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Post by pallas on Jun 22, 2024 15:24:50 GMT
Lucien noted River’s approving look. To be fair, after his recent dumbassery he felt like he was probably due a good idea. ”Not just a punchable face,” the boy joked to River quietly. If he were honest, though, it was the first time he’d had a mission on his own and he had tried his hardest to make sure it had gone well, so he was just glad it had.
The man’s suggestion of splitting into teams made sense. It meant that the process would be more efficient and nobody would have too much on their plate. It was sensible, anyway.
”I’ll focus on running Medbay, but I can help team two.” Lucien suggested. ”I made sure he didn’t see what my powers are so they won’t know I’m a healer. And I don’t have to do anything too risky.” It made sense, anyway. He’d fought Eidolon and that could be useful experience. Not to mention that he’d be worse than useless at research.
”I’ll join the research team. But feel free to tag me in if some recon is in order.” Chiara piped up. That was no surprise. Research was something she was good at, and she knew the library and archives well. Not to mention that she wasn’t quite in a good state to be fighting yet.
”I can help the second team.” Lane’s voice was firm. She had no intention of letting them down again like she had when she went to the underworld. Besides, her super speed could be useful for any kind of mission they might want to do.
Dillon seemed torn over his decision, casting a brief glance at Lorenzo with a mix of concern over what was quite an unusual decision for the other boy and some hesitancy at putting himself on the same team as him given what had happened between them. ”I’ll join the second team and help where I can. If this is about our powers, having someone without them on the team might be useful.” Perhaps it might throw them off a little, or get them to rethink some things. Though outside of all this, Dillon was hoping to spend some time and find some way of unlocking whatever ability Hera insisted she’d given him. He needed to feel like he could contribute.
Lucien was slightly concerned by Irene’s offer to join group two, especially when he could see how much pain she was in. He thought better of asking if she was sure, because this was Irene they were talking about. She wouldn’t back down on this. ”If that’s what you want, I’m sure we can make sure you’re in fighting condition.” Lucien glanced at Pascal there, since his mentor had been leading on Irene’s care. Lucien could help him if needed to make sure Irene was fit to fight. He wouldn’t force his powers on Irene, but he could help in other ways.
However, he’d noticed how distracted Pascal seemed. The way he seemed to be looking at the empty seat beside him. It looked like Chiara had realised this too, because the observant blonde’s brow furrowed as she looked at Pascal. ”Hey, you good?” Lucien questioned. He did care about Pascal, and after everything he did worry about him.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrewh
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 23, 2024 18:34:17 GMT
Ariella raised her hand. "Research team. I'm still no good in a fight," she declared and raised her arm that was still in a sling. She hated having to be in the sidelines. But she'd only get in the way at this time.
"And I'm no good with books. Put me on the fighting team," Griffin chimed in as he leaned closer to Guinevere. "It's ok if you want to go with Ariella or me. Just be careful wherever you want to go," he whispered to her and gave her a gentle smile.
River counted how many people had placed themselves on each team and sighed quietly. So many of them were fighters. Or wanted to fight.
He caught himself missing Jason. He'd help bring the number of people on the research team up. He hoped he was still breathing.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts and get back on task, River crossed his arms over his chest. "Let me be clear. The point is not to get into a fight with them. It is to lead them away from us and to the exiles with as little conflict as possible on our end. If you're looking for a fight that's not what you're getting on my team," he informed sternly.
The last thing he needed were a bunch of people looking for a fight with an unknown enemy. He needed real strategy ideas for a temporary solution until they had a real plan to deal with both exiles and these supposed hunters.
Turing to Lucien next to him, River slightly lowered his voice but was still loud enough for everyone to hear. "Lucien, I also want you on the research team. You're the only one who has interacted with one of them. We need all the info we can get."
Journals were all well and good, but words can lie or be unreliable. Experience said a whole lot more.
"We don't have to finalize teams this second. But definitely soon," he said as he addressed the room again. He looked down at the table in front of him and glanced at the papers in front of Cleo then towards Chiara with her pen and paper.
"Now onto our next issue," he started. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about. But, they had to address it at some point.
"Luka and L-" His voice faltered and he had to clear his throat as he mentally kicked himself for that moment of weakness. "Laurie. What do we believe and how do we want to move forward about their choices?"
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 23, 2024 19:12:29 GMT
Guinevere nodded at Griffin, her eyes softening at River's words. She wanted to join Griffin's team, but they needed more for Research... River said they had time to decide, so that's what she decided she'd do. Cleo themselves perked up at the new topic, right hand going to fiddle with their key, before they remembered it was no longer there. "Laurie is on the side of the Exiled," Cleo said, blunt and straight to the point. There wasn't any emotion in their voice. Just facts. "He is in a romantic entanglement with Ripley Gates." They let those words sink in. They looked between occupants of the room, but were careful to keep judgement from their voice this time. Just a cold, dry tone of apathy. "Luka has left for the Exiled. She took my key with her, and given that Jason's disappearance happened at the same time, I assume she took him as well," Their eyes flickered to Irene next, "And she is apparently being tested by Atticus and stabbed Irene." They tried to keep their face impassive, though they felt an anger boil under their skin the longer they spoke of the instances. "They're a danger to us then, is that what you guys are saying?" Lorenzo asked, his eyes wide and worried. He looked unsure, but his gaze flicked to Irene then. Luka...Luka hurt her, and River...he couldn't even say Laurie's name. Echo's eyes were solemn, and she looked at River, as if expecting him to defend the two. Guinevere herself looked pained, and looked down. She was unsure of what to think of Laurie. The relationship with Ripley was onesided, but Laurie felt...something. Not quite love but...Guinevere didn't even what to put a name to whatever twisted affection there was. How could he justify watching them take Theo, watching them kill Haleema and Esmeray? "River's right. We've got to decide how we want to handle this."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 23, 2024 19:55:57 GMT
Luka grinned at him, gentle pushing him in the side with her elbow, "You existed, Laur, that's what you did." She offered him a soft smile, before looking up at the sky, "I wasn't there when you needed me before, least I can do is start being a good friend now. Don't thank me for that." Guilt dripped from her words, but was covered by a deprecating laugh. She wasn't there for Laurie on Halloween, and now he was being abused. Haleema was dead. She wasn't there before, when River broke up with him. She could have talked to him, maybe could have fixed it then. But she was too uncomfortable with the situation, placed herself above it, as if she was above it.
She abandoned them. She was hoping to make up for it now.
She laughed when he commented her neck would be on the line, "Oh it's more than my neck. Fenrir's going to eat me up like cinnamon toast crunch if I fuck this up." Realizing that was maybe not funny to Laurie, she flashed her eyes to him in an instant, offering a not-very-comforting smile, "Don't worry though I'm almost sure it'll work out." She smiled then, pulling him into a hug, "You're a pretty brave guy, Laurie. You've done all you can with what you were given," she said, burying her head is his shoulder, and tightening her grip, "We're gonna get out of here, no matter what it takes."
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Post by pallas on Jun 23, 2024 20:19:31 GMT
Laurie could feel a lump in his throat when Luka said that he’d existed, and that was enough. He couldn’t bring himself to feel like that was true yet, but it made him emotional nonetheless. The boy swallowed, before gently elbowing her in return. “You were always a good friend.” he assured her, “I don’t blame you for anything.”
She couldn’t have known what was going to happen on Hallowe’en, and she’d told him herself that she hadn’t known that River hadn’t told Laurie about what had really happened with the breakup.
What she said about Fenrir did concern him. He knew what a risk she was taking, and it seemed that she knew it too. The last thing he would ever want was for anything to happen to her. Especially not for trying to help him. She was trying to be funny about it, but he could see the real fear there. He felt it too. “You always know just what to say to be fucking unsettling.” Laurie joked in response, but he hoped she knew just how worried he was for her.
But then she wrapped him in a hug, told him he was brave. That was something he didn’t believe for a second. He didn’t feel brave, anyway. He felt like a frightened person who was just surviving because he didn’t see another choice. But the hug was the most important part. It said everything they both wanted to say. “Whatever it takes.” Laurie agreed quietly, her curls tickling his skin as she buried her head in his shoulder. She’d done so much to help him so he could be safe, but who the hell was helping this teenager feel safe? He hugged her harder for a moment before releasing her. “Be safe. Normally I’d tell you not to do something too Luka, but I think you should do something very Luka indeed.”
After all, people always criticised her wildcard strategies and her… unique way of going about things. But she was the one who was here, fighting for her friends. And she was the one who was going to end up getting them out. Maybe doing things ‘Luka’ wasn’t the terrible thing people had made it out to be.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Jun 24, 2024 13:50:58 GMT
Pascal’s attention would flicker to Lucien when the younger boy addressed him, and solemnly nodded, “I am fine.”
Yeah, what a load of bullshit Irene couldn’t help but think. The guy always appeared to be teetering on the edge based on her experience, nothing about him screamed ok.
However she figured it was best to disregard what the champion of Hades was doing and turn her attention back to the topic at hand. What to do about Luka and Laurie. Her eyes would narrow when River brought them up, though what turned her expression into a glare was when Cleo addressed her specifically.
“I don’t think anything needs to be done about them,” Irene replied, her voice giving off an electric crackle. Annoyance edged on each word she spoke.
“From where we stand currently, it would be reckless to make assumptions about what they’re capable of when the evidence we do have is shaky and filled with pettiness. Everyone’s mad at Laurie for having a boyfriend. A boyfriend that is a piece of shit, but last I checked that wasn’t a crime. As for Luka-”
The woman’s attention would be directly at Cleo, “losing your key isn’t the worst thing to happen, at least you can be present in this conversation. Her taking Jason is meaningless when he’d already made up his mind about being turned over. As well I’m not butthurt about getting stabbed, it was bound to happen eventually given how much we don’t get along.”
“If what we’re upset about is the fact that they joined the Exiled, then we have to think about why someone would even make that decision. There’s a very high chance this was a decision out of fear. Fear for themselves or fear for their friends. If them leaving is because of a sense of self preservation, I can’t fucking blame them.”
Irene’s gaze would lower to the table, “if we really punish those two, it's not going to stop this from happening again. It’ll just give more people ammunition to leave.”
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Post by pallas on Jun 24, 2024 15:04:23 GMT
Lucien nodded at Pascal’s words, but it was perfectly clear he didn’t believe what he said in the slightest. Perhaps it was something worth discussing the next time they were in Medbay together, or maybe even if he could catch him at the end of the meeting.
He also acknowledged River’s suggestion. ”I can do that.” Lucien agreed. The redhead had a point, after all. They needed all the help they could get.
Then came the part of the meeting Lucien had been dreading. Discussion about Laurie and Luka. He watched as Cleo jumped on the idea, quick to criticise the pair. Lucien understood; they were concerned for everyone. This situation was too dangerous to be playing games.
”Irene has a good point.” Chiara piped up, looking up from her notes. ”It’s clear that Luka was reluctant to hurt Irene and to some extent was being coerced. And Laurie… there was something off about his body language in that meeting. Cleo, you even said yourself that he was lying when he said he was okay.”
She needed to make it clear that they could be risking punishing people who were being coerced into betraying their friends.
”However,” Chiara continued with a heavy breath. She really didn’t want to have to say this, she hated that the words were coming out of her mouth, but they needed to be said, ”I think we’re focusing a lot on intentions. We have no way of knowing for certain. What we do know are the practicalities. We have two people under the exiled’s control, whose keys allowing access to this pantheon are in the exiled’s possession. That’s dangerous, especially with Luka also having Hades’ helm. The fact is that whatever Luka’s intentions, if it weren’t for Thor, things with Irene could’ve ended very differently. They pose a real threat and there are a lot of dangerous pieces in play. What we have to decide is whether we abandon two people who may be in danger or take the risks that they present.”
”So, straightforward then.” Lucien responded sarcastically. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. If they got this wrong, they were potentially dooming Laurie and Luka to something awful or else dooming themselves.
If they were indeed in danger, it wouldn’t be right to abandon them. But then, they had to think about the safety of the group as a whole.
”I don’t know that it’s so hard.” Chiara responded calmly. ”We have to be aware of the risks, but I personally believe they’ve been let down by us enough.”
She let those words sink in. Lucien believed that was true. Luka hadn’t been treated fairly by most of the ascendants, and neither had Laurie. Lucien did want to have their backs. He wanted to trust them, especially Luka. But he just wasn’t completely sure. Luka had caused a lot of damage, and Laurie had deeply hurt River and had seemingly stood by while the exiled hurt their friends. Sure, being in a relationship with Ripley Gates wasn’t a crime, but Ripley having influence over him could not be good news. Besides, he’d seen how hurt River had been by Laurie.
”Maybe we need to put it to a vote.” Dillon suggested. ”Anyone can share any information they might have that’s relevant to the discussion, and then we can decide whether we give them a second chance or…whether we need to take some sort of action.”
After all, people like Pascal, Irene and anyone else who’d been in contact with Laurie or Luka since their exile might have relevant information to share that might influence the decision. They needed to have a discussion first.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 24, 2024 20:37:57 GMT
"Then we vote on it," River raised his voice and looked around the room to get his point across.
They had to vote on if they wanted to keep their friends keys working and able to come home. If they trusted those people, enough to come home with their allegiance still to them.
They needed to be sure in their decision right now.
Clearing his raspy throat once more. River steeled his expression to be unreadable and began the voting process. "Everyone for exiling Luka raise your hand."
Hands went up into the air. Thankfully less than he was expecting.
Cleo, Guinevere, Griffin, and himself.
If River were looking at this from a perspective where he knew nothing and he hadn't run into Luka before she left, then this would have been the final straw for him. Stealing not only other people's keys, but artifacts as well as Jason was a dangerous move if he didn't know. He still needed to operate from the viewpoint that they didn't have an understanding.
For this he needed to lie. He'd find a way to bring her home.
Not that it mattered much. His vote was part of the minority. So, he put his hand down and asked for the other half of the vote. "Everyone against?"
Almost all the other hands went up. Enzo, Echo, Ariella, Irene, Dillon, Chiara, Lucien, and Daniel.
And Luka thought people only tolerated her.
River gestured for everyone to put their hands back down. The next person was on the chopping block.
"Everyone for exiling Laurie raise your hand."
Cleo, Guinevere, Griffin, and Ariella.
Ariella and Guiney were a surprise. He thought they adored Laurie. Had a whole group chat and everything. But he couldn't deny how it looked. He himself knew just how it looked.
"Everyone against."
Enzo, Echo, Irene, Dillon, Chiara, Lucien, Daniel, and... himself.
He thought about abstaining like Lane and Pascal had. Thought about even exiling Laurie since he was dating one of the exile leaders. He had too many complicated feelings surrounding Laurie.
But his hand moved as he said the words for Laurrie's vote. Unable to stop himself.
As violently angry and confused as he was with the exiles and Laurie. He still loved him. Mind, body, and soul he loved that man and wanted to at least see him one last time.
"Then it's decided. We'll accept them back if and when they decided to come back or if we go and get them ourselves."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 24, 2024 21:10:05 GMT
When it came to the words people shared and then the vote, Cleo was one of the first to raise their hands when the vote to Exile Luka came. They were surprised to see Griffin's hand shoot up, and even more surprising was River himself. Guinevere herself, whose hand was raised, looked between the people who had voted for the Exile. Cleo, Griffin who was beside her, and River. Echo seemed confused by the glanced her way, and so when she glanced up and spotted River's hands raised, her face completely fell. After everything Echo herself went through, how could anyone even chance that happening to Laurie and Luka?
She wanted to ask River about it, ask him 'Why? How could you do that?' But then again, River knew what he was doing. He had to have a reason. Plus, he was outvoted.
It was no surprise she voted against. Lorenzo also voted against, and his eyes flickered to Dillon. His lips quirked the faintest bit and in a manner, he almost looked proud of Dillon's vote.
When it came to Laurie, Cleo raised their hand again, and slowly, reluctantly, up came Guinevere's hand. It was hard, painful to do, but Laurie had betrayed her and the others. But afterwards, she was almost glad it was just her and Ariella alongside Cleo and Griffin.
They didn't need to know who voted against. Luka and Laurie were staying. Echo looked relieved, and Lorenzo looked brighter than he did before.
Cleo looked disappointed, but not surprised. They sighed out, before glancing at River, "So, we're going to use the people Hunting us to distract the Exiled," they commented, glancing around the room, "And attack when they least expect it?"
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 24, 2024 22:09:51 GMT
It was nearing midnight when Luka made her move. Penny seemed to be in a peaceful slumber, and Luka had opened her eyes. She had waited, mapping out the routine of the Exiled. She had taken notes of them in a small notebook that she could easily hide. She made notes of them all. Gwen's story about the fire, Ripley's mannerisms she'd learned from conversation with Laurie (though she didn't mention him), Atticus' reason for hating Irene and his current predicament with being...electrocuted? Whatever she could get her hands on, she noted. And she used it all to map out a plan.
Some nights, she'd wonder around with the helm in her hair, worn as a proud little crown, and she'd map parts of the base. She had marked vents, she had marked doors and windows, she had marked rooms she had found. There was a sketch with a rough map spread between two of the pages, and in odd little colored doodles, a path was shown. From a vent in the hall where she had hid the keys to the one above the prisoner's bay.
She had told Laurie she'd find him after she had gotten the boys safe, after she got their keys, and they'd run. She had planned meticulously, strategically.
She had spent the time fruitlessly searching for her key and Laurie's. But the one person who'd know where they were was Ripley. She had made sure to check other avenues. She had searched, but she had never found them.
She couldn't wait anymore. Not with the boys in danger. Not with Ripley's abuse towards Laurie.
Tonight was the night, and when she was sure it was safe, she placed the helm on her head, disappearing from sight, and exiting into the hall. She stood by the door, slowly letting it close to prevent noise, and she had made her way towards the vent she had selected for her mission. The one she had hid the keys in, the first day there.
The one with the satchel with the keys in it. She looked for the loose screws, and when she spotted them, she looked around again for safety.
All according to plan, she had retrieved the satchel with the keys, and continued along her path.
Everything had went according to plan thus far. She had a few stops to make, but now she was hopefully above where the prisoners bay was. According to all her maps, all her studying, she was where she needed to be. Everything she needed was secured in the bag.
She was back in human form. Below her would be Gwen, standing on guard. But that didn't matter as Luka had the alternative route she needed.
She looked through the vent holes, and a smile came to her face as from the corner she could barely see the boys. Theo seemed to be asleep, and she felt happy for the first time in a long while. There was Jason, alive and maybe not well, but alive. He was awake, sitting up.
And Theo.
Her eyes were watering, she hadn't seen him in much too long.
Taking a deep breath, she swiftly kicked at one side of the vent, causing it to fling open. The bag was thrown down first, before after it, came Luka.
Well, not in human form. That would suck for landing. Instead, the feeling of happiness at seeing Theodore and Jason had translated into allowing her to transform again. After the bag landed, a long-furred calico cat landed, causing a quiet landing rather than a loud thump. It took little to no time for the cat to turn around and jump towards the boys. It had a loud purr, and immediately jammed it's head into Theo's side.
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Post by Nari on Jun 24, 2024 22:27:28 GMT
Theo didn’t know how long he and Jason had been there. Days? Weeks? He didn’t know how people in movies could keep track with how much it blurred together. No clock, very little sunlight, and the only indication of time passing coming from the room getting colder and the schedule of Exile coming in to torment them.
Well, it was mostly Ripley. That man made him ill in so many ways he didn’t even want to think about. Tonight was one of the few nights he could lay his head down without feeling that sense of nausea, or his gut feeling like it was being sliced open.
Currently he was sound asleep in a fairly uncomfortable position, with his arms bound against the wall and the rest of his body curled within itself. He didn’t awake to the sound of a clattering vent cover, but instead to the soft bonks along the side of himself.
Theo pulled his head up, groggily seeing a fluffy cat in the corner of his vision. “Huh…? Kitty, what are you doing here, it's not a safe place for a cat…” he mumbled, his tired brain barely comprehending why there would be a cat here. However, the tiredness was soon gone from his gaze, and the recognition when he looked at the cat for a second time caused his eyes to swell.
“L-Luka?” he breathed. He knew she was here, knew since Jason arrived, but he’d never seen her before today. She was okay? Thank the gods she was okay.
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 24, 2024 22:41:22 GMT
Jason seemed to 'snap out of it' when he heard the soft thud in front of him and Theo. His eyes cleared and he focused on the cat bumping it's head against Theo's arm lovingly.
None of the exiles seemed to tolerate pets from what he'd seen. And he was sure that Fenrir would have eaten them anyway.
Which means this was only one animal shape shifter in the building.
"Took you long enough," Jason grumbled and rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. "Gods, my head..."
He smiled gently at the reunion in front of him but was still wincing from the pain in his head and in his stomach.
He'd taken to eating very little since Ripley seemed to take a liking to poisoning their food. But, he'd rather starve than subject himself to that feeling every again.
"Both of you ok?" He asked looking between the two.
Though intentionally he thought Luka had betrayed them, he had spied on the exile base repeatedly these past few days. He couldn't hear or see everything, but he noticed enough to figure out what Luka's true intentions were.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 24, 2024 23:37:12 GMT
Luka cuddled into Theo's side, her purr increasing in volume. It was obvious the cat was happy to see him, and she jumped up gentle onto his chest, shoving her face into his shoulder then. But when Jason spoke, her head swiveled, ears moving as well as they perked towards him, and like a bullet she was off Theo and charging at Jason. She hopped up onto his shoulder, and nuzzled into the side of his head in a soft and comforting way. She was careful to keep her claws from scraping him, and after a few head bumps into the side of his head, she jumped off of him and landed back on the ground. After landing, she morphed back into a human. She quickly looked back at the boys, offering them a wide smile, bowing dramatically, “Your hero has arrived, miss me?”
She then addressed Jason’s question, gifting him a gentle smile, and making sure to keep her voice soft. "You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for, Jason," Luka said softly, before standing up and walking closer, slowly, and kneeling down between the boys. She was glancing them over, eyes concerned, but still trying to bring some of her normal flair, make things normal for them, "I've been doing okay, if getting roasted by a God is considered okay."She roamed her eyes over Jason, reaching out slowly to inspect his head, and frowning, "What about you, Wonder Child?" She said it affectionately. She felt horrible about him being hurt, but she didn't want to make him feel pressured to accept an apology.
After inspecting Jason, she looked at Theo, her eyes watering and laughing in joy, "We have so much to tell Chiara about," she whispered, desperately trying not to be overcome by the positive emotions and happiness she was feeling, "You're not going to believe some of the shit I've seen! I had to help Atticus with his weird vendetta and Gwen's got like some serious pyrophobia-" She backed up a bit, looking them both over. "You guys may not be looking your...best right now, but you still look better than Atticus." She couldn't keep it up. As much as she wanted to act like things were normal, they obviously weren’t. Her friends were hurt. She could see it as plain as day. Her face fell and her gaze hardened in some resolve, "Laurie told me Ripley's been tormenting you guys. What-what the hell has he been doing to you?"
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Post by Nari on Jun 25, 2024 13:41:23 GMT
Irene kept her composure as Chiara spoke, deciding it wasn’t the time to start an argument about the subject. While it was true there was a risk with them still having their keys, it was also the only safety those two would have if things with the exiled soured. She’d already spent a month forcefully locked out of the Pantheon, she was not about to subject someone else without a valid reason.
Not to mention the fact they had Laurie this entire time but didn’t once use his key against them. Why even inform them that he’d betrayed them if their intention was to use them to get back at the group? Either they were more incompetent than she thought or there was something stopping them from going through with it.
Once the votes happened, Irene voted against exile for both of them, and there was relief in that she was part of the majority. Cleo voting for exile wasn’t surprising, though Guiney and Griffin’s votes were. She thought they were close but figured it was best not to dwell on it too much. Whichever decision is the correct one will be proven in due time.
The topic soon shifted back to that one group Lucien discovered, and the woman, “that appears to be our best course of action. However it might be best to hold off on plans until we know what exactly is in the journal. For now, I think we’re-”
“May I speak?” Her attention shot over to Pascal when he spoke, “Its… important.”
Irene’s expression shifted to a curious frown, before looking at everyone else in the room, asking their thoughts on it.
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Post by pallas on Jun 25, 2024 13:58:51 GMT
Lucien couldn’t help but hold his breath as the voting began. He wasn’t sure what outcome he really wanted, if he were totally honest with himself. He was just so afraid that they’d get it wrong either way.
River started with Luka, asking for a show of hands for those in support of exiling the girl. Cleo’s hand being the first up didn’t surprise him at all. They’d never liked Luka in the first place, and he found himself sourly thinking that they must have been just itching for the chance to get rid of her. But his second thought was that maybe he should give Cleo more credit. They did seem to be trying, and Luka had stabbed somebody. Most people generally considered that sort of thing a friendship-ending move.
As for his decision, well, he was angry at Luka for leaving without a word to him. He’d thought they were better friends than that. Not to mention that he wasn’t sure of her intentions, only sure of why he wanted them to be. He just didn’t know if he knew Luka as well as he thought he did. Plus, there was no denying that her stabbing Irene, reluctant or not, made it very clear that she was a danger to them.
But still, he couldn’t bring himself to lift his hand.
When River asked for the votes against exiling Luka, his hand wasn’t one of the first in the air but it was not the last either. His gut was telling him that he had to trust his best friend. He was angry at her, but he did not genuinely believe that she wanted to be with the exiled. She’d been more horrified than anybody about what they were doing to the prisoners. He’d had to physically try to restrain her from running into the meeting when she’d gotten that text. He knew her because they were similar in so many ways. He was going to trust her like he would trust himself.
Then came the vote for Laurie. This time, his choice had been harder. He’d felt his hand lift slightly when River asked for votes in favour of exiling Laurie. He’d seen how badly Laurie’s decisions had hurt people, and his entanglement with Ripley made it seem like his position with the exiled was more set - and that he was even further under the control of the exiled than Luka might be.
But he didn’t raise his hand until River asked for votes against exile for Laurie. He saw no point in exiling one and not the other; it would defeat the point of eliminating the danger Chiara had pointed out. Besides, he’d made stupid decisions and been given second chances for it. Granted, his decisions had not been quite as stupid as Laurie’s, but still. And if River, who’d been more hurt by Laurie than anyone, wasn’t choosing to exile him, Lucien wasn’t going to either.
Chiara had, as he’d predicted, voted against exiling both of them. She had made it clear that while they did pose a threat, she didn’t think they deserved to be exiled. He wasn’t surprised by that decision. Not like he was surprised by the votes of Guinevere and Ariella.
He caught Dillon slightly smiling, and when he followed where the boy was looking it seemed that he was returning a smile from Lorenzo, who appeared to approve of Dillon’s votes. The Hera champion had been debating the decision heavily, admittedly. This was a matter of the safety of two people as opposed to the safety of the whole group. But he was not repeating his mistakes with Laurie and River and making a destructive decision.
Lucien had to admit that part of him was afraid they’d made a wrong decision. There were risks involved in making a mistake no matter which way they voted.
Gods help them.
He had to remind himself that not exiling them didn’t mean that they were going to be welcomed back as if nothing had ever happened. At least he knew that he himself would not be making that decision.
The conversation shifted then back to the journal and the plan moving forward. He’d just been about to agree with River and Irene when Pascal spoke up, and all attention turned to the Hades champion.
”Sure, Pascal.” Lucien nodded, though he did still glance at the rest of the leaders to confirm. He knew it was fine, but still. Then he looked back to his mentor, hoping that whatever it was Pascal might have to say could give an insight into whatever was bothering him. ”What’s up?”
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrewh
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