished version of the Artifact's original enchantment.





Edict

Kenshiro
Interactions: None.
Britney's House > The Coastal Harbor Mall.




It was Sunday.

Britney woke up in her bed; Greyson was beside her like normal after their ‘fun’ a few nights ago, she felt he should be promoted to the bed at the very least. It was cruel to make him sleep in the bed like some bum, after all. Yesterday, she met with Lila, then she met with Stormy, Adora, Amara, and Jack, and then after that, she met with Lynette (in which Amara displayed all the reasons why she gave Britney very bad vibes). It was exhausting navigating their problems, complexities, and the fact that she had to walk on eggshells - which was her fault; she wouldn’t dance around that. Yet, all that was on Britney’s mind was what Kenshiro said at Kari’s house…

"... The Paths are secure: Master Kai's Wardenry was perfected in The Viscous, and he had thousands of equivalent years to perfect their security... Noone outside the Palette Clans have knowledge of their workings. By my estimation, looking at her Coin Collection, there were no broken knots or undone ties, meaning they've remained bundled and nobody found them in the freezer. If she had any sort of hand in this, she was either brainwashed, or forced! But if 8th Street was breathing down her neck, then Emily G. Reed is the first fucking person I'm interested in seeing. Because I already...-"
Kenshiro


While Britney admitted that what came afterward was something she didn’t like one bit - and it was something that she could have handled much, much (... You trying to lowkey - but not lowkey - put the blame on whatever you think happened to Kari, on me, Kenshiro? Because you do realize that, considering her abstraction and the pattern in the murders, she is more than likely to be Father Wolf, right? Right?), better. She got defensive when she should have just let Kenshiro and Clancy run their mouths and not give them the time of day. Yet, there was one crucial factor here - one that probably went flying over the heads of everyone present except for Britney. One important thing in Kenshiro’s rant that kept looping through Britney’s head:

"If she had any sort of hand in this, she was either brainwashed or forced."
Kenshiro


It was clear Kenshiro didn't trust her, and while she didn't particularly care for his opinion, the implication was clear: if Kari was involved, it wasn't her own volition. But who had that kind of power? And why? She replayed the conversation again in, dissecting every word. Before Britney just sighed and gently grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand, she sent Auri a quick good morning text before asking for Kenshiro's number. A few moments later, she received his number, and her finger hovered over the call button for a few moments. Before she gently slid out of bed and walked down the hallway... then hit call.

”Kenshiro? Heeeey! It's Britney,” Britney tried to say in a chipper tone. ”Can we talk?”




Kenshiro hadn’t been terribly thrilled about a call from Britney Williams, but he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of Coven business. The same situation affected the both of them, so there was little time to bicker back and forth when work had to be done.
Like most meetings, neutral ground with Blind witnesses proved to be the most intelligent venue, so Ken wound up wearing some more “typical” Shimmer clothing. Sweatpants and a sweater, which easily hid his jingling and rustling tactical vest full of spell materials in case the worst happened.

Still the wooden sandals, however… And as he clacked his way down one of the Coastal Harbor Mall’s thoroughfare, he kept an eye out for the face he recognized. Though, he got two faces. Ken mostly remembered Greyson Devola as a blank face; many told him and advised him to stay away, as he was involved in some sort of criminal element here in America.
But Ken was used to Tennogama, well known as the Emperor of Dirt in their histories for his early life spent as an underworld clan boss.

Pleasantries were exchanged, but it only took them getting to a slightly more private spot before it was down to business. And it was already frustrating, given the topic.

”Look, I know I got defensive back there, and you're right to feel the way you do,” Britney began. ”But, I wanted to discuss the nature of the security you placed on Kari's vault... I just can't get what you said about Kari being brainwashed or something out of my head.”

While Greyson munched away on a soft pretzel, Ken’s sour face turned away and he cleared his throat in nervousness.
"W-well… If you must know, I have it on good authority that the chances of Kari being alive are high. So, it’ll just be a matter of finding her. Which means, yes… Mind control. What of our School’s masterwork concerns you in its security features?”

Greyson laughed in his seat, dipping the pretzel into some cheese.
”Holy fuck, you could knock the wind out of an air balloon with syntax like that.”

”Cut it out, Greyson,” Britney laughed, giving him a playful slap on his thigh. Before she put her hands together on the table and looked Kenshiro head on, ”I’m not going to give a thousand theories on what happened to Kari because we’ll be here all day - what I do want to know is exactly how it works. I know you’re confident in it, but, you know...”

Britney shrugged, eyes drifting to the side. ”... Infinite possibilities, and all.”

"I have been considering that…”
Ken definitely didn’t look like he wanted to be having this conversation, but ultimately it was Coven business. It had to be discussed. But, he wasn’t going to let Britney Williams have information for free. Not after what he’d learned from Kari.
"But, frankly, you’re the last person who I want to go over my business with… We weren’t particularly close during our time together all those years ago; and back then, I didn’t have any inclination as to what you were doing. Didn’t hear anything until after I came back a few years ago.”

Pausing, his hand slipped down into his sweater pocket and lightly brushed against the Emperor’s Tanto, only to grab his water bottle for a drink instead. It made a gentle squealing noise as he chugged away, water replaced in the bottle by air. Greyson’s eyes narrowed, and he cleared his throat.
”Frog in your throat, Ken?”

Ken shook his head in reply.
"No, just good sense.”
He took another small tug of water, head turning back to Britney.
"You hurt a lot of people, Britney. And I don’t think I’ve heard a single person suggest that you could have something to do with what’s been happening.”

Greyson slowly released the last bit of pretzel he had, sliding the paper wrapping and the little cup of cheese wiz on the table they were sitting at.
”Now, I didn’t hear you accuse anyone just now, right?” he asked in a suddenly serious tone.

”Now, hold on,” Britney put her hands up as she leaned back in her chair. ”What do you mean by that, Kenshiro?” Britney raised an eyebrow.

"I merely suggest-” Ken began, his face unflinching under the scrutiny of the duo. "-that you have a great many enemies. People who, a decade ago, may’ve been friends that you took advantage of. Lots of pain spread out unevenly across the board… Someone looking for revenge, because not enough was done to help them.”

Throwing his hands up into a lazy shrug, Ken flicked his fingers and tilted back in his chair. It hovered motionlessly as he sat in it, then started to rock gently.
"I’m not saying you’re taking your plants and going around playing Father Wolf… But if we get through this and find out our killer is one of your victims, I won’t be shocked. Does that make any sort of sense?” he cooly asked.

”Oh, yo, fuck this guy, Brit. Come on, don’t fucking humor that shit.” Greyson snarled, throwing up his hand dismissively.

”Yeah, you know what? Forget I asked,” Britney rolled her eyes. ”Let’s circle back to why I even hit you up in the first place: I just want to know the details of the lock. There could have been something you missed, that’s all.”

Kenshiro smiled, giggled, and tilted his head back.
"It’s a dark fucking forest… You know? Like, the realm it all exists in is just a great, long set of tunnels between the walls of realities. Something savvy enough, smart enough, or strong enough to claw through reality from a different point could potentially travel outside the beaten path and find the caches. Mine was fairly rudimentary, otherwise unprotected. I hadn’t considered it at the time, because I saw no sign of damage to the structure.”

He had untitled his chair, slapping back down and looking at the both of them.
"But I travel through the Hidden Pathways constantly; never once have I found any sort of disturbance from outside or inside. It’s just a bamboo forest. Thick, like, to the point where it’s solid. Some people think it's a bamboo dimension, but I don’t know myself.”

”So, Kenshiro,” Britney began. ”Do you think it’s possible someone ‘smart enough’ could have popped the lock without you noticing or leaving a mark?”

Kenshiro's lips curled inward as his face grew disappointed.
"No, I figured I would just waste your time talking…” he responded, one hand making a questioning gesture.

”Sarcasm too? Dude, be happy I'm not-”
Greyson glanced at Britney, then took a deep breath and stopped while he still had air around his head.
”W-whatever… Are you serious or not?”

Ken grinned.
”Yes, Greyson… I'm very serious. I saw no damage or disturbances, and my initial summation was that it was untouched. But I'm not a smart man. I've placed a great deal of faith throughout my life in methods created by someone who… I have questionable faith toward now.”

”So, in other words, there is a possibility that someone else could have broken in,” Britney said with a nod of her head. ”It isn’t much to go off of, but it’s now fifty-fifty on whether or not it could be Kari that popped it. Though, we’re going to drive ourselves crazy with the whole ‘is Kari Father Wolf or not’ conversation.”

She sighed. ”And if you don’t mind me asking, who created the seals? And don’t worry, I ain’t got nothing but time today!” She laughed, looking at Edict. ”... Well, not sure about him, though.”
”You know damn well I’m on your time, Girl.” Greyson grinned, gently tapping her arm with the back of his hand before scooping up the last bit of pretzel.

Kenshiro shook his head and smiled.
”Who created the concepts, or who put them there in the first place? The former is an ancient Sage called Kai of the Ten Paths. He was lost in a realm called Viscous for many thousands of years, and it’s said that he perfected mastery over all ten colors of Lux, and when he was done, he opened a hole into the Hidden Path, which he carved through himself to create the interdimensional gateways that we of the Palette Clans use to this day…”
His finger had been skirting across the table, leaving a glowing purple and gold trail that luminesced and faded away in an instant.

”But, the latter was me. I put the seals on the wall, made the connection, built the hidden coin slot and the wall scroll that I had plastered to the wall with my own energy. And it wasn’t tampered with.”

”So, again, it can go either way, and we’re just gonna waste our time coming up with conspiracy theories,” Britney laughed before she stopped to roll her eyes. ”So, do you know what exactly is in those notes? An idea? I’m not sure why we should even care that the notes were taken in the first place unless Kari was already in some deep shit.”

Kenshiro shook his head with a frown.
”She was doing a lot of trans-dimensional research. I don’t know why, but certain realms I was in that were more affected by the Stygian Snake were ones that she would… Pay attention to me more? I could feel her watching. Hard not to, like a warm hug.”
His eyes narrowed.
”I can only assume her work was important. She’s been in demand from the groups around the city for quite some time now.”

”I mean…” Britney then awkwardly laughed, putting her hands together on the table. ”... It’s not hard to see why. Information is power, more power than everyone in the Coven combined.” She paused for a moment.

”Just the Stygian Snake? What about the other multiversal threats flying around like the Floral Wreath?”

He shrugged again, shaking his head.
”Nothing’s been heavier than that… But I also can’t say for sure because I-” his voice wavered, got a bit smaller, and he turned his head. ”-don’t, really, know what the Floral Wreath’s influence looks like. I mean I can assume, but I’ve seen hundreds of planar jungles.”

”Well, the Floral Wreath looks like a plant-zombie-apocalypse,” Britney explained. ”... Did you know if Kari was smart enough to cipher it all?”

Ken’s confusion turned to gentle fondness. He thought about all the times he came back to Kari waiting for him, knowing he was on his way home, and seeing her buried in some notebook.
”I think she’s smart enough to do anything she puts her mind to…”

Britney nodded her head.

”I think that answers all of my questions, Kenshiro,” Britney said as she climbed up to her feet, and gently grabbed Edict’s hand. ”Thank you for your time… let’s go Greyson.”

She led Greyson out of the mall…. When they received a particular text from Auri.



The Greenwood Coven.






Interactions: None.
The Coastal Harbor Mall.




Aislin strutted around her apartment, phone pressed to her ear as a devious smile spread across her face.

It connected.

“Heyyy, Adora. You free? I got a coupon for free shakes at the mall - you wanna come with?”

”… Sure thing, Aislin,” Adora answered. ”I’m not doing anything right now… I’ll be there in an hour.”

An hour came and went, and Aislin found herself standing in front of the Shake Shack at St. Portwell’s Coastal Harbor mall. She was dressed in a black hoodie and rainbow leggings, sneakers scuffing against the polished floor. In her hands were two shakes, one she was contently sipping on, waiting for Adora to meet her at the designated spot.

”... Hey there,” Adora said as she walked up, wearing an orange hoodie (which she had her hands tucked into the pockets of), sweatpants, a matching facemask and some running shoes. She pulled a hand out of her pocket pointed at the shakes,

”... That's the only one you drunk out of, right?” Adora laughed, her smile hidden behind her face mask. ”... I don't think we that close, ha.”

Aislin laughed, shaking her head. “Nah, nah, I would never, you only get the best. Untouched!”

She held out the other shake, grinning, “I hope you like vanilla.”

”Wow, I feel like you’re calling me basic,” Adora laughed, as she took the shake and pulled her facemask down.

“What? Noo!”

As Aislin sipped on her own shake, she pointed to an outlet down the hall, past the rushing bodies. “I heard Suncore’s got some new games and vinyls in, wanna check them out?”

Unbeknownst to them, there was a grey figure casually leaned up against the railing of the second floor, watching them from above. They had a grey hoodie on, cap and hood pulled over to obscure their face. But if anyone would look closely, they’d realize it was none other than Luna, sneaking around as usual.

Adora shrugged.

”Sure. Lead the way, sis,” She responded.

Aislin gleefully tugged on Adora’s sleeve as they headed into Suncore. Keeping up with the hype of digital downloads, Suncore tried to keep customers coming back with their wide variety of exclusive vinyls, physical copies of games, and merchandise. Lots of merchandise.

Aislin hopped over to the vinyls section, sucking on her shake until her eyes widened. Pulling out a vinyl of one of Erykah Badu’s albums, Mama’s Gun, she held it up for Adora to look at. “Hey? Isn’t this that band you used to like?”

Luna’s grey figure was half hidden behind the mountain of plushies, pretending to examine them oh-so carefully.

Adora chuckled, ”... Erykah Badu ain't a band, she’s a singer!” She grabbed the vinyl, then presented it to Aislin. ”... This album is a classic! Dunno if it's your thing, lots of funk!”

Aislin smirked, “If you think it’s that cool it’d be a crime if I didn’t at least check it out, riiight?”

Two people walked up to them, and it took Adora a second to recognize them.

“... OOOOH SHIT!” James Carmicheal loudly said. He walked up, wearing a matching black Nike hoodie, sweatpants, and Air Force 1’s. He had on a black backpack with the Nike swoosh.

“... James, don’t be so loud,” Naomi said with a roll of her eyes. She was wearing a black romper with a leather jacket over it and some combat boots.

“Oh my bad,” James grinned. “... ooooooh shit.” He whispered, only to get another eye roll from Naomi. He looked at Adora and said, “You’re the one who beat the breaks off that girl at the Halloween Festival!”

Aislin’s jaw dropped a bit as her head tilted.

Adora shuffled in her feet, grabbing her arm. ”... Yeah, don’t mention that.”

“Say less, say less,” James said, “We were hoping to get your number so we can link again sometime, but uh…”

“... Duty calls,” Naomi chimed in.

“Who’s your friend?” James asked.

”... Oh, this is my good friend, Aislin,” Adora answered.

Aislin coughed a bit before she shot a smirk towards Adora.

“You dont think I'd recognize my new friends?”

She warmly extended a hand out to James and Naomi. ”Good to see you two again.”

But then she paused, a lightbulb going on in her head as she side-eyed Adora. ”So thats's why you were covered in blood…”

”... We’re not talking about it!” Adora raised her voice, awkwardly smiling.

“Yeah, I definitely remembered you!” James laughed before getting an elbow from Naomi.

“It's great to see you again, sis,”

A phone had been half propped up by a huge duck plushie as Luna discreetly snapped photo after photo of an interaction between Sycamore and Greenwood.

”Small world, ain't it?” Adora said before she took a sip of her shake.

“We just run into Sycamore everywhere we go! Sycamore! Sycamore! Sycamore,” James laughed.

“How are ya’ll doing?” Naomi smiled, “Have Jack talked with ya’ll, yet?”

“Doing alright. Had a, well, run in with 8th Street, but we’re alright.” Aislin admitted, before her head turned in the direction of Naomi. “Jack? No, not that I think so, nothing special. Why? What’s up?”

Naomi shrugged, “We briefly spoke of an alliance between Greenwood and Sycamore. He said he would bring it up to ya’ll, but it sounds like he didn't get a chance.” She laughed.

Aislin stared for a moment before her eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she sucked in a gasp.

“Noooo waaaay… You mean I'll get to be friends with you guys twice over!?”

She did a little happy dance on the spot, shake swishing in her hands, and Adora just broke out laughing.

“I didn't think this day could get any better! Have you talked with Auri about it yet?” Aislin said.

Naomi shook her head, but couldn’t help but smile.

“I gave Jackaboy my number,” Naomi shrugged. “He hit me up every now and then to touch bases, but that’s it. We haven’t talked to Auri yet. We would like to because of our alliance with the 317. We could have like a whole ass triumvirate!”

“Love it when you use big words,” James grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder.

”I mean,” Adora shrugged. ”Jack mentioned it last night, but the issue is that the Coven is a bit…”

She awkwardly laughed. ”... Disorganized. I mean some people are trying to organize it, but, um, heh…” She laughed.

”... It’s a bit of a lost cause.”

“I mean,” Naomi shrugged. “How bad can it be? You don’t have a goofball like Ruby as a leader.”

”... Auri’s a giant goofball,” Adora’s face went flat. ”I wouldn’t trust her with my life.”

“No worse than Ruby.” Naomi shrugged again. “She shows up to half our fights drunk.”

“Auri may be a bit late on the catch, but she cares about us,” Aislin smiled softly at Adora. “Leadership that cares is always a good thing, though I do totally agree on the whole uh, getting a bit more organized thing.”

Aislin turned to Naomi, speaking up after a sip of her shake. “We should totally talk to Auri about this! Banding together now is such a great idea.” Before Aislin grew a little self-conscious. “I dunno if Auri will listen to me, though…”

Her gaze flicked to Adora. “Who would Auri listen to the best…?”

”Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”Maybe Amara?”

“I mean, we can just hit her up - ya’ll dying and now ain’t the time to play games,” Naomi shrugged. “Ruby wants a big sit down between the two of us anyway before we decide on anything.”

”Yeah, why wouldn’t she listen to you? Did you piss you off little miss sunshine?” Adora turned to Aislin and laughed.

Aislin smiled, feeling bolstered up from Adora’s comment. “Aha, I didn’t make Auri made, I don’t make anyone mad- at least,I don’t think so.”

She turned back to Naomi, “Well, the sooner the better, I think. Maybe I’ll even talk with Faith and the rest of the 317 about alliance with the Sycamore - can’t hurt, right?”

The muffled thunk of a hard-nosed plushie meeting the ground, caused Aislin to turn her head, catching a glimpse of someone ducking down behind the mountain of merchandise.

“Uhh… guys? I think we’re being watched.”

”Shit…” Adora said under her breath.

Naomi smiled awkwardly before she asked.

“... Where they at?”

Aislin pointed to the duck plushie display, “Uh, pretty sure they’re behind that.”

Meanwhile, Luna was sweating, crouched, back pressed against the wooden display, phone squeezed in her hand and eyes to the door. She still had a chance to run…

“Sweet Jesus… Why did you point?!” Naomi shook her head before her glowing webs appeared on the floor in front of Luna. Creating a net that would catch her if she wasn’t paying attention.

“Sorry, sorry.” Aislin said sheepishly, one palm waving frantically.

“Shit-” Luna gritted her teeth, her gaze on the webs at the last minute. She dove to the side, wings giving her a boost, in an effort to dodge the webs and make it to the door. Thus, Naomi gave both of her hands a wave, as she created a wide net of webs to block Luna in.

And Luna ran right into the webbing, her momentum unfortunately making it much, much harder to dodge the wall of webs. She crashed to the floor, her momentum halted, wings getting tangled up in the webbing. She immediately formed a white knife in her hands, attempting to hack away at the webs, whilst pressing another hand to her hood, trying to keep her identity hidden. The knife got stuck in the webs.

Coming from the floors and ceiling were more webs, intending to bind Luna.

“... One of ya’lls, help out!” Naomi asked as James dropped his backpack and pulled out Shango’s Axe…

Luna tried to reach for a physical knife in her pocket, but found her motion more limited. She stretched against the webbing, ebbing out the knife bit by bit until she had a decent grip on it, pressing the release that flicked the blade out. Tossing it once in the air, she switched her grip so the blade was downward, attempting to cut away at the webs that stuck to her arm-

Before she froze, her sunglass-covered eyes on the axe. The axe. The one Mother had coveted for years before turning her eyes elsewhere… The axe that had the raw power of mother nature…

Aislin had been furiously sucking on her shake, anxious, before she stepped in. Wood from the duck display table bent into ribbons, reaching for Luna's feet and constricting around them. Luna furiously kicked her feet, but to no avail.

Luna cursed under her breath, her wings fizzling out before coming back in full force, temporarily freed from the webs. She flew hard, wings flapping furiously as she tried with all her might to break free, eyes on the door.

Naomi waved her hands, creating more webs - but James grabbed her arm and said,

“Slow your roll!” James said, holding the axe with a grin on his face.

“But-”

“... Not in here!” James laughed. “I remember when we were discreet!

Then he leaned in, and whispered something in her ear.

Naomi sighed.

The webs disappeared.

“... After her ass!” James shouted.

Aislin watched James and Naomi's exchange with a slack jaw, then shrugged with a grimace, and released the wood ribbons wrapped around Luna's legs.

Luna didn't bother to look back. With her newfound freedom, she took off, an arc of light with her wings through Suncore's metal detector and down the mall's hall.

Aislin exchanged a bewildered glance with Adora before dashing out the front door of Suncore, “She's getting away!”

“That’s the point!” James laughed as he ran past Aislin with a grin on his face. “Too many eyes in here! You wanna interrogate someone in broad daylight? In front of dozens of people?”

“Fair enough!” Aislin said with a matching grin as she ran.

Naomi quickly bolted past Aislin with speed… while Adora downed as much of the shake as she could before she broke off into a sprint - one that was faster than one could expect.

“Ah, shoulda laid off the donuts-” Aislin said, already feeling somewhat winded, watching the others sprint past her.

Luna only spared a half-glance behind her, watching the group give chase. She gritted her teeth and sailed directly for the front automatic doors of the mall, slowing down for a fraction of a second so they would open, before launching herself into the sky outside.

“Perfect!” James laughed as he quickly picked up speed, forgetting all about subtlety as he glided along the ground after Luna. When he made it outside, he made a finger gun at Luna, before letting off a stream of electricity intended to stun her.

Naomi ran over to his side, followed by Adora. Aislin was a few paces behind Adora, but still running at top speed.

Luna quickly whipped out a white shield, but due to it having no insulating ability, she was quickly overcome by James's electrical attack.

Before getting too high in the air, Luna was stunned, hitting the ground hard and rolling to a stop. Smoke and dust fell off her form as she struggled to move, hood still low over her face.

“F-fuckin’ hell, again…?!” Luna could be heard murmuring, still gripping the knife tightly in her hand as she tried to half-sit up.

Naomi quickly stuck her hand out and let out a net of glowing white webs that would bind Luna. James approached Luna, sticking his hand out, which cracked with electricity. He grinned as he said,

“Drop the knife, sweetheart, and I’m saying that for your own sake because it’s conductive!” He commanded with a laugh. “Tell me, why were you taking pics of us? If you wanted us to model for you, all you had to do was ask! We don’t bite!”

Naomi rolled her eyes before she pulled out her cellphone and sent a quick text message to the Greenwood group chat, letting them know what had happened. “Let’s not do anything hasty! We just want to ask some questions.”

Adora walked up and kneeled behind the back of a car, taking cover as she watched the scene unfold. She pulled out her cell phone and took some pictures of her own. Aislin crouched down beside her, slowly sipping on her shake that had somehow survived the run.

“Not how I pictured our shopping spree to go…”

”... I don’t got money like that, anyway,” Adora shrugged.

Luna twisted in the net to no avail - she was stuck. Her shaded eyes glanced from Naomi to James, weighing her options, before she conceded with a low growl, and dropped the knife.

One could almost hear the wry aloofness in her voice as she spoke, little mouth twisting into a grin.

“You got me all mistaken. I wasn't taking pictures of you. I was just lost.”

“Hmph,” James said, “The way you bolted paints a different story, sis...”

“Who are you, then?” Naomi asked, shooting a strand of web to pull the knife away from Luna. “Maybe this is just a big misunderstanding…”

”I’d be damned if this is a misunderstanding,” Adora said. ”I’m going to send these pictures to Auri, Jack, Amara, and Stormy… and Brit…”

Aislin sucked in a breath, “Don't forget Drake.”

”Maaan, fuck Blackmore.” Adora whispered back at her.

Luna's eyes hovered over to the car Adora and Aislin were hiding behind, eyes tightening. A few seconds past, before she grit her teeth, hanging a bit limper in the web.

Fuck… fine. Luna Inoue. I… was a Sycamore. Burned a few bridges, and now I spy to feel like I'm a part of the team. Happy?”

”Wait…” Adora trailed off.

“... That’s really strange, you know,” Naomi noted, narrowing her eyes at Luna.

“Yeah! Maybe you should get a hobby, lady!” James laughed, electricity still crackling. “Stalking people ain’t healthy!”

“You know phones exist, sis?”

”Luna Inuoe… Brit told me that she was selling us out to someone….” Adora trailed off, tapping her chin a few times. ”Phantasia… Vorpal. She was gunning for Brit, Jack, Stormy, and Auri for sealing the Void Heart…”

“Sooooooooo….” James trailed off.

“Yeah, ‘sooooooooooo’,” Naomi trailed off, keeping her eyes on Luna. “You’re after-”

”... Why are you spying on us, Luna…?” Adora stepped up, both of her hands in her pockets. She kept her eyes on Luna, absolutely fearless, as she walked a circle around the incapacitated capo. ”Didn’t you also get caught at Kari’s house by Blackmore and Stormy…?”

She narrowed her eyes. ”... Some fuckin’ spy you are.

“Wow, burnt,” James chuckled.

”So, tell me, you say you’re Sycamore but burned bridges, but also want to ‘feel like you’re apart of the team’...” Adora came to a stop, before she asked, ”... Why don’t you just be part of the team then? All we’re is trying to do is survive, and your mafia is gunning for us. Can’t you see how fucked up that is? How fucked up your logic is?”

There was a long pause as Luna’s eyes locked on Adora, watching her as she made her little circle. Before her gaze dropped to the ethereal webs sticking her in place. There was a hoarseness in her voice.

“Was. Was gunning.” Her fists clenched as she sat there. “House of Cards is already burning. The new boss doesn’t care for Sycamore, for my pet project. No, they have their eyes set elsewhere.”

Luna let out a sick, sad chuckle, looking up at Adora. “So it’s just me. There’s no one else, Adora. Just a sad little spy that hasn’t kicked the habit yet, that absolutely loves those eyes of yours on me.”

“That’s uh, actually kinda weird.” Aislin slowly approached, half-hiding behind Adora as she gazed down at Luna. “Are you… really that lonely? Isn’t this a bit extreme? Why do you want to hurt Auri and the rest?”

Luna’s eyes pinched behind her sunglasses, and she wiggled uncomfortably in the webs. “Ugh. How do you expect me to answer all that, Aislin? I don’t want to hurt anyone. The person who wanted that is… well, she’s dead now.”

Luna sighed, trying to lean forward in the webbings as her gaze locked on Adora. “Listen. I have more evidence to believe 8th Street is hiding something. A lot of your problems, mine too, can be solved by capturing one of their members and interrogating the ever-living shit out of them. They know something, something that we need if we’re going to come out on top of this. And I’m referring to your Father Wolf, not anything else…”

Adora was silent.

”... If you’re talking about 8th jacking Kari’s notes,” Adora paused to roll her eyes. ”We already know.”

She shook her head, ”But, if you got something else; you can share it with me and I can pass it along with the Coven and you can keep it moving. I don't trust you far as I can throw you.”

Luna sighed. “I don't have anything else… yet. But… come on, do I look like a threat to you?”

She gestured with her hands that could still move a bit. “Nothing for old time's sake…? What will it take to convince you I’m on your side?”

Adora was silent.

”... I don't know you, Luna - and I ain’t the sentimental type,” Adora began. ”You should be asking yourself that question… ‘How can I, an open stalker and a traitor, convince Adora Phoenix-Prescott to trust me?’ And don’t act like you didn't have options because you had a lotta them!”

“... I wouldn’t,” Naomi quietly added.

“What did the others say?” James asked Naomi.

She quickly pulled out her phone and said, “Jess, Ruby and Amelia are about to come over.”

Luna tilted her head at Adora. ”I wouldn't have let them hurt you, you know. Your my project, after all.”

At the mention of more coming, she repressed an eye roll. “More Greenwood? Adora, you might as well call Auri, make your alliance while you’re at it.”A spluttered giggle escaped Aislin’s throat, before she covered up for it in a cough. After taking a few breaths to recover, she turned to Adora. “What are we gonna do? We can’t just keep Luna tied up forever…”

Adora was silent before she took a few steps closer to Luna.

”Look. You. I don't know what’s going through your head, but take the hint,” Adora began. ”We want nothing to do with you and your mafia. I will stop you if you try to worm your way back in.”

Adora rolled her eyes as she walked back to Aislin, and said to Naomi, ”Cut her loose.”

“Wait, you sure?” Naomi asked.

”Do it.”

The webs disappeared with a flick of her wrist, but James kept his hand up to Luna.

Adora crossed her arms, ”Now go. Fly away. Stay away from the Coven. We have enough problems as is.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed as she slowly stood back up. “Yeah, yeah, I can take a hint.” Her eyes drifted over to Naomi. “I’ll need my knife back.”

Naomi dropped the knife, then kicked it at Luna.

”Go.” Adora repeated. ”Don’t make me say it again.”

Luna silently picked up her knife, turned, and walked away. She soon blended into the scenery, before she spread her wings and took off, disappearing into the distance.

Aislin watched silently, before exhaling a huge sigh of relief. “Man, every time I wanna have fun…” She shot an apologetic look at Adora. “You handled that amazingly.”

Another sigh, before she eyed Naomi. “Wait.. did you say Ruby is on her way. To like, here?” A ghost of a smile was trying to haunt her lips again.

“Naw,” James said. “To the moon, girl!”

Naomi shook her head, “Ruby, Jess, and Amelia…” Naomi answered before whipping out her phone and saying, “Oh, wait, lemme call them off before they-”

Leaves and winds came and formed a tiny twister that grabbed dust and debris. At it's peak, Amelia, Jess, and Ruby (with her tree branch with charms) appeared some distance away. They walked up with Ruby in the lead.

“... Ya’ll caught a spy, right?” Ruby said to Naomi. “Where is she?”

“Well, ummm…” Naomi shrugged, looking to Adora.

”Hey,” Adora waved her hand as she walked up. ”... It's great to see you again!”
“Hey, sis,” Ruby said with a smile. “It’s great to see you again, but we’re… handling business. So, where’s the spy?”

”I told them to cut her loose,” Adora said with a sigh, before looking at Aislin as she said. ”... She was after us, anyway.”

Aislin made a grimace as she glanced back at Adora. “The friggin’ mafia… I don't know why she's so obsessed with us.”

Before she smiled wide, and walked up to Ruby, pulling her hand into a clasp, squeezing to convey her enthusiasm. “My favourite Greenwood is here. Everything will be fine now.” She said, winking at Adora.

”... I hope so,” Adora put a hand on her hip.

“It’s great to see you, too, sis…” Ruby chuckled.

Awwwwwwwwwww!” Jess shouted, throwing her hands in the air. “I was looking forward to some action! We ain’t get into a single cool-ass fight since VVV!” She snorted, laughing afterwards.

“Sorry for the false alarm!” James said.

“Eh,” Ruby shrugged. “Better a false alarm than an actual situation, I suppose… So, who was that?”

”Some weirdo… Luna Inoue,” Adora explained. ”She works for some mafia, the House of Cards I think they’re called. They got beef with some members of Sycamore...”

“We, uh,” Naomi awkwardly laughed, looking off. “Ran our mouths in front of her.”

“Well, what did ya’ll talk about?” Ruby said, crossing her arms.

“An alliance,” Naomi began. “Between us, and our good friends at Sycamore...”

“Jack hasn’t spoken with ya’ll about it, yet?” Ruby asked.

”Ain’t hear nothing about it, but I don’t think the creepy bastard got a chance too!” Adora laughed.

“Well…” Ruby shrugged. “... Why don’t we just talk about it now? We’re not doing anything, and we have three of the four Maidens with us… Pearl is busy working at her parent’s restaurant right now.”

Aislin’s eyes widened, realization dawning on her. “Wait- here? Now!?” She quickly rummaged through her bag, pulling out her phone, mumbling excitedly to herself. “I-I gotta call Auri. Adora, who else do you think needs to be here?”

”Jack, Stormy, Amara… Brit…” Adora shook her head. ”Whoever don’t sit on they ass.”

Aislin laughed, “Stormy definitely doesn’t, I’ll call them too.”

“Not right here, goofy,” Ruby laughed. “Surely you all have a base or something…”

Aislin half-smirked at Ruby, “Right,” before she tapped her screen impatiently, then pressed the phone to her ear, hoping the call would connect with Auri.

“... Aislin!,” Auri answered. “Hello! How are you?!”

Excitement lit up Aislin’s face. “Heyyy, I’m good. You’re never gonna guess who I’m with.” A quick wink to Ruby before she continued talking on the phone. “I uh, are you free? And is your flower shop free? Greenwood wants to do a little meet ‘n greet.”

Auri was quiet for a moment.

“... I can close down my shop for an hour.” She answered.

“Auri, you’re the best! We’ll head right over!”

As Aislin hung up her phone, she smirked at Adora. “Auri said yes, we even get to use her flower shop.”

Her gaze turned to Ruby, “Let me make a few more calls, then we can head right over.”






Auri Auclair.

The Greenwood Coven.

Leon

Edict
Interactions: None.
Flowers and Canvases.






Jack had been waiting for this to happen, ever since that disaster of a festival. Greenwood was about to show up, and negotiate an alliance with the Sycamore. He teleported in and out of Auri’s flower shop with a few extra folding chairs that he conveniently acquired from an undisclosed location, and sat them out for others to sit. He wasn’t entirely sure just how many of Greenwood’s members would be in attendance, but his encounter with them implied there were a lot of them.

It was late in the evening, enough that Auri had been able to close up shop after most people were off the streets. No blinds would see a huge group of people, one of which waved an axe around, walking into the place at this hour. The last time Auri had such a big gathering here, Jack almost got his head taken off by Drake.

He checked his phone, it wouldn’t be long now.

”Auri! They should be here any minute now!” He called out from the main floor, once the chairs were all set up.

“Okay! Is it-” Auri called out, before the door opened - with a little jingle from the bells. Adora pushed the door open, Aislin right behind her. She looked around before she asked,

”... Shit,” She began, glancing over her shoulder at Aislin, ”Guess we part of the setup now.”

”You’re just in time, Greenwood is due to arrive shortly,” Jack said.

”... That’s the problem!” Adora dramatically said, throwing her hands up. ”Ever heard of ‘Black People Time’? She grinned.

”No.”

”How do I explain this? It’s like…” Adora tried to explain, before she just started laughing and said, ”... It’s a special Black Magic Spell or whatever!”

“Teach me sometime.” Aislin said with a smile as she stepped further into the flower shop, eyeing the chairs before glancing up at Jack. “Hey! Good to see you.”

She smacked her forehead. “I totally forgot to bring refreshments. Adora! We don’t have any refreshments!”

She started tapping away at her phone, trying to keep the play-desperation out of her voice. “Maybe, maybe, we can Uber something…”

There was a rumble at the door, a gentle rustle, and a Giant ducked through the low doorframe as a relatively infrequent face grinned in.
”I guess I’m early?”
Looking around, the grin didn’t leave his face. He was dressed like he was a vampire or something, and had a black shawl or cloak covering his massive frame.
”Jaaaaack… What’s up, Man?” he asked.
His head shot a glance at Adora, and he threw up his arm in a mock jab, the other open for Jack to shake.

The placement was ambiguous; Leon was prepared for every handshake in the book, and had the reflexes to snap into any of them.

Jack returns the handshake, in a boring way. ”Leon.”

In his other hand, a pack of 20 water bottles in plastic and cardboard wrapping appears, teleported with his magic and hanging by his fingers. ”I brought water, if that’ll do, Aislin.”

Aislin nodded gratefully at Jack, “That’s a huge step in the right direction, now they won’t die of thirst on our watch.”

Her glance looked up at Leon, her smile widening. “Wasn’t sure you’d show up, Leon. Glad you could make it! Today’s gon’ be a momentous day.”
Noting that there were a few more chairs to deal with, Leon took a few long strides to scoop them up.
”What’s with you and the plastic chairs, Auri? I remember you did that presentation last spring, and you did the exact same thing even though half the people just moved them and stood around.” he laughed.
”I “borrowed” those, since Greenwood is likely bringing all of their people here. Don’t ask where I found them.”

Leon gave a slight side eye to Jack.
You... Borrowed them? Jack?” he almost laughed aloud.

”He Jacked them,” Adora said, crossing her arms. ”Pun intended.”

Jack shot Adora the most blank stare that was humanly possible. Aislin burst out in bubbly laughter, hearing the most hilarious thing ever. “Nice one.”

“... Jack got them for me!” Auri shouted from the back room. “My boyfriend is getting us all pizza! Give him a little bit.”

“Pizza?! Thank God. We’re saved.” Aislin sighed with relief, tucking away her phone.

”Where is Stormy? Amara? Brit? Don’t tell me everyone is gonna be late.” Adora shook her head. ”And there’s like eight of them I think, we don't need this many damn chairs.”

Leon laughed aloud at this point, starting to fold chairs back up.
”There’s no way… Not a chance, everyone’s gonna be standing! And I-”

Speak of the devil and they shall appear, Stormy and Amara both walked through the door right as Adora mentioned them.

”I was busy, sorry if I’m late.”

”Yo.”

Leon pointed up at the two of them.
”Aaaaaaayyyyyy We were just talking about you guys. Stormy, what’s up Baby Boy?!” he gave a much warmer reception to his once extremely close friend.

”Good to see you, Leon. Still St Portwell’s boxing king?” He asked, grinning back at the giant.
”As it should be, Brother.” he got closer, pulling him in for a hug.

Aislin grinned, “Hi Stormy, hi Amara!”

”It's a whole ass reunion in here,” Adora rolled her eyes. ”While we wait for our guests, can we talk about Luna? Or should we wait for Brit?”

”Luna? Who?” Leon laughed, not remembering most of the lost members.

”The one who was stalking all of us when we went to search Kari’s home,” Jack explained. ”Drake found her spying on us, and we do not know how much information she has yet. According to Britney, she works for a mafia, and they want some of us dead. I am one of those people, apparently.”

”... We also just caught her stalking us, Adora added. ”The Greenwooders tied her down. She claims they are under new management, and they don't care about us anymore.”

Adora shook her head, ”But I don't buy it, not one word. She seems fucking nuts.”

Aislin grimaced at Adora, “Just wanted shakes… our time at the mall really went downhill, huh? Greenwood had good timing, jeez.”

”So what’s our plan if they decide to stamp us out?” Amara asked, taking a seat.

”... Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”But no time like the present to make one:.. But where’s Brit…?”

Aislin made a face, then pulled her phone again. “I can call her, if ya want.”

The door clinked open again, the bells rattling to inform of intruding bodies. Only, it wasn’t Britney first. Greyson Devola’s face, sans his usual Channeler. As he entered the room he looked around with a grin.
”Oh man, what a party…”
Leon’s head snapped back.

”Woah, Devola? You…”
”Hey, I’m not here alone-.” he started, holding the door open for Britney to come through.

”Heeeey everyb-” Britney bouncily strutted in, playful smile on her face, before coming to a dead stop. Expression going flat. Before she quickly put it back on. ”... How is everyone doing?! It's great to see you all even if it's albeit under weird circumstances…”

Aislin gave a forced smile, “Hi Britney, Greyson.”

Leon's face changed to a slightly smug and self aware smirk.
”It's always nice to see you too, Britney. Better seeing you both together.”

”Oh yeah? Someone at the Temple writing Sycamore Tree fanfiction? What's the scoop, guys, where's the uh… Hippies?” Greyson shook his head at Leon as he spoke.

”They are late,” Jack answered, flatly.

Adora shook her head, ”To make things quick; we caught that basket-case Luna stalking me and Ashy here, and I want to talk about how we gonna handle her ass because... Those weirdos are up to something.

Adora rolled her eyes as she shrugged.

”Can’t motherfuckers just leave us alone? We’re only trying not to get murdered!”

Aislin paused, before her eyes sparked, “Ashy…? Ashy?! She glanced over at Jack and Leon and puffed out her chest. “Yeah that’s right, behold the freshly nicknamed.”

Before her smile lost a bit of it’s light, concern seeping into her tone. “She hasn’t done anything recently to hurt us, from what I can see. But-” Her gaze shot over to Greyson, a flash of disdain unable to be hidden, “-Criminals can’t be trusted. We could try reporting her to the police if she pushes things further, get a restraining order…”

”Which police?” Stormy asked. ”They’re organized criminals, so they won’t care about a restraining order. And they’re also paranormal criminals, but I don’t think the PRA is going to care about her unless she makes a flashy show of magic in public.”

Aislin shrugged, half-grin flashing across her face. “Fair enough.”

”Well, Liao might.” Amara cracked a humorless grin. ”The way I heard it, she thinks she owns this city. And when the Iron Dragon- god I hate that name- Sets her mind on something? There aren’t many people out there who change it. Piss her off enough, she’ll go looking for all of them.”

Edict grimaced a little bit hearing about Luna. He had his own feelings toward her, and this interaction was only reinforcing them.
”Hey, listen… I know it’s not gonna sound great coming from me, but… Well… Luna’s Mom passed away recently. The one from her side of the Family. Maybe now would be a good time to bring her in? I get it, shady Greyson plan, but ultimately if you guys need to handle it a different way, I’ll let you. I’m not here to be a pushy asshole, y’know?” he offered to the group, hoping it’d get them off of Luna for the moment.

”Bring her in how? She’s a mafia capo, and we’re not her Family. Isn’t that how it works? Family comes first?”

”Greyson…” Adora said, ”She obviously ain’t well in the head. And we got enough basket cases as is…”

Adora shook her head, ”We need to find a way to get her to leave us the fuck alone.”

Aislin rubbed the back of her head, breathing out a stream of air through two blown up cheeks. “Weeellll…” She glanced at Adora, and grimaced. “We could scare her. Scare her real good. I know someone over at the 317 who can trap people in paintings. We could… uh…”

She paused, shoving a hand over her own mouth. She mumbled with a groan. “Gosh, what am I saying, even Luna doesn’t deserve to be jumped and locked in a painting.”

”Look, I… Is it so hard to think that we could have been a family? Not even in the Mafia sense, but like… Genuine friends and, like, people who all love one another? That’s all people want. Acceptance and love. And, if they stumble, to not be kicked immediately for it.”
Edict shrugged.
”Or hey, maybe I’m talkin’ shit. I wouldn’t know anything about her situation, not like we ain’t involved in the same shit or anything.”

”It’s reasonable,” Jack acknowledged, leaning up against the wall by the front door. ”We were family once. All of us. But she chose a different life. Regaining the trust that was lost is not so simple as apologizing, certainly not after spying on us.”

”Just as not easy as it isn’t for me, Jackie boy…”

”... Leon,” Britney spoke up. ”Can you check and see if she - or anyone else - is spying on us right now?”

Leon considered what Britney said, and a small release of his seals gave him the chance to catch individual scents from around them. Trying to smell exterior Lux users, he only got a wiff of the slowly approaching Greenwood Coven.
”I don’t smell anyone. Not strange, anyway. I don’t really know how Luna smells, but we all uh… Well, y’all stink, and it ain’t your fault. It’s the magic. Like, Greyson, you reek man.”

”Oh geeze, thanks Leon. I really appreciate the info, man.” he replied sarcastically.

”On the subject of Luna… We have to do something that ensures her people don’t come for us after we’ve taken care of Luna.”

Stormy sat down in a chair. ”They're more organized than us. They have been for a long time now. It won’t be difficult for them to respond to us, in any case.”

Aislin smacked her forehead. “Crap, I forgot about that… Thanks, Stormy.”

”... That's why we’re not going to kill her, or hurt her in any way,” Britney added. ”It might sound crazy… But I agree with Greyson. We should bring her in. ”

Aislin's jaw dropped a bit, surprised. Before she grimaced, and fell silent.

Britney was silent for a moment as she looked everyone over. ”... But we don't like make her an actual member. We give her the run-around but give her just enough information so she doesn't catch on.”

”And let me watch her! I mean, again, I get why you guys may not want that, but… Well, I’ve been doin’ good with Layla.”
Leon coughed. There was no reason, surely.

”What do you mean by that one?” he asked.
”Well, it was the Void Heart thing, right? So… I mean… You know about that, Leon.”

The giant man gritted his teeth slightly.

”That might be the best choice we have. What about the rest of them? Are they going to just let this slide?”

”Probably not without some serious prodding. Seems like there’s some business between them and the city’s favorite Cult that’ll probably end with meeting a bigger fish.”

Leon gripped his hands together tightly.
”Oh, go ahead man. Do what you always do.” Leon condescended.

”It’s not good for either of us, Leon, I’m not trying to act like its your family’s fault. Just… Well, you’ll probably kill Luna before we get the chance to if she doesn’t smarten up and get away from House of Cards.” Edict tried to offer the olive branch.

”The only way we can justifiably escalate to killing Luna,” Jack warned, ”Is if we know for a fact that we can kill all of them. If we escalate to that level, they will match us.”

”We’re not killing Luna, guys! We’re not, no. Sorry. She’s done some shitty things, but I’m absolutely not letting her go down like that. Not when…” Edict paused.
”Not when I don’t think she’s any worse than I am. And, Auri? You called me back. So, why are we treating her like this?” he asked, trying to rally for compassion.

”... I mean, do you follow people around malls, taking creepshots?” Adora snorted.

”I’m with Edict. We can’t afford to do something like that, and it’s not right. But, Edict…” Stormy turned around and looked at him. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but he knew Greyson had a point.

”Are you positive you can keep the House from reacting poorly to this? No matter what we do, it’s going to end with a downside unless you can pull the strings perfectly.”

Aislin sighed, spinning one of the chairs to face Stormy and taking a seat. “I’m all for pretending to be Luna’s friend. But I’d take that a step further, and have one of us dedicated to spying on her, quietly squeezing her for info.” Her eyes lazily slid to Edict. “And, no offense Greyson, but uh… I’d prefer her ‘friend’ to be someone else. You know how it is…”

Edict threw up his hands in a gentle fashion, so as not to piss off everyone in the room.
”Honestly, Stormy? I can't make guarantees. My old man is the Don of the North-West. Technically, he's HoC's Boss just like he's my Boss. But, he… Well, he kind of knows? About them? And, after the last time I had to buzz him, I'm pretty sure he's piss scared of magical people. So, the oversight is kind of left on my Uncle? Who… Well, he's kind of frothing at the mouth to kill whoever killed Phantasia.”

Edict looked a bit defeated after spilling all that. He looked down at Aislin.
”I… I know. I don't blame you, really. But, who else is closer to her? Who else can get her to spill the beans about her status? The real beans, not bullshit to protect herself.”
He took a deep breath, prepared to say something controversial.
”I mean, fuck… I'll just say it. The only reason I ever had a problem with anyone is because I couldn't separate the two halves of my life. It made me deceitful and untrustable. Now we're all real adults, and I'd like a chance to prove that things are at least a little different.” he shrugged.

Aislin twisted her face up, considering Edict’s words. Before she sighed, and raised a hand in weak gesture. “Yeah, yeah, you two have history. I… I still don’t like it. But bottom line, we need to know more about Luna than she does of us. As long as we keep one step ahead of her…”

”I mean, you say that someone else should be her friend,” Britney injected, looking at Aislin head on. ”But, you also never gave an alternative as to who should do it. I understand your concerns, but who else can do it?”

Aislin grimaced, being directly spoken with by Britney. She kept her mouth shut, and offered a shrug.

”Hey now,” Adora put her hands up. ”Why do all ya’ll want a crazy bitch in our midst? Some bitch who’s openly a traitor?

”We don’t want her here,” Britney noted. ”It’s just that we gotta handle this situation in a certain way. It’s obvious that she will keep stalking us. if we hurt her; her Mafia will just going to come after the rest of us - and that is not something we need right now. I’m not sure just what they are planning, but this way we can control the situation. She’s not looming over us and reporting critical information to her bosses. And we can prevent our more… impulsive members from jumping the gun and hurting her if and when she gets caught again.”

At this point, Auri came out of the back wearing a blue striped sundress, the Butterfly Staff in her hand. Britney glanced at her before she continued.

”... But, we should definitely make up a plan to handle the House of Cards, just in case.”

”I don’t know what you guys are so worried about. It’s not like you guys are the ones in the crossfire.” Leon interjected, eyes staring at Auri and the staff as she entered.
”Or why we’re tip-toeing around why the House of Cards has any sort of problem with us in the first place. It’s shit like this.”

The giant man stepped forward, a slightly uncomfortable look on his face.
”Bottom line, it’s fucking Void Heart. And fuckin’... Layla. Which is why Greyson’s been gassing the chick in the first place, and why he wants to be the one gassing fuckin’ Luna too. Like he’s gonna have to get his hands dirty fighting his Mafia buddies anyway? Fat chance.”

Edict shrugged his shoulders.
”To be fair, I don’t really know why we don’t just let Void Heart’s toys just self-destruct. It can’t be any more dangerous than, oh I don’t know, trying to trap the poor girl in a room and traumatizing her by taking her fuckin’ Casper away.”

”You have a very interesting definition of “dangerous” if it doesn’t involve letting that parasite feed on her,” Jack noted.

”The issue with letting the toys ‘self-destruct’ is that the two of them clearly don’t have an issue with creating problems that we have to solve,” Britney answered. ”The shitshow at the strip club a few weeks ago is proof of that.”

”Ummmmmmm….” Adora awkwardly shuffled in her feet before she raised her head. ”I’m a lil’ bit lost here; what the fuck is the deal with the Void Heart? What happened to him? And what the fuck does he have to do with all this?”

”Alizee died. Her ghost, Void Heart, jumped to Layla Hycinthus. Once some people found that out, they decided that they didn’t want him getting in the way anymore. Nobody really knew that Void Heart is my family’s responsibility. So we had to be the bad guys, and now Void Heart is sealed away in something important.” Leon barked, clearly frustrated by the situation.

”... And how is he your family’s responsibility?” Adora crossed her arms, shifting her weight sassily to one hip.

Aislin’s little jaw dropped, and she sucked in a breath. “Waaait a second…Alizée's dead? Alizée Altieri?!” A hand flew to her mouth, muffling a string of quiet profanities.

”I mean, from what I heard she was going around hurting people,” Adora looked at Aislin. ”So, good riddance. I’m not sure what Layla’s deal is, but… I don’t like her vibe either.”

Aislin grimaced, looking back at Adora. “Gee, I thought Layla was always alright. Wasn't she…?”

”The Void Heart poisons the mind of whoever it adjoins to,” Jack answered, a scowl across his face. ”Alizee never once enjoyed what she did, but the abomination drove her to the brink of insanity. We should have sealed it years ago.”

”... But, you didn’t,” Adora flatly noted. ”You should have realized after a certain point, like… how do I explain this? Like, she would have been so accustomed to the Void Heart in her life that snatching it away from her would have been like….”

She shook her head, ”... Fuck, it would have been devastating if it really fucked with her head like you and Greyson claim. At that point, you probably would have had no choice but to kill her anyway… She put one hand on her hip and threw the other one up, shaking her head.

Jack glared daggers at Adora, she just struck a nerve and he did not like that. For a moment, he didn’t even know what to fucking say to that. ”She needed help. Would you want to be left to die when you are left helpless like she was?”

Adora raised an eyebrow, before she asked the golden question, ”...But did she want it?

He fell silent.

”Listen, guys, it’s… A lot deeper. Layla aside, the leader of the House of Cards is a woman named Phantasia Vorpal… Or, was. She’s dead. But, I… Well, you know me!-” Edict pushed out a faked laugh. ”Trying to stop this shit before it got any more out of hand, I’ve been meeting with her. Good ol’ Phanny. Got in her head? Saw that a long while ago, when the old House of Cards casino burned down, it was Alizee and Void Heart that saved ‘em. Phantasia took a life debt to Void Heart. So, when you all decided to kick the bee’s nest, you accidentally pissed off the ground hornets too.” Edict finished.

”Jesus fucking Christ, Auri…” Amara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Auri awkwardly tugged at her collar.

Aislin shook her head. “I don't think I understand everything here… But this is a lot more complicated…. Isn't it?”

She hummed, eyes glancing to Jack. “Layla never told me what happened. But whatever you guys did, they're connected to this somehow, right?”

“I’m amazed the Void Heart could see past his own agenda long enough to save someone else…” Auri shook her head. “But, you said she was?

Britney looked at her before she said, ”Phantasia got iced.”

“Oh, dear,” Auri said, silent for a moment before she said. “... Then is her replacement also after us?”

Aislin perked up a bit. “Good question for Luna…”

”Luna said their new guy wasn’t after us, remember?” Adora shrugged. ”But, again, I don’t believe it for a second.”

“Right, right.” Aislin groaned. “If only we had a way to get in her min-” Her eyes fell silently on Greyson.

Edict coughed.
”Listen… I saw Val at her Mom’s funeral yesterday. When I talked to her, she seemed like she was understanding my trying to push her away from pursuing things, but firstly she’s just as magic as her Mom. She just… Is more cautious. Less ego means she’s more willing to do things to stack her own deck. Phantasia got cocky, figured I was still a goofy little kid, and paid the price for it…” he paused, looking around before raising a finger.

”And no, I didn’t kill her. But, anyway, things are looking positive for the moment. If you guys trust me, I can try and prove that you’re all right to do so by just… Taking care of it. And if it goes south, I won’t keep you all in the dark. I’ll… Y’know, ask for help.” he finally conceded.

“I don't have to like it to see that it's somewhat logical… I think this is a decent plan of action, for now. What do you guys think?” Aislin said, shrugging as her eyes passed around the room.

”... I still think we should a plan to handle the House of Cards just in case it goes south,” Britney said as she finally took a seat, putting her purse on her lap. ”I trust you can handle this, Greyson, but they seem… erratic, from what I hear. I know they have beef with the Temple, but hair-triggers like them will always find another reason to go on the warpath.”

”Like any of you are ready for a fuckin’ war again? Please. Leave the heavy lifting to the Temple and be happy when I crush Father Wolf’s neck in my jaws. I ain’t the same uppity cunt I used to be, and I’m not holding back to be friendly. I don’t think Sycamore Two is gonna cut it the same way. Too busy being worried about trying to kill our family when there’s a monster out there hunting us like animals…”
Leon’s voice and face both oozed disgust.

”... Yeah, trust the people that tried to fuckin’ shoot at us,” Britney said with a roll of her eyes.

”Your “family” plays with fire, and you think we’re to blame?” Jack asked, just a little pissed off now. ”Furio is lucky I didn’t decorate my home with his entrails after he attacked us for protecting a vulnerable person from a predator.”

Aislin tilted her head, an embarrassed look on her face. “Am I missing something…?”

”Jack, man, I’ll refrain from finishing your fucking lunch this time because I don’t feel like ruining Auri’s flower shop: But please, don’t act like you guys didn’t have a chance to just give her up when they explained the situation! Do you all know what that girl was dealing with before Void Heart? What she’s currently dealing with? Do you want to explain that to them too, Mister Mafia Therapist?” Leon growled toward Edict.

”... Getting a lil’ spicy in here,” Adora laughed, jabbing an elbow into Aislin’s side.

Aislin half-grinned back, “Jeez, I'll say.”

Again, Edict shrugged. This wasn’t his favorite thing to be doing, since he could see dollar bills burning in Leon’s eyes.
”It’s… Not great? Not sure if anyone remembers, but she’s attached to a few nasty ghosts herself. They use her like she’s a meal ticket essentially, and in return they protect her. At least, that’s how I think it works from being in that little noggin’ of hers.”

Leon pointed at Edict.
”Exactly, take one fucking predator away, let another back in. The girl is fuckin’ cursed, she needs to be with people who can actually help her! Not a bunch of adults who aren’t well adjusted to begin with and can’t even take the time to coordinate properly! The Temple has the resources! But none of you seem to get that!”

Adora was silent.

”... This is the first time I’ve heard about this,” Britney noted, raising an eyebrow. ”Well, if the Temple is so wonderful and can do so much to improve that child’s life, then have at it.” She scoffed, throwing Leon a dismissive hand wave, turning her head away.

“I didn’t know all of this was happening to her…” Auri noted. “But, can’t we just seal them? Or find a more benevolent Apparition to ward them off…?”

”I could ward them all off,” Stormy said. ”But I’m almost entirely certain that Layla would rather kill me than let me get that close to her.”

”That’s kind of the problem. She’s so, well, scared of these ones. They’ve been with her all her life.”

”I live with shit just like that. Got a Wampus Cat trapped in my apartment as we speak. Fuckin’ wretched way to live being a little kid getting tortured by a ghost, but I can’t excuse my Father for bringing something like that into my home. It fucked with me and my siblings as kids. But at the end of the day, I don’t want the fuckin’ thing dead. I’d like to come to an understanding with it and live peacefully and healthily.”
He shook his head.
”That’s what the Temple’s all about at the end of the day. We don’t wanna have Voidy sealed up, but if he can’t behave and nobody’s strong enough to control him, he’ll stay that way. And then all we can do is try and help her heal and deal with what she’s got.”

Aislin hung her head a bit, “I didn't know it was that bad… Did… Did anyone talk with Layla before sealing the Void Heart? Is anyone talking with her now, besides Greyson?”

”We did not,” Britney flatly answered. ”We couldn’t risk tipping the Void Heart off.”

That’s when Leon dropped the bombshell.
”She showed up at our door this morning. She’s going to be taking her oaths, and she’ll begin her therapy once she’s properly inducted into the Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals as a fully fledged member.”

Edict’s jaw dropped. Britney rolled her eyes. Aislin nearly choked on her own spit. ”What?”

”U-u-uh, oh… Leon!?”
”And to answer your question? No! Obviously nobody asked Layla’s opinion! Because Void Heart was with her when they would have… And what’s more consensual than a bunch of people ganging up on you and trying to take the only thing making you feel safe and secure away from you? So, guess what? She’s nobody’s problem, and House of Cards is certainly no problem.” Leon finished, holding back on saying anything worse.

”Then, she will stay away from us, then? The Temple are going to stop Voidy from going around trying to suck people off, right? Kidnap them in broad daylight?” Britney asked, giving Leon a flat look. ”Part of the reason -Well, pretty much the entire reason- I wanted Voidy sealed was because he was a liability. He was only going to make things so much more difficult for us.”

Leon smiled.
”See, this is why the Temple should be seen as an asset for us. My Mom is in love with us. She’s even willing to let my younger brother date Patty Vanburen, she’s so hell bent on keeping all of us safe and secure. The way I see it, if Greyson’s getting second chances here, my family shouldn’t be everyone’s new punching bag. I deserve to earn some trust.”

Adora tilted her head upon hearing ‘Patty Vanburen’. Britney kept her mouth shut.

Edict gave Leon a flat look, but didn’t say anything against him. He really wasn’t in that kind of mood, and was deeply trying to project Greyson 2.0.

Jack took a long, slow, deep breath in. And then, another one out.

”He has a point.”

“I didn't know the Temple was like that…” Aislin said thoughtfully.

“I believe in giving everyone second chances, despite my injuries due to them,” Auri sighed. “I don’t think it’s fair to dogpile Leon and the Temple like this bec-”

The door opened, and Auri (and everyone else’s) head turned to the door to see her boyfriend, Justin Haggar, holding a stack of pizza boxes. “Justy!” Auri ecstatically said before she ran over to him. “Let me help you out…” She grabbed a few pizzas off the top.

“Yeah, where are we going to put these?” Justin asked. “... There are no tables.”

Auri was silent for a moment.

“... Oh.” She began. “Darn.”

”Oh, good grief, Adora said as she ran over to the folded chairs and unfolded them. ”Ya’ll need to think outside the box....” She shook her head as Justin and Auri put the pizzas down.

Justin looked around.

His eyes narrowed.

“... I’ll take my leave,” Justin disappeared out the door as quickly as he appeared.

”... He had the right idea,” Adora laughed as she quickly grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza. She took a bite.

“Dig in, everyone,” Auri began. “Just save some for Greenwood.”

”…If he had walked in here one minute sooner…”

Aislin could only laugh to herself, the tension that invaded the room moments prior somewhat dispelled. She picked up a slice of pizza and lifted it in a mock toast, her trademark grin back on her face. “Long live the Sycamore.”

”I’d save a lot. Chances are, Greenwood’s coming through here higher than my blood pressure.” Leon tried to joke, hoping he could disperse at least a little tension as he went for a slice himself.

Edict recognized the shop it came from, and couldn’t help but stick his nose up.

”You got a mob feud with a pizza place?” Amara asked, grabbing a slice.





Suddenly, the smell of weed overpowered all the smells in the flower shop. It overtook the smell of potted plants, pizza, and whatever perfume or cologne they had on. There was a few knocks on the door, before it was thrown open… Jessica was the person who held the door open, looking around. Her eyes were bloodshot red, and she smiled.

“Waaaaaaaassuuuuuuup dudes,” Jessica threw them the shaka hand sign. “I hope we weren’t too late…”

“Maaaaan, get your high ass out the way…” Ruby ducked underneath Jessica’s arm, a blunt in her mouth. She was wearing a red sweater with a pink scarf around her neck, blue jeans, and mac and cheese Timberlands. She walked in, and looked around, before saying, “... Waaaaaaaassuuuuuuup dudes.” Then throwing the shaka sign.

“... I am so sorry,” Naomi shook her head as she walked in; James was right behind her. “We tried to stop them, but they kept gassing!”

“Yeah, they got more gas in ‘im than a helium balloon!” James laughed.

Kashmira coughed a few times as she walked in, holding a metal tray with some pastries that had to be Indian with a layer of plastic wrap over the top of it. She wore a green hoodie and sweatpants combo with some white sneakers and a black leather purse over her shoulder… but she had red henna designs drawn on her hands. “*COUGH* Hello, friends! It is great to meet you all here! I know it was short notice, but I made you all some *COUGH* snacks!”

She looked around, “This is Dhokla, my Grandmother’s recipe! I also brought some Henna cones if you wanted to put some on your hands and feet for this occasion!!”

Aislin's excitement couldn't be contained as she gave everyone in Greenwood a wave. “Heyyy, good to see you guys yet again! Kashmira, sign me up for some henna, I love that stuff!”

She then moved in beside Ruby, nearly drooling at the mouth. “Hey, heyyy, Ruby. We're friends, right? Help a friend out? I'm sober as heck!”

A hand flew to her mouth. “Oh wait! The leaders should do something. Like, a peace move, or whatever,” She glanced at Adora, a full-on serious look on her face, “Should they kiss?”

Adora raised an eyebrow as she twisted her face. Auri awkwardly laughed.

Leon couldn’t contain his laughter as he slowly approached Ruby for what he assumed would be the typical sisterly behavior that had always been expected of them as kids. His arms outstretched for a hug.
”Not a kiss, you horny fucker.” he laughed aloud.

The only response was Aislin's tinkling laughter.

“It’s great seeing you,” Ruby laughed as she hugged Leon back. “You giant motherfucker...” She laughed some more before turning to Aislin.

“Yo, what type of shit ya’ll be on?!” Naomi laughed as she dug into her hoodie pocket, and pulled out a bag of the most premium Zaza known to man. “This ain’t your regular gas - this shit will put you in a coma!” She threw it to Aislin. She grabbed it as quick as she could in her little hands, her face lit up like a child's on Christmas Day.

“Naomi, you’re the best!” Aislin chimed.

Leon happily hugged Ruby back.
”Things ain’t the same without you. Mom’s got this ex-nazi bitch as one of her Crones? Dude, it ain’t a good look.” he said, grabbing the blunt she was smoking and taking a fat rip off it.

“Oh my God,” Naomi shouted. “She eats ass! That blunt is infected with booty!

”Who do you think she learned it froooooooom.” Leon growled, his tongue lolling out of his mouth comedically. It was, by all accounts, a magically long tongue.

Aislin burst out laughing again, already rifling through her bag where she knew a certain bong lay in wait. She jerked her head to the table.

“We got pizza, guys, feel free to take a slice and grab a seat.”

Her gaze turned to Auri. “You uh… should probably lead us in prayer, ya know?”

“Umm…”

Everything that just happened took a few years off of Jack’s life. But he couldn’t complain, since he was technically responsible for this meeting.

”Welcome, all of you,” He said, popping one of those dohkla squares into his mouth. His eyes widened a bit. ”…These are wonderful. Thank you.”

”Good lord, you guys are blasted tonight.” Amara cackled.

“Wonderful, I’m glad you like it!” Kashmira said with a smile, before walking over to Amara and offering her one. “Would you like one, too? I’m doing henna later to celebrate this joyous occasion!”

”Not sure I know what a Henna is, but I’ll take free food. Respectfully.”

Aislin grinned at Amara. “It's a skin stain, like a tattoo, and it looks really pretty.”

Kashmira raised both hands, revealing the henna she had drawn on her own hands.

“Who’s the leader here?” Ruby asked.

“That would be me,” Auri said as she stepped up, holding the butterfly staff in her hand.

“You know, I wish I had my tree branch on me,” Ruby said. “We could do something cool like crossing staffs.”

Or kissing. Aislin stage-whispered with a wide grin.

Adora gave her a queer look.

“Ah, we should have,” Auri said, “You are the leader of the Greenwood Coven, I presume? Miss…”

“White,” Ruby answered. “Ruby White. The Spring Maiden,”

Then she looked between the rest of the Greenwood Coven, before saying, “Greenwood, let’s introduce ourselves to them. Get to know our new friends…”

“I’m Jessica Rosefey, follow SunnyMuscleMommy on Instragram, yoooo…” Jessica threw up the peace sign before laughing.

“... Her high ass is the Summer Maiden,” Ruby jabbed a thumb in her direction.

“I’m Kashmira Sarai! Or Dr. Sarai,” She introduced herself, “I’m the healer for the Greenwood Coven.”

“I’m Amelia Dallon, the Fall Maiden,” She introduced herself.

“Currently, Pearl Cho, the Winter Maiden, is busting her ass at her job,” Ruby shrugged. “So, she will not be attending.”

“I’m Naomi Rodgers! I met a couple of you last week!” Naomi said.

“Same,” James said, crossing his arms. “I’m James Carmicheal.

He walked over to Stormy and put his hand up, “Thanks for keeping my girl safe back there - dab me up!”

James was dabbed up by Stormy, way better than when he was dabbed up by Jack. ”Stormy Carson. Nice axe.”

“And I am Autumn Hayes,” She calmly noted.

Ruby cracked a grin as she took a puff of her joint. “Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to introduce yourselves, my lovelies…?”

Before she looked at Leon, “... Except you, we’re already familiar with your ass!“

”A few of you already know me, from when we met last week,” Jack answered. ”Jack Hawthorne, for the ones that haven’t. I almost killed one of you, that night.”

“... Why would you say that?” Naomi rolled her eyes.

”Amara King. Nice meeting you guys.”

Aislin shrugged, gently loading bud after bud in her little party bowl as she sat in her chair. “Most of you already know me, but I'll re-introduce myself anyway.” She looked up and grinned. “Aislin Rose, artist and toker at your service.”

”Ador-”

“Appie,” James laughed, “How could we forget you!

Adora shook her head.

“I was hoping to get your number, sugar,” Ruby said, taking a drag of her blunt. “But, duty calls.”

”No time like the present,” Adora stuck her hand out, and Ruby put her phone in her hand, and then Adora punched in her number before handing it back to Ruby.

Britney was silent, before waving her hands, ”Britney Williams, magical expert.”

”Greyson Devola, former Sycamore Tree Wallet… I mean, Treasurer. Not that there's ever really been a treasury, just other people have jobs now.” Edict grimaced.

“It’s great meeting all of you; I hope that we can really get to know each other,” Ruby gave her a narrow look, before turning to Auri. “... Auclair!

“.... Oooooooooh boy!” Jess said, throwing her hands behind her head. “Should we tell her?”

“Tell her what- oooooooooooh!” James awkwardly tugged at his collar.

“Tell me what?” Auri tilted her head.

“Guys shut up,” Naomi rolled her eyes. “Let’s not put her on blast in front of her Coven. We’ll talk about it in private.”

“Riiiiiiight,” Ruby turned to Sycamore as she took a few steps forward. “Again, it’s great to meet you all, but I figured there are a lot more of you?”

”This is who we could get on short-notice,” Adora took another slice of pizza, then watched as Kashmira put down her snacks and grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and ate it.

“Well, I would prefer to meet your entire Coven,” Ruby said. “But if you are all vital members, we can begin.”

Auri smiled at her.

“The floor is yours, friend.”

“Good,” Ruby began, “The Greenwood Coven has been around for a long time… comparatively to most of the factions that rise and then fall, we are one of the oldest. And I can accurately say that this is the most dangerous the city has been since the aftermath of...” Ruby scanned the room and noticed Adora getting very uncomfortable in her seat. She shook her head.

“... You-know-what,” Ruby paused, “I know you all had a run-in with Emily the other day, but there are far bigger fish in St. Portwell’s pond than her and her stupid goons. Something big is brewing, but I’m trying to gather allies to fight against it. I got the and the 317 on board, but here’s my issue...”

Ruby looked between the various members of Sycamore around the room before she said, “... Far as I can tell, the Sycamore Tree Coven reunited to end that string of murders, and nothing else…?

Aislin had her lips on her bong but stopped just as she was about to light it. Nothing else? Were they really so shallow?

“Well, I mean… I’d like it to be more than that. It’s nice having everyone together again. Feels like old times…” Aislin said.

”There's a lot of personal bonds, Rubes. Ten people may not like one another, but everyones got at least one friend keeping them held on the raft. It's…-” Leon paused, trying desperately to avoid the phrase clusterfuck.
”-Well, you're no stranger to complicated things. Some people feel like Aislin, happy to be around everyone. Other people are… Probably plotting to kill the people around them out of convenience.” his eyes definitely didn't flick toward Edict as he finished.

”Some of us can’t really afford to come back fully,” Amara said. ”Some of us never left. Me, though, it’s home. That’s good enough for me, so if this lasts long enough that we’re all still standing afterwards, I’ll be here.”

Aislin smirked at Leon and Amara's responses. “Exactly. Some of us are here for more than just figuring out this murder problem… And killing each other.” She let out a laugh.

”If I’m being honest here,” Adora shrugged. ”After we solve this serial killer nonsense, a lot of us are going to cut and run. Me included.”

Aislin gave a sad look, but said nothing.

”From what I saw, it’s unlikely that we will be sticking together…” Britney also shrugged.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Ruby said to the Coven, pausing for a moment before she continued. “Right now, this alliance has the power to change things, and push the tide against the assholes like the Wolfpack, the Elite, and whenever the Nazis like Berlioz rear their head again.”

“Probably do a better job than the Feds!” Naomi laughed.

“Greenwood… We are more than willing to help you stop your killer because we do not want anything to happen to Sully,” Ruby began. “But, we want this to be a two-way road… We want some help from time to time as well.”

“Greenwood has enemies?” Aislin asked.

“8th St are our sworn rivals… but we also don’t fuck with the Elite, Wolfpack, or whatever Nazi is still out there,” Ruby answered. “And if you think they won’t bother ya’ll… trust me, they’ll find a reason…”

”Personally, I can guarantee that I will be here after the murders are solved,” Jack said. ”And I will work towards the goal of improving the state of St. Portwell, alongside whoever else is still present. So if Greenwood requires my assistance, you’ll have it.”

”Yeah, me too.” Amara grinned. ”I don’t know if I’ll be moving back, but I’m pitching the fuck in regardless. I’m in.”

”I’ll gladly help long as we’re keeping St. Portwell safe,” Britney nodded her head.

”I don’t think I need to repeat myself,” Adora shrugged.

Leon and Edict, coming off of the tiff from before, shot each other an awkward glance as everyone was proclaiming their love for St. Portwell and their desire to protect it.

”I mean, we were… Mostly born here, right? Even if not, it’s home now. We’re meant to be here to protect it and make it as beautiful as can be.”
His giant arm jostled Ruby in a gentle way.
”That’s Temple One-Oh-One.”

Edict’s nose scrunched, probably trying to ward off being a further smart ass.
”It’s the Coven for me. Unfinished business. Make the haters wish they were lovers.” he finally commented, grinning as he looked around the room at his fellow Covenmates.

“I’ll assist when I can,” Auri said. “I cannot speak for the rest of my Coven, however.”

”Well Jesus, Auri, don’t sound so enthused about some help getting a killer off our back.” Leon shook his head.

”I don’t think any of us ever asked to get caught in a political mess like this,” Stormy noted. ”But we’re here now. What’s done is done, so if you’ve got our backs, then we’ve got yours.”

Aislin smiled, “Yeah. I already like Greenwood. If you were in trouble I'd come runnin’. Another alliance sounds like just what we need.”

Ruby smiled.

“Now, that’s what I want to hear,” Ruby said.

“So, the alliance is official?” Auri asked.

“Not quite,” Ruby said, “Like I said before, I want to meet your entire Coven.”

”... Trust me, Adora shook her head, laughing under her breath. You don’t.

“Awwwww, I’m sure you’re all swell people…” Ruby gave Adora a catty smirk.

Britney awkwardly tugged at her collar.

“Hopefully, we can get along,” Ruby began. “Because, all four of us together can raze the 8th Street Manor to the ground and run Emily, her scissor-sister Vashti, and her bitch-ass sisters out of town. Then, I’m going to light a fat blunt using the fire of their mansion. Like not a regular blunt, it will look like a Loony-Tune cigar. It’s going to be bigger than Leon’s dick.”

James and Naomi rolled their eyes, as Jessica laughed, throwing her arms behind her head. Aislin smacked a hand against her forehead.

”Just keep your expectations tempered, Sis. We can’t expect everyone, and if you really do, you should expect a brawl before it's over. This is probably the most level-headed that a room full of us is gonna get.” Leon offered, trying to reign both sides toward something that made a bit more practical sense.

“Yoooooooooo, broooooooooooooooooooo!” Jessica said, turning to Ruby. “We should tell them about our spy in 8th!”

“... Oh, yeah,” Ruby shrugged. “We have a spy, Malik Jakane, in 8th St. He’s been there for a while now.”

“He can feed us info!” Jessica said.

Edict’s eyes boggled out of his head. He’d long since pulled out a cigarette since the entirety of the Cypress Hill Concert showed up, and he nearly swallowed it on the inhale.
”I’m sorry, who?!”
He’d been mostly keeping his mouth shut. He wasn’t feeling a tremendous amount of love at the moment - The feeling of desire to wriggle his way into the heads of others to get pictures for himself wasn’t so strong.

”Like, surely you can’t be talking about the same Jakane that’s in my head… Ain’t no way that old man is runnin’ with all of you no matter how much chiba you’re pushin’.”

“I’m not,” Ruby laughed. “You’re thinking of Malik senior.”

“We got his way hotter son!” Jessica laughed.

Edict’s face couldn’t suppress the surprise.
”O-oh… Huh…” he trailed off.

Ruby smiled, putting a hand on her hip.

“You didn't know he nutted in a woman before?” Ruby laughed.

”Is this someone we should know?” Jack asked.

“Nah,” Ruby laughed. “Well, I know Shayton - Malik Sr - was at the strip club fiasco.”

”He can teleport people away just by looking at them… That was a surprise.”

”Yeah, that’s what happens when you run in front of a bunch of unfamiliar paranormals, dumbass,” Amara said, laughing.

Edict did his best to blow it all off.
”He just… Did some work for House of Cards is all, and I guess he threw his lot in with Wolfpack. He never struck me as the biker type as a kid.”

”Anybody got anything else they want to bring up?”

Jack began tracing shapes in the air with magic.

”I don’t,” Stormy said. ”You all know where to find me if you need me.”

Leon narrowed his eyes as Jack began to fade away.
”No we don’t… Well, most of us.”
Subtly, he threw up some finger guns.

“We don't got nothing else to go over,” Ruby shrugged. “So we’ll be going now.”

James grinned, as he turned towards Adora.

“... You, don’t beat the breaks off anyone else!” He said, followed by a bout of boisterous laughter.

Adora just rolled her eyes in response.

“Can we grab some pizza, brooooo?” Jessica asked Auri.

“Take as much as you like,” Auri answered.

Ruby walked over to the pizza and took two boxes. Winds appeared in the flower shop as Greenwood bunched up.

“We’ll be going now,” Ruby grinned at them. “We’re trying not to make any big moves right now but we’ll be in touch.”

The winds raged as Ruby shouted.

“Don’t be a stranger!”

Then they vanished. Aislin gave a hearty wave, watching long after they left.

”I should be leaving, as well.”

In front of Jack was a large, heavy wooden door that had appeared out of thin air, with kanji writing carved into its surface. On the other side of it was a building on a cliff, with a kaleidoscope of colors and images swirling out in the sky.

”It is a significant relief that we will have more allies, soon,” he said. ”I’m sure we can survive 8th Street’s next tantrum, now.”

Leon casually looked at his phone.
”Aw, look at that… I’ve got places to be. Adora? How about we meet tomorrow, hit the bags for a while and catch up? Unless, you think you’ll be up in a few hours. I’ll be there. You know the spot.”
And with that, he was out the door and into the night again.

With everything winding down and everyone going their separate ways, Aislin finally took a light to her party bowl, holding in the smoke before she let out a fierce cough.

“Ahhh, now that's some good Zaza!” She said with a laugh, her head feeling like it was floating twenty miles high.

She quietly dismantled her bong, bagging the rest of the Zaza and throwing her bag on her shoulder. She stood there for a long, stoned moment before she turned to Adora. “Let's hang out again soon, sis. Yeahh?”

Before she smiled at Auri, gave a little salute, and slowly, painfully slowly, walked out of the flower shop, and into her car. With the tunes turned up, she headed home.

As the others were leaving, one was arriving a few minutes earlier than her agreed upon time. The bell on Auri’s door jangled as Sloane Faris entered, her head turned back to the street, watching the familiar car drive off. She turned her head forward and suddenly stopped in the threshold, her eyebrows subtly shifting in surprise. Her eyes darted towards Auri, the extra chairs, the other coven members, the leftover pizza boxes, and then back to Auri as Sloane pinched her nose to block out the skunk-like stank. The smell was so strong that it even made Sloane’s eyes start to water.

“Should I wait outside, Auri?” said Sloane, her words coming out slowly as if Sloane was reconsidering every single one, trying not to sound hurt. She stepped one foot back through the door. “I’m clearly intruding.”

Jack still hadn’t left. ”Sloane… I didn’t think you were coming at all tonight.”

“Oh no, not at all!” Auri said with a smile, then gestured to the pizza. “Help yourself!”

”... Well, this was a waste of time,” Britney whispered to Edict then shook her head. ”Let’s blow this joint, Greyson.” She grabbed his hand and gently and quietly guided him out the door.

”Could have been an e-maaaaaaail…” Edict chided as he was guided out and away from the shivering time bomb that was Sloane Faris.

”Well, it was nice, ya’ll,” Adora rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pizza box, and walked towards the door. Before she was out the door, she stopped and said, ”Thanks for the dinner!” Then she was out of the door.

Stormy and Amara followed the scent of Adora’s bootycheeks.

Jack shook his head, and shut the magic door before walking through it. It stayed there, slowly flickering with shades of purple and gold, before fading away. ”I brought water, if you’d like,” he said.

”Greenwood wants to meet the entire coven before making this official.”

“Mm, can’t wait. So nice to be involved,” said Sloane, her voice dismissively flat. She opened up a pizza box, blinked twice, and closed it without grabbing a slice. She glanced at her watch.

“This takes some time. We should probably get started,” said Sloane to Auri before giving Jack the side eye and then looking toward the door with little subtlety. “Have a good night, Jack.”

A small part of Jack felt that if Sloane had been informed of this earlier, she would’ve been disappointed anyway. Of course, he wasn’t going to say that.

”I have an artifact vault to construct,” he said. ”If anyone needs me, I’ll be tampering with reality.”

He opened the door up again, and walked through it. It snapped out of the air, and he was gone.

Auri smiled at Sloane.

“So… let’s get work, shall we?”



Interactions: None.
The Board Walk.




Jack checked his phone, 7:42 PM in Shimmer. Here in the Eleventh Path, the day didn’t end. It was always bright and sunny, but it was growing late back home. He had been occupying himself by moving books, maps, and everything else that he considered sentimental from the Shadowzone to his wing of the building. Flicking his wrist, the pericosm flickered into the likeness of a wide bookshelf, which he stacked with his collection. Chronicles of Adept history written from across the All-Verse, an anthology of history’s greatest paranormal legends, bestiaries that told of the many patterns that Apparitions followed in their manifestation, and more were placed upon the shelves; Nice and neat, organized meticulously, Jack knew he’d be here much more often than the Void.

The room was lit by the gentle glow of purple Shadowflame, as Ma Kiki had called it, giving the place an eerie feel that suited Jack perfectly. But it wasn’t enough to take away from that nagging feeling he had been plagued by since the meeting at Auri’s shop. It felt like everyone had something against Alizee but him, he had been expecting doubts, but it was obvious that she had become something of a menace in their eyes. What got to him most, though, was what Adora had said about helping her.

Did she want it?

It irritated him, that someone could just chalk it up to not wanting to be helped. Of course it was only natural that some things could not be fixed. Some things were never set in stone no matter how much was done to make them so. But they didn’t even try. Ten years, and they didn’t track her down? Why did it take this long for Auri to decide he needed to be dealt with?

Thinking about it disappointed him, just about as much as he was disappointed in himself. He might have left her to fend for herself, but they stayed. Alizee deserved better.

He stepped through a door, and returned to Shimmer on a roof. It was dark out, cloudy. No moon tonight. Jack pulled out his phone and texted Auri. This would keep him awake for days if he didn’t get to the bottom of it.

Auri, can you send me Adora’s number?


Sure thing!

Auri promptly replied.

Once he had her number, Jack called Adora. After some ringing, she answered,

””… Hello?

”Adora. It’s me, Jack,” He said. ”I know it is late, but I think we need to talk about something. Are you free right now?”

There was silence.

”… Ye-yeah, s-sure,”

”Is there anywhere in particular you prefer to meet? I can teleport there, so as not to inconvenience you.”

”… The boardwalk?” Adora answered.

”Of course. I will wait for you here,” he said, teleporting between two buildings and walking across a street.

”I’ll be there,”

He waited for her out by the ocean. He hated the ocean, it was too vast, too absolute for the liking of a man who didn’t believe in absolutes. Jack sat down on a bench, staring out at the waves and thinking of how he’d get through the conversation without making it sound hostile. Which was, in his opinion, quite difficult since he felt hostile.

But he didn’t want to alienate Adora. He didn’t want to scare her more than he already knew he did, and end up with another case of Leon where he couldn’t look her in the eye without seeing red.

So he waited.

After a little while, Adora walked up, wearing an all-white combo of hoodie, sweatpants, and some running shoes. She walked past Jack, before coming to a stop.

”… What do you need?”

”I need answers to something. I didn’t want to do this in front of the others at the meeting yesterday, but it has been on my mind since.” He turned and looked over at her.

”…What did you have against Alizee?”

Adora sighed, facepalming,

”… Is this about what I said in the flower shop?” She began. ” I didn’t mean it like- okay, I never liked the vibe of her from the jump, and I didn’t like that she dragged a kid into the fight.”

”We were all children,” he said, calmly. ”And no, it is more than that. Britney knew she was a threat, Drake knew she was, and it has been ten years. Leon said that his family have the resources to help Layla, and Alizee was with them for much longer, and they did not help her. I can’t help but notice that there is a pattern there.”

He leaned back in his seat, measuring his words carefully. ”I am going to look past what you said at the meeting, since I know she caused a great deal of trouble for us all. But you’ve been here much longer than me, what happened to her after the coven dispersed?”

”… You’re asking the wrong person,” Adora shrugged. ”I hit the door first, and the only person I had contact with since the Coven fell apart was Kari…”

”And Kari had been close to her in the old coven. She never mentioned Alizee after? That there might have been a way to help her sooner?”

Adora shrugged.

”… She never mentioned Alizee when I talked to her, but you know Kari was a sweet gal. She probably was looking for something. She just…” Adora shrugged. ”Never talked with me about it because she was probably too focused on trying to help me. And I went ahead and just pushed her away…”

”And her notes were stolen before we could find them,” He sighed. ”Meaning that even if she did have a way, we wouldn’t know… We could have helped the others who were in her situation,” He said. ”Like Luca, or… I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Jack stopped for a minute and stood up. ”I asked you and not Leon because, well, he is Leon. I don’t trust him.”

”... But, look, Jack-” Adora cut herself off with a sigh before she shook her head. She turned on her heel to face Jack. ”What is this really about? Just come out and say it. Just speak your mind already, and let’s get it over with.”

Jack turned around and hid the fact that he was caught off guard from his face. Was it that obvious?

He locked eyes with Adora, and then gave in. ”…What you said about her at the meeting, it struck a nerve,” He admitted. ”I told you I won’t hold it against you, and I will not, but why? She was not the only one of us in need of help, the only one twisted by magic. What made her so different?”

Adora hung her head, and gave it a little shake before raising it and speaking, ”Look, Jack-o, I wasn’t trying to insult you, or Alizee. I wasn’t trying to disrespect anyone. If it felt that way, I’m sorry, Adora shook her head before saying, ”But, what made her different is obvious: it’s been ten years, and she hadn’t reached out to anyone, right? Didn’t tell anyone ‘Oh hey, can someone help me get this parasite out of my life?’ Not you? Not Blackmore? Not Britney? Not Stormy? Not Auri? Not Jinhai? Not anyone?

Adora slapped her hand on her hip before huffing, ”At the end of the day, there is a world of difference between needing help and wanting help. Hell, it’s like the mess with that white-haired bitch. Did she ask for help at all?”

”How do you ask someone for help when they won’t let you? As I understand it, Drake had been hunting her like an animal, looking for a chance to stop her by force. Leon’s cult only used her for the Void Heart, they wanted her shackled to it,” Jack said, keeping his cool as best he could.

”Of the people who stayed behind, how many of them do you think would consider giving her the chance to ask for help?”

”Besides the obvious, I honestly don’t know,” Adora shrugged. ”I can’t speak for the girl since I was never close to her. Maybe she did deep down, but didn’t know how to act on it.” Adora sighed as she conceded, shaking her head.

”But, neither of us are Greyson. We could never know what was going on in her head. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she loved that Apparition with all of her heart. And sadly, we never can know.”

”I knew she was at least in pain, because of the Void Heart. While I was in the Void, I saw her occasionally. She had a connection to the Void like me, and through her Abstraction, I’d see scarce traces of her,” Jack said, relaxing. ”The Void Heart drove her mad, Adora. In a way that was ultimately recoverable, but mad nonetheless. We were not able to have conversations from that distance, but… Alizee suffered.”

”I’m sorry to hear that; I really am. And even though Alizee hurt people, and gave us a lot of problems to solve, I don’t think she deserved what happened to her,” Adora sighed. ”But, that raises the question…”

She stared at Jack silently. Her face was stony.

”... Did you ever offer your help?”

”Of course I did, Adora,” Jack answered, audibly exasperated. ”Weeks digging through the coven’s archives for answers, months of researching Apparitions and their bonds to the soul- Reza even wounded the Void Heart with the Noble Vow once, and that was a mild inconvenience. Alizee was in much the same condition as Luca is now.”

”Then…” Adora closed her eyes, and then sighed. ”... You got every right to feel the way you feel about what I said.” She shrugged.

”It just wasn’t my place to say it.”

He looked away, and stared out at the ocean for a brief moment. This was, to Jack’s surprise, a lot easier than he had imagined.

”I might’ve said the same thing, in your position,” He said at last, and then looked back at her. ”I forgive you.”

Adora stuck her hand out.

”... Let’s call it good, then?”

”Yes, by all means.” He stuck his out, too.

Adora shook his hand, smiling at him… awkwardly. There was silence.

”... Though, if another situation happens like with that white-haired bitch,” Adora started, ”Please try and handle that better. Let her fuck around and find out.”

”In my defense, the plan would have gone perfectly if someone hadn’t followed us into the void with a gun.”

”No, I mean,” Adora shook her head. ”Ya’ll didn’t ask her if she needed help at all. And she obviously didn’t want it if she immediately sold us out to those mafia dickheads.”

”I suppose that is fair. Point taken. She worries me, almost as much as Alizee did. Those phantoms Leon mentioned at the meeting are no different from the Void Heart. I didn’t think it could do such a thing.”

”Hell, she should be worrying all of us,” Adora shook her head. ”Maybe we can make things up to her by actually asking her if she’s okay - but I think that ship sailed, Jack-O.”

”Then what could we do?” Jack asked. ”A curse is not the same as an Apparition. Even if we had something as powerful as the Brass Needle, or a master yellow Adept, some curses are more like a chronic illness than something treatable.”

Adora laughed.

”… Well I’ll tell Stormy to get to it, then,” Adora began. ”Meantime, I’m going to talk to her. Might not go anywhere but hell if I don’t say I never tried.”

He nodded.

”I need to find the location of an artifact, while you are doing that. I may have found a possible way to unadjoin Luca to the Rot.”

”Hit me up if you need anything, Jack-O,” Adora said, as she took a few steps back towards the shore. ”I’m only a phone call away.”



Edict
Interactions: None.
Blowin' that Joint




”… Man, I can’t stand his ass.”

Britney vented out loud, crossing her arms as she sat in the passenger side seat. She huffed.

’I ain’t the same uppity cunt I used to be’! Oh, ‘I’ll crush Father Wolf in my jaws!” When all l was trying to do is make a plan for that crazy mafia!” Britney mockingly imitated Leon’s voice, rolling her eyes. ”Like, if you could do it, you would have done it by now, motherfucker. Nobody wants to hear you meat-glaze.”

Britney rolled her eyes again, ”Hopefully, next meeting, I can bring up the subject, and we can make some headway instead of talking in circles…”

After losing his prized vehicle to poor conceptualization, Greyson had “requisitioned” a much newer and more bedecked vehicle to cruise around in. Some European brand he could barely pronounce the name of, with a flappy paddle gearbox and way too many screens. It felt cold compared to the old manual Cadillac…
He was trying to distract himself by thinking about that, rather than getting into whatever Britney was complaining about.

But he couldn’t exactly ignore it. Frankly, he had a lot of money invested in Leon’s assets, and he couldn’t let anyone ruin the paper trail that kept him (and many others) clothed and fed. Not even Britney.
”Brit… You know-” he paused, thinking for a moment and trying to choose his words as carefully as possible. ”-Shit, man… Why’s this all gotta be so hard? Why can’t we just come together on something?” he frowned finally, shrugging his shoulders.

”Listen, I’ll spill the beans… Leon and I are business partners… Well, technically their whole organization is my partner; I usually deal with his Mom or Sister. But… I’ve… Taken a few of their oaths. They wanted me to do so, because I… I know where the special shit comes from. I had to take ‘em to get involved enough that I could make money off ‘em. So, regardless of anything else, I’d like to play it straight with them for the time being.” he cleared his throat upon finishing, expecting the relative silence of his own explanation to be consumed by a hellstorm.

”Wait, what?” Britney came to a stop and looked at Edict. ”... Are they those ‘mutual friends’ you spoke of that got the Cards off my ass?”

His facial expression didn’t change despite the bold faced lie that came out of it.
”Yes. Because they know what the fuck’s happening too. And they’re not gonna leave you out to dry even if you don’t like them, especially not Leon. He may be pushy, he may be a dick, but hearing what they think and how they feel about shit? Especially Ms. Lynette…”
Greyson’s voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat again as a nervous tick.
”They don’t wanna end paranormal lives… They’re obsessed with people like us coming together, and being a community, ‘cuz they think some day they’re gonna restart the world. Obviously that’s a bit too far for me too, but I think we can use their proclivities to our advantage.”

”... Restart the fucking world?! Britney scoffed. ”I thought that bitch Lynette was crazy before, but now…” She could only laugh.

”But, they shot at us, Greyson! Jack got blasted, and Auri got brained,” Britney noted out loud. ”I know you’re making money off them-” Britney suddenly stopped. She paused for a few moments before saying.

Actually, let’s just drop this. I won’t shit on Leon or his people no more, okay?”

Greyson threw one of his hands up vaguely, sliding it across an invisible plain, trying to ward her off of that train of thought.
”Nah, like I understand that shit. I get it, and I’m not happy about it, and if you feel like you want somethin’ done about it, I’d be more than happy to get together with them and demand more. But, like, talk your shit. Cuz yeah I’d be pissed too. It ain’t gonna affect my business unless we start causing actual trouble with them, that’s all…”

He grimaced, looking a bit remorseful. Obviously he didn’t want her feeling like she couldn’t talk to him…
”It’s my turn to show you that you can really trust me with that shit.” he offered, hoping she’d take it as a chance to comment further.

”... What did you have in mind?” Britney asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged.
”I mean, I really didn’t have anything, besides being willing and open to listen to you, and to keep your secrets as your man, you know? But, obviously I’m down for anything for you. You want me to make things tough on ‘em, I’ll do it.” Greyson offered with a great deal of sincerity.
”Ain’t no “your problem my problem” shit, right? They’ our problems.”

”Look, it’s just not my place to intrude on your business like that,” Britney said with a sigh. ”I knew what you were into from the jump - so...”

She threw her hands up with a shrug, ”... That’s on me. Not you. You don’t have to make anything tough on them. I just don’t like them.”

Greyson shrugged his shoulder, reaching a hand out and placing it on Britney’s thigh. His face screamed sympathy.
”I’d like for them to be gone… First chance I get. Just… I doubt it’ll be until after this fucking Father Wolf shit, man… Like, this morning. Kenshiro had the balls to insinuate it was your fault? It makes moving and maneuvering hard on all of us.”
He shook his head, frustrated by the situation as it stood.
”But, whatever. ‘Least I got you for now, huh? And we can bitch at each other like old times.”

Pointing at the glovebox subtly, he wagged his eyebrows.
”There’s a cigarette case in there with some joints rolled up… You wanna just cruise wit’cha boy?”

Britney gave him a devious grin.

Ooooooooh boy, you bad!” Britney feigned shock as she opened it up, and pulled out the case. ”I hope you learned how to roll joints because, like ten years ago, you couldn’t roll for your life; I’m sorry.”

She laughed as she opened it up. ”So, are we going to roll back to my house, or are we just gonna pull over? I mean, you’re just gonna mind-blast any cop that appears...” She shrugged.

”Would like to at least avoid that.” She said as she rolled her eyes.

He laughed loudly. Of course she wasn’t gonna have him driving and smoking, no matter how much of a problem it probably wouldn’t have been.
”Of course we’ll pull over… You put on your music, we’ll hit a nice spot out in the hills. You can tell me ‘bout all the life I missed while we blow a little smoke.”
Greyson’s eyebrows raised again, his face staying cool and neutral otherwise; trying to be nonchalant about it as possible.

”And yeah, I’ve had a bit of practice. I can do it one-handed too.”

Britney laughed.

”I bet you can’t!”
Alright, virgins! It's time to unveil the NPCs for the upcoming Elite Arc! Pretend I wrote them all in one night and not over a few days on my phone and just touched upon the rambling on my PC.

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