"Maine, in America, on Earth," Chase says. "Not sure if you've heard of it, I don't know much about where you come from. And my parents are-- were rich-- but they were kind. They were good people. They adopted me when I was about two." He shrugs a bit, then adds, "They died before I came here, and I'm here to bring them back."
Her dark eyes actually focus on him. Here to bring back nice adoptive parents. Is that what she should do? Be a good little warden and raise her mother and her sisters from the grave? Or is she going to let this whole wretched empire collapse back into the dirt.
Well, Chase wouldn't blame her for leaving them dead if her family kind of sucked. Not everyone's parents are cool people like his adoptive ones were. (Hell, his birth father was a complete asshole who he murdered himself.)
"Appalachia, Blue Ridge Mountains." For the most part, she does not have the stereotypical twang one associates with this region. It only comes out on occasion: certain things she says or certain emotions that arise. Or when she chooses to play it up for one reason or another.
The mountain range itself spans several states, but that doesn't matter. The House on the Hill belongs to the mountains and the mists, not to the world beyond.
"Oh, hey, I actually know where that is," Chase says with a grin. "Haven't been down that way since I was a kid, but I know it. I'd believe it's not the same Appalachia, because literally nobody ever comes from my world, but still. Do you have family back there?"
She knows what he means with that question, and the answer just isn't that simple.
"My father owns a restaurant near Virginia Beach. My half-brothers live in some mansion in the rich people part of New York. I live in the House on the Hill with my cousins Tavor and Haran. And Haran's numerous nieces and nephews."
All of this is accurate and sounds about normal until that very last sentence. It will only get less normal.
"Haran overthrew the family and the House. He annihilated all the others, and I was waiting to get my revenge on him when I slipped up and the hyenas tore me apart."
She is a bit dramatic but at the moment she just wants this other witch to understand the situation.
One brow goes up. Terrible families abound, around here, it seems. Blood relations, anyway. "Hyenas. That's creative, I guess. My birth dad just set our house on fire. If he'd used hyenas I might not have survived to get adopted and then kill him later."
He feels bad about some of the people he killed. Not as much about his father.
He cocks his head, thinking and watching her, then asks, "Why did Haran kill everyone else?"
He'll remember that, because now he's curious. Just not right now.
He narrows his eyes in thought, and derision. You should always have a plan when you do shit like that, not just on a whim, god. "The only demons I actually know anything about are my spiders," he admits. "And they're small and stupid. I didn't know much about the kinds that can-- breed with humans." That sounds so gross. Why would anyone want to? "Did, uh, everyone know he was half demon?"
"Y... es," she murmurs, her lips pale. "My aunt's philosophy was to expand the family ranks and to... Identify powerful male donors for herself and her sisters in that endeavor."
She picks at her fingertips and looks at nothing. "You don't want to know any more about it, I promise."
"Clearly not a great idea, if the result of that went and killed most of the family," Chase comments. He pauses, and adds, "And I won't ask if you don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to get to know you a bit. All I knew before was you do weird rhymes on the network and liked my spiders."
"Things were really fucked up," Qetzi says. Her tone is matter-of-fact, but she is also biting anxiously at the edge of her thumb. She is deeply troubled and traumatized by the reality of her family, and she is a good daughter who would never wish for any other relatives.
"While my aunt was gestating a prince of hell, I was dallying with the faeries. Sometimes they look a bit like winged spiders and their kiss bestows on me certain magicks but it also has a tendency to drive out my reason."
There. Everything answered from spiders to weird rhymes. She exhales heavily, weary with everything.
"You seem like you've got plenty of reason, to me," Chase comments. He honestly always figured the weird rhymes was her being dramatic for attention. (Pot, kettle. Whatever.) "You're being perfectly rational right now."
"Wow, yeah, ghosts keeping you awake would definitely make a person less rational." Elder god dressed as-- right, that's John, probably. Hard to think of the guy as eldritch when he is, in fact, a bit goofy sometimes. "Why were they haunting you?"
"Because we are coven. We are all a part of each other on the deepest level. And just because they chop off the limb doesn't mean it isn't still screaming."
"No offense, but maybe it's time you got a new coven," Chase comments. "Your last one kind of seems like they're more trouble than they're worth. If they're making babies with demons, and screaming at you after they die, and all."
Nevermind that he definitely felt haunted by his parents after their death for a long time, but it's not the same. They weren't literally yelling in his head making him lose so much sleep that he didn't act rationally.
"Then I guess we gotta get you graduated so you can get one," Chase muses. "Or get you lucky enough to pair up permanently with someone who'll give you theirs. Or else find a non-deal way to do it. There has to be non-deal ways to handle something like that."
He's already kind of thinking, himself, whether it'd be possible to do with a spell. That's not the kind of magic he's ever worked with, that he knows of. He's certainly never had a coven. He's not sure if his kind of witch even can have one that isn't just a fancy name for a club.
"None of you wardens can help me," she says. Which might, in fact, be a tad dramatic. "And any spell we try is just going to end up with Hill filth getting on everyone. Then they'll all yell and cry about how horrible their stupid little Barge lives are and demand consequences consequences consequences! Augh!"
"Hey, hey, you don't know that," Chase says, holding up both hands. "Maybe someone else's magic is totally different from yours, and it won't make a mess. And even if it does-- so what? Shit like that happens all the time around here, they can deal. Worth it to get you free, if it works."
"Is it? Because I will always be a monster. This shit doesn't wash off."
Sure, she might be able to sever herself and stop committing unforgivable acts of depravity and cruelty! But she will always know what came before. She will never be clean; nothing will ever be made right. Her self-disgust is certainly one of many issues. Her disconnection from her humanity is certainly another.
Chase narrows his eyes at her. Then he leans over, elbows in his knees, squinting at her more obviously like he's looking very closely, scanning over her face and peering into her eyes.
Then he shakes his head. "Nope. Not seeing any monster in there. I do see a pretty dramatic lady, though." Yes, he is the pot calling the kettle black here, but shhh. Like recognizes like, okay.
"No, I didn't," Chase admits. "But you didn't know I tortured my father to death, either, so. There's a whole lot of reasons we can think we're monsters. Was it because of a 'had to' kind of thing, like vampires? Or a 'my family made me' thing, because your family seems pretty messed up, no offense."
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Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Her brow furrows.
"I'm from Earth, just not yours."
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
"Yeah? Where on Earth are you from, then?"
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
The mountain range itself spans several states, but that doesn't matter. The House on the Hill belongs to the mountains and the mists, not to the world beyond.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
She knows what he means with that question, and the answer just isn't that simple.
"My father owns a restaurant near Virginia Beach. My half-brothers live in some mansion in the rich people part of New York. I live in the House on the Hill with my cousins Tavor and Haran. And Haran's numerous nieces and nephews."
All of this is accurate and sounds about normal until that very last sentence. It will only get less normal.
"Haran overthrew the family and the House. He annihilated all the others, and I was waiting to get my revenge on him when I slipped up and the hyenas tore me apart."
She is a bit dramatic but at the moment she just wants this other witch to understand the situation.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
He feels bad about some of the people he killed. Not as much about his father.
He cocks his head, thinking and watching her, then asks, "Why did Haran kill everyone else?"
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
She sighs and wraps her arms around herself like she's cold.
"For fun. He ruined everything for fun. That's just what happens when your shitty little cousin is half-demon."
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
He narrows his eyes in thought, and derision. You should always have a plan when you do shit like that, not just on a whim, god. "The only demons I actually know anything about are my spiders," he admits. "And they're small and stupid. I didn't know much about the kinds that can-- breed with humans." That sounds so gross. Why would anyone want to? "Did, uh, everyone know he was half demon?"
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
She picks at her fingertips and looks at nothing. "You don't want to know any more about it, I promise."
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
"While my aunt was gestating a prince of hell, I was dallying with the faeries. Sometimes they look a bit like winged spiders and their kiss bestows on me certain magicks but it also has a tendency to drive out my reason."
There. Everything answered from spiders to weird rhymes. She exhales heavily, weary with everything.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Yes, it was a relief but now she has to deal with having gone crying to that goofy fragment of eldritch divinity. Eugh!!
"Sleeping sometimes really helps me keep it together. Who would have thought."
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Nevermind that he definitely felt haunted by his parents after their death for a long time, but it's not the same. They weren't literally yelling in his head making him lose so much sleep that he didn't act rationally.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
She spreads her hands in exasperation.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
He's already kind of thinking, himself, whether it'd be possible to do with a spell. That's not the kind of magic he's ever worked with, that he knows of. He's certainly never had a coven. He's not sure if his kind of witch even can have one that isn't just a fancy name for a club.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Ah, yes. She might be getting upset.
"Why did he even bring me here!"
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Sure, she might be able to sever herself and stop committing unforgivable acts of depravity and cruelty! But she will always know what came before. She will never be clean; nothing will ever be made right. Her self-disgust is certainly one of many issues. Her disconnection from her humanity is certainly another.
"Fuck, just leave me in here to rot..."
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Then he shakes his head. "Nope. Not seeing any monster in there. I do see a pretty dramatic lady, though." Yes, he is the pot calling the kettle black here, but shhh. Like recognizes like, okay.
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement
Re: Spam, after the pairing announcement