Sol Avenue

"Of course Rahal, anytime." Catherine said as she stood ushering Rahal out of her office. Briefly, she wondered how long the concoctions of potions and elixirs would keep the mage alive; after all he hadn't been terribly young when she had first met him bringing Brandon to him with the insistence that the boy learn at least a small modicum of control over himself and his talents. "Yes, please do. It may help unravel a few other cases I have in my stack." She added as she said goodbye to the mage then turned back around to her office where her nephew was.

"Sit." Catherine said bluntly and without much more ceremony as she returned to her own seat.

Ah hell, he was in trouble. He sat down, head hung. "Sorry Aunt Catherine. I'll apologize to the secretary as well." He assured her, rather embarrassed. Damn. He should have been patient, even if it was just Rahal in here. He sighed and the looked to her, and managed a small smile.

"How have you been? Sorry I didn't keep in contact." He wasn't the best of it, and had been pretty busy getting the manor liveable again. Between that and re-establishing his less than reputable business and reputation, it had been trickier than he had thought it would be, and his time had been a lot more taken up than he had initially thought it might be. The vampire hadn't thought it would take nearly as much effort as it actually had.

"So you're coming to apologize for no contact?" Catherine asked as she maneuvered a pale blue file folder onto her desk, trying to avoid spilling it's contents all over the floor and her desk. She had to admit, Ishae had been helpful, but she couldn't have kept the girl slaved to a career with MCU forever; even someone like Catherine knew that. "Because that's a little absurd if you are." She said as she flipped through the various pages in the folder. It looked to be some complicated, long standing case that had been shuttled from one person's office to the next before finally ending up with on the Warden's own desk. "As for me I'm fine.. busy but fine." She said reaching for a nearby pen.

This one particular case was a mess, it seemed like it was never going to end. It was like pulling teeth to get anything from WCPD and other entities, as they each had their own reasons for not releasing records despite having all the t's crossed and i's dotted. It had been her sole nightmare, and had in reality consumed most of her working hours for the last few weeks.

"And to say hello." He pointed out, and watched her. "I opened up the old Lessard manor. It's legally mine now." Though becoming a legal person had cost a pretty penny, and he wasn't overly proud of how he had earned said penny. "You can almost not tell it used to be a necromancer hotspot." Oh the blight would persist another hundred years or so, but for the most part, there was no visible reason for a blight to be there. The gardens had been a pain to take care of, but multiple purification ceremonies, and some magical fertilizer and they passed as uninspired, but living, at least. It would cost far too much to secure the services of a specialist to get them permanently up, but it wasn't like he had a need for sleep, so he could do much of the work himself.

"I'm even working on finding gainful employment." Which was partly why he had dropped by MCU to begin with. The fun magical bounties were posted here. It had at least given him a valid excuse, and with luck would help him seem a good deal more legal. "That bit is trickier, given I prefer to work nights." Though so long as it was a strictly inside job he should be fine. Everywhere had shadows after all, and outside the heavily warded rooms in the citadel that was the Dragon Court, he could walk through them well enough.

"Uhuh." Catherine commented as she quickly scribbled her signature onto something then closed the folder, setting it aside. "So if it's legally yours now.. She started to say slightly curious, as she gathered her thoughts. The old Lessard manner hadn't really seen much in the way of activity within the last few years, if not decades; and if truth were told, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened to the rest of the Lessards after she whisked Bethany away to the fae court. Under Tatianna's tutelage the girl had become more tolerable, but Catherine still was no fan of one so young; most weren't. There were rules of which to abide by, and rules which in all honesty were merely suggestions that one would be wise to follow.

"What do you intend to do? Also, Employment shouldn't be that hard.. pick up a night shift somewhere."

"Restore it completely." He admitted. "Lay low for a decade or two, if possible." There was no way he could take on his sire and win, and he well knew it. He considered what else he could do. There were a lot of options he knew, but given he needed to lay low, it was tricky.

"I'll probably get back into my art, now that I have the time and can get the supplies." He definitely didn't intend on getting a legal job at least. "Maybe some bounty work on the side." As he could, and as he needed the funding. He knew his aunt wasn't fond of his bounty work, but it paid the bills, and was legal. Under the table, of course, he had plans to get back into the organ trade. His hands were steadier than ever after all, and he might as well use the extensive anatomical knowledge he developed as a child.

"Technically, I inherited the manor, and it's been legally mine the entire time. I just had to take up the name, that was all." His driver's license read Lessard on it, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that at all. He tried not to think of it.

Catherine frowned, it wasn't exactly the answer she'd wanted or been looking for. But she knew that likely neither one of them stood much of a chance at being rid of Brandon's sire. It was messy situation that neither one really wanted to acknowledge that something would eventually need to be done. "A decade or two isn't that long.." Catherine said slowly, realizing after a moment that it likely was for some quite a long time, at least part of a lifetime. "But for many it is." She added.

Would this be where the pair would finally part ways? Catherine knew that Brandon needed to stand on his own, and take care of his own affairs, but there was something about the two decade proposed lapse in time that didn't sit well with her. "So bounty work is your solution to all of this? You know how big a target that puts on your head?" Catherine asked frowning deeper. There would more than likely be talk about this so called new hunter, and questions as to who had signed off on his permissions. She sure as hell wasn't going to have her signature attached to this, not this time.

They were both still avoiding whatever hell the Dragon Court decided to dish out, and no amount of reparations or sanctions that Tatiana declared would stop them.

"I've had a target on my head since I was turned as a child. It didn't go away because I started using my birth name again. It just meant I was hidden from it." He pointed out. "I have a target on my head now, by my own sire, who would be pleased to have me remain cloistered for the next century." He shrugged. "The sooner Brandon Lessard can be established, the less my sire can do to hide me away again. I've managed to convince someone else to sign my forms to be a hunter, so don't worry about that." Blackmail was a wonderful thing. It was incredibly useful.

He offered his aunt a smile. "If I could get in contact with White Rose, that would be all the scandal needed to get them to back off. I'd have to watch my back, of course, but Bel and Taro hate scandal, especially when they can't solve it by killing the party in question, and doing that would just make this scandal worse." He shrugged and managed a smile for her. "I did want to give you my number and address though. It was easiest to find you here than to try and track down your information."

Who hadn't had a target of one form or another on their head? It just seemed to differ on who was drawing that bead down on you. "Alright" Catherine replied, mildly relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with his particular brand of stupidity. She couldn't say she wouldn't miss it, but in a lot of ways she would. There was still so much to do to get things running again, and for people to begin to take the organization seriously. Whether or not her nephew chose the right path in this new life was now up to him, and she just hoped that he could make something a bit better out of the Lessard name than his predecessors had.

Catherine didn't smile though, she didn't respond to her nephew's reassurance. "The White Rose has been largely silent, however you are welcome to attempt to contact them... however futile an effort that may be." She explained. Lady Chrys had neither been seen nor heard from in years, and it was beginning to be suspected that she had lost interest in the court, leaving it to languish in it's own political misdeeds and incapabilities. "However, thank you for your new information... but I fear this may be where we part ways Brandon."

He paused and stared at her, uncertain. "Part ways? I hope that doesn't mean cut of all contact." He wouldn't do that. He refused point blank. "I am on my own in this though. I know that." Catherine couldn't help him, she'd just get hurt. Word had reached him once already of her being hurt for him, and he...he wouldn't let it happen again. He'd turn himself over and take his punishment and take being confined again first.

"I'll try to contact them, I suppose. I'm not too surprised they've gone silent. Lady Chrys was not the sort to put down roots." And that was putting it very politely. Still, he waited, uncertain, not wanting to hear that she wanted them to cut off all contact. She was still his aunt, and he adored her as a mother, more than as an aunt. That was the simple truth of things.

"No..." Catherine began slowly, trying to determine the best way of explaining it. "It means that contact may be minimal, it may be non existent, but it's not being cut off." It didn't mean she would refuse to see him, or would refuse to acknowledge him. "Right now... with the way your sire has decided to play their cards.. it is best for the most part for both of us." She explained carefully. This was difficult to find that balance to strike between continuing to keep a relationship with him, and to not tip off either Bel or Taro that she knew where or what he was doing.

"Remember, you have help if your willing to ask for it. But until your willing to ask, yes you are on your own."

Inside a makeshift command Center around Sol Avenue. Squads of guardsman rushed around the streets preparing for the worst case scenario. A massive super volcano had just erupted and preparations were already underway to prepare the Shielding. It was up to the grace of the Emperor to see this through.

In the event that the Shielding did not take a quick enough effect, teams of guardsman would be prepared for relief and evacuation efforts.

"4'th and 7'th company Head to the north part of the city! 3'rd and 41'st head east! Now patch me through to the techpreists and Techmarines in charge of the cities shield generator!" Commisar Ciaphas Cain, the hero of the Imperium was busy handing out orders left and right. If the lava and whatever else got into the city, it would be a bad sight. And since he was in the city it made it more important to ensure that the city did not get hit lest it also hit him. Soon the box transmition was patched through. "Ah Commisar...We have already recived your order but you must be patient...the machine spirit is warming up and the Enginseers and Techpreists and Techmarines are reciting their litanies." An automated voice replied. Must have been a servitor set to respond to any calls. There was no use talking any further to a semi-sentient machine.

Cain sighed as he continued to Vox more companies, He had to prepare for the worst case, as much as he wished to the Emperor that it did not come true. "I don't know what's going to be worse...the smell of volcanic ash and burning building...or Jurgen's socks..." He chuckled to himself.

There was definitely a commotion and Molly was very firmly ignoring the fact that she was definitely involved in it. She hadn’t seen any of her string of lovers since the accident. She didn’t know how to explain the fact that their once enthusiastic partner was currently in the body of a twelve year old and likely stuck in a too young body for the next fifty years.

Apparently, one of her more wild partners had decided that rather than letting Molly ghost on her, she would take things into her own hands. And her own hands meant breaking into Molly’s apartment to ambush her naked. Molly had warded against every last magical way of breaking in she could think of. She hadn’t counted on a more mundane way of breaking in. Molly bit her bottom lip and ignored the officer trying to speak to her. She had already called for Xiaolian as her acting ‘guardian’ or at least someone likely willing to fake it.

When the preteen had come home, she had noticed the door first thing, and the naked woman on display on her couch second. Eyes wide, she had stepped back into hallway and closed the door behind her. That had not stopped Caroline from coming into the hallway buck naked to demand what a little girl had been doing coming into Molly’s apartment.

That had prompted her neighbors to call the police, though they were too cowardly to let in ‘Molly’s little niece; which she was using as a cover identity. As far as her neighbor’s were concerned, Molly had taken in ‘Mols’ after her niece lost her family. They shared a name due to family tradition. That had been a fun illusion to maintain and she absolutely hated maintaining an illusionary Molly. It took more out of her than she liked.

‘Little Mols’ put up with her one time lover yelling at her while the police arrived, and watched with no small amusement as Caroline punched the first officer who arrived, and the second as well. There wasn’t really a way to get into her apartment...and by now she had called Xiaolian to come ‘pick up’ Mols on behalf of her ‘at work’ partner.

Meanwhile, she watched a naked woman brawling with the police and pointedly did not laugh.

“So.. care to explain this one ‘Mols’?” Xiaolian asked after finding Molly hiding in the stairwell of the apartment complex. “Because a woman, who just so happens to be naked, brawling with the police isn’t exactly normal.” She added far from amused with this latest turn of events. It was one thing to do a favor here or there for the other, but to all out play guardian was getting annoying. Xiaolian had better things to do that did not involve constantly rescuing the other from messes of Molly’s own making.

“Former lover?” Molly tried, uncertainly. “And the police won’t let me leave unless my ‘guardian’ is here. I can’t cast that illusion with others watching.” Molly bit her bottom lip. “I swear, I didn’t know she was crazy.” It was supposed to be a one night stand. You don’t exactly learn a lot about your dates on those. The preteen shrugged. “Give me like…” she tallied the phase of the moon on the plane she did her big magics on, and considered the supplies she’d need to get. “Two weeks and I should have a working golem of my old body for problems like this.”

“Did that cause problems before?” Xiaolian asked arms crossed, looking far from amused with the other. While she outranked the now diminutive sergeant, most of the time there was an easy understanding between the two of who did what; however this was not one of those times. “I’m sorry Bronson, but no way in hell is that going to happen. I think the Warden would be extremely upset with me if I let you pull that one.” She said shaking her head. Molly’s problems while usually amusing after the thought, were a headache while trying to solve them.

Aw no, Xiaolian was going to pull rank on this wasn’t she? The young fae’s shoulder’s slumped and she thought the situation over. “Some, but this won’t be….I won’t be inhabiting this one? It’d just be a puppet. I’ve learned my lesson. We stay in our gods given bodies and don’t cheat.” Still, she sighed. “This one would be much, much simpler. Like, it wouldn’t fool anybody with a lick of magic.” But those people would realize right off she was fae and she wouldn’t have this issue.

“The only other solution is to...to find me a…” Everything from her body to her facial expression to the tone of her voice radiated disgust with the idea. “A guardian. For the mundane realm.”

“No.” Xiaolian said plainly. She was not going to allow herself to be pushed and pulled on by the other, no matter how gullible she looked to the other. “This really sounds like something you should have thought out by now, Molly.” Xiaolian commented not even budging. “If you need a guardian it won’t be me, and it’s definitely not going to be a golem. We all know what happened last time with that.”

If the other went over her head, so be it, but Xiaolian was not going to let herself get caught up in whatever brand of chaos Molly was selling that week. “Two weeks before I turn you into Blackwelder as a new juvenile case, and tell her exactly what happened.”

Molly’s eyes narrowed on Xiaolian and she considered her options. “I would rather not end up a juvenile case. I’ll outlive any guardian they find me here and still be a juvenile.” She murmured. Still, she sighed and stretched. “For the record, I had no clue this lady was that clingy or crazy. And I’ll speak to Blackwelder myself.” she kind of needed to regardless. The preteen pouted, what would have been a scowl on her older form coming out nothing more than a rather adorable pout at this age, in this form.

“I’d rather be me again, but...but considering what it took to do this, I don’t think it can be undone, not without further tearing things that shouldn’t be torn.” She could be mature, if she had to be, and she did have to be. At least the other hadn’t mentioned suspensions or leaves of absence, or taking a break.

On the wall, a poster, recently put up, read:

Ghoul Extravaganza Spectacular!!!
Join your host Cassius Countdankworth for a Cabaret and Burlesque show that you will never forget!
Why not enjoy a free spirit or two while you enjoy the entertainment? Which will include: pole dancing, fire juggling, knife throwing, acrobatics, singing and dancing, all performed by some of Terra’s finest beauties.
Starts 10pm on Saturday 1st December at The Grinning Ghoul! See you there!
roleplay/the-multiverse/places/the-grinning-ghoul

Ubarum Xul vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading north into Sol Tower.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from Sol Tower.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading north into Sol Tower.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from Sol Tower.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading east into Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading south into 75th Street.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from 75th Street.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading east into Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.