apocalypsehowcomm | LOG | July Catch-All

It hurts. That's the first thing that really occurs as they come back into consciousness. Their sigil is burning on their wrist and feeling of the cold ground underneath them helps shock their system awake even more. This isn't where they were when they passed out, they knew that much. Raine's eyes fought open in spite of the fact the fire in their veins was taking up most of their attention. It looked like an office? Of some kind anyways, it wasn't quite like the archives or secretarial wings of Belos's castle though to be fair they'd only really seen glimpses of those.

Raine writhed on the floor, curled up at the foot of a desk as they groaned. There were zig-zagging lines of light over their body, almost like glowing veins. All of them seemed to be emanating from their wrist where there was a red sigil of a harp emblazoned on their skin. Though even as they squirmed uncomfortably, not quite convulsing, the lights seemed to be slowly fading as Raine wracked their brain trying to figure out what exactly was going on here.

"Bloody hell!" Donna's been glued to her computer, tapping away her computer, catching up on everything she's missed being away from Gloucester. The flicker of light that distracts her, but it's the groan that really catches her attention.

And has her throwing her now-tepid tea at the- whoever that is squirming by her desk. Why are they glowing? Are they going to explode?

"Stop that!" she commands.

They saw movement, something swift and fast was flung at them. The next thing they knew they were now in pain and very damp. Raine's face scrunched up at the unpleasantness of the whole situation, shaking their head slightly to flick the.. tea? They assume it's tea- off their glasses to look towards what the source of that even was, the voice that called out helped in that.

Almost uncannily in time with Donna shouting "Stop that!" the lights started to slowly flicker and recede into their skin. Raine's attention locked on the figure by the desk and their eyes narrowed past the lenses of their glasses. Confusion weaved through the pained expression as they looked over Donna.

"Your ears.." They muttered out almost incoherently, and what they said next didn't exactly lend it to make any more sense, "They're.. round."

"You're bloody right they are!" That... hadn't actually sounded like an insult, but she was still startled enough by all of this that the snap came first. But now she had a clearly injured person lying at her feet... doused in cold tea. With lines all across them? If they were going to explode, they seemed to be taking their time about it.

"And yours are pointy. Are you- d'you need me to get you to medical?" A pause. "You're not about to blow up, are you? You have all these glowy lines all over you."

Raine's head was spinning. Slowly they started to push to sit upright, nearly toppling over to one side but managing to keep themselves sitting. The lights were nearly faded by the time they moved an arm up to rub their face.

"Medical..? Where is this? Who are you??" Raine stammered out as reality started to really settle back into their waking mind, and with that came the realization of what just happened before everything went black.

Their eyes dazedly looked around the office space as they tried to piece together how they even got here, then back to Donna as they looked her up and down. "Are you.. human?"

"Yeah. You're in a place filled with humans." And he is, very clearly, not one. "We're not gonna hurt you, but you- well, you sort of just fell through a few dimensions. If you know what those are. Planes? ... Space/time? Anyway, you really look like you're not in a good way."

Apart from the tea staining their clothes. "My name's Donna. I just- I think we should get you somewhere they can help if you collapse, all right? What's your name?"

A place.. filled with humans? Then she went on about- about falling through dimensions, space and time and.. Their head spun. They looked back down over their arm, the lights gone. Raine's face scrunched up and they braced against the desk next to them. The bard then forced themselves to kneel before pushing up on their feet.

Raine staggered as they spoke. "I'm- I'm..Raine.." They narrowed their eyes at her as they took an uneasy step back. They thought of Belos and.. who he really was, what just happened. "How do you know that? That I- I supposedly fell through dimensions?"

"Well, it's what happened to me half a year ago. So, I could be off the mark, but considering you're not the first and probably not the last? Yeah, seems likely."

She wanted to try to guide them toward medical, but given she'd just doused them in tea and they seemed understandably wary, she refrained for the moment. "Lot of folks turn up here like that. Just bad luck you ended up near my desk... sorry about the tea. I really thought you were gonna explode, the way you looked."

Not the first..? Raine couldn't parse if she was telling the truth or not, honestly. Nothing about this made any sense, even less so than usual all things considered. Yet they listened along anyways to try and make heads or tails of the whole situation.

They looked down at their arm again before up at Donna, eyes still narrowed warily. "I.. can't refute that, exactly but.." They were starting to buy into it, though they wanted to get some answers before blindly following this person. "Is this the human realm..? Where is here exactly? And- and for that matter why have people been showing up like this?"

"I'm pretty sure there's only a human realm here, mate. It's- D'you know anything about America?" The conversation needed to start small if they were going to figure out a way to convince him to just come along before someone summoned the guards to drag them off to orientation. They could get to the why once they had a few basics settled.

"..America?" They looked completely lost here. Their eyes scanning past her around the room, almost anxiously and frantically. They were.. admittedly, trying to clock a way out if necessary. But for now.. they'd bite. "Is that what you call this place?" It was the most logical assumption to them at the moment.

"No, it's like... like a country?" God, did they have countries where this person was from? "This is the Apocalypse Disruption Initiative. Or Apex Detectives, Inc. Either way, it's ADI. The headquarters for the organizations. We're in a building in the city of Gloucester. State of Massachusetts. Country of the United States of America... On a planet called Earth?"

Hopefully one of those would mean something.

Raine unfortunately did not seem to understand anything Donna was saying. Their expression only getting more frustrated and lost the more she tried to explain. "I have.. no idea what you're talking about-" Then they blinked. Replaying what she said in their mind, before staggering as they lurched forwards a bit towards her.

They weren't trying to startle her.. just, it seems something did click afterall. "You said- You said this is an Apocalypse- Distruption Initiative? What does that mean?" They went on with an almost.. rising sense of delirious urgency.

They lurched forward, and Donna took a step back to match, not a little bit alarmed. "Hey. Calm down. It means what I said. They--we now, I guess--stop apocalypses. There're these... Entity things? Horrible eldritch aliens creatures that feed on fear. Everyone here tries to stop them doing that. And, like... trying to take over the world so they can do more of it?"

She made a so-so gesture. "Bit hazy on what their actual plan is if they manage. I mean, there's one that's all about slaughter, so you'd think they'd kill everyone off pretty quickly and lose any fear they wanted to feed on."

Their arrival here was messy. Maybe messy wasn't the right term, after all once they were up and finally escorted by the ADI agents to their initiation, of sorts. They weren't sure what else to call that whole situation. Being ushered from one location to the next as they digested the information they received, Raine took these offered clothes and amenities, even this.. phune? Phone? Phone.

It didn't take long at all for them to realize that if nothing else, they would have to play along to get anywhere in this place. Could that be so hard? After all, it's not like it's the first time Raine found themselves sucking up to and playing the part of some organization or system they didn't trust.

For now.. Raine was tired. Truthfully what they felt was sick and scared. They didn't know what was happening back on the Isles, if anyone was still alive or left after the Day of Unity. They wouldn't sleep well tonight, but they needed to rest if they were going to figure out whats happening here. They kept their bag of goods tucked under their arm as they fumbled with the keys to their door. They knew there would be a roommate but they didn't really think to ask many questions and instead opted to just quietly dread more interaction. If they're lucky maybe they can avoid them easy enough.

The lock clicked and the door opened slowly, Raine peeking their head inside before stepping in and shutting it behind them, eyes dragging over the apartment and whatever or whoever was in their line of sight.

Eda, meanwhile, had managed to miss the notice that she had a roommate again. Just because she was having a pretty easy time adjusting to phones instead of scrolls didn't mean that she was good about checking hers.

Which meant she was still taking advantage of the fact that as far as she knew, she had the place to herself. She'd claimed the living room as her own, a fact which was rather obvious from the choice of furniture: the first thing someone was likely to spot upon entering looked like a bird nest. Specifically, a bird nest large enough for an imposingly tall woman to sleep comfortably in.

It was woven together from sticks and branches, with the occasional sparkly object. It was also lined with blankets which Eda had probably appropriated from the unoccupied bedrooms.

The next thing someone might notice would be the fact the nest was occupied. Eda was curled up in it, asleep or close to asleep. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail that could most likely be spotted over the side and she was wearing loose, mismatched pajamas.

Her ears pricked up at the sound of the door opening and she groggily pushed herself up on her elbows and growled.

The nest certainly clicked before anything else did. Raine stopped still, tilting their head to the side a bit quizzically as they glanced over the woven branches, shiny bits and bobs as well as the blankets. They weren't really sure what to make of it but they didn't have long to drawn any conclusions before movement rustled from within the nest.

Raine watched the messy shock of grey hair moving up from the nest, with a face soon following it in time with that growl emanating from the figure.

They froze, meeting her mis-matched eyes with their own as their jaw went slack. The bag at their side hit the floor as they went very still and stayed very quiet. A tense moment of shocked silence was soon followed by a very soft and uncertain voice speaking a name. It was all they could really bring themselves to say.

"Eda..?"

The voice registered before Eda's eyes actually focused, but the growl cut off abruptly. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily and then looked up, blinking several times. Was she still dreaming?

"Rainstorm...?"

And then reality suddenly snapped into place and Eda was very, very flustered. She stared at them owlishly for another beat before scrambling to her feet, stepping in front of the nest like that would actually do anything to obscure it.

She brushed some bits of twigs and leaves off her shirt, which was trying to slide entirely off one shoulder. She ran a hand through her hair, which only succeeded at making it messier. She blushed a little. So much for all that time she'd spent trying to pretend to Raine that she was still normal.

"Raine... you're here!?" Was it really them? Hunter was here, so it could be true.

Raine watched Eda snap out of it and see them. The soft spoken Rainstorm…? made their heart sink into their stomach. Their eyes flickered over her frantically as she got up. Rushing to her feet as Raine’s eyes fluttered down to her arm. She- she still had it? They felt it crumble in their hands before it all went dark. Yet here she was, in one piece.

Raine didn’t say anything, their voice caught in their throat as they walked over to her slowly. Approaching her until they were about a foot away, at which point they reached out and gently took her hand, moving her arm out towards them as they ran their fingers over the inside of her wrist. Their bard sigil contrasting to her blank skin. “Your arm- you still have your arm. The- the sigil.. why don’t you have the sigil..?” Confusion deeply wracked their expression between the stammering statements as they narrowed their eyes up at her again.

“Eda what’s going on here..?” Their attention dropped behind her to the nest as a realization slowly settled in. “How long have you been here? I just got here, but.. oh this doesn’t make any sense!” They fretted as they let go of her, stepping back a bit to rub at their own wrist anxiously.

Eda looked, somehow, even more confused, and blushed a bit more noticeably as Raine took her hand. Well, that was unexpected after last time. And nothing they were saying made any sense either. She'd never lost an arm--misplaced them a few times maybe, but never actually lost--and she'd definitely never had a sigil.

"Raine, how come you manage to make less sense every time I see you--I mean I'm getting some mixed signals here, last time you wouldn't even look at me--"

And then she processed the last couple of questions they'd asked, and things clicked into place. The picture they made wasn't a comforting one.

"Okay, okay, I think I know what's going on here," she said slowly, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. More or less, at any rate. And oh, she did not like suddenly being the one on this side of things, if she was right. She suddenly felt worse for Hunter.

"Titan I hate this time shit," she muttered under her breath.

"I've been here for a couple of months and... this is going to be a weird question, but when are you from?"

The pieces were starting to fall into place. Raine thought back to what they were told when they arrived here.. people from different worlds were showing up. Now they didn't say anything about time, but the things Eda was saying was helping them draw the necessary conclusion.

Eda has been here for months, apparently.. she says the last time they saw eachother they wouldn't look at her.. they had to assume it meant the Coven Day Parade incident, even though that was just about a week ago. She didn't seem to know what they meant when they prompted her about the sigil and her arm. Then of course the most damning evidence was Eda outright mentioning time as a factor just now.. Raine wasn't certain they knew what this all meant in the grand scheme of things but there was one thing they couldn't deny.

She didn't know about what happens on the day of unity. They had mere moments to decide how to proceed, their face knotting up and they turned to the side a bit so they wouldn't have to look at her as they hugged themselves.

"We were.. preparing. For the Day of Unity. It was just around the bend, I'd made sure you and Luz were brought to us safely so we could come up with a plan.." They looked back to her, gaze flickering over her expression for any sign of recognition. "You don't remember that, do you?"

Eda started to reach out a hand when Raine turned away and wrapped their arms around themselves like that. She almost put it on their shoulder, but then hesitated. She wasn't quite sure what was happening but she wanted to help, wanted to pull them into a hug... but that didn't exactly go over well last time. Even if they were acting very different right now.

"I don't," Eda agreed slowly, her expression as puzzled as before, but at least it seemed that she'd put the situation together right. Admittedly she wasn't happy about that.

"It was... a week until the Day of Unity, when I got here." So the amount of time between them showing up doesn't really line up, either. Ugh. She really does hate time magic at this point.

"You'd made sure... Raine, last time I saw you you were all, you know, brainwashed or whatever. What happened? Do you remember getting captured and everything now?" It sure seemed like they'd snapped out of it, but she wanted to make sure they were on... well, not the same page, but more or less.

Of course, there was a little bit of suspicion nagging at the back of her mind. There had been ever since Raine handed her back her invisibility glyph. But Raine wouldn't have lied.

Raine didn't lie. That was sort of a big thing.

...Apparently Raine lied to the Emperor's coven these days.

But Raine didn't lie to her.

Raine's face tightened up, expression knotting with discomfort as they slowly looked back to Eda, at which point their facade began to crack just a bit. They didn't like lying to her, hell- the incident at the Parade was painful in a way they never wanted to experience again. Yet.. here they were. Stringing her along again. Maybe this time it will really be for the better.

They let out a small sigh and looked away again as they begun their confession. "I wasn't brainwashed, not exactly. There was an attempt, through Terra.. But with the help of Darius and Eber I was able to prevent it without them knowing. I couldn't afford for the other Covenheads or the Emperor to realize I was foiling their plan but also I just-"

Raine tensed up and pinched the bridge of their nose, shutting their eyes as they took another deep breath. "I wanted to protect you, Eda. If you got caught after all by Kikimora when Darius and Eber cornered us I don't think you would have been nearly as lucky as me. Your safety and the safety of those close to you was too important to risk."

Eda's expression grew harder to read as she listened, the concern fading into... well, to be completely honest it was taking a little while to process everything. She wasn't sure which was harder to believe, the fact Darius and Eberwolf were apparently helping or the fact that Raine had been lying. Or the fact that Raine had pulled off lying. No, it was definitely a tie between those last two. She'd worry about the other coven heads later.

Raine lying to her was enough to be a shock, but so was the fact she apparently didn't know all their tells anymore on the rare occasion they did. She really didn't like this. But she had to admit she was still happy they were alright.

"...Well, first things first," she said after a long moment. Eda pulled them into a crushingly tight hug, probably lifting them off their feet briefly. "M'glad you're not brainwashed."

She squeezed them for a few seconds, then let go, let out an irritated huff and shoved them away. "Now tell me what the hell you were thinking," she growled. Technically they kind of had, but apparently she didn't like that answer.

"Thinking I had to keep the kids safe by myself, and stop the emperor somehow, without any allies was supposed to keep me safe? Thinking you definitely needed someone to fucking rescue you was supposed to keep me safe? Did you think I wouldn't just be more worried--!"

Eda paused, but only to take a deep breath.

The moment of silence was almost enough to break them. Watching her conflicted expression made their stomach tie up in a billion little knots. Then she moved forwards and pulled them into a hug. It was suffocating, almost.. but.. nice. They didn't care about how their feet lifted up, or how they hand to brace against her to keep from toppling over as they were set back down.

They were a second from returning the gesture before she was shoving them away. They staggered back and just barely managed to catch themselves in the shock of the sudden mood shift.

Raine's eyes flickered over her face before frowning, looking down and to the side. It was just getting harder to look her in the eyes. Especially knowing how it all ends.. in the moments before they showed up here.

"I- I know. I know it wasn't the best move, now at least. You don't remember it, or know it yet I suppose but when we met again before the preparations for the Day of Unity I realized that I couldn't leave you out of this. That I should have let you know sooner. Admittedly? I thought you would realize it would be too easy to loose the things you care about trying to fight this, let alone without any help. That you'd stay far away from the Emperor, the Covens.."

They trailed off as their voice wavered, hands balled up to keep them from shaking at their sides. It's their fault she was there in the end, they should have kept her far away from it.

"I'm sorry, Eda."

Eda really, really wanted to keep yelling at them. She was mad at them and mad at the situation and honestly she just needed to yell.

But... Raine also kind of looked like a kicked puppy at the moment. It was hard to keep yelling at them when they looked so upset and guilty already. And when she was guessing they'd already heard it all, at least if they were telling the truth about coming clean in their timeline.

She took another deep breath, but this time to try and hold it together.

"I guess... I'll have to take your word for that," she decided, albeit grudgingly. "You better have," she added, a little more warning her tone.

As for the rest they almost had a point but, well, she could lose the things she cared about if she didn't try, too. One of those things being Raine, thank you very much. Not that she says that bit out loud.

"It's... weird. The time stuff I mean." She glances away and pinches the bridge of her nose. She should probably fill them in, especially since that might be an easier topic.

"Hunter's here. Um. The Golden Guard," she clarified the last bit as an afterthought, not actually sure how well Raine actually knew the kid even if they both worked for the Emperor. "But he doesn't remember the last time he saw me or Luz. Or... a lot of stuff I know about that he doesn't yet."

They were expecting more shouting, a load more yelling and raw emotion to come pouring out, they half expected her to call them on their bluff any moment now. Then she took a deep breath, and the shouting didn't come. They weren't sure how long they could keep doing this, lying to protect her but.. at least this time they know exactly what they're protecting her from.

Raine nodded and didn't say anything more until she continued on. They still seemed on edge and weary but they did perk up a bit at the mention of the boy.

"The Golden Guard is here?" They stewed in thought for a moment before placing a hand under their chin in thought. "When I'm from, I suppose, the last time I'd seen him was right before the memory spell went awry." They muttered in recollection, not exactly processing that may be news to Eda. "I'm guessing that would be about when you saw him last too, right?"

“No, the last time I saw him was after I got the kids out of there–” Eda corrected them, before trailing off with a raised eyebrow.

“How do you know about that memory spell?” It was possible that she’d told them about it later, but something about the way they mentioned it going awry and the way they said right before made her think they might mean something else.

“...Luz said they got in that mess because Hunter was trying to stop someone else from spying on Belos.” Someone else who she was kind of mad at, given it ended in her having to rescue the kids. Even if she couldn’t blame them for wanting to spy. After all, she’d been telling Luz that someone needed to find some actual proof. But she still wasn’t happy about it.

Raine stalled to a stop and blinked a bit owlishly as they realized they never really.. told her, even when THEY'RE from, let alone the fact she seems to be from right around then.

"Well.. It sounds like you've figured it out. Me, Darius and Eber were trying to figure out what exactly would happen on the Day of Unity, the Golden Guard and your kid both.. interrupted it. We didn't know they'd get stuck in there, last we saw them they were both fine when we left."

They moved a hand down to fidget with one of their buttons as they. "I did try to help get them out of there, and I assume it worked. It was the flowers, for the potion. It was the only way I could think to get past Hooty without being caught and still lend a hand."

Eda looked like she was ready to be angry again, based on that first part. Even if it was a good excuse, that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

The next part, though, caught her off guard. It made sense now, but at the time she'd had no idea who'd both know and want to help.

"...I did think that was dumb even for Hooty," she said after a moment. If it was someone he knew that explained a lot. Or maybe the flowers would have worked for anyone, you never knew with him.

"Thanks," she added, deflating a bit. "Not sure I could have pulled it off without that. And they got out just in time, too. Belos wasn't exactly happ--" Eda paused, suddenly remembering the specific note with those flowers.

"Hang on, secret admirer?"

Raine let out an internal sigh of relief when it tided her over. They weren't sure how much more arguing they could do at this rate, it was proving to be extremely emotionally and physically taxing to try and keep this up. If things were different, they'd tell her everything they could, confide in her. She still thinks there's a home to go back to, doesn't she? They'd rather keep it that way.

Then she decided to press a specific detail about their little stunt with the flowers and Raine's face begun to burn as their eyes went wide. For a moment they stammered, trying to come up with some sort of sly comment or coy excuse but it all turned to mush before they could say anything.

Raine stopped themselves, took a deep breath.. and let out a small, sort of nervous laugh. "Yeah.. I was- Well I was working on the fly and I knew that'd appeal to Hooty's sensibilities, at least. Besides, it worked didn't it?"

Eda started to smirk, just a tiny bit, at that blush. Upset as she was overall, it didn't change the fact that Raine was very, very cute when they did that. But then they made excuses and... what else was she expecting? After all, she teased them about it to be obnoxious. It wasn't like she actually thought they meant anything by it.

So why did it kind of hurt a little? Why did they somehow feel further away when they were here than when they weren't? Pull yourself together Edalyn, you're a grown-ass woman.

"Yeah--yeah, I guess it did. Hooty's always been a big sap so, you know, good thinking."

There was a lot to unpack about this situation already. They just got here and already there was a flurry of confusion rocking the boat. Eda was here but it wasn't their Eda, or not exactly at least. She wasn't from when they were, she didn't know what was going to happen on the Day of Unity and.. frankly they didn't want her to if that was the case. It hurt to lie to her like that, but it was for the best, even if she didn't realize it.

It was hard to even be in the same space as her without feeling the urge to crack. So Raine would do what they could to gather information about this place and how to fix everything so they could.. go back home, I suppose. If there was even a home to go back to when they did.

They'd spent most of the day stewing in their anxiety about Eda and what happened before they woke up here, as well as exploring the ADI grounds. They didn't stick in any one location for very long out of fear of having to mingle or something like that. Their first real prolonged drop-in would be the library.

Walking up to it, it was much smaller than the ones they'd squirrel away in to avoid people back on the isles but it would suffice, hopefully. Raine shuffled inside, keeping their head down and walking briskly past the computers towards the sparse collection of books available.

Of all the places on the ADI's campus, the library is where Hunter can often be found. It isn't nearly as grand as what he's used to in the Boiling Isles at the Emperor's castle, but it's something, and there's a comforting familiarity being surrounded by knowledge. The whole world could change but books? Books will always be the same.

He's currently at a table, hunched over a number of books on various Earth subjects, reading away like a diligent student. Flapjack is with him, perched on top of his head, and it's the bird who spots Raine first. He lets out a loud cheep which causes Hunter to glance up, and when he sees the coven head his jaw drops.

"Raine?? You're here??" He's already on his feet, hurrying over, looking entirely bewildered. "When did you here?!"

The sound of the Golden Guard's voice clicked before they even saw him. Raine stopped dead in their tracks and swivelled their attention to the approaching boy like they were a deer caught in headlights, not that the comparison would mean anything to either of them.

A million things ran through their mind before it slowed down enough for them to straighten their posture and nod to him. The last time they saw the Golden Guard he was trying to arrest them for an attempt to invade Belos's mind. They know he was in there, even helped him escape from afar.. but they never did find out what exactly happened to him after he seemingly ran away from the coven, only that the Emperor wanted him back.

After a moment of stunned silence Raine realized they were getting lost in their own head and snapped out of it. Shaking their head a bit before looking down at Hunter and offering an unnerved but patient smile.

"A few days ago. I've been trying to adjust but it's rather different than anything back home, isn't it?" Their eyes flickered up to the palisman with him. They'd seen it both before they absconded from the mind-invasion spell and when Hooty was talking to it.. but it was odd to really process that the Golden Guard had a palisman even before he ran off.

"Whose your friend?" They asked as they gestured a bit to the bird.

Luckily for Raine, Hunter has absolutely no clue about the future happenings of the Boiling Isles, including the attempt on Belos' mind. That's great for them! No irritating little bootlicker attempting to immediately arrest them in the middle of the library!

On the flipside, because Hunter doesn't know, he's already in his very pathetic puppy dog please validate my existence mode. It's wonderful to see someone who doesn't loathe his very existence in the human realm, and while they certainly aren't friends, they're amiable coworkers, and for Hunter, unfortunately, that's basically the closest he's ever gotten to friendship. So when Raine smiles Hunter grins back.

And then that grin drops when Raine asks about Flapjack.

"Oh! Uh - " Right, right. He hasn't really been keeping Flapjack hidden here, since there hasn't been a need. Of course, he's kicking himself now, because any lie he comes up with it something Raine will see right through, and they'll tell the Emperor, and Belos will -

Hunter's hands unconsciously shake as he sucks in a breath. "A... palisman," he says nervously. Flapjack gives a little cheep in greeting, though he looks wary, too. "My palisman."

This was.. weird. They weren't exactly sure how to handle this. They didn't exactly want to pretend they were loyal to the Emperor still.. not that they ever were but the kid didn't need to know that. They'd try to play along as best they could but if it came down to it they may indulge at least some of the truth.

Raine blinked a bit blankly as Hunter responded, staring at the palisman like they were trying to figure it out. Though.. very quickly Raine's neutral expression turned into a warm smile as they lowered down a bit to get a closer look at Flapjack. They looked nervous, both of them. It was a bit odd, the guards didn't have them, neither did most of the Covenheads, other than Lilith to their recollection, but that all ended before they officially took their position. He also had a staff like Belos, last they checked..

Then there was the reason for the confiscations and..

"They seem very attached to you, I didn't know you had a palisman." They chuckled as they straightened up, though their expression turned a bit more worried as they pressed on. "Does the Emperor know about them..?"

Edited 2022-08-10 22:53 (UTC)

There it is, the question Hunter is completely dreading. There's no way for him to get around this, no lying, no being clever with his words to get around the subject. He sucks in a deep breath, giving Flapjack a small glance for reassurance.

"No," he replies, his voice tense. "No, he doesn't. I'd like to keep it that way."

He has no idea how Raine will take that. As far as he knows they're completely loyal to the Emperor, so he's taking a huge risk here. Of course, he is too, Belos is his family, but... but he can't let Flapjack be taken. He knows what will happen if he does, and the thought of subjecting the bird to that fate is unthinkable.

They watch him tense up, wary and nervous. He thinks they'll tell Belos, doesn't he? Raine weighed their options, they could give up the goat right now, tell him they don't care about what Belos thinks.. but they don't know how comforting that would be if HE still cares what Belos thinks. They'll have to find a middle ground.

Raine made sure their movements were easy to track as they reached out to Hunter's shoulder, resting a hand there gently as they cracked a more wary smile to him. "Don't worry, if you don't want him to know I won't say a word. It's not my place to step in."

They pat his shoulder before their attention scanned around the library, then down to Hunter. "How long have you been here? Not the library specifically but this.. world, I suppose?"

Hunter is expecting the worst here, and his eyes dart nervously to Raine's hand when it settles on his shoulder as he involuntarily flinches a tiny bit. Touching is a bad indicator, in his mind, it can only mean that this was the wrong move. Even though he's in a whole other realm from the Boiling Isles, he should've kept Flapjack hidden.

Those thoughts are swirling around in his mind as Raine speaks, and lucky for him, their reaction is entirely reasonable.

It's not my place to step in.

His eyes widen and he stares in total shock at that, silent for several long moments even as Raine moves onto more important matters. Sorry, give him a second to process that question.

"Oh - " Yeah, he needs to answer that. "About two months, approximately? The same as - the Owl Lady. She's here too, and I believe we arrived here at about the same time."

They didn't blame him for needing some time to respond. This must be hard, even without knowing the whole truth about the Emperor and the Day of Unity and.. everything really. They don't know what he saw in the Emperor's mind, but it had to be bad. The least they could do is throw the boy a bone until that time comes for him.

"That's quite a bit of time to be here on your own, though I'm not surprised someone like the Golden Guard has been able to manage in such a strange place."

They nodded and kept their glance off to the side. "Have you spoken much with the Owl Lady in your time here? It may be best that we work together as the only witches here thus-far, pool our resources until we can make sure we can get home safely, don't you think?"

Hunter at least perks up at the compliment. Even the slightest amount of validation from an authority figure is something he's going to accept, he practically thrives on it. That, and the fact that Raine doesn't seem to mind that he has a palisman, makes this so much easier.

"I... have," he admits that a little reluctantly, because she's a criminal and all. It must look bad that he not only has a palisman, but it associating with someone so firmly against the Emperor. "There were some creatures in a town outside of this one causing some problems, we went hunting for them together."

They could tell he was still nervous about this, they understood that instinct. It wasn't easy, trying to play by someone else's rules and having too much to prove. They had to guess he had it worse, just.. knowing how the Emperor was, and what they've learned.

The least they could do is assure him he doesn't need to worry about siding with the 'enemy', at least when it comes to Eda.

Raine nodded along and gave a wry smile as they glanced back down to him. "I take it that went well enough? She didn't give you too much trouble, did she? I know she can come on pretty strong sometimes." Raine let out a nervous chuckle and nodded, "We're old friends, you don't have to worry about getting in trouble with working with her when it comes to me, okay?"

Pretty strong is certainly an understatement when they're talking about Eda, in Hunter's opinion. He makes a bit of a face, because he really, really isn't used to Eda's anything, but he doesn't complain. Their personalities might clash but, for the most part, he's been able to work with her.

Of course, what's way more surprising to him is the new fact that Raine and Eda already know each other. Just - what!! Hunter looks baffled. "You're old friends?? How?! Why do you know each other??"

At Hunter's evident shock Raine couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. They crossed their arms over their chest and nodded with a somewhat wry smile. "It isn't something I've advertised much, we haven't really seen each other in some time." They let out a soft sigh, it felt nice to talk about her- about them both, without it necessarily being to her.

They had a chance to reminisce without the raw emotion of everything else getting in the way.

"We met when we were kids, at an Instruction Future Witches of Tomorrow event, shortly after I started to attend Hexside with her and, well.. it's history from there really. The point is.. I know Eda, she's strong and she's capable, and she'll be a great help here, regardless of her criminal status. After all, what Belos doesn't know won't hurt him. Even if he did find out, you can always say you were leveraging her skills in order to return to your duties with haste."

As he listens hunter tilts his head, appraising Raine and trying to picture them and Eda as kids. It's really difficult though, so he figures he's going to just have to trust Raine on this. Which, honestly, that's fine. Raine's an adult and an authority figure and it makes him feel pretty comfortable doing that.

"I... suppose that's true. He would probably be alright with that." Probably. Maybe? Hunter honestly isn't sure, this is entirely new territory for him and as much as he doesn't like it, he knows at this point that it's a necessity. They all need to be working together in order to get home, and that's the most important thing here.

So having thought that through, he gives a nod with a bit more confidence. "Yes. Right. He'll understand that logic."

"Glad we can agree." They nodded and their gaze swept over the walls of bookshelves again. Crossing one arm over their chest, the other propping up on it to rub at their chin. They glanced over at Hunter before smiling brightly, it would probably be good to change the topic.

"So what have you been able to figure out about this place so far? Anything important or even interesting to know? I'm still pretty out of my depth here so if you know anything of note it could be a big help to getting adjusted while we're all here together."

It certainly would be easier than trying to keep pushing it by talking to Eda.

At Raine's question Hunter droops a little. He wishes he had some good information to share, but sadly that isn't the case.

"I haven't learned much more than what ADI has provided us with." Which, to be fair, in his opinion is quite a bit of good information. "I suppose... our magic is tied to an entity, so we aren't supposed to be using it. That makes it a lot harder to complete our missions."

LOG | July Catch-All | Closed for Now

Welcome to the ADI (Donna, Closed)

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Apologies for the delay! Gonna try to get back on the horse here after some brainrot.

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(Sorry! Inbox ate this notification)

Curse you, DW! /shakes fist

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Settling In (Eda, Closed)

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Snooping Around (Hunter, Closed)

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