Post by No Face on Dec 31, 2019 21:32:28 GMT -5
Ethan offered Tom's coat back to him... "I'll get a couple more chairs." Tom went to go sit in one of the arm chairs... Closer to the fire than not. He gestured to the other woman who'd been watching in silence... "You might as well come along and get comfortable... Just by being here and overhearing half of this conversation, it'll put you at risk... Might as well be in the know," he told her gently. He grimaced as he lifted one leg to cross over the other. "I guess we should start with Ethan," he said softly. "As you know, he found one of Rachelle's vessels in Arkansas... You sent Gerold to handle it. Later, the rest of us regrouped. Upon finding out who and what Ethan was, we sent Seth to get Father Camejo. Then he sent us to Vatican City to get Father Guisseppe... Eli had that dream about his home and Higgins. You sent Eli to us. Gerold, Father Camejo, and Seth accompanied Eli to Mississippi."
Liessel had remained still and quiet, listening and watching to gain a fuller picture of what was going on in the half of things she couldn't understand. Now, Tomlin was motioning her forward. She sent one questioning look toward the twins. She had heard Avery when he agreed that sitting was the thing to do, and watched Aurelia with her broken leg -- but these people all seemed to know each other in one form or another. She was not able to say the same.
Felix started to help Aurelia ease back down--but his help came as a half-measure, as he was reluctant to use both hands. Avery was there, the second half of Flynn & Flynn, to take up the slack. "I'm so sorry about all of this," he said softly to Aurelia as he tried to assist her.
It was hard to take a moment for Liessel--a sad fact, but now that she was here it was by virtue less of her language barrier than of the fact that she was soft-spoken, thoughtful, and polite that left her at the edges. She was, in short, not loud enough, not rude enough, not arrogant enough. But there would be time. Felix had told Avery about who she'd seen. There would be time, just as soon as Avery figured out how to keep this night from ending in a death and dissolution of the partnerships that could help Eli Whitmoor. Another client.
Too many clients.
Ethan brought chairs. Avery sat--not on the sofa with Aurelia, but in order to give her the whole of it he positioned his own nearby. Very nearby, so he could get in the way if need be.
Felix went to the window. With Eddie still out there, they needed someone to watch the street.
Returned to the couch with aid, Aurelia pulled the blanket back up to cover her naked skin. She shifted, though there wasn’t as much wincing as there had been earlier that night. She said nothing to Avery but there was a clear look on his face that they would be discussing this later.
There wasn’t a moment to spare. Tomlin Jefferson immediately jumped into his story. Spouting off details quickly like an auctioneer. He threw out more names and places that she could keep track of.
Father Camejo.
Rachelle’s vessels in a place called Arkansas.
Vatican City and Father Guisseppe.
A man named Eli who dreamed.
And Higgins – someone who recently died. That had been given by Jefferson earlier.
“I’m sorry… what?” she blinked with the confusion.
"I will leave it to the Flynns to tell you about Eli, should they choose to," he told her gently. "Seeing as he is a client of theirs, too." He glanced to Avery, looked at Felix when he went to the window. Then back to Avery. "How much did Eli relay to you over the phone?" he asked.
"Let's--" Avery was a Frontiersman, technically, though his contempt for them had come out more than once. Tomlin was a Frontiersman, too, but old school, a member of a version of the order that Avery hadn't fully realized still existed until recently. Even so, he felt a certain tugging... "--First... Can we have it agreed that some of this is personal and potentially sensitive information that shouldn't leave this room?"
He frowned, sighed, and immediately added: "I know that sounds like the least important point at the moment, but if Aurelia's life is in danger, and anything here might be enough to put Miss Wickham--who has no trouble with anyone--at risk, we should have it understood. From the start."
“I agree.”
Because what other choice was there now? At least this way she’d have some answers. However, there was a look to Liessel. Who was not involved in this in anyway. She felt bad for her. Not only because of the language barrier but because she was being dragged into something without knowing exactly what was happening.
If they made it through the next few hours, Aurelia knew her first order of business would to be stabilizing some sort of verbal connection with the woman. The Flynns had done it. Maybe they could do the same for her.
Liessel moved into the room only after everyone else had taken a seat. She listened, looking from Avery toward Tomlin as her name was spoken. This, as many days and nights in London, was going to be one for learning. Who ever these people were that Jefferson was naming, she was finding out little bits at a time, and yet the story remained vague, and quite hidden from her view. "I agree," she told the room, but then added, "However, if my presence is troublesome, I can leave this all be." What Aurelia and Tomlin would here was a mash of rolling syllables and vowels broken by words like if, my, I and can leave, and even those were formed as if she were not truly comfortable speaking them. She knew them, but they were not her native tongue.
Tom nodded to the girl-- woman. Isabell. "I leave that up to you," he told her gently. He glanced at everyone else around the room. "So. Eli takes Gerold to his childhood home... I wasn't there, but there seemed to be a fog over the place that took them about a day to cleanse... They managed to trap and kill Higgins. Father Camejo was in no small way responsible for that... Dreaming, Father Camejo encountered a creature of holy origin. He offered his blood to Seth as a gift, to be delivered by Father Camejo... I wasn't there for any of this, mind, but I've been told that's how it went down... Seth disappeared for nearly two days. When he returned, he had the Arbiter with him. Who then proposed we use the blood to bind Ethan's demon."
Felix looked back from the window at Tomlin, head cocked.
Avery asked, "So why wasn't it tried right then? Why send Ethan here? And what bearing has this on what happened at Carlington--and on what needs to be done to safeguard Miss Dumitru?" Now that Aurelia had introduced herself, there was no further point in dancing around her name.
Aurelia blinked at Isabell. Her head canted to the left just a little while her brain tried to decipher the broken words through the heavy accent. Her eyes then flickered to Tomlin Jefferson who appeared to have understood her perfectly. Did he? She didn’t know. There wasn’t anything Aurelia could think to say that Liessel could understand. So the beautiful woman gave her an apologetic smile before putting her attention on the group at large.
“A creature of holy origin?” She asked Jefferson. “Do you speak of angels?”
She found a place to seat herself drawing the blanket around herself and pulling her legs up so her feet were resting on the seat of the chair with just her toes exposed, returning the kind smile Aurelia passed her way as she lowered herself down. Avery had said this might bring some danger to her, so maybe it wasn't a good idea ---. She was on the verge of going, on the cusp of leaving this group to their discussion but there was one quick thing.... Aurelia said a word that Liessel knew too well. She's spent many a day talking to a certain "man-of-the-cloth", well more listening than speaking really. And there was now a bit of personal interest to hear more.
He glanced back to Aurelia and nodded slightly. "One, in particular... I did not meet him... But Father Camejo met him. He met him in a dream. The angel healed the damage Higgins had done to the ground that caused all of the negative fog that the group of them ended p having to cleanse... When Father Camejo woke the from dream, he had the jar of blood in his arms. He gave it to Seth later. Seth accepted the gift, then disappeared for two days."
He paused, then looked to Liessel. "Are you following this alright?" he asked her. "Do I need to speak in here to you?" he asked, thumping his temple.
Belatedly, Avery Flynn met Liessel's eyes--triggered by Aurelia's look--and realized how completely she'd been neglected. "I can translate for the lady--" he started to offer, but Tomlin's offer was even better. Having been part of that kind of talk more than once, he explained to Liessel: "Mister Jefferson has an ability to carry on conversations with others that bypass language. It's safe."
One question answered. Another million to go.
Aurelia waited for Liessel to give a reply. It would be best if they took this one issue at a time. First, allow Liessel the opportunity to choose how she’d like to understand the conversation. Everything else could wait to follow.
As Tomlin plugged onward with his explanation, Liessel took in what she could of it, missing a portion of his first question, but finding understanding in his next. She went from looking at Tomlin curiously to looking at Avery as he explained. It was safe. That was the assurance needed, and after it came a moment of hesitation because she had to wonder about it, this new experience. How close was it to something she'd seen where she had come from. It was safe. She nodded, and from her non-native tongue came the forced word of "Alright." With that went a little fidget, Liessel drawing her legs back a bit and hiding her toes within the warm cocoon she's created around her body.
Avery nodded to her. He hadn't had much of a chance at all to do more than greet her--and then he'd let events carry him away from what he should have been doing all along. Would have been doing, reflexively, instinctively, and with pleasure, at any other time. Bringing her into the group, helping to make her comfortable and making certain she was a part of things, now that she was among them. It was strange to think that Felix had been the one who'd communicated more.
"So... 'angel blood.' That you trust. For the sake of not collapsing another bridge, we'll say it's real. There's only enough for Ethan, in your belief... or you'd offer some to Miss Dumitru? Is that it?"
Avery could sense that Tomlin was, in fact, desperate to catch him up on events, and he hadn't even touched on his perspective of what had occurred at Carlington, and what it meant that the head of Frontiersmen operations in Britain was a traitor. It was clear: Tomlin's certainty about his place in the order of the world was shaken. Yet for Avery, the matter of Aurelia could not be allowed to be obscured behind a curtain of drama. Not until she was as safe as he could make her right then.
"For the sake of not collapsing another bridge…”
That stopped her next comment. Friendly. Working together. Right. There, Aurelia gave a sharp look to Avery about the matter of the angel’s blood. While Tomlin Jefferson seemed so easy to believe that it was exactly what it was… she did not. Such a thing was too rare to come by. Throughout her long, long life… she’d only heard of one case of angel’s blood.
“Where did Seth go when he took the blood?” She asked.
For Liessel, it was strange, but maybe comforting-- it was like a bridge... The bridge was open to foot traffic and cars alike, but right now, it was just the two of them, pacing back and forth... She'd find the words she didn't know in the English language would come to her in the languages she did know. On a conscious level, she'd know that wasn't quite what was happening, but the understanding behind it and translating it was, in fact, whole.
"I don't know, I wasn't there for that... To quote Father Camejo, though Seth isn't supposed to have possessions, 'Its not my place to stand between a higher power trying to give something else a gift.'. According to Gerold and Eli, Seth took the blood and left. When he returned two days later, it was back to the rest of us at the inn where we all were... And when he came, he brought the Arbiter with him."
It was, indeed, something new! The feeling of it was the physical sensation of being connected to someone else in a way that had previously been invisible, and something taken for granted. But with it came a full understanding of everything Tomlin was saying, and Aurelia. Even so, there were still some things she couldn't grasp. Quietly she shifted where she sat, squirming to lean against the arm of the chair just slightly, "I am sorry," she said as she interrupted, "But...Arbiter?"
She turned away from Tomlin who she'd been looking at as he spoke to look toward Aurelia and then Avery and Ethan. Felix was unseen from where she was sitting
"Felix and I had never heard of 'the Arbiter' until you gentlemen mentioned him," Avery said, nodding to Liessel, supporting her question.
"Her," Felix reminded him.
"Mentioned her," Avery amended. "And we were Frontiersmen. Vaguely speaking."
"Who is she?" Aurelia asked
"She," he said softly. "Is that which all Frontiersmen serve... Though-- a lot of what our original purpose has gotten lost along the way... The Arbiter is not a person so much as a title and a mantle of power. It moves, without rhyme or reason. The current Arbiter is a she... The Frontiersmen are sworn to serve the Arbiter. The Arbiter is given the power from God, and our purpose is to follow the Arbiter's lead, reasoning, and direction... Not all Frontiersmen know the Arbiter even exist. In fact, most don't. But those with power, those in the know, know about her... I've met her because I'm Seth's handler. With every new handler, with every new Arbiter, Seth must return to his ultimate master to reaffirm his vows to serve." He glanced at Ethan. "Would you like to recite the Strictures? Do you remember?"
Oh, there was a lot there, and it started with Avery mentioning the Frontiersmen. "I think I need you to slow down a little," she told Tomlin, once again turning to look at everyone else in the room. She didn't know, that was more than abundantly apparent, "What is a Frontiersman? " start there because that was where her questions started.
"Not what we thought they were," Felix said from the window, gazing out into the still drenched night via the edge of the curtain. On a clear night, peering eastward, by this hour there might have been a hint of lightening over the tops of the buildings across the way. Not so now. If not for the clock over the hearth mantel, there would have been no telling any hour from midnight.
"We thought they were dabblers," Avery explained to Liessel, spreading his hands slightly. "Just a club. A club for magicians, practitioners of the arcane. We didn't know there was any sort of religion behind it--save, you know, for those ritual trappings that even fraternities use to feel esoteric."
Tom smiled slightly. "No. We have archives and field reports of everything we can think of going back generations... But its dying out. I was among the last to be inducted... Now, it is mostly just a club... But we've always been dabblers, soldiers, fighting a war against the encroaching darkness."
"So, they are Zealots?" That was a careful question. She was attempting to find a familiar thing to base her understanding off of. That was the closest thing she could come up with. "What darkness are they fighting against?"
Avery looked to see how Tomlin would answer that, first.
Tom glanced at Liessel and smiled slightly. "We're not zealots," he told her. "Most of the Frontiersmen don't even know we're religious." He glanced to Avery. "If you are ever in her presence, yiu'll understand." He glanced at Ethan. "Will you recite the Strictures for me?" he asked. To that, Ethan nodded. He waited for everyone to fall silent so he could do so.
That denied, Liessel tucked her chin down against her knees, the bottom half of her face just barely visible above the blanket as it crossed, one edge over the other, to enclose her form. If that wasn't it, she would need to continue to listen. Maybe that would give her something to further help her find a grasp on just what the purpose of the Frontiersmen was.
That was another thing. Yet another thing. Avery looked at Ethan in concern that, at this moment, he bit back behind sealed lips and as neutral an expression as he could manage.
Aurelia was quiet. Listening intently and waiting to see what things the Frontiersmen hunted in the dark
"First Stricture: To Fear God.
Second Stricture: To obey and serve thy liege, The Arbiter, in valour and faith, and to flee treason.
Third Stricture: To protect those placed in authority above thee.
Fourth Stricture: To never undertake wrongful or personal battles for worldly gain.
Fifth Stricture: To by no means be cruel, but give mercy unto him who asks for mercy.
Sixth Stricture: To guard the honor of fellow avowed servants.
Seventh Stricture: To bring to safety the weak and defenseless.
Eighth Stricture: To never do murder."
When Ethan had finished, Tomlin Jefferson nodded. "With these in mind, these are the rules and laws that Seth was bound by... It is our hope to bind Ethan's demon to the same Strictures... These do not mean the same to some as they might to others, but for Seth, it is bound into his very existence... He cannot drink human blood. He can't willingly feed on anything other than animals. Mercy is open for interpretation because in a lot of ways, some people consider mercy to be a quick and painless death... Seth cannot attack humans. Unless they are tainted with the Dark, and attack him first, he cannot lay hands on them. There are, really, only two people in higher authority to Seth. That's me and that's the Arbiter... Technically, the Grand Eye can quell him, technically Sir Richard could, but that treachery has broken that bond of trust and obedience... We don't know how far up the chain of command this treachery goes."
"But I did not attack Seth first." She explained. "He attacked me."
There were so many things about that. So very many, but right then by the time Tomlin had finished, Liessel had lifted her chin and was looking Tomlin's way once more and she was looking quite pale at the mention of it. Quickly, she looked Avery's way because she still could not see Felix, "The Grand Eye?"
Avery had been thinking about that--watching Ethan as he recited like a schoolboy--and Liessel's glance caught his attention. "Of Europe," he assured her; "It's a title--a position. The head of the Frontiersmen in Europe."
"Think about what he saw with you, Miss Aurela," Tom said softly. "He could tell you were Dark-touched. That, in many ways, classifies you as not human.. But you were walking with the boy he'd been charged with keeping track of. He could sense the boy's demon close to the surface. For all he knew, you could've been influencing the boy... He saw a threat and he decided to tackle it."
To that, Ethan looked a little ashamed. "I told him not to hurt you," he said again. Apologetically.
"Seth is nothing if not eccentric in his need to kill," he said to Aurelia. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this... But in that split moment, Ethan was his priority, not you. I'm not trying to be dissmissive to you, but that's how it is and was."
It still didn't make sense. There was something about it that didn't add up. She had not attacked Seth. Not in the least. Her brows furrowed and a frown marred that beautiful face. "What is this 'dark' you keep mentioning? What classifies as 'dark'?"
The color returned to her with Avery's explanation, giving her room to calm herself with a nod of understanding and a softly spoken, "Oh." That was good. -Very- good. At least she hoped it was. It gave her enough room to focus in on something else that had been said, "What does 'Dark-touched' mean? Why would Aurelia be considered...'not human', and why would that warrant an attack on her?" She took a small breath, something almost the echo of a hiccup before tacking on, "I'm sorry, there is so much about this I don't understand." That some of that was shared in what Aurelia said was something of a comfort. She was not the only one confused, and that helped her feel better about not knowing.
Felix had an odd look on his face at the window, but was only listening right then, eyes still focused outside.
Avery, on the other hand, looked angry again, and miserable. He could sense a wall erected against reason before him, and he didn't know if he could breach it. He said: "So he's in the wrong. What are you going to do about it?"
He looked over at Aurelia. Dangerous territory, that. Very dangerous.
"'Dark' can be a plethora of things... It can be creatures like Seth himself. Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, Poltergeists. Things that are evil and not human... 'Dark-touched' are persons who have inherited, who use, or have dark-related gifts... Ghouls, witches, the possessed by either demon or spirits... Those who dabble in the dark arts. witchcraft, necromancy, summoning." He frowned at Aurelia. "Seth's job is to protect humans from things that are Dark... Sometimes that applies to humans who are Dark. Can you tell me you've never hurt someone with whatever it is that taints you?" he asked her. "He takes those threats out without hesitation or second thought."
"Is it possible that the corruption that has spread throughout the Frontiersmen has spread to Seth, himself?" She asked. Aurelia felt Avery's eyes on her like a weight. Just knowing made her look from Jefferson to the Flynn brother. The gaze was brief. Just a fleeting little thing. And then her attention was back to the elder man.
Avery opened his mouth, but shut it again.
Felix, by this time, was grinning to himself, lost in his own thinking....
Evil and not human was not a good enough qualifier for her to grasp the ideas that Tomlin was putting forth. That 'so much' she didn't understand was becoming a vast ocean of things she was trying to comprehend. Where, and -how- did she begin? Overwhelmed didn't begin to cover it, and so she stayed quiet for the moment, once more resting her chin on her knees behind the cover of the blanket.
"No," he said softly. "First of all, he answers directly to the Arbiter and his handler. It is rare and far between we are asked to do anything else than send reports back in... Before he was with me, he was with a man named Francois Tulard." He glanced at Avery. "Did you know him?" he looked back to Aurelia. "Francois was a pompous ass, but Augustine got to him... Augustine is our very common enemy in all things... If Seth was corrupt, he would've killed all of us to get to the Arbiter that he knows he can't touch."
Avery raised his brows a little. He'd eased forward, arms on his knees, and gave up on good posture. "The man was--"
Pompous ass.
Yes. That.
Another fluttering look to Avery. "Has he ever made an error like this before?" She asked.
Avery shifted uncomfortably and looked at her. He understood what she was doing. "I think the more important thing to focus on right now is getting you protected."
"I think it's more important to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else." She replied. "I lived. The next one might not."
Tomlin was calm, relaxed, but here, he arched a brow at her. "You really want to dispute your status of 'Dark' with a vampire, feel free... Dark is attracted to Dark... Dark knows Dark... If you want to insist it was an error, Miss Aurelia, go right ahead. But you won't find me standing in your corner when he takes his first swing, no offense." There was no malice there, just plain honesty.
Dark knows Dark. That was what Tomlin had said. Liessel shut her eyes and listened, tilting her head down to burrow into the warmth that the blanket provided. None of this sounded good. None of it at all. This was not the world to have come to if she wanted to find a safe harbor, but if not here than where else could she go? "Forebearers protect us," Her voice was muffled, hushed by the blanket when she spoke so it might have been missed in the conversation that was going on within the room.
"I think its been clearly established that I will find no refuge in you, Mr. Jefferson." She replied. Her eyes flickered to Liessel who was burrowing deeper and deeper into her blanket. Almost as if the woman believed that if she could just make herself smaller then all of this would go away. "I am not disputing myself but the next person Seth decides is unworthy to live."
Avery licked his lips. "Do I have to repeat myself? Can we see to the lady's protection, please? Now, Mister Jefferson?"
Something curious with the body. In Tomlin's mind, the familiar near-monotone of Seth.
The temperature in a top-floor flat not far away seemed to plummet, and the couple who shared a bed there did as Liessel did, burrowing deeper into blankets and reaching for one another, shaken from sleep.
"Under God, I accept the responsibilities and duties laid unto a lawful servant of His Arbiter On Earth. Only truth shall pass my lips."
He paused and looked towards the ceiling. "He's back, by the way."
Liessel had remained still and quiet, listening and watching to gain a fuller picture of what was going on in the half of things she couldn't understand. Now, Tomlin was motioning her forward. She sent one questioning look toward the twins. She had heard Avery when he agreed that sitting was the thing to do, and watched Aurelia with her broken leg -- but these people all seemed to know each other in one form or another. She was not able to say the same.
Felix started to help Aurelia ease back down--but his help came as a half-measure, as he was reluctant to use both hands. Avery was there, the second half of Flynn & Flynn, to take up the slack. "I'm so sorry about all of this," he said softly to Aurelia as he tried to assist her.
It was hard to take a moment for Liessel--a sad fact, but now that she was here it was by virtue less of her language barrier than of the fact that she was soft-spoken, thoughtful, and polite that left her at the edges. She was, in short, not loud enough, not rude enough, not arrogant enough. But there would be time. Felix had told Avery about who she'd seen. There would be time, just as soon as Avery figured out how to keep this night from ending in a death and dissolution of the partnerships that could help Eli Whitmoor. Another client.
Too many clients.
Ethan brought chairs. Avery sat--not on the sofa with Aurelia, but in order to give her the whole of it he positioned his own nearby. Very nearby, so he could get in the way if need be.
Felix went to the window. With Eddie still out there, they needed someone to watch the street.
Returned to the couch with aid, Aurelia pulled the blanket back up to cover her naked skin. She shifted, though there wasn’t as much wincing as there had been earlier that night. She said nothing to Avery but there was a clear look on his face that they would be discussing this later.
There wasn’t a moment to spare. Tomlin Jefferson immediately jumped into his story. Spouting off details quickly like an auctioneer. He threw out more names and places that she could keep track of.
Father Camejo.
Rachelle’s vessels in a place called Arkansas.
Vatican City and Father Guisseppe.
A man named Eli who dreamed.
And Higgins – someone who recently died. That had been given by Jefferson earlier.
“I’m sorry… what?” she blinked with the confusion.
"I will leave it to the Flynns to tell you about Eli, should they choose to," he told her gently. "Seeing as he is a client of theirs, too." He glanced to Avery, looked at Felix when he went to the window. Then back to Avery. "How much did Eli relay to you over the phone?" he asked.
"Let's--" Avery was a Frontiersman, technically, though his contempt for them had come out more than once. Tomlin was a Frontiersman, too, but old school, a member of a version of the order that Avery hadn't fully realized still existed until recently. Even so, he felt a certain tugging... "--First... Can we have it agreed that some of this is personal and potentially sensitive information that shouldn't leave this room?"
He frowned, sighed, and immediately added: "I know that sounds like the least important point at the moment, but if Aurelia's life is in danger, and anything here might be enough to put Miss Wickham--who has no trouble with anyone--at risk, we should have it understood. From the start."
“I agree.”
Because what other choice was there now? At least this way she’d have some answers. However, there was a look to Liessel. Who was not involved in this in anyway. She felt bad for her. Not only because of the language barrier but because she was being dragged into something without knowing exactly what was happening.
If they made it through the next few hours, Aurelia knew her first order of business would to be stabilizing some sort of verbal connection with the woman. The Flynns had done it. Maybe they could do the same for her.
Liessel moved into the room only after everyone else had taken a seat. She listened, looking from Avery toward Tomlin as her name was spoken. This, as many days and nights in London, was going to be one for learning. Who ever these people were that Jefferson was naming, she was finding out little bits at a time, and yet the story remained vague, and quite hidden from her view. "I agree," she told the room, but then added, "However, if my presence is troublesome, I can leave this all be." What Aurelia and Tomlin would here was a mash of rolling syllables and vowels broken by words like if, my, I and can leave, and even those were formed as if she were not truly comfortable speaking them. She knew them, but they were not her native tongue.
Tom nodded to the girl-- woman. Isabell. "I leave that up to you," he told her gently. He glanced at everyone else around the room. "So. Eli takes Gerold to his childhood home... I wasn't there, but there seemed to be a fog over the place that took them about a day to cleanse... They managed to trap and kill Higgins. Father Camejo was in no small way responsible for that... Dreaming, Father Camejo encountered a creature of holy origin. He offered his blood to Seth as a gift, to be delivered by Father Camejo... I wasn't there for any of this, mind, but I've been told that's how it went down... Seth disappeared for nearly two days. When he returned, he had the Arbiter with him. Who then proposed we use the blood to bind Ethan's demon."
Felix looked back from the window at Tomlin, head cocked.
Avery asked, "So why wasn't it tried right then? Why send Ethan here? And what bearing has this on what happened at Carlington--and on what needs to be done to safeguard Miss Dumitru?" Now that Aurelia had introduced herself, there was no further point in dancing around her name.
Aurelia blinked at Isabell. Her head canted to the left just a little while her brain tried to decipher the broken words through the heavy accent. Her eyes then flickered to Tomlin Jefferson who appeared to have understood her perfectly. Did he? She didn’t know. There wasn’t anything Aurelia could think to say that Liessel could understand. So the beautiful woman gave her an apologetic smile before putting her attention on the group at large.
“A creature of holy origin?” She asked Jefferson. “Do you speak of angels?”
She found a place to seat herself drawing the blanket around herself and pulling her legs up so her feet were resting on the seat of the chair with just her toes exposed, returning the kind smile Aurelia passed her way as she lowered herself down. Avery had said this might bring some danger to her, so maybe it wasn't a good idea ---. She was on the verge of going, on the cusp of leaving this group to their discussion but there was one quick thing.... Aurelia said a word that Liessel knew too well. She's spent many a day talking to a certain "man-of-the-cloth", well more listening than speaking really. And there was now a bit of personal interest to hear more.
He glanced back to Aurelia and nodded slightly. "One, in particular... I did not meet him... But Father Camejo met him. He met him in a dream. The angel healed the damage Higgins had done to the ground that caused all of the negative fog that the group of them ended p having to cleanse... When Father Camejo woke the from dream, he had the jar of blood in his arms. He gave it to Seth later. Seth accepted the gift, then disappeared for two days."
He paused, then looked to Liessel. "Are you following this alright?" he asked her. "Do I need to speak in here to you?" he asked, thumping his temple.
Belatedly, Avery Flynn met Liessel's eyes--triggered by Aurelia's look--and realized how completely she'd been neglected. "I can translate for the lady--" he started to offer, but Tomlin's offer was even better. Having been part of that kind of talk more than once, he explained to Liessel: "Mister Jefferson has an ability to carry on conversations with others that bypass language. It's safe."
One question answered. Another million to go.
Aurelia waited for Liessel to give a reply. It would be best if they took this one issue at a time. First, allow Liessel the opportunity to choose how she’d like to understand the conversation. Everything else could wait to follow.
As Tomlin plugged onward with his explanation, Liessel took in what she could of it, missing a portion of his first question, but finding understanding in his next. She went from looking at Tomlin curiously to looking at Avery as he explained. It was safe. That was the assurance needed, and after it came a moment of hesitation because she had to wonder about it, this new experience. How close was it to something she'd seen where she had come from. It was safe. She nodded, and from her non-native tongue came the forced word of "Alright." With that went a little fidget, Liessel drawing her legs back a bit and hiding her toes within the warm cocoon she's created around her body.
Avery nodded to her. He hadn't had much of a chance at all to do more than greet her--and then he'd let events carry him away from what he should have been doing all along. Would have been doing, reflexively, instinctively, and with pleasure, at any other time. Bringing her into the group, helping to make her comfortable and making certain she was a part of things, now that she was among them. It was strange to think that Felix had been the one who'd communicated more.
"So... 'angel blood.' That you trust. For the sake of not collapsing another bridge, we'll say it's real. There's only enough for Ethan, in your belief... or you'd offer some to Miss Dumitru? Is that it?"
Avery could sense that Tomlin was, in fact, desperate to catch him up on events, and he hadn't even touched on his perspective of what had occurred at Carlington, and what it meant that the head of Frontiersmen operations in Britain was a traitor. It was clear: Tomlin's certainty about his place in the order of the world was shaken. Yet for Avery, the matter of Aurelia could not be allowed to be obscured behind a curtain of drama. Not until she was as safe as he could make her right then.
"For the sake of not collapsing another bridge…”
That stopped her next comment. Friendly. Working together. Right. There, Aurelia gave a sharp look to Avery about the matter of the angel’s blood. While Tomlin Jefferson seemed so easy to believe that it was exactly what it was… she did not. Such a thing was too rare to come by. Throughout her long, long life… she’d only heard of one case of angel’s blood.
“Where did Seth go when he took the blood?” She asked.
For Liessel, it was strange, but maybe comforting-- it was like a bridge... The bridge was open to foot traffic and cars alike, but right now, it was just the two of them, pacing back and forth... She'd find the words she didn't know in the English language would come to her in the languages she did know. On a conscious level, she'd know that wasn't quite what was happening, but the understanding behind it and translating it was, in fact, whole.
"I don't know, I wasn't there for that... To quote Father Camejo, though Seth isn't supposed to have possessions, 'Its not my place to stand between a higher power trying to give something else a gift.'. According to Gerold and Eli, Seth took the blood and left. When he returned two days later, it was back to the rest of us at the inn where we all were... And when he came, he brought the Arbiter with him."
It was, indeed, something new! The feeling of it was the physical sensation of being connected to someone else in a way that had previously been invisible, and something taken for granted. But with it came a full understanding of everything Tomlin was saying, and Aurelia. Even so, there were still some things she couldn't grasp. Quietly she shifted where she sat, squirming to lean against the arm of the chair just slightly, "I am sorry," she said as she interrupted, "But...Arbiter?"
She turned away from Tomlin who she'd been looking at as he spoke to look toward Aurelia and then Avery and Ethan. Felix was unseen from where she was sitting
"Felix and I had never heard of 'the Arbiter' until you gentlemen mentioned him," Avery said, nodding to Liessel, supporting her question.
"Her," Felix reminded him.
"Mentioned her," Avery amended. "And we were Frontiersmen. Vaguely speaking."
"Who is she?" Aurelia asked
"She," he said softly. "Is that which all Frontiersmen serve... Though-- a lot of what our original purpose has gotten lost along the way... The Arbiter is not a person so much as a title and a mantle of power. It moves, without rhyme or reason. The current Arbiter is a she... The Frontiersmen are sworn to serve the Arbiter. The Arbiter is given the power from God, and our purpose is to follow the Arbiter's lead, reasoning, and direction... Not all Frontiersmen know the Arbiter even exist. In fact, most don't. But those with power, those in the know, know about her... I've met her because I'm Seth's handler. With every new handler, with every new Arbiter, Seth must return to his ultimate master to reaffirm his vows to serve." He glanced at Ethan. "Would you like to recite the Strictures? Do you remember?"
Oh, there was a lot there, and it started with Avery mentioning the Frontiersmen. "I think I need you to slow down a little," she told Tomlin, once again turning to look at everyone else in the room. She didn't know, that was more than abundantly apparent, "What is a Frontiersman? " start there because that was where her questions started.
"Not what we thought they were," Felix said from the window, gazing out into the still drenched night via the edge of the curtain. On a clear night, peering eastward, by this hour there might have been a hint of lightening over the tops of the buildings across the way. Not so now. If not for the clock over the hearth mantel, there would have been no telling any hour from midnight.
"We thought they were dabblers," Avery explained to Liessel, spreading his hands slightly. "Just a club. A club for magicians, practitioners of the arcane. We didn't know there was any sort of religion behind it--save, you know, for those ritual trappings that even fraternities use to feel esoteric."
Tom smiled slightly. "No. We have archives and field reports of everything we can think of going back generations... But its dying out. I was among the last to be inducted... Now, it is mostly just a club... But we've always been dabblers, soldiers, fighting a war against the encroaching darkness."
"So, they are Zealots?" That was a careful question. She was attempting to find a familiar thing to base her understanding off of. That was the closest thing she could come up with. "What darkness are they fighting against?"
Avery looked to see how Tomlin would answer that, first.
Tom glanced at Liessel and smiled slightly. "We're not zealots," he told her. "Most of the Frontiersmen don't even know we're religious." He glanced to Avery. "If you are ever in her presence, yiu'll understand." He glanced at Ethan. "Will you recite the Strictures for me?" he asked. To that, Ethan nodded. He waited for everyone to fall silent so he could do so.
That denied, Liessel tucked her chin down against her knees, the bottom half of her face just barely visible above the blanket as it crossed, one edge over the other, to enclose her form. If that wasn't it, she would need to continue to listen. Maybe that would give her something to further help her find a grasp on just what the purpose of the Frontiersmen was.
That was another thing. Yet another thing. Avery looked at Ethan in concern that, at this moment, he bit back behind sealed lips and as neutral an expression as he could manage.
Aurelia was quiet. Listening intently and waiting to see what things the Frontiersmen hunted in the dark
"First Stricture: To Fear God.
Second Stricture: To obey and serve thy liege, The Arbiter, in valour and faith, and to flee treason.
Third Stricture: To protect those placed in authority above thee.
Fourth Stricture: To never undertake wrongful or personal battles for worldly gain.
Fifth Stricture: To by no means be cruel, but give mercy unto him who asks for mercy.
Sixth Stricture: To guard the honor of fellow avowed servants.
Seventh Stricture: To bring to safety the weak and defenseless.
Eighth Stricture: To never do murder."
When Ethan had finished, Tomlin Jefferson nodded. "With these in mind, these are the rules and laws that Seth was bound by... It is our hope to bind Ethan's demon to the same Strictures... These do not mean the same to some as they might to others, but for Seth, it is bound into his very existence... He cannot drink human blood. He can't willingly feed on anything other than animals. Mercy is open for interpretation because in a lot of ways, some people consider mercy to be a quick and painless death... Seth cannot attack humans. Unless they are tainted with the Dark, and attack him first, he cannot lay hands on them. There are, really, only two people in higher authority to Seth. That's me and that's the Arbiter... Technically, the Grand Eye can quell him, technically Sir Richard could, but that treachery has broken that bond of trust and obedience... We don't know how far up the chain of command this treachery goes."
"But I did not attack Seth first." She explained. "He attacked me."
There were so many things about that. So very many, but right then by the time Tomlin had finished, Liessel had lifted her chin and was looking Tomlin's way once more and she was looking quite pale at the mention of it. Quickly, she looked Avery's way because she still could not see Felix, "The Grand Eye?"
Avery had been thinking about that--watching Ethan as he recited like a schoolboy--and Liessel's glance caught his attention. "Of Europe," he assured her; "It's a title--a position. The head of the Frontiersmen in Europe."
"Think about what he saw with you, Miss Aurela," Tom said softly. "He could tell you were Dark-touched. That, in many ways, classifies you as not human.. But you were walking with the boy he'd been charged with keeping track of. He could sense the boy's demon close to the surface. For all he knew, you could've been influencing the boy... He saw a threat and he decided to tackle it."
To that, Ethan looked a little ashamed. "I told him not to hurt you," he said again. Apologetically.
"Seth is nothing if not eccentric in his need to kill," he said to Aurelia. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this... But in that split moment, Ethan was his priority, not you. I'm not trying to be dissmissive to you, but that's how it is and was."
It still didn't make sense. There was something about it that didn't add up. She had not attacked Seth. Not in the least. Her brows furrowed and a frown marred that beautiful face. "What is this 'dark' you keep mentioning? What classifies as 'dark'?"
The color returned to her with Avery's explanation, giving her room to calm herself with a nod of understanding and a softly spoken, "Oh." That was good. -Very- good. At least she hoped it was. It gave her enough room to focus in on something else that had been said, "What does 'Dark-touched' mean? Why would Aurelia be considered...'not human', and why would that warrant an attack on her?" She took a small breath, something almost the echo of a hiccup before tacking on, "I'm sorry, there is so much about this I don't understand." That some of that was shared in what Aurelia said was something of a comfort. She was not the only one confused, and that helped her feel better about not knowing.
Felix had an odd look on his face at the window, but was only listening right then, eyes still focused outside.
Avery, on the other hand, looked angry again, and miserable. He could sense a wall erected against reason before him, and he didn't know if he could breach it. He said: "So he's in the wrong. What are you going to do about it?"
He looked over at Aurelia. Dangerous territory, that. Very dangerous.
"'Dark' can be a plethora of things... It can be creatures like Seth himself. Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, Poltergeists. Things that are evil and not human... 'Dark-touched' are persons who have inherited, who use, or have dark-related gifts... Ghouls, witches, the possessed by either demon or spirits... Those who dabble in the dark arts. witchcraft, necromancy, summoning." He frowned at Aurelia. "Seth's job is to protect humans from things that are Dark... Sometimes that applies to humans who are Dark. Can you tell me you've never hurt someone with whatever it is that taints you?" he asked her. "He takes those threats out without hesitation or second thought."
"Is it possible that the corruption that has spread throughout the Frontiersmen has spread to Seth, himself?" She asked. Aurelia felt Avery's eyes on her like a weight. Just knowing made her look from Jefferson to the Flynn brother. The gaze was brief. Just a fleeting little thing. And then her attention was back to the elder man.
Avery opened his mouth, but shut it again.
Felix, by this time, was grinning to himself, lost in his own thinking....
Evil and not human was not a good enough qualifier for her to grasp the ideas that Tomlin was putting forth. That 'so much' she didn't understand was becoming a vast ocean of things she was trying to comprehend. Where, and -how- did she begin? Overwhelmed didn't begin to cover it, and so she stayed quiet for the moment, once more resting her chin on her knees behind the cover of the blanket.
"No," he said softly. "First of all, he answers directly to the Arbiter and his handler. It is rare and far between we are asked to do anything else than send reports back in... Before he was with me, he was with a man named Francois Tulard." He glanced at Avery. "Did you know him?" he looked back to Aurelia. "Francois was a pompous ass, but Augustine got to him... Augustine is our very common enemy in all things... If Seth was corrupt, he would've killed all of us to get to the Arbiter that he knows he can't touch."
Avery raised his brows a little. He'd eased forward, arms on his knees, and gave up on good posture. "The man was--"
Pompous ass.
Yes. That.
Another fluttering look to Avery. "Has he ever made an error like this before?" She asked.
Avery shifted uncomfortably and looked at her. He understood what she was doing. "I think the more important thing to focus on right now is getting you protected."
"I think it's more important to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else." She replied. "I lived. The next one might not."
Tomlin was calm, relaxed, but here, he arched a brow at her. "You really want to dispute your status of 'Dark' with a vampire, feel free... Dark is attracted to Dark... Dark knows Dark... If you want to insist it was an error, Miss Aurelia, go right ahead. But you won't find me standing in your corner when he takes his first swing, no offense." There was no malice there, just plain honesty.
Dark knows Dark. That was what Tomlin had said. Liessel shut her eyes and listened, tilting her head down to burrow into the warmth that the blanket provided. None of this sounded good. None of it at all. This was not the world to have come to if she wanted to find a safe harbor, but if not here than where else could she go? "Forebearers protect us," Her voice was muffled, hushed by the blanket when she spoke so it might have been missed in the conversation that was going on within the room.
"I think its been clearly established that I will find no refuge in you, Mr. Jefferson." She replied. Her eyes flickered to Liessel who was burrowing deeper and deeper into her blanket. Almost as if the woman believed that if she could just make herself smaller then all of this would go away. "I am not disputing myself but the next person Seth decides is unworthy to live."
Avery licked his lips. "Do I have to repeat myself? Can we see to the lady's protection, please? Now, Mister Jefferson?"
Something curious with the body. In Tomlin's mind, the familiar near-monotone of Seth.
The temperature in a top-floor flat not far away seemed to plummet, and the couple who shared a bed there did as Liessel did, burrowing deeper into blankets and reaching for one another, shaken from sleep.
"Under God, I accept the responsibilities and duties laid unto a lawful servant of His Arbiter On Earth. Only truth shall pass my lips."
He paused and looked towards the ceiling. "He's back, by the way."