2022-09-09: Phlegethon

• Log: Phlegethon
• Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Lily Keil, Leon Albus, Fei Fong Wong, Xantia, Billy Lee Black
• Where: Antenora's Tower
• Date: September 09, 2022
• Summary: Before all else can be settled, there is one rather important matter that must be managed at the entrance to the Diablo Tower controlled by Antenora.

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<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    There is much that remains hidden in this world, veiled from the eyes of its people.

    The rumor had been clear, springing from a source that had served the Wolves well in the past. Not only was Dietrich Keil working for Antenora of Odessa's Cocytus, not only was Antenora holed up in some tower, not only was that tower empowering some super weapon for Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus...

    But the story said that Keil was plotting some operation, set to deploy soon. Odds were pretty good he'd do it from inside a fortress of a tower like this one.

    Whoever had passed on that information had also passed on the coordinates.

    Odessa had hidden it well. The spire reaches towards the heavens, one of two remaining towers if the tale about there having been four to start is true -- but then the tales of the deaths of Ptolomea and Caina have become common knowledge in the circles that the Wolves operate.

    Concealed by the mountains on one forsaken island out of many, far from the shipping routes that cross through the Deku Isles, this Diablo Tower had indeed been well-hidden. The approach is something of a formidable one, taking them up through mountains and forest alike until there, in the valley between the peaks...

    Just as promised, the coordinates had taken them to the tower. But... there's a few things wrong with this picture.

    There are no soldiers. There is no artillery, or barricades. This would suggest that either Antenora, intelligence master for Vinsfeld, had never anticipated an attack... or that she had something else prepared for whoever might find their way to the tower.

    The entrance, closed and shuttered, rather suggests the latter.

    As does the person leaning against the locked tower gate.

    "Yo," Josephine says, as easily as you please. She raises her left hand to wiggle her fingers in a greeting. "Been a while. Her black shotgun rests against the gate, right within reach.

    BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vckAI8btPp0

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil is familiar with places the world doesn't remember, things the world prefers not to see. And she is familiar with one such source. Information leading to Dietrich Keil... she seizes on it, and prepares for it. Whatever he's planning, she intends to be there. And so she approaches this tower.

The spire reaching to the heavens sees Lily Keil step up to it, looking up, and up... and considers the entrance, the lack of soldiers. There are a few things wrong with this picture. And at the gate...

Lily's eyes widen slightly as she spots Josie, and then narrow. She never was able to come to decent terms with this. She knows what she should do. She should strike before Josie has a chance to reach for that black shotgun. She should blast her, blast the door, blast all of it.

"..."

"Get out of the way," Lily says tightly, and notably does not blast anything for the moment.

Lily is in black military gear; armored jacket, with an ARM at her hip and a knife at her side. And her hair is down. And she is continuing to look at Josie.

"I'm here to stop 'his' plans. That's all. So..."

"Get out of the way."

She should blast. She should bring forth as much fire as she can muster. Yes, fire. But...

Lily's ahnds remain at her side, a pained expression on her face.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

When the Black Wolves heard that Colonel Keil might be making a move, it was a simple decision: move out and check out those coordinates.

Leon approaches the Spire, with narrowed eyes. He looks it over -- and then at the entrance. No people here; no soldiers, no guards. This is a problem. He slows down, expecting a trap.

He looks at Josie, then, and he tenses. His hand goes to his side -- for Argent Divider II -- but he doesn't draw it. Not yet. He still looks ready to. His eyes drift to Lily, and then back up at Josie.

"I've no mind to turn the world over to Rhadamanthus. Or to Keil," he says. "Why are you here, Josie? To stop us?"

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei finds it unlikely that Antenora could be that careless. Either something else is going on or there's some kind of trap. To be clear, he doesn't really know Antenora or her life's struggles, but fei is not a master of intelligence and HE would have anticipated trouble. Pretty unlikely someone with actual military responsibilities would somehow make an oopsie woopsie here. Even if its defense was meant to be in its sneaky weakyness, you'd kind of assume some kind of assault coming after two Towers fell.

Josephine by herself surely is not exactly a defense either. Not with that gun in reach rather than already in her hand.

Lets just kill her. Still sore about the Photosphere.

Fei ignores this voice. "Josie," He says. "Good to see you again."

He closes his eyes for a moment, exhaling for a moment.

"...Did you find what you were looking for, Josie? Did it give you what you wanted?"

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia has had her own personal issues as of late. Though there must be a resolution at some point, that was forcibly put on hold for a bit. And what better way to distract from one's own personal worries than to get involved with someone else's? Hearing the name Dietrich Keil was all she needed to wave off any lingering concerns and insist on coming along. Being there to support Lily is important. And no more than fair, given the amount of support she gets from Lily on a regular basis.

She can't imagine that this interaction will lead to anything but violence, in the end. She's more than ready for that. The trek towards the tower, too, doesn't pose a problem. She's just glad to be back among her friends, and she feels more focused, more energized than she has in a while. The only thing missing is her high level of active cheer. She's calmer, quieter than usual. No less willing to chat along the way, she just doesn't initiate it as much. Little things that betray that other matters are still weighing on her mind.

But then, an unexpected development. Josie is there. Giving very much the impression of having been waiting for them. What is one to make of that...?

Though generally among the more aggressively-inclined, Xantia isn't quick to act on this, whether offensively or defensively. She just... stares, in open surprise, while others make their declarations. Given that Xantia's made it clear in the past that she can't see Josie as an enemy, perhaps this much is not unexpected. The calmness with which she approaches the situation may be moreso.

"...Hold on, Lily." Addressing Lily in particular - she predicts violence is likely to start there, all things considered. She looks around for a moment, then regards Josephine neutrally, rubbing her chin. "It looks like you've been expecting us. Judging from the terrain, it would've been easy to set up an ambush, but here you are, out in the open, by yourself. Doesn't make much sense for a sniper to let us get this close. So I'm guessing you're not here to fight then, are you?"

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy isn't front-and-center of the hunt for Colonel Keil, but he knows a thing or two about treacherous father figures.

Well, his turned out a bit more complicated than just that. Work with me here.

Still, Billy is kitted out as he walks with the rest of the Black Wolves. Even now he still keeps to the attire of an Etone, the blue habit-like robe and the big sea-green bow. Trying to keep some semblance of faith and peace alive in this world that seeks to betray them. But anyone who has ever known an Etone knows they ought not to be underestimated.

Two of his guns, a pair of gunsmoke revolvers, he keeps in holsters at his side. There are more.

The tension means he not entirely subtly sets his hand on one of his gunsmokes, but the pale young man, ethereal in the blasting heat of Filgaia, still manages a kindly smile. "I am, of course," he says, by way of offer and threat both, "ever a bringer of peace."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Yeah. Sure have," Josie tells Fei. She doesn't elaborate.

    Why is she here?

    "Funny you should ask, Leon," she tells him, going so far as to smile brightly. Her glance skips over to Billy. "Got my replacement set right up, huh? Still just a kid, but good form. Never take your hand off your ARM in front of an enemy, yeah?"

    Get out of the way, Lily tells her. Josie grimaces, if faintly. "Sure can do that, yeah," she drawls, standing up from where she'd leaned against the gate. "But it seems to me you'd like to get inside, right? Unless you lot'd like shakin' up this particular hornet's nest right from the start. Some of 'em are itching for a fight..."

    The corner of her lips twitch.

    "Lookin' for your old man?" Josie shakes her head. "He ain't here. Sorry," she continues, "but I lied." She takes another step away from the gate, that ARM of hers well out of reach.

    "You've always been too observant for your own good, kiddo," she tells Xantia in passing. "Sure enough, sure enough. If I'd wanted you dead, I'd've shot at you from up there," she says, pointing towards some vaguely higher point on the tower. "But what am I sayin, I'm getting well on away from the point, right? I was telling you lot about how I lied, wasn't I. Yeah. Your old man... not sure where he is, right, but I wager he was up with Ptolomea's folk or something. Seems the type." She shrugs, expansively.

    "Lemme give it to you straight, then. Antenora's fixin' to wreck the Thames. The way I figure... she's gotten desperate. Two of her people down, just her and the other still standing, right? And plenty of you lot gunning for them and theirs. Knock out the Thames and you knock out... hell. A lot of people, for start. A lot of friends, family, supplies, support. Might even be enough to buy time for somethin' like the Heimdall Gazzo, right?"

    Josie folds her arms over her chest, looking Leon in the eye. "So. Here's my bargain. I open the door, and maybe you go on up and do your thing. Easy, right? Especially since they ain't expecting you." She pauses. "Not for long, anyhow. So, what do you say, Captain Albus? Feel like bein' a hero today?"

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon glances sideways at Xantia. She isn't wrong, really; Lily might be more likely to attack first in this situation. Leon might wait a moment more. His eyes are on her for a moment, before he nods, and then his eyes turn back towards Josephine.

Xantia raises all good points. His eyes glance at Billy, before he says: "A former Wolf. Until she chose to join Odessa," he says. He isn't sure if Billy knows. Then, he looks back at Josie, and he frowns. "Not your replacement. We don't replace the ones who leave. Newly joined ones are their own people."

Leon tilts his head, then, and he frowns. The information about the Thames is frightful -- the source is concerning. Then, he rolls his neck. "I'm no hero. But I'll do what has to be done. I'm not going to stand by and let the Thames be destroyed."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

It's a fair guess that Lily will be where the violence starts. Ordinarily, it would be. But she still hasn't started blasting, by the time the others have spoken up. She still hasn't lifted her hand to make a ready stance, to show her spells. Fei asks a question... Xantia, though.

"You..."

Lily blinks, in surprise. Then, sharply, "He's not a replacement." About Billy. But... Hm. Getting inside....

"You--what?" She lied? Lily notices the fact that Josie is getting away from her weapon, and it bothers her. At one point it might've been exactly what she wanted. But...

"Why?" Lily finds herself asking, and it comes out more raggedly than she was expecting. She takes a step forward.

"Why!? Why NOW? The Thames is enough to make you hold back, but we weren't? I wasn--" Lily cuts herself off abrubtly, balling her hands up into fists. Fire starts to crackle around her for half an instant before she shuts it down. It isn't an attack; there's no killing intent. It's just... emotion.

"Damn being a hero! Damn the Thames, and damn you! Answer me, Josie! What changed!? Why did... Why did you..."

A ragged breath escapes her throat and she looks down, her eyes wet.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei crosses his arms for a moment. "Okay."

And that seems to be that for the moment. "I thought... Ptolomea and his men were practically eliminated." His eyes widen. "Oh no, did he die before Lily and Leon could get catharsis??" Presumably by shooting at him a lot, he doesn't know, but his only real interest in the Keil patriarch is how it affects Lily and Leon and he might as well just be honest about that. HE rubs at his neck as Josie refers to Billy as a replacement.

"Well I haven't been shot by his gun yet." Fei points out. "So I don't think he's doing a good job replacing you yet."

He doesn't exactly suond bent out of shape about that in particular though he does have more than a few reasons to be sour.

"So you're gonna betray them too?" Fei asks. "And then what?" The Thames?? Fei sets that thought aside for the moment. It's monstrous but something that's obvious is something he doesn't have to spend a lot of thought on. "Why? Are they overstepping your sense of right'n'wrong?"

Lily says something that's definitely on his mind even if he isn't voicing it. His fist tightens briefly but he shouldn't...

But he does finish the question. "Why did you betray us, Josie?" Fei asks. "We would have helped you with anything you wanted or needed."

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy knows he earned this - well, inasmuch as knowing the right people at the right time has ever constituted earning something. But he's earned his keep well enough. "It's a challenge," he admits, with a monster hunter's confidence, to that advice. "Keep your hand on your weapon, but keep your weapons in mind."

Still, he nods to Xantia. "I was picking that up," he asides, quietly. Still, he favors her with a smile of his own. "That's true. You can never replace..."

Lily boils over, and Billy finds his stance softening with worry. "...what's lost," he finishes.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

As calm as Xantia has been so far, there's a twitch of her brow, right when Josephine calls her 'kiddo'. She'll never get used to that. In fact, she refuses to get used to that. But she still doesn't lose her cool. She just crosses her arms and listens, still far too calmly for her standards.

She could have taken in what Josie says just fine. Had it not been for Lily's reaction. She may not be the one with emotion-reading abilities, but what she feels there, more than anything, is... pain. Which hurts her in turn.

"Lily..." she starts. But she doesn't know how to continue. She doesn't feel she could say anything to make this particular pain better. Instead, she turns back to Josephine, as the one who truly needs to say something here.

"...You know we'll do the right thing. We'd never ignore something like this. But could you, for once, just be honest with yourself?"

Not 'with us'. That's deliberately chosen phrasing. And she's not done talking.

"Here's something else I've 'observed'. You're not calling us the right names anymore. I'm not 'kiddo'." It's not even Xantia. "It's Sparky."

She looks at her compatriots in turn. "Junior." Fei. "Tiger." Lily. "Lion." Leon. ...She gives Billy an apologetic look, he wasn't around to get a nickname. Well, other than 'Replacement' just now, but that's an awful nickname to call someone. She turns back to Josie, so she can get to the point.

"Did that make it easier for you to put distance between us?" She lets that one hang there for a second, before making a sweeping gesture. "You can pretend none of it mattered to you all you want, but I'll never believe it. I know why you think I'm too observant for my own good, because I can see right through you! Now stop with the transparent lies and give them the honest answer they need!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Ouch, kid. You know how to stick it between the ribs," Josie says, and it would have been a more meaningful complaint if she weren't wearing that old lopsided smile the entire time.

    This is the thing Josie tells Billy while walking away from her own ARM.
    Of course, whether or not Josie is still armed even with that shotgun still resting against the gate is an open question.

    "Well! How d'you like that. I ain't replaced after all. Though..." She turns her gaze upon the lot of them in turn only to shake her head. "Can't unring that bell, right?" Replacing what's lost... it's beyond her.

    And it's hardly her aim today.

    The Thames is enough to make her stop, but they weren't? Lily wasn't? That smile Josie wears like a shield finally fades in the face of Lily's raw grief, but she doesn't falter or flinch, not even in the face of those flames. "...Yeah. It wasn't," she says, without joy or mirth, without offering up an excuse or an explanation. It's just fact -- just a simple statement.

    "Why now? What changed? Heh. Guess you could say it's everything... and nothing. Guess I should clarify, eh? Kid over there," she jerks her head in Fei's direction, "had it half right, before. I figured out what I wanted... and didn't find what I was lookin' for. Simple as that. And so I thought... time for this to come to an end."

    She actually smiles when Fei lobs that her way, a toothy grin that doesn't at all meet her dark eyes. "Sure are. I got a real problem with them that'd knock out a real heaven-on-earth like the Thames, right," she tells him. "Especially when they're using my dear little Akasha to do it. Antenora ain't planning on using soldiers. She's gonna to hit it with a hurricane."

    Could she, just this once, be honest with herself?
    It's an echo of her own shadow.

    Halfway wincing, all Josie can do is sigh and shake her head at Xantia's accusations. "Ever think 'bout starting a detective agency, kiddo? You've a real eye for the details. ...You think I should give baby boy there a nickname too, eh?" It's said flippantly enough but here and now... Josie isn't smiling.

    "But... alright. We've enough history between us, and the way I figure, you're more than due the answer. And I'm done playing around."

    She closes her eyes.

    "...For my sister. Never was just a fire that took her. I've been hunting her killer since way 'fore I met any of you..." She opens her eyes and gazes at the lot of them as if daring them to counter her. "I'd drag myself through hell if that's what it'd take. Play any role that'd get me answers, get me closer."

    And so she did. But...

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon Albus has always been reserved, in a sense. It can be a subtle sort of reserved; he is good at expressing a calculated sort of anger, at being friendly and confident when it elicits a response, and even at being supportive and charismatic when it can help others. He has trouble admitting when he needs something. That Xantia is right -- that he wants to hear why Josie turned her back on them -- rankles, a little.

But he doesn't correct her.

Besides, Lily's words are plenty clear. He tenses for a moment, his eyes on Josie, as he waits for his answer.

He frowns, when she mentions her sister. He knew of her; he remembered her rage, when Timotheus referenced her just the once. His fingers curl, and then he glances downward. "You should have told us. You should have asked. We would have helped you find that killer. But you chose another way."

Bells can't be unrung.

He looks up at Josie, and then frowns for a moment. "Did you find the person that killed her, then? In Odessa? Or through them?"

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"I doubt it," Lily says darkly to Fei about her father having simply died. But she can't open herself to thinking about her father while she feels like this. Not yet. Then what, Fei asks, and why, Fei asks, and Billy...

'What's lost.'

Xantia is right; Lily is feeling a raw, deep pain, powerful enough that she can barely contain the storm within, barely stop herself from hashing out those feelings on this tower. Even the names...

Josie has the grace not to twist the knife; it is a deep wound, but a clean one now, calmly cut. Lily sucks in a breath and watches the woman before her for a few moments. She watches her, and listens. Akasha...

"That damned machine," Lily murmurs.

"Your..." THe fire. Lily remembers that wound; she remembers so much, now, and what she says... Ah.

It makes sense immediately. Lily looks not to Josie, but to Leon, for a moment, then to Fei. She looks down.

"...I..."

"I would have done the same for you," Lily says quietly, and she straightens, shaking her head. "...Even after all this. If someone had finally killed you, I'd have done the same. You were..." She stops, and then just says, "I loved you."

Lily turns, unwilling any longer to have anyone see her face. "I hope you found them. I never..."

She lifts a hand, uncurls it, and from it leaps a fireball into her palm, which she stares down into. "I didn't care who you hurt," she says. "I never did, except for the others here. It wouldn't have mattered to me."

"But you, I..."

Lily sighs, and takes hold of the fireball, smothering it with her bare hand until it winks out. "Just tell me when you've opened the door," she says.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong rests a hand lightly on Billy's shoulder. He is very sympathetic to Billy in particular because his backstory is...

Well, for some reason Fei feels some deep compassion for someone who loses a mother while you're at home and helpless. It ... resonates with him. He gives it a soft squeeze but he doesn't do much to draw attention to it by providing additional dialogue or anything.

Fei rubs at the back of his neck because JUNIOR oh no JUNIOR but Xantia is making a point so he manages to just sort of endure it.

Can't unring that bell, right?

"We could try," Fei says softly, because he's a bit of a softie lets be real here.

But that's not Josie's goal here today. Fei blinks once when Josie says he had it half right. What did he have half right? Fei's not used to being half right. Usually he's maybe a quarter right at best.

But he does say, "Well, I guess we're not exactly a crew of happy go lucky Men."

"Of the."

"Sea." Fei does the whole pantomime too but a bit casually.

Fei starts thinking about what kind of name Billy would get as a nickna--NO NO NO NOT NOW FEI.

Fei takes in a deep breath and letsi t out slowly as Josie tells the beginning of a story. His eyes widen faintly as he suddenly thinks:

'Oh god it wasn't me was it?'

He brings his hand to his forehead. No, no. Don't assume the worst (for you, mentally) just yet. "I...assumed it was your father behind it," He admits. "...But...it was someone else? If you want help chasing down her killer--I mean, bells aside..."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia certainly said everything she had to say with the conviction of a detective pointing out a guilty party. And yet, despite everything, it's still Xantia. One can tell just by looking at her that actually bringing up starting a detective agency confused her, and she needs a moment to piece together whether that was a question that needs an answer. It's enough to cause a drop in composure, and prompt an answer to the second question, which is easier.

"...Well, it's only fair, if the rest of us have nicknames." Then she shakes her head. "Wait, no, you're trying to distract me!" Didn't just try, succeeded for a second there.

Even so, she still has a ways to go to be a proper detective, as she never would have guessed the motive. Now that the word is out, and Josie's finally, finally admitted to the motivation behind her actions, her demeanor instantly softens. "...So that's it," is all she can say at first, and she looks over to the other Wolves. They needed to hear this a lot more than she did. She can only hope that this will allow the wounds caused by the betrayal to heal a bit.

...Especially Lily's. She's not sure she'll ever be able to fully understand how deep that particular wound was. Not as she is now. Again, she really wants to say something, but can't think of anything to say that might help right now. Instead, she takes a deep breath, and turns back to Josie.

"...Thank you. I know this must've been hard for you too. I can't speak for anyone else here, but if there's anything I can do to help, ask me anytime. Just... no more lies, okay? Not between us, any of us. When you joined the Wolves, you probably didn't mean to actually get close to any of us, but you did, and it's better to be honest about that."

With that, she crosses her arms behind her head. As if to say 'I'm done'. She has more questions, of course she does. But she's not asking them today. This was a big step forward, that's good enough for now. As long as it appears that she can count on honesty in the future, the other questions can wait until another, less tense time.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Josie makes a light jab at him, and Billy's posture does, however fractionally, ease up. "Do I? A bad habit, I guess. One must speak fiercely, to Wels. Their thoughts aren't clear enough for much subtlety."

It does sound like a fight isn't what she's here for, by now. Though the air is still just tense enough that Billy doesn't want to raise a hand up to pat Fei's hand in appreciation, though he does half-turn and nod his thanks.

Billy wasn't around for the age of nicknames. But he sees where Xantia's going, and nods to her point.

And she explains. Ah, a sister. Murdered family...

What would he have done, if Stone had taken Prim away? He nearly lost himself to despair from the betrayal alone. What man would he have become...?

He literally does not acknowledge Fei spinning on his heels because too much time at Thames causes a man to expect things.

He doesn't have a comment for this one. His grip on his ARM grows less intent. ...he's not sure how much differently he'd have played it.

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Yeah. Maybe should have," she answers Leon. "But I didn't. Always have picked doin' things the messy way around, right? And it weren't none of yours." She smiles, bitterly. "Hah. Guess it is now, right." By trying to keep them out of her business she'd only dragged them right into it.

    "But that's fine. I made the bed, I'll lie in it. You do what you need to, Leon. ...Still, if you do one thing for an old comrade... Stop Antenora. If I don't do it, sure enough, she'll find someone who will. ...Might even be your dad for real, next time." It had been the surest way she'd thought to drag them all out here -- a reverse of betrayal she'd enacted on them all that time ago.

    "Yes," Josie says, when Lily speaks of Akasha. That damned machine.

    "Really... even after all this?" Josie looks uncertain for perhaps the first time in her life. Wary. Unsettled, even.

    I loved you.

    Of all the things Lily had to say to her, it was this one. Josie wears the sort of face someone might make if they were punched in the stomach without warning, gaping for an instant.
    An instant too long, as it happens.

    And then, all she does is smile and shake her head. "With your boy right there and all...? Really, Tiger."

    But did she find them? Find the killer? Did entering Odessa...

    "Didn't," she says, all brief mirth fleeing her. In the passage of just one word, she looks years older. "But I'm done. ...Had enough of selling my soul for this." Her gaze turns Leon's way. "It's all come up empty since I turned this way. ...But I'm done," she reiterates.

    Even if it's for her sister, she's done. --Her sister. How often has she spoken of her sister to any of them? To anyone at all?

    Liath had it right when she spoke of a wound that would not heal. Her own private wound, to be concealed and cherished to the end of her days.

    "...Really, Junior," Josie sighs, relenting for him as well as he declares themselves not precisely of the like of Thames' merry crew. Only to blink when he asks if it was-- "Him? Nah," she says, shaking her head. "That old bastard... rather forget about his daughters as soon as kill them. World's a better place with out 'im, really." She grimaces, as if recalling that moment just months ago -- that instant when she'd snapped at the revelation that the old bastard... was well and truly dead. As horrible as he was, there had still been that small part of her that had wanted--
    But it's gone now. It's well and truly buried.

    "Someone else. Killed her, burned my house to ashes, and strode out into this world. Ah, and I've still nothing to show for all I've done," she says with a truly empty grin. "So it goes. But like I said... I'm done." After this, there's nothing left for her but to meet her end of an agreement made on a dark night in an even darker city.

    She raises an eyebrow at Xantia. "Thank you? After all that? You're a right strange girl, Sparky. But fair enough. You--"

    No more lies, Xantia tells her. Not between any of them.

    "...Hard bargain you're driving there, Sparky," Josie says, sighing heavily. "But fine. From here on, I won't tell you anymore lies or none. Right? ...When did you get so damn perceptive, anyhow?"

    Right even down to the part about not expecting to get close. Sheesh!

    She turns in that moment, striding towards the door. "The code'll work. Get you in right proper quick... but then the rest's on you, right? They'll know you ain't supposed to be in. I figure you can make short work of 'em before they send the alert of the chain, though."

    She taps in a series of keys on the pad nearby and is rewarded by a slow rumbling as the many gates and doors begin to grind their way open. The shotgun tips over, landing in the path before the door.

    Josie steps over to pick it up and begins to walk past them all, pausing in the last by Billy.

    "Etone, right? Keep an eye out. Some 'em in there'd give me a run for my money. But with your training, I'd say you're likely their better." She flashes Billy a fleeting grin, this young man she's never met before in her life. "...I'll be counting on you, kid." Maybe not in her place as such but--
    Because someone has to watch their backs.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"We'll put a stop to her, rest assured," Leon tells Josie.

He glances at Lily -- but there's not any surprise there. He knew Lily cared for Josie. He knew she was close to her. He looks back at Josie, then, and his eyebrow cocks up at that. Part of him wants to say it was all for nothing -- and there's an angry part of him that is tempted -- but he keeps his silence.

"Tell us, if you learn who did it," he says. "And... keep your head low. I don't doubt some will be coming for Odessa. And what's left of Odessa will be coming for you."

Then, he looks to the door. He considers, for a moment, and checks Argent Divider. Then, he starts walking.

"Time to put an end to this," he says.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

WAS it you?

Sometimes, Junior, it's just some asshole.

Like how Id plays at being, Fei supposes. It's a harsh, random cosmos out there and you're either unlucky enough to be apart from that chaos or unlucky enough to be a part of that chaos.

Fei lowers his head. It might be better for Josephine if she gives up on revenge for her sister. He can't deny that. Sometimes a quiet wound that sticks with you to the end of your days is the best you're going to get. And you have to live with it. Fei has a few of those, and many more he doesn't even know about.

Fei doesn't know if he can tell Josephine he loved her after Lily put it that way herself. Sure, he did love her--still loves her--but it's not the kind of love you tend to just say out loud like that. It was the sort of quiet trust, faith, and appreciation that stitched itself together into something greater.

Fei nods once back to Billy.

And then he tries to think of how to put what he wants to say, how to put it.

"...Today is just one day," Fei says to Josephine. "I hope we can fight together side by side, if not today, if not tommorow, then the tommorow after tommorow. Wounds always feel like they'll last forever. But nothing is forever. Even if you never avenge your sister..."

Killer's still free. It's not fair. We should find him and kill him. No, find him and bring him to her.

Strange to hear this from Id when he was thinking about trying to off Josie himself but Fei is getting accustomed to the weird way his other self thinks.

"Yeah." He agrees with Leon. "We'll still be there to back you up."

He cracks a smile at Josie complimenting Xantia. "Xantia's a pretty clever girl." Fei says, with a hint of pride in his tone. "And getting cleverer every day."

He nods once to Leon. "Yeah." He says. "...Thanks, man." He adds, without saying whatfor.

He starts walking too.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily can't really hide the pain she's feeling, only sublimate it into the flames. But Fei indeed is a softie, because he says they could try, and Lily... does not so much think so. Though Fei's talk of men of the sea gets a brief wry look out of her, at least something different. But...

She looks to Billy, as he speaks of Wels, and then to Xantia, as...she...

No more lies, she insists. And Josie said she'll lie in that bed she made. But Lily has to say what she feels, in this case, and she does. Josie makes clear that it struck. And that smile, that shake of her head...

Yeah. Right there."

"...Nothing to show... would it have been like that, if I'd taken Father up on that deal? The Sado, for me? Would I have found the same? I don't know."

"...Doesn't matter," she says. "What 'would be', what 'could have been'... I'm coming to hate those words."

Lily turns, as Josie walks past them. She looks to Leon again, for a moment. She nods, to him. Tell them...

"Xantia's pretty clever," she agrees. But she doesn't start walking. Instead, she looks to Leon again, and says, "...I need a minute." She pauses, and looks to Josie. "We need a minute."

"So go on ahead."

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

So much anger, spite, love and hate and war...Billy remains quiet through it all, ready for a turn but mostly simply weathering it. These aren't stories he was a part of, but he's part of their tapestry now. That is the will of God and the way of His world. It is a beautiful thing, to be privy to the pains of a friend; to learn how they suffer and to help them hurt less. Still, that requires sharing in their pain, through the empathy God entrusted to his children.

Billy knows a good bit about pain.

"Don't worry," he says. He's not a smirker, but there's a certain calm in his eyes as his gaze slides from Josie to the door. "...It was a hard lesson. But I know well the ways of an Etone's work. Life and death, both."

He starts in. When Lily asks them to take point while she and Leon gather themselves, Billy steps up to Fei and returns that hand on his shoulder. In his other, he draws his gunsmoke. "Come along, Fei. Let's secure the entrance for them."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia hasn't had much cause to smile in all this, but when the nicknames start happening again? Oh yeah, there's that smile, getting just a little brighter with every instance she hears. Now things are starting to feel more like the way they should. Her general view of things may be a little more simple - possibly too simple - but perhaps that was exactly what was needed to deal with a situation like this without experiencing particularly strong hurt feelings over it. And still have complete faith that even after all that happened, things are going to be alright in the end.

It's also what allows her to still say 'thank you' after all that. She doesn't even understand the question. "Why shouldn't I thank you? You did what I asked, right?" Simple as that. No reason not to smile at this outcome. Doubly so when Josie promises to be honest from now on. It'll undoubtedly be more difficult for the others, which she hopes to be able to help with, but on the whole, she's feeling good about this. As for her level of perception... she can only shrug slightly.

"I just pay close attention to the people close to me." No tricks, as far as she's aware. Isn't it normal to be able to get a good read on people you've spent a good amount of time with? She wouldn't know, what even is 'normal'? With a grin, she adds, "Maybe you're easier to figure out than you think you are." Is she just trying to give Josie a taste of her own medicine now??

When Fei and Lily also compliment her, however, it quickly becomes embarrassing, prompting her to look away while rubbing her neck. "Aw, c'mon, it's nothing that special, really..."

Good excuse to turn her attention away from that topic, and towards the tower. She slams a fist into the opposite palm. "Alright! We'll get it done, no problem!" Standard operating procedure: everyone has their role, and hers is simply to rush ahead and smash anything that gets in striking distance. Just the way she likes it.

She starts off in that direction, only to stop so abruptly that she nearly falls over when Lily says to go on ahead. Turning briefly, she looks from Lily, to Josie... then nods in understanding. "Okay. A minute is fine, we'll probably not have taken care of everybody yet in under a minute. Probably."

It's always so hard to tell if she's joking.

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Heh. Don't count your chickens until they hatch, Junior. There's a long ways between today and tomorrow, eh? Let's see how it all shakes out before I go making promises -- or even maybes," she tells him, and not without that usual crooked smile. "Don't worry about it or none. Maybe it's time." Time to let it go, to turn back, to possibly even let that wound start to heal.

    Because she did what she... asked? Josie wears for the moment a curious look. "Will wonders ever cease. Well, suit yourself--"

    Might it be that Josie isn't as cryptic as she thinks she is?

    If looks could kill--
    Well, Xantia would be wounded, that's for sure, from the look that Josie directs her way. "You take that back," she says, though without true animus. She turns her attention Fei's way. "...That so? Serves me right for missing out on the fun, sure enough," she tells him, rolling her shoulders in a lazy shrug.

    She turns her attention towards Lily as the woman wonders what might have happened if she had chosen differently with offer her own father had made her. "...Way I've come to figure, might-have-beens are worse than useless," Josie tells Lily, her smile an apologetic one. It's easy enough to see them littering her past -- even now, if she had decided that even the Thames was a price worth paying for just the possibility of a glimmer of a chance, she...

    But everyone makes their beds and they have to to lie in them.

    Leon isn't wrong. The thing is, it was all for nothing.

    At least, that's the answer Josie would give, herself, if asked. Yet, she could have done little else but that -- she is that sort of creature.

    "No doubt. Most ain't the forgiving type," she tells Leon. Frankly, she's surprised she'd gotten anything of the sort from him, at that. "Odessa's sort least of all. If they ain't diehards, they're monsters. Don't hold back--"

    She wavers, on that point. Just for one person.

    "...If you run into Yue somehow, though, play nicely with her. Girl's got it rougher than anyone else."

    And in the end it's just her and Billy, as she asks even him for a favor of a sort. "...Once there was a time when... ah, but I'm getting way ahead of myself." She shakes her head. "Don't you worry about it none, kid. Once you're old enough, if we're both still alive, maybe I'll buy you a drink someday."

    'Maybe'. It's as much future as she feels she can speak freely of, here and now.

    Josie's done her part here and doesn't intend to stick around for when the fireworks go off. There's kicking a beehive and then there's kicking a hornet's nest. But better this than what will come about if Odessa has their way, she's gone and decided.

    As for her part, she'll figure it out somehow, some way or another. First comes her debt, and then she'll see if she's still standing after.

    And she might have walked on out of there if Lily hadn't called to her first. "--Huh. ...Yeah, I wager we do."

    She's got something to ask Lily about. And she'll reckon Lily's got her own piece to say, privately-like.