[video]

[everyredcent]

[ meanwhile, back at the ranch...

the keijen blade concert was televised, for anyone curious to watch, although many of the failboaters had cautioned (including a sign taped to the TV by kat) to keep it on mute, lest they get brainwashed by blade's voice.

the cameras did not last through the entire thing, but what they did see was... disturbing. at one point, in the giant concert hall, a large glass pane lifted between blade and the audience, as he sang a taunting number, at the end of which, the ceiling split open pouring boiling hot lava onto the hundreds of concert attendees, who were boiled alive.   Some might know that they had friends away on that mission, friends who had said they were going to be in the crowd as back-up.  The last images broadcast before cuts to a live newcast trying to make sense of what was happening as the cameras melted seemed to confirm the deaths of anyone inside.  

The panicked reporters spoke of unusual sightings in the area, a horribly darkening sky above the concert hall.  Monsters appearing out of nowhere.  Chaos. 

Los Angeles is burning.  







Feel free to play out text or IC reactions to the broadcast here ]

Comments

➙ malina ( open to people that live in the woods i guess?)

[druidisms]

[ once gus had gotten over his stress that felicity is a knight (SHE IS HIS BABY SISTER OK), they'd gotten into a system: text at the start, text at the end, text at home. it's worked for them, especially because home often came with a hug soon after if time and missions allowed.

gus has only gotten one of those texts, tonight.

he gives it about five minutes before he is walking out of the castle and into his section of the woods. yes, he has his own section for druid shit. he's getting his shit together in the small clearing when his phone chirps and he begrudgingly answers, recognizing malina's ringtone. ]

I'm outside.

[bredinthebone]

I'll be right there.

[Nothing smells right about this and to say Malina is on edge is an understatement. But Felicity was on that mission and if Gus is as tense as he's sounding, something is very wrong. So she makes her way outside, knowing exactly where to go.

She steps into the clearing and eyes the ingredients he's gathering carefully.]

What are you doing?

[druidisms]

Scrying.

[ he holds up his hand and a necklace unfurls from his fist that looks very similar to the sun charm that he gave malina... twenty years ago. did he give them both a necklace he has a twin to solely so he can scry for them in case of emergency?

maybe.

in reality he gave malina the sun and, when they were teenagers, felicity the moon and lucy had the star (lucy in the sky with diamonds, after all) and when lucy died he simply turned them into the perfect focus to scry on and held on to his sister's necklace for that purpose.

now malina knows all of his secrets. ]

[bredinthebone]

For Felicity?

[She can hazard a guess, given the situation they're all in at the moment. She makes her way closer, moving to rest a hand on his shoulder to assist him if he needs it.]

You haven't heard from her?

[druidisms]

No. [ he drops lucy's necklace on a tree stump table that sits next to the tiny little stream that cuts through the clearing. the water is all he needs, but he has a wooden bowl of powered stuff on the table. just in case. scrying has never been his strong suit in all honesty. ]

I'm just going to check on her.

[ and the others presumably by default but that's very secondary. mellie lumbers into the clearing and whines. ]

[bredinthebone]

[Malina steps back and moves towards Mellie, resting a hand on her side gently as she tries to soothe her a bit. She knows that Gus being worried isn't helping matters, but maybe some of the calming energy can flow the other way.]

Of course. With things being the way they are right now, no one would blame you.

[druidisms]

[ malina is Good. ]

If anyone asked I would just fucking lie and say I was scrying for everyone. [ but gus cares about like four people and one is right behind him so oh well. he'll run through his list first and then maybe give another fuck.

he settles in front of his little stream and blows a seventh level spell to cast greater scrying to instantly find felicity, sprinkling the a pinch of the ingredients into the stream.

instead of showing felicity, in any state, good or bad, the stream goes completely black before fading back to its original crystal clear state. ]

What the fuck.

[bredinthebone]

[ . . . . . . ]

That didn't seem right.

[druidisms]

Because it's not. [ gus slaps the bowl off the stump and into the stream as he straightens up. ]

It's an anti-scrying field. Or fucking something. We won't know anything until Felicity is outside it's fucking range. [ he mumbles angrily stuff like what kind of dumb fucking shit blah blah blah this is all garbage and gus is frustrated. ]

[bredinthebone]

[Malina sighs a bit before moving forward and resting her hands on his shoulders gently.]

She could still be fine. No news isn't necessarily bad news.

[druidisms]

It's not good new, Malina. [ that sure was patronizing, but gus doesn't apologize for it. nor does he bother answering his phone when it chirps that he has a message.

or maybe it's malina's phone making a noise.

maybe it's both. dun dun dun. ]

[bredinthebone]

[It's both.

Malina is the one who actually reaches for her phone though, and when she hits play on Hasmed's message things go from "maybe it's not that bad" to "okay it's actually that bad." Her face pales and she glances over at Gus with a frown.]

Okay, I take it back.

[druidisms]

[ gus closes his eyes, hand lifting to press fingertips between his eyes, but he doesn't say anything right away. it's mellie that reacts, a heartbroken whimper from such a huge bear, big fluffy head drooping toward the grass.

eventually gus sighs, swallowing down whatever emotions he has like if he doesn't feel anything he won't have to relive lucy all over again. he looks at malina and shakes his head the tiniest bit. ]

Don't.

[ he doesn't want platitudes, he wants bossy malina. ]

[bredinthebone]

[Bossy Malina she can do.

She places her hand on his shoulder gently and gives it a small squeeze.]

They'll be back soon. You should get whatever you're going to need.

[druidisms]

[ a small nod, gus accepts this, accepts her comfort, before he does exactly as he's told, bustling about to collect anything he might need, for whatever he might need to do.

it doesn't take long for them to head inside, gus going to the light wing to wait, malina to check on everyone else. they make a good team and he kisses her hair before they part. ]