[COMPLETE] It has been, and always will be

[saedusk]

Well, Jamie supposed if the threat of dying wasn't something that could sway her away from consenting, then not much would. Besides, it was too late—what's done was done. He shook his head. There wouldn't be any seeing eye-to-eye on his part, but he could respect that everyone made their own choices. Agreeing wasn't what they were here to do, anyway, checking up on the triplets was.

Quote:

Jamie is ready to go

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb was feeling more ill at ease as the encounter went on. There were so many little things he didn't know, and big things for that matter, it all seemed to churn into a mess he couldn't possibly make sense of. The only thing he was sure about was that too many people had gotten hurt in the past because of all this magic.

He shifted nervously, ready to move along with everyone else.

Quote:

Kaleb is ready to go!

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance sighed. "It doesn't work like that. And it's not as if Chief Mercer doesn't use a geas as well." The two fingerprints - well, just because someone was dead didn't mean they were unimportant here. "Dead doesn't mean irrelevant for our purposes, Minerva." But she doubted the woman would budge on this.

"Chief Mercer, should we add Odal to our list of check-ups?"

azuredreams

Quote:

Temperance is still ready to go, I just wanted to post lol

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit didn't trust this woman who couldn't speak... no... wouldn't say things in such a way that everyone could understand. Presumably she could write, she might have made herself clear to everyone present, despite the amount of time that would have wasted, but she didn't even offer. It made him not want to trust Jeremiah again for filtering her, but he had sworn to himself that he would, and Shiloh...

He sighed. It was time to get out of here and leave this Minerva or Noeh or whoever she was to her stewing resentment and fear.

Quote:

Rabbit is ready to go.

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow, mostly because of Minerva's response towards Temperance. Apparently no one, not even her, liked the idea that people were not permitted to speak. He finally did roll his eyes, shaking his head at Temperance. The difference was that his geas did not prevent people from speaking. It enabled truth. "We can check with Silk when we return to look in upon Odal the Vintner," he told her.

His glanced around at the rest of the group before focusing on Minerva. "I'll be back later," he told her, "mostly to potentially discuss getting you a voice back." Jeremiah already had a few thoughts on how to do so. There was no need to ask about her status as filter, Shiloh had it covered and they had spoken about it before.

Minerva was tired and done, it was not surprising given how long she had been at this.

Making sure that everyone was gathered again, Jeremiah was focusing on the magic and - instead of focusing on where to go - letting it lead to their next triplet. It seemed better that way, given it was out of his normal sphere of operation. His eyes cracked back open, looking towards Minerva. "You say she is dead and not coming back," a soft breath, "was that a death of the red moon?" Those deaths- they stuck.

Quote:

jeremiah is ready for pop two (and will always be ready to go whenever everyone else is,
lol)

 

[shibrogane]

It was an accident, signed Minerva. A tragedy. Nothing more.

Then they popped away.

Jeremiah pops them into the glade that used to be Heliodora’s. It’s harder than the last one, but he manages. The glade is as peaceful and quiet as it’s ever been. Its sole occupant, a tiny Asian boy with dark hair that brushes his cheek like spilled ink, is nested among the roots of the trees, and he is too still.

Those among the party who can sense magic sense nothing from him. There is no void in his heart. There is, however, a watch-ward. Someone is keeping an eye on him. Approaching it will trip the alarm and alert whoever placed it.

Pax, the boy in the roots, responds to no stimuli. Spoken words, nothing. Thrown objects, nothing. He is utterly still.  

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah leans heavily on his cane once they reappear. This time, however, he is breathless even if moving this way is as easy as breathing for him. His shoulders roll, his eyes alight once more and looking to the magic of this place. They settle upon Pax and his stomach sinks further than it already had been.

The art piece Vivien had done overlaid Pax in his mind, though there was not a pulse of magic at all from the young man that once had been Pax.

"Be careful," Jeremiah says slowly, still catching his breath and leaning on his cane, "there's something about where he rests." Except that it's clear he wants to step closer because Pax is unnaturally still and that, of course, means one thing.  

[lizbot]

Inhaling sharply, America rushed toward Pax instead of scanning the area through Mr. B's eyes first, not heeding Jeremiah's caution. It would have been a stretch, in all honesty, for Sonny to be able to keep him so long past the time limit they'd been warned of. This shouldn't have been a surprise or unexpected.

Her chest felt like a vise.  

[Melancholies]

They popped again, Noeh gone, and then they were—

"Well ********." Was Shiloh's first immediate response, "I thought—I knew Pax was dying, but I thought you guys said—" He looked incredulously to Jeremiah, and then to America, before he came to watch Pax again with his lips in a thin, thin line. Shiloh wasn't one to sense magic, but he could tell there wasn't something right about this picture at all. Shiloh knew damn well about death.

The entire glade seemed to rustle with unease, but that was just Shiloh's magic flowing back into him from their stint with Noeh. His mind opened back up with a rush, reaching to find Jamie's familiar presence within his conscious. Suddenly America was rushing forward, and even though Shiloh wanted to hang back, Jeremiah's warning was fresh in his head—"Meri, wait!"

He held his breath to see if anything would happen.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance was on America's heels. Not because of some sentimental reasoning - she'd never met Pax - but because he was unresponsive, possibly dead. If this was a trap, there was no sweeter bait. Temperance reached out, laying her fingers against his neck, reaching into herself to feel the ebb and flow of Pax's blood, if any.

"I heard he was ill," she said distractedly. "But I was unaware it was so bad."

lizbot

 

[Smerdle]

He was glad to be away from Minerva and the diminishing of his powers, but any relief only lasted for a moment. Rabbit opened his eyes, recognizing Heliodora's former haunt almost immediately, even though he had only ever been here once. He couldn't identify the boy in the glade, however, not until Shiloh said his name, and then Rabbit was rushing forward as well, stopping several feet away from Temperance and America, his brows drawn upward with worry.

"That's Pax?" They... he was so small. "Someone has to wake him up."

He inched closer, mindful of Jeremiah's warning but too concerned to truly heed it, squinting at the boy's thumbs where his hands lay in the roots. If one of them was already smooth, well, he didn't know what it might truly tell them, but he knew what he would assume.  

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah thought to reach for America and stop her but didn't, even if there was something there, though he was reaching out with his own senses to make sure there was nothing at all dangerous about.

Not just to him but to those present.

"Shun was the last to see him, I believe, but that was before he was taken and all he did was help bolster- stop the magic from bleeding out so badly ..." They had all been caught up in the Charter, in trying to fix things, perhaps he should have just pressured to bring- No, the what ifs would eat him alive. This was already enough to do so.

"America, Temperance," Jeremiah stepped closer, ice creeping up along his neck, "please be careful." Not that he wasn't willing to throw down something protective if need be to keep both young women safe. A look went to Temperance then, wondering if she had found a pulse of anything.

Another look went to Rabbit, noting that he was looking at Pax's thumbs.

Quote:

jerbear is on danger sense lookout since there was some kind of thing present

 

[saedusk]

The first thing Jamie thought was this place was familiar in a nostalgic, haven't seen it in forever sort of way. The second thing Jamie thought was it wasn't right to enjoy the scenery considering the way Pax—even if he didn't recognize him as Pax—was slumped motionless among the roots. It didn't look good.

"I hope Pride is okay..." he muttered, and maybe that was callous, but Jamie had only known Pax in the way one knows a friend-of-a-friend they've never really spoken to. Guilt crept at the edges of his mind for the reminder he hadn't returned to see the other triplet since that time with Jeremiah. At least he hadn't looked like death the way he'd heard Pax had.

At least... at least Jamie could feel Shiloh at the forefront of his mind again, warm and comforting. Tears welled threateningly in his eyes but didn't fall. The pain he felt was only sympathetic. He stayed close to Shiloh.

Melancholies

 

[shibrogane]

The watch ward triggered with an audible snap. America and Temperance felt it, too, like the crack of a rubber band on bare skin. There was a small whimper of displaced air behind them as Sonny appeared behind them. They looked every inch Renard's daughter, dark face solemn and sad.

"He's dead," said Sonny. "I tried really hard. I'm sorry, America."

Temperance's search for a pulse was fruitless. Pax's body was still, skin waxy in death. He wasn't cold; the glade left him that much. And Rabbit's scanning of the thumbs realized that while Pax had both thumbprints, one of them was bloodied.

"I put up the watch ward to stop anyone else from touching him," said Sonny. "I didn't have permission to stop Ezra. I tried... but I'm only allowed to defend myself."  

[lizbot]

America was already moving in to embrace Sunny. "You gave us a chance, hun. I'm sorry we weren't able to make more of it. Are you okay? If he messed with you..." The girl's expression turned grim.