polydeukes | penance } { ic inbox

I did. Lizzie too.

[But this is not a conversation for the hallway. She reaches over, opening the door so Merry and Pippin could head back inside. She then steps in and holds open the door so that Jon could come in behind her. Lizzie's still out, it looks like. Hopefully she'll stay out long enough to give them some time to talk.]

She wasn't too mad, was she?

[Elena, she means. She told her not to, but she also knows how Elena feels about secrets.]

[ Jon steps inside after Josie does, letting the door shut behind him before he answers in a quiet voice. She was angry, and she was hurt, and it was about more than the secret that he kept for Josie, much more. He shakes his head slightly since he doesn't want Josie to worry about that. ]

I've done far more wrong than only that.

[ She has every reason to be angry and hurt because of him as difficult as it is to understand he's caused it, caused the pain in her heart, caused the rift between them. His chest still aches when he thinks of Elena's face (how her anger deflated, how the hurt flashed across her face). He looks around the room, seeming to realize that Josie might not be staying here at the moment. ]

...how did your sister take it?

She was angry. I'm giving her space to be angry without having to worry about me.

[And Lizzie should be angry. Josie doesn't really begrude her that at all.]

I've been staying with my friend, Landon, but I stop in once in a while to see Merry and Pippin.

[She gestures to the two demiurges who are now settled nearby, entertaining themselves.]

[ Jon is now wondering if he should have left his own suite to give Elena space. Would that help her to not have to run into him especially after the conversation they had about needing space and time? He's new to navigating these dynamics. His only relationship happened while his life was in constant threat. His life has been a series of battles for a long time. ]

Must've been difficult to tell them both, but I'm glad you did. The words should come from you even when they're painful to give.

[ Even if the result was having to live with this space from her sister. They're obviously He thinks Lizzie has every right to be angry too, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. Like he thinks Elena has every right to be angry at him and hurt because of him, but it doesn't make it any easier to know he's caused it. ]

[She nods, because yes. It was hard. And they came to some realizations that she didn't want to think about. It's one thing to admit them to Jon, or someone that doesn't know her as well. It's another when it's Lizzie.]

We're going to have to find another way to deal with the sandclock. I'm just not sure what.

Now that Elena and Elizabeth know, we can agree upon a plan for what to do. Your other friends too. [ If they are up for helping, they could use it. ] You don't get a sense of where it is, do you?

[ Can she feel the dark magic even if she doesn't know where it is? It would make his attempts to hide it with Elena's help unhelpful, but he's hoping that isn't ultimately the case. They switch which of them has the safe, which has the key in hopes that helps too. ]

[Josie shakes her head, but she hasn't really been looking. She hasn't wanted to know. But at least it's not calling out to her from wherever Jon hid it.]

Yeah. I have some old grimmoires from some of the more powerful witches in our world, so hopefully there's an answer in there somewhere.

[Esther Mikaelson probably had to get rid of a mora miserium once or twice, right?]

[ Relief hits Jon when she says that at least it's not calling out to her. She doesn't know where it is. It may change if she wants to find it. Magic is still a lot for him to wrap his head around. ]

If there isn't, there are other people with magic in Hell. They may have insight, but I don't... know how it translates.

[ He makes a slight face since the magic of his own world appeared to all be of the dark variety. ]

I'll take any help I can get.

[But they do need to be careful. Not all magic users can be trusted. She's learned that from experience.]

But we'll have to make sure they're ... in it for the right reasons?

[ Jon nods in agreement. He is thinking of Melisandre and how he would not want her anywhere near Josie (she'd want the dark magic for herself). Or Elena (she'd want her blood). Or... anyone he cares about. His expression is a slight grimace just at the thought. ]

Aye. I wouldn't want to trust anyone with information that could put you in harms way until we're able to trust them. [ But he is also not an expert when it comes to this avenue which is why he would not pursue someone to speak with alone. ] And I wouldn't seek anyone out alone without someone from your world with knowledge of the magic in it. Magic in my world means sacrifices by fire or ice, shadow demons, and vague visions from the flames.

We've got some of those too.

[Not the kind of magic Josie usually practices, but enough that she's not baffled by the idea that that's the kind of magic that exists in Jon's world.]

Not the witches that I know.

[She pauses.]

Though Hope's aunt is appropriately scary so she may dabble in some of that.

[ It half makes Jon wonder if magic of the variety that Elizabeth and Josie practice could be done in his world as well. He knows it likely was one day with the children of the forest. They're all gone now, but at one time they had magic that came more from nature itself. ]

Figured dark magic of your world had to involve... some of that.

[ Or else what would make it so dark if it didn't involve sacrifice? ]

...Hope's aunt?

[Darkness comes in intent sometimes too. Sacrifice can make things darker, but sometimes it's about what you want. You want to make something hurt. You want to do it for no one else's gain but yourself.

But sometimes you need something dark to vanquish something dark. It's a fine line to walk.]

Yeah, my friend Hope comes from this super powerful witch line. Her grandmother was the witch that created the first vampires, and the firstborn witches of the line all are hugely powerful. Freya, her aunt, is ... really scary in a disarming sort of way. She can be really nice, but if you piss her off ...

Well, you don't want to piss her off.

I'll keep that in mind. [ Jon makes it a habit of trying not to piss off those who have the kind of power Melisandre had (not that she ever would have hurt him when she thought he was the prince that was promised). It sounds like those witches in Josie's world had even more, because they weren't bound to worshipping a specific evil god that told them what to do.

They had their own motivations. ]

...is she related to Elijah? He was one of my first roommates.

[ And the first person to explain to him what vampires meant and how he was one of those first vampires ever made. ]

Yeah, she is.

[She didn't know that Jon and Elijah knew each other.]

Klaus, Elijah's brother, is Hope's dad.

[ Elijah was Jon's first experience with a vampire, and he was quite honest and forthright about it all, which helped. ]

...Oh. [ There's a softness to his expression even as he nods. Ancient vampires having children so many years later. How does that even work? He won't ask. ] Sounds complicated.

What's your favorite thing you can do with your magic? [ He's curious since he's still so new to it all: magic, the fact it doesn't require sacrifices too great to give for vague prophecies. ]

It is.

[Hope is the loophole miracle baby, after all. She knows that the world has put a lot on Hope. That she was either the key to her family's redemption, or the key to destroying them, or even that she was created solely to contend with Malivore. Josie couldn't imagine having that kind of destiny put on her shoulders until she found out about the Gemini Curse.

Now, she wonders if she and Lizzie were saved from dying with Jo to stand a chance at breaking it. At the same time, however, she can't let herself have too much hope.

The question, however, makes her smile. She considers carefully, trying to think if she really has a favorite thing ~~that isn't setting things on fire~~.]

Can I show you?

[ Jon is quiet for only a moment as he considers the question, considers that she thought to ask instead of simply showing him without asking. It's a testament to how much he trusts Josie that it doesn't take much hesitation at all for him to respond.

His expression is curious and not apprehensive. ]

Aye. You can.

[ He'd like to see. ]

[She pats down her pockets, pulling out a packet of seeds she intended to bring over to the greenhouse, but this will do just as well.]

Be right back.

[She disappears into the bathroom for a moment, before returning with a glass of water. Tearing open the top on one of the seed packets, she fishes one of them out, before dropping it into the glass of water.]

Okay, watch.

[After siphoning a bit of magic from the table, she cups her hands around the glass and begins to chant, quietly, closing her eyes to focus. As magic flows from her to the glass, Jon can see the seed split open, and roots begin to unfurl into the glass. Soon the stem stretches upwards, breaking through the surface of the water as the flower starts to bloom.]

[ Jon waits for her to leave and then return with the glass of water in hand. He stares in surprise at the seed falling into it. He didn't know what to expect when he asked Josie what her favorite thing she can do with her magic is, but it wasn't this.

He's ordinarily so stoic, but there's no hiding the wonder in his expression as he watches. Jon always believed in the Old Gods more than the Faith of the Seven, because he believed in nature, believed in the power that can come from nature, and so this may have been the best magic she could have shown him too.

Growth of plants, of vegetables is such a sacred thing in the North where they don't grow well at all. It's why his wonder shifts to an actual smile. ]

Josie, that's amazing.

Thanks.

[She can't help but smile, because it really is something she enjoys. Seeing other people enjoy it too is a gift she doesn't always get to share.]

It's one of the first things they teach us - how to make things grow. Most of us can only take it one plant at a time, depending on how powerful we are, but it reminds us of where our magic comes from. We're supposed to take it from the earth and try to do good with it.

[ Jon reaches out to gently cup the flower, as he feels how real it is despite the fact magic grew it. His smile lingers before he draws his hand back, dropping that hand down. ]

It's a beautiful sentiment.

I didn't know magic could do this. Should have. I always believed in the Old Gods, their old magic, but- [ The magic he's seen and experienced has always been so destructive. ]

Magic can do anything, really. Good and bad.

[A lot of it depends on the person.]

It's not so much what it is, but how people use it.

Like a weapon.

It's about who wields it, how they do. [ Magic just has the capability to do far more than Longclaw can. ] The Old Gods in my world are part of nature like the wind and trees, like the plant you've grown here.

[ Even if that power comes from within her and not some Old God. ]

[She nods with a smile.]

That sounds like the spirits, for us. They try to keep the balance.

penance } { ic inbox

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)