2010-11-11: Assumptions Up The Wazoo

Players:

Chloe_icon.jpg Emma_icon.jpg Heather_icon.jpg Kenta_icon.jpg

Summary: Chloe, Kenta, Heather and Emma all have different opinions on what is going on and how to handle it.

Date: November 11, 2010

Log Title: Assumptions Up The Wazoo

Rating: PG-13


Tegu-Haaz - The Moors

The road cuts through the moors and ends abruptly a few feet into the grassy hills. Low flora in reds, browns and greens cling to the ground. There are not real paths or trails through the moors just a vast area of ground. Rocks jut out of the ground as the hills drop down. During the day time it seems peaceful and relaxing as a light breeze flows through sometimes carrying the scent of fresh water from the cliffs on the other side. There is a perfect view of the flawless sky. During the night when the moon shines down, every star can be seen in the sky but the shadows seem to appear out of things that might not be there. Occasionally the howl of a wolf can be heard along with the sounds of a four legged beast chasing it's prey.


A fearsome creature prowls The Moors, a monster so terrible that not even the foulest demon would dare create it. And what might that monster be? A teenage mutant who has been kept without cake, chocolate and hot showers for six subjective months. "God I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to monster attacks to break up the boredom," she mutters as she stomps around dressed like someone auditioning for a production of Oliver. Only with a great deal more sharp and pointy bits of metal to hand. "Maybe I should burn down the gallows in town. /That/ might get a fun response."

Following along so as to keep her relatively out of trouble, and so that for once the speedster can be monitored by an adult, Emma Frost has left behind her usual duties at keeping those who arrived and never came conscious healthy, and tending to what needs she can of the others trapped in this place. Her apparel remains MOSTLY clean, but time and wear have begun to show as she replies to Chloe's words, "Now now, young lady… we do not burn things down in a fit of pique… at least… we do not speak of it in front of adults who might take offense."

Kenta is dressed in a button down shirt and pair of slacks he found in the Slaughtered Lamb, but the shirt remains open showning off the dark force marks that cover his neck, chest and arms. He's been wandering around the moors trying to see what's out here. He even flew out over the cliffs but he's been at a loss to find out anything more. Seeing two people ahead, he walks on over with his hands jammed into his pockets. "Yo."

"Burning down a gallows would be good for morale," Chloe points out innocently. "I was hardly suggesting we get pitchforks, form a mob and burn down the asylum!" Of course she already has a pitchfork and it doesn't take a telepath to tell she's strongly considered the idea. "Heya Kenta, not been swimming again have you? I'm down to a pair of straight razors after the last time. Not sure I can stand to loose the rest of my weapons again!" Even on drastically reduced amounts of food she still finds the energy to circle around and around the White Queen as she walks.

Tutting gently, Emma looks to Kenta, and her lips barely touch to a grin as she says, "I see we're doing well today, Mister Gilpatrick. The enforced lack of cigarettes does not seem to have marked you as harshly as you thought. Perhaps one day we might even wean you of the habit, and I can finally crusade for a smoke-free campus."

Kenta raises an eyebrow at Chloe and shrugs. "I needed a bath anyway. Too bad I didn't have shampoo and conditioner with me." He says as he hates not being able to take a proper shower. "And Emma, I found a pipe and tabacoo so I haven't been a groucy bastard for the last few weeks without something to smoke. Not the same thing but I always seem to find some crap to smoke when I vanish to another dimension." It's not the same but it works. "And probably not, I've quit three times." It's just his vice. "You know what's good for Morale Chloe? Trying to find this damn sivler waters thing."

Chloe giggles. "Your choice of replacement for a rubber bath duck was a little odd," she teases. "Silver waters. Probably somewhere totally in plain sight /or/ hidden somewhere we'd never want to go. Maybe if we take that key, the mage guy and just walk from place to place until the demon freaks out and tries to swamp us with monsters it'll speed things up. Either that or do some kind of mind trap, let someone get monsterfied while they're being telepathically watched and peek in the demons head."

Emma sighs and shakes her head, "It does not work in that fashion, Chloe dear… it is the fact that this realm is the demon's, and inside it's own power base, it is horribly adept at hiding. But after hearing what has transpired with the children who have been freed, I believe I know where the demon is hiding now, and has been watching us the whole time." As she speaks she continues to walk slowly, as if still pondering the matter, "A theory, but one with some sound basis for a change."

"It was huggable." Kenta comments about the giant octopus. "Or I was huggable to it." He then exchanges a look with Emma in regards to Chloe's words that is a sarcastic 'that's the best plan I've ever hear!'. "Where do you think it's hiding Em…ma." He says remembering to add that last 'ma' in. "I'm pretty sure it's a place we have overlooked though, somewhere we think we've searched but we really haven't. And have you tried to mind rape that mage dude for information yet?"

"It /might/ be in the woods somewhere, but if it is then we ain't getting close. I've tried heading out from just about every angle you can physically try and every time it turns me around and puts me back at my start point," Chloe informs, rolling her eyes and wandering in another circle around the two teachers. "The answer isn't inside James is it? Because the way some of the older students talk he seems to be like catnip for demons."

The thin red line of her lips turns a bit further up as Emma says to Chloe with a nod, "Very astute… and possibly correct. Mister Palmer is the only student on campus who was actively possessed for the long term by a demonic entity… in this case Selene. While she severed all ties with him, that does not mean that he still was not a beacon for others." Looking to Kenta for a long moment before another exhale comes, "He was missing before Master Blackmoore arrived. Now… the first clue being… is it not odd that a penny and dime sorcerer-summoner would come to OUR school? At all? Mutancy and magic have little to do with one another."

"Well Emma, if you were aware of mutants and some how aware that a school existed full of people with superpowers, a bigger dog so to speak, and you summoned up a demon and something backfired. Wouldn't you maybe run to this bigger dog for protection?" Kenta asks as he starts to run hand through his tangled hair. "James..last I saw him he was looking for Jinx. She went missing. And why are we assuming one of us has to be a link to it all?"

Chloe frowns. "You think perhaps someone gave him a ritual way more tricky than he was able to cast, then dropped hints about the local hero group on the off chance he might need some help with whatever he's summoned?" Idly she begins twirling her pitchfork as if it was an oversized cheerleaders baton. "Or that the mage itself is total fake. Not a person in the slighest but some kind of monster sent to attack the school?" Her eyes narrow. "You're not thinking of giving Blackmoore or his demon a job are you? I mean /everyone/ thinks Selene was a pretty dire staffing decision, but that might just be beyond what us students will take."

Emma arches a brow, "Yes… of course it is rather easy to point fingers, but need I remind you that many of the staff at one point or another, Samuel Guthrie included, have walked along the path of the rogue before they finally became as they are now? The school is not just for learning, Chloe dear… it is about second chances. Otherwise… we would not be enjoying this sterling conversation." Walking forwards, and placing her hand on the bark of a tree, she adds, "Perhaps Alaric did not prove a suitable host, or he did not perform his rites correctly. It had bothered me since the beginning that he chose to come here, chasing it. The Why has not been answered to any of our satisfaction. Mister Palmer may not even be aware he is under the influence once more." She then looks around, "Another clue is the locale. All of this is classical movie monster and literature lore. But yet we see a lack of the more Lovecraftian influences one would expect in a more traditional terror scenario."

"I think you gotta go into the noggin of that Alaric asshat and see what's up." Kenta says. "Right now we've got assumptions after assumptions and barely any facts. The facts - Alaric Summoned a demon and came to Xavier's for some reason. We all got sucked into his fuckup and ended up here. Now there's some stupid reference to a silver water that could be anything or nothing and we know that there was a key that was found."

"And hey, it's easy for a mongoose to accept a pet snake. Doesn't mean the mice will enjoy it," Chloe points out. "And we can't even claim those are the facts. What evidence do we have Alaric is real? Or that he summoned the demon. I have no clue what Lovecraftian influences are but this place seems /wwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy/ too low budget B-move for something that isn't in one of our heads. All we're missing is a shaky camera angle and some a strinq quartet." From the way she says our she probably means one of the students.

There is a brief look in Emma's eyes that she might actually snap at the girl, but then it smooths out as she replies, "As with all things, once you are old enough, you will understand." And leaving it at that, she nods once to Kenta, "I believe you are correct, but the mind of a magic user is trickier than one might assume. They must create a way of thinking outside of the normal bounds to perform as they do, and as such… I have bean considering it… cautiously. I may require help with him, given is alreayd elusive and reticent nature."

"What evidence do we have thta he isn't? Chloe, you're making a thousand and one assumptions and it won't help with anything." Kenta says as he sighs. "Chloe there are thousands of dimensions out there, hundreds of thousands, what makes it impossible that this one couldn't exist? That this one couldn't be the home dimension to some sort of demon?" He then looks at Emma. "Well you might be one of the best to at least talk to him, but I'm not going inside any minds with you again for right now."

"None. But that simply means we can't say for sure either way," Chloe counters, planting the pitchfork in the ground points first. "Given how many dimensions you're talking about what're the chances someone could summon up a demon which lives in an alternate version of the school where the very people he runs to for help live in? I mean that's one pretty drastic coincidence don't you think?" As Emma talks about requiring help with Alaric the speedster can't help but think loudly enough the lyrics to 'Stuck in the middle with you'.

Once more a cultured brow rises up, "Miss McMillan… you seem to have an annoyingly prescient need to be correct. You will however, find that in this life there are very few things we are ever truly correct about. Many are good guesses, many more are simply an unavoidable, yet logical conclusion. Perhaps this has not been said to you properly. Temper this need with the maturity I am currently affording you." Walking closer to Kenta, the woman reaches up to brush a stray lock from her hair, "Tell me more of these silvered waters, and this key."

"Well silver waters, apparently that's how we get home is via these Silver Waters. When I think silver waters I think Mercury but I don't know. I haven't seen anything mercury like here. And then when we got attacked by the giant octopus there was a key that was found." That's all that Kenta knows for now. "I know Alaric has been staying in the tavern but he doesn't really talk much and seems hella grumpy and not that apologetic, even when he says 'sorry'."

Speaking of annoyingly prescient needs to be correct. Usually, when Heather is wandering around, her intentions are inscrutable. At the moment, she's walking around looking generally aimless (though except to Chloe, her walk seems more like a sprint). She wears her Hello Kitty pyjamas and is carrying her bloodstained pickaxe in her hands. Stopping when she sees this cluster of people, she tilts her head and dashes up. Only Chloe will hear her properly (though she speaks particularly slowly and deliberately so that the others have a chance to keep up with her quick speech, too), "What are you talking about here? May I contribute in this conversation?"

Chloe simply grins at the rebuke. "Maybe it's something connected with the Phoenix mural in the Summers family crypt? The building kind of stands out in the graveyard," she suggests, waving at Heather. "And it's not somewhere people would spend a lot of time unless they had to. It also seems a bit out of place. Why have a fancy family tomb in an asylum? Surely anyone rich enough to afford one would build it in a private cemetary elsewhere."

Emma mumbles out before she can stop herself, "Dear Christ, if Jean Grey resurrects once more in this forsaken place, I will either gut her before she can utter one of her banal omnipresence phrases, or kill myself and be rid of the agony." Which only Kenta can hear. Taking a breath, and listening to Heather, she uses her own mind to wind down the translation, instead of linking to the girl, and says a bit more loudly, "A tomb is a bit beyond my knowledge base… I am more for Board Rooms than Bram Stokers, but perhaps silvered waters are Holy Waters. It may well be something there we can use."

"I think silver waters would be mercury," says Heather, echoing Kenta's opinion (since she didn't hear it earlier). She scratches her head lightly and asks, "Wouldn't someone who made a tomb so elaborate want people to be able to see it, and how great the family is?" She spins her pickaxe in her hands, watching the motion of the head, and notes, "Is silver water slang for holy water, though? I know nothing of religion."

Chloe pulls her pitchfork out of the ground, then slips into fast world for a brief moment. "How's things with you roomie? And how on earth have your PJs not worn through yet? I've had to ditch most of my stuff." She adds a quick slow world summary and then retuns to normal speed conversation to add "Silver Waters could be an old water driven clock? Or maybe it's a metaphor for death. Wasn't there a custom involving putting silver coins on dead people so they could get across a river?" Before finally repeating her ideas in fast world.

Emma retranslates the girls' speeches to each other in her mind, but says nothing, before replying, "The reference is too vague, and the Asylum library is blank, an when I last looked… quite a mess. So we can assume the only form of reliable information may well be Master Blackmoore. It seems he and I will have to have a chat. You children are of course welcome to join, but I only ask two things… mind the blood, and no peanut gallery conversations."

There's a slight smirk from Kenta to Emma at the refernce to Jean Grey but comments are left unsaid. "Okay, seriously, there's a box here and we're thinking way beyond it that we're probably confusing ourselves by denying the obvious." At the mention of Blackmoore Kenta nods. "Hey, I can always punch him in the face a few times if he refuses to cooperate. It's what's deserved from keeping me from my son for so long."

"I try to wear peasant clothes when I'm going to be doing heavier work, and the pyjamas if I want to look normal. I will have to get new ones when I'm out, but I don't think the thrift store will have another pair this cute. I don't want to dress for the period." She glances towards Emma, and responds, drawing one hand through her hair and breaking up the tangles, "Ms. Frost, there are things I would also like to speak to Alaric about. But after when I was dealing with Renfield, it sounded like Alaric is our key to getting home. I wouldn't trust a demon summoner, but we do need him."

Chloe blinks a few times, slowly for effect. "I have no idea what a peanut gallery is," she notes. "And while I love a good brawl as much as the next girl I wonder if we should try a carrot before the stick? We are kinda meant to be the good guys. Speaking of which I'm guessing the school has mystical police style contacts we can dump him on when we get out of here?" Once again starting to pace around in circles the blonde speedster muses "Wasn't there some rumour about a door in a tree at one point? Or did I just dream bits of the princess bride and mix it up."

Emma stops for a moment and lovers head head, letting her eyes be shaded by her blonde hair, "There are times when one discovers that niceness is too constrained. We may have to be harsh with Master Blackmoore… but if he is the culprit for this visitation, I will not be anything less than satisfied until he has his just due."

Kenta goes back to something Heather said earlier and combines it with Chloe's theory. "Okay, back to silver waters, a tomb so elaborate, people would want to see it. And then the Masoleum in the graveyard…I really think we need to search that again. Also I was saying to David, we need to do some kinda group meeting. Get as many of us together as possible. Everyone needs to know about this so that we all can be looking into it."

"Oh, a group meeting is a good idea. I've been talking to everyone I've seen, but everyone's scattered, I'm unsure who is where. Most at the Slaughtered Lamb, though, right?" She looks to Emma and then nods her head quickly, "So far, I have found the passive approaches more satisfying than the aggressive approaches while staying here." Pausing to consider that a moment, she adds, "If a little more taxing."

Chloe snaps her fingers. "The clue from my grave. Did you ever figure out something that might apply to? Other than Robyn that is," she asks her roomie. Before slowing to say "We could totally bust out our grave robbing skills for you? Just a couple of sledge hammers, Heathers pickaxe and we can take the place apart. After doing a full on search that is."

Emma touches the side of her forehead and smiles, "Perhaps you forget… I have been working to find all, including those who remain asleep, and have kept a mental watch on all. Nothing invasive I assure you, but enough to be taxing when I sweep to ensure everyone is still present. Even those minds near lost to the madness I can feel, but their locations elude me. The demon's influence I suppose."

"What's this clue?" Kenta asks Chloe trying to figure it out. "And I know you can keep tabs on everyone's mind Emma but the meeting isn't to find everyone but to get everyone on the same page. I think, from what I understand, Star is still infected and Jinx is missing. Everyone else that I can think of has been turned back to themselves which means we should get home fast before anything else fucks that up."

"I've helped both Robyn and Connor. The demon's touch on them should be gone," Heather says, glancing towards Kenta, "You're better. I think James, too? I think that we dealt with Leo, though I don't think he wants to talk to us. Mike is restored. And Star and Jinx are not yet restored. Those are all of the ones I think who have been touched. And those left, we have to help quickly." She then nods her head quickly at Chloe, "Yes, we made an excellent gravedigging team. And the more everyone knows, the better off we will be."

"The Fault Lies with the one who isn't," Chloe informs, with the air of someone who is beyond sick of riddles. "The /only/ other place I don't think anyone has checked is over those cliffs, which could link in with the silvery water with the way you get foam on the rocks. But that seems like a risky place to investigate unless you can fly that is. I /could/ climb it but wet and slippery rocks plus a hand which might seize up at any moment aren't a great combination."

Emma turns to face the students, "Whatever you do, children… Mister Gilpatrick. Be careful. Your lives are still our responsibility, and one I would take seriously. I understand it does not feel as we do such, but your well-beings are far above my own. If you do come across something, please inform us quickly. If you wish to press on, please… do not be reckless. Too many have already had this place leave it's mark on them, as Miss Brown has made fit to comment. We have just saved them, and I do not wish to lose either of you to this place."

"The Fault Lies with the one who isn't?" Kenta asks. "So what makes you assume Robyn. I see it as being Alaric as he isn't the one who is associated with Xavier's." Simple as that to him but then Kenta could be wrong. "I've flown out over the cliffs, I haven't seen much but water. Regular old water." Nothing silver about it but it sure did look cold and dangerous. "Mr. Gilpatrick? When did my father get here?"

"I do not think I can be lost to this place. Alaric says that it feeds on fear, and if there is one thing I am not feeling in this place, it is fear," says Heather, glancing about. Nope, still not scary. "I have been cautious as is reasonable while still making progress, though, and I apologize Ms. Frost that some of my actions may seem sometimes seem reckless. For that, I'm sure we'll be discussing my punishment at a later date, but I would not change anything I have done before nor will do." She tilts her head at Kenta and says, "Well, it strikes me as pretty clear where the fault lies, and it is with Alaric Blackmoore. He summoned a demon. That sounds like something that implies consequences."

Chloe shrugs. "At the time he was physically phasing through things. Literally being one who isn't," she explains. "So it was the best fit and I wouldn't be shocked if it was maybe even meant to make us turn against each other. Alaric fits, but so does his summoned monster. As it isn't human, visible or any of that stuff. As for me? If fear is it's weapon I'll be safe enough, the only thing which scares me is that the school might not have any icecream when we're back."

Perhaps only Kenta can see the subtle crinkle in Emma's eyes just before the mask settles back into place, and she says, "Very well… if you will all excuse me, I will return, and focus my efforts of locating Miss Vallon and Mister Palmer… to do I first…" And she kicks a clump of something clinging to her expensive shoes, "Need to feel at peace with my surroundings."

Kenta nods to Emma. "Well lemme know when you're gonna talk to Mr. Blackmoore." He is good and calls him by his real name and doesn't use an insult. There are students around. "Good luck finding the Emma." He says before looking at chloe and noding. "Who knows what that riddle means ultimately but I just want to get home….almost deperately."

"Goodbye then, Ms. Frost, and thank you for keeping watch on our minds. It's important that we know who is here," says Heather, turning now to Kenta and her roomie. "The riddle may have been a hint for a younger version of ourselves. We may have outgrown it, but let's keep it in mind to see if anything clicks." The girl slowly detangles some of her hair and says, "I hope they have lots of ice cream when we get back. Bubblegum ice cream."

"I wonder if I could manage to quickly eat icecream /and/ have a hot shower without things going horribly wrong," Chloe muses with an expression of profound concentration. "I think it'll be worth a shot. We'll be back soon, don't worry about it. I have the utmost confidence in the staff." And if that fails she can always fall back on the angry mob setting fire to things approach!

"Well gals, I'm gonna head back to the Slaughtered Lamb to see if I can mull somethigns over. Maybe head up to the graveyard a bit later. You two take care and don't get into too much trouble." Kenta says as he smiles at the thought of ice cream, bubblegum and showers. He extends his wings and flies off into the air and plans on doing one more ariel loop of the moors before heading back.

"I have confidence in staff, too, but that's not to say I won't continue doing what I've been doing. If we take a convergent approach, we'll be better off anyways," says Heather, shrugging her shoulders. She gives Kenta a wave farewell and adds to Chloe, "I can't wait for that shower. And a different but normal pair of clothes.

"Shower done we'd better book ourselves in and get our hair done before anyone can see us!" Chloe says, cringing at the idea of having to endure school with her hair as it is now. She yells in slow world "Fly safe Kenta!" then ponders "Heather have you just got the pickaxe? Only I have a spare straight edge razor I found. Nice and sharp, good for a light back-up weapon. If you want it that is? Think I found it in what might have passed for a barbers shop in this place."

"I have a sharp knife, too. I use it to carve into my wax, but it's also good for cutting and stabbing if I need to. I prefer the pickaxe, though, as a primary weapon." She gestures at the case she's wearing on her back, hanging by straps. "I've never had my hair done before, though. What's that like?" Indeed, Heather's hair is almost always a tangled, horrible mess, except the few times she's tried to make it nice for Connor's sake, but even then it reverts pretty quickly, since it's been a tangled horrible mess for years.

Chloe shakes her head. "Okay. We are booking you in for your hair doing," she proclaims sternly. "And maybe a few other things too. I'll have to write up a list and you can let me know which you aren't doing. I bet you bite your nails too. Guess I'll keep the spare razor then, wonder if when we return we'll keep our stuff? These things are kinda neat in a Sweeney Todd sort of way. Minus all the terrible singing that is."

"I bite them, yes. There's nothing wrong with that," says Heather, looking down to her fingernails, "This way they don't get any dirt underneath them." She crosses her arms, tucking her hands just below her armpits so that Chloe can't judge her hands anymore. "I brush my teeth, now, too. Well, I haven't lately. I didn't like going to the dentist, though…" She shrugs and then says, "I wouldn't mind keeping my things. It's nice to have memory artefacts. I collect them. You've seen them."

"You aren't keeping your own skull in our room. Before you even think about suggesting it," Chloe warns, twirling her pitchfork some more. "Having nails is tactically useful. You can't scratch people if you bite them too short after all. I promise going out and getting makeovers will be fun! At least compared with this place where an exciting evening involves mildly seasoned turnip with a slice of rabbit, followed by an early nights sleep or perhaps a riddle if you're very lucky."

"But I can still bite people like a champ. I can tear flesh off a bone in one quick chomp. Ferals have nothing on me," replies Heather to the nails comment. "And why shouldn't we keep the skull? At least it's not the whole skeleton. But if I scratch, and my nails are long, I feel like I will tear them right out of the nailbed. But I'll go with you to this silly makeover, since you seem interested in it. That's what friends are for, yes?"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "You keep them short enough they won't break off," she explains. "And indeed it is! Worst case think of it as disguise training, because someday if we go crime fighting you might need to infiltrate high society. Which means knowing how to put your make-up on and sorting your hair so birds don't try nest in there." She grins impishly. "Maybe we should try fake nails with a glue that doesn't last ages. Then you get all the style without worrying about them ripping when they come out."

"I think it will be rather difficult to disguise myself as anyone but myself, since I am always moving at a different pace than most slow worlders anyways. I would rather be very clear in my identity." She scratches her head lightly and contemplates this, "I've never worn much makeup. We'll see how that looks, I guess. I'm not sure why I'd want to though. Anyways, my wake cycle is almost over, I need to get back to the Slaughtered Lamb before I fall asleep."

"Because looking so awesomely pretty that people swoon when you walk past is fun," Chloe assures, hefting her pitchfork as if she was about to go jousting. "Travel safely, I'm going to resume monster hunting. Maybe circle the edge of the moor while the Headmistress is doing her mindwhammy thing on the off chance it lures something in." And with that she waves to her roomie and gets ready to dash off.

Heather gives a return wave and then dashes off in the opposite direction. Zoom! Being a speedster is fun.

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