Blood from Stone [AU]

[Marian Hawke]

The outer perimeter of The Rock, as it's called, is a maze of small tunnels, wide shafts, and crooked, narrow passageways between them. There are rumors of prisoners escaping the proper installation and living for decades in these narrow, claustrophobic tunnels, never seeing the light of day, living on rats and insects, one step from starvation and half-mad but free. It's a nightmare for any elf: dark, cramped, and devoid of life. And that's before a drow began stalking it, setting traps and appearing from nowhere to scare the living daylights out of the escaped prisoners.

Luckily, Liz isn't afraid of the dark. The dark feels comforting, these days, and small spaces are cozy, safe. When the familiar silver mask steps out of a pool of shadow towards her torch, she doesn't scream; she pulls the monster into a tight embrace, trembling slightly.

"You're bleeding."

"I do that," replies the Scale, voice strained.

"Well let me bandage it," replies Ruby, kneeling to get a better look. "Gods above," she breathes, examining the wound. "Were you stabbed in the gut? With a sword?"

"Something like," agrees the Scale with a wince. "Why are you here?"

"Vig brought me," she replies, which is an answer, if not to the exact question asked.

"Liz..."

"You were right," she cuts in. "You were right to leave me. I know that now. But I'm not going to let you fight this one alone. So you may as well get used to being bandaged up and, and worried over, because I'm not leaving your side until it's safe."

The Scale regards the Redeemer for a long moment, then sags against the wall, relived. "Thank you," she whispers, meaning, I love you.

"Any time," replies Liz, meaning, I love you too.

[NPCs]

Early the next morning, Warbound Kossith looks around the table with a somber expression as she lowers herself heavily into a chair. The largest conference room available in the SummerHill campus itself is currently hosting a fairly large and diverse group. Beth and Carver are still there, faces slightly pale save for the black shadows under their eyes silent proof of their very long night. The pair had focused on checking on the physical health of the various inmates for most of the night, Beth checking them over and Carver escorting her. After that, they had shifted over to testing the supplies and ingredient stores, their roles reversed. Light zi'Smith could hardly be anywhere else, of course, and neither could Healers Wynne, Stevonnie or Nephi given their status as the three most experienced healers contracted by SummerHill (the Doctor himself excluded, of course).

Father Lelldorin sits next Wynne, no sign of the reluctance or regret he must surely be feeling at the abrupt suspension of his retirement on his face. A Pantheist though sworn to Alydra most directly, he favors the title 'Father' as it highlights his work running an orphanage in Coalside, rather than his semi-famous career as an exorcist. It's a valuable and useful skill, as shown today, but one that tends to grant people somber and grief-filled lives. Finally, the table is rounded out by Lt. Matthews from the guard, though he currently only has a single squad under his command to assist the hospital.

"So... short version, place got fucked."

"Very succinct but perhaps a trifle more detail might be in order?" Lelldorin gives the Warbound a pointed look to accompany his rejoinder.

She shrugs a little, but does expand. "Found two staff who are possessed and four more broke their Oaths, though we're still working on getting details from two of them. One is incidental to the main shitstorm- just a daft bitch who fell for one of the inmates and crossed fraternization regs. The other... painkiller for an broken wrist. Fell asleep and..."

[Carver Amell]

"Damn," whispers Carver, rubbing at his temples. In truth, it had been a long, hard night, but he was glad to see some daylight ahead, some sign that they were nearly through.

[NPCs]

"Thankfully, from what we can tell, none of the patients are currently possessed. Well, aside from the ones we already knew about," Wynne allows, thinking of the trio of spirit possessed and the single tulwath possessed patient they have in their care.  "In addition, we are nearly done our stock inspec-"

[Carver Amell]

"Wait, what? What about Mother? Or are you counting her as one we knew about?"

[Bethany]

Lip trembling but face otherwise blank, Beth reaches over to grip her twin's hand tightly.

[NPCs]

"Ah... Your mother..?" Lelldorin begins slowly, trying to recall any Hawkes in the many, many people he tested over the night.

"Leandra Amell, medium wing," Wynne supplies quietly.

The priest nods gratefully. "Right. Female, middle-aged, human, low responsiveness. No, she is free of possession. I'm afraid I've only had time to do some very basic tests in regards to claims but she passed those that I did so far." He pauses, lips pursing. "Though... I am sorry, she was one of those flagged for further testing for claims, as the results were less clear than I would like."

[Carver Amell]

"Less clear," he grumbles, swallowing hard. "There's definitely something wrong. She's.. she's the one who alerted me to the whole situation. She's definitely possessed or, or something like."

[NPCs]

"Yes, I..." Lelldorin clears his throat. "I have confirmed, with near certainty, that she has been tempted via a nightmare sending. But I cannot be sure what the outcome was. Not yet."

[Carver Amell]

"Do you..."

He glances down at Beth's hand on his. 

"Do you know what the temptation was?" 

I know what the outcome was. I just can't deal with it right now.

[NPCs]

"I... again, she was... largely unresponsive. But based on what she did say and... did not... she seems most concerned about you and your sisters." Lelldorin winces a little. "Much of what she said was along those lines, worry about the three of you, apologies and some disjointed comments about danger and pain. The only repeated comment I cannot figure out is... 'Made the right choice this time.'"

[Carver Amell]

He squeezes Beth's hand. "And you're.. you're certain it's her, saying that? Not a demon? I... I think she must have... but, it could still be her in control, right?"

[Bethany]

Beth is very pale, her hand painfully returning Carver's grip. "Claim." Her voice is a strangled croak. "That's what- she sold her- her s-s-s-"

[NPCs]

"It is possible, yes. If she... Leandra did as I fear, she sold her soul to a devil in exchange for, again, I am theorizing, but in exchange for your safety from something." Lelldorin tries to make his voice as gentle as possible but no tone can soften these sorts of words. He redirects his gaze to Carver. "Having a claim on your soul does not grant direct control, but it does allow the devil to... whisper in one's mind and influence their emotions in regards to heightening certain negative feelings. The specific emotions they can increase depend on the type of devil."

[Carver Amell]

"It was the wrong choice," he says quickly, to stop Beth. "But I... if she's finally willing to protect her children, instead of blaming them, that might be a huge step forward once we get her free of all this. Right?"

He looks at Wynne, a plea in his eyes.