[Game 10] Day 5 ... of visit...

[arsgoetia]

The next day, Lucia invites everyone into the main room... "Hey everybody! After all this sitting around and thinking I thought everyone might want to get out and have some fun! Which is to say, laser tag! Let's all go around and harmlessly shoot each other in the dark for a bit, it's a great time also I have never got to do it before because I have no friends."

She says it totally deadpan and jerks a thumb to the door.

"Or if people want to stay home and eat and rest up sure, that's fine. Some of you are looking pretty tired. If you're having trouble sleeping, I totally have drugs that will konk you right out!"

[OOC: I will be putting up a top level comment for everyone to thread running around and shooting each other while glowing bizarrely under a blacklight if they want, and people can also comment to the main post if they want to stay back, talk to NPCs, etc (just let us know if you want anyone in particular). In fact, you can comment in both places if you want and just assume one happened before or after the other!

We will also be having a couple of small plot hook events going up at whatever times through the rest of tonight and tomorrow, but thread in those at your leisure, there is no time demand. Coming late, leaving early, w/e w/e as you see fit, picking up and backthreading and timespace bending all encouraged.]

Comments

[arsgoetia]

"Thanks," Elli says. "It was a lot of fun, honestly. So you are-?"

[headcannon]

Oh, my apologies, how rude-- [bows a little] David Nassau, marquis of Athlum.

[arsgoetia]

"A Marquis?" The flat voice, Luka, sounds interested.

"Um, anyway, it's nice to meet you. I'm the owner of this body and Luka's the guest."

[headcannon]

[nods]

That's rather fascinating. Do you mind if I ask about it?

[arsgoetia]

"I don't mind," Elli says, and fiddles with her hair a bit. "The short story may be too short, but... I'm demon-possessed. Luka's a demon."

[headcannon]

...You get along remarkably well, compared to the general lore on that sort of thing.

[arsgoetia]

They take a seat, patting the seat beside themselves. "Do you want the long version?"

[headcannon]

[sits!]

If you wouldn't mind.

[arsgoetia]

Elli lifts a hand to fiddle with her hair again, until her other hand rises and pushes that hand down.

"I had a twin brother," she says, after a moment. "We moved into a house that -- actually from what I heard when I was shepherding, I think you are familiar with. Bastien Mayfair's old house. My family were new money from Boston and sort of living a dream. Manor in Scotland, how romantic, right? There were secret passages all over the place that my brother and I would explore."

[headcannon]

[nods slowly, listening]

[arsgoetia]

"We found all sorts of crazy things stored in sealed off areas," Elli says. "Among them, a weird old book in german and a sword. They both had a demon in them. The book stayed quiet but my brother got very obsessed with the sword. I loved my brother Luka more than anybody or anything in the world... I loved my family that much. You probably know the story of what happened to Bastien, but my brother ... lost... his soul and killed everyone in our household. I ...tried to stop him from killing our parents, I took a knife to him. But I was too late to save them and he died begging me to let him live." She knots her hands together tightly. "So the demon came out of the book and offered to make me a witch so we could work together to try to bring him back from the dead."

[headcannon]

...I'm sorry. That sounds very difficult.

[arsgoetia]

"I was the most miserable I'd ever been in my life. The demon possessed my brother's corpse and played at being 'Luka', my brother, while we worked to find his soul, which he said was out of reach. But my contract only lasted a year and then he'd have to go... He'd been sealed a long time and wasn't very strong."

[headcannon]

[furrows his brow, this story just gets sadder and sadder]

And how do you look for a soul?

[arsgoetia]

"A lot of magic," Elli says. "Black magic. We were able to locate ways to pin down other souls tied to the house but -- well, it was a different demon who'd claimed my brother, so it was hard. So we ran out of time and I ... did the same thing Bastien Mayfair had done. I called a lot of people to the house to be a blood sacrifice to my demon so I could keep trying to get my brother back." Her chin jerks up a little. "I'm not proud, but that's how it was."

[headcannon]

[...after a moment, just nods]

Grief and loss are very powerful driving factors.

[arsgoetia]

"Yeah," she says, and clears her throat. "...anyway, they ... a lot of the people here, honestly... stopped me and destroyed all of Luka's vessels except one, so I was protecting it with my body and they were going to kill me but he basically took an exorcism bullet to protect me. And... in the end, somewhere in that year I think I gave up that I'd ever get my brother back, but... in that time, I'd had this demon, this person at my side who stayed with me and took care of me? So... I took him inside so nobody could hurt him without hurting me, and gave up on the rest of it. So... they let us live. That's the long version."

[headcannon]

...That... is quite the story.

[arsgoetia]

"I warned you about the long version," Elli says. "Anyway, I hunt demons now. I kind of want to help others not end up like that."