She's baaaack...

[abyssalarcana]

Who: Caedra, Law, Sanji, Harlan, Kyna - and possibly more eventually, will update if needed.
What: Yusuke's ice has thawed. Caedra is awake. Cue the welcoming parties.
Where: Law's house
When: Today, Dec. 7th, early morning.
Warnings: Possible violence?

There’s a snarl from Law’s main room as Caedra prepares to strike, to teleport and reassess, to kill as her hand with its blade attempts to swing through the air. It happens the moment the ice relinquishes its cold grip on her mind, but her body is slower to fully recover. The sluggishness is a surprise. Had the ice been that strong? That foolish boy who had attacked her didn’t seem like he was capable of that much.

But in typical fashion, she’s tried to act before thinking and now that Caedra looks around, she realizes she’s no longer at the shoreline, and that idiot human is nowhere to be seen. Instead, she’s in a familiar space – the main room of Law’s little home. The scrapes she had suffered in battle seem no longer present, and as she has already been forced to stop and think, she narrows her eyes and tries to work out what happened. Had the teleport succeeded after all? Had she ended up here somehow in her attempt to get away and plan a better counterattack? That doesn’t make much sense, she wouldn’t have come this far, but teleportation isn’t perfect and she had been in the midst of combat and unable to focus perfectly on the movement.

There’s something else, though, that tells her that likely isn’t the answer either. Her thoughts aren’t completely seamless, from moment to moment. There had been a dream of a woman in despair, of Sanji and his friends coming to rescue her. How strange – seeing the dreams of others here is nothing new to her, but the placement seems odd, inserted between moments of freezing and thawing.

Caedra takes the faint chill in the air as leftover from her cold prison, and gives an experimental thrust of her rapier into the air. There, good, her reflexes have returned. The ice is gone. It’s time to hunt her attacker down and finish him off.

Too bad she’s about to have some visitors first.

Comments

[closed to Caedra, first]

[hot_mes]

Law is awake even in those dim dark early hours, thanks body clock, but if he hadn't been the ping against his haki would have brought him out of a dead sleep instantly. Her muted life sign just flared in his inner sense, that can mean only one thing.

Law springs out of bed and rushes to make sure he blockades the door before she can leave (forgetting, perhaps, in his half-awake stupor that she can teleport), doubles back to grab his phone, and then there he is, there she is.

"Caedra, wait!" he calls out before she can react.

[abyssalarcana]

"Stay out of this," she snaps, as close to a kind warning as one can ever get from her that if one wrong move is made, she will strike. Not even Law is immune when she's had a fight interrupted and can think about nothing but seeing it through.

So she keeps straight for the door, even with Law standing there blocking her path. Surely, he will move or face the consequences. As the seconds pass since the ice wore off, she's noticing something that does make her hesitate before she tries to physically push him aside herself - that's right, she's low on options. She had used a fair amount of spellcasting in the fight up until this point and while she's not fully drained of energy, teleporting to escape, or fireballing Law and his stupid fucking hat is going to mean one less tool to use against her actual attacker. Instead she stops before him, teeth bared and sword drawn, giving him two whole additional seconds to fuck off without risking injury.

[hot_mes]

In those two seconds, Law's mind works quickly, though his hand at his side is also poised to bring up a Room in an instant should he need it. Hopefully, he won't.

"Hang on," he implores urgently, "I need to check you over to be sure you haven't been adversely affected by the amount of time you spent frozen."

Hopefully, by being matter-of-fact about a fact she hasn't realized will slow her down long enough.

[abyssalarcana]

Fuck him and his good sense.

"I'm fine," she insists immediately, and then seems to do a double-take. Her eyebrows raise, then her expression turns sour with confusion.

"Wait. What did you- how long was I frozen?"

[hot_mes]

Yes, good, exactly what he hoped. Whew.

He dares to take a step closer, edging to the side of the poised blade.

"Almost two months," he answers, keeping his eyes locked on her. "It's December, by usual calendars. I can explain as much as I know, but first let me examine you to be sure."

[abyssalarcana]

The word December still means nothing to her. She barely pays attention to the dates here, after all, and never bothered to learn the names of the calendar units used by this world. Still, two months? Months here are close to the months at home. Quite a long time.

An unreasonably long time, in fact, for someone to have gotten away with as much as he did. She doesn't lower her sword, but neither does she raise it any higher, simply using it to keep him back while she processes this. An awful lot can happen in over a month's time, especially here.

"Where is he?" she asks insistently rather than agreeing to Law's request. "Where's the asshole who did this? Do you know who he was? Is he still in the city?"

[hot_mes]

Probably a good time for the Room, though for now Law clearly only uses it to Scsn, since he's familiar enough with her physiology by now that it's all he needs for a quick assessment.

For a moment he considers how to answer. He does know. He hasn't mentioned that to most. How much does he owe Caedra after all this time, and would it make things worse? "I know who it was," he admits after a long, silent Scan. "You left him in terrible shape, I had to clean it up. I'm going to guess that he knows better than I or you or anyone else how long his spell lasts and is probably in hiding as of right now."

[abyssalarcana]

It's to her credit that she doesn't lash out at him or even flinch when he brings up that shimmering, pale bubble around them. She thinks about it for a second in case he's intending to lie, to dismantle her or any of the other things he can do that she's seen, but instead she takes a breath and stays still so he can verify that yes, she's fine. Magical freezing on a magical creature must be quite unlike the damage that ice crystals do within the cells of a mortal body.

"Tell me," she growls. "I won't tell anyone you told me. I can find him myself, this will just be much faster. Much more precise."

Because if she has to scry, if she has to search on foot for him herself, there will absolutely be additional victims. She's not in the mood to be careful.

[hot_mes]

True, actual ice would have probably left more damage. She seems fine, so much like when they first met and he needed to carefully maintain her trust in him, Law drops the Room. Crossing his fingers that it won't come back and bite him in the ass. He's not aware that if he denies her it's going to make things worse, all he knows is he needs to stall. Delay.

"And if I do, you'll go and kill him." He's not dumb. "I don't have any loyalty to him but I do have an interest in not allowing the entire city to rise up against you."

If they formed a mob and came after her, this time they could kill her and this time it would stick. She's useful to him, so Law is adamant that he not put her in a position to die right now.

[abyssalarcana]

"I'm going to kill him anyway," she states matter-of-factly. "I don't have any idea why he decided to lash out when I've never seen him before, but I also don't care why he did it. I know his face. He won't last long."

Though scrying will mean using the last of her reserves for anything other than the simplest of spells, and a few others that likely won't be useful in this situation. She'll be forced to sit and wait, knowing that her assailant was strong enough to hold his own against her sword and that she'll need the extra firepower when she takes him on. But unless Law has been paying far closer attention to how she wields magic than most humans ever do, he likely doesn't understand she has such a limitation and that suits her just fine.

closed to caedra and kyna

[ghostlocked]

[Law messages Harlan and Harlan messages Kyna and before long, Harlan and Kyna are knocking on Law's door. They've talked as much strategy as they can—Harlan will attempt to talk Caedra out of going after her attacker and raising hell in the now-fragile city, and Kyna will wait quietly off to the side while she quietly waits to step in if things go south and they have to fight her. Diplomacy has never been Kyna's strong suit. That's Harlan's area of expertise.

That said, it's difficult to tell what he's about to get himself into. He's only met Caedra twice: once before he knew how dangerous she was, and once when he was high off his ass and in no position to be assessing her as a potential threat. And her thawing out couldn't have worse timing. The gods aren't around to clean up any messes they might make. It also means the gods can't revive anyone Caedra might kill now that some idiot has poked the bear, so, no pressure or anything.

He takes a seat in the living room once they're inside, aiming to make this conversation as casual as possible. If Caedra gets the impression Harlan and Kyna are here to leash her, they're not going to get anywhere.]

Hey. I'm sorry some jackass froze you. Can we talk?

[abyssalarcana]

[Caedra's tolerance for bullshit is at an astronomical low right now. She's antsy, she wants blood, wants to finish the fight that wasn't lost but simply put on hold. The only thing keeping her from doing that right now, it seems, is that she trusts Law enough to be willing to consider his request for her to stay put. Truthfully, she also wants to recharge her magical reserves before going after that idiot who dared try to attack her, but announcing that she's burned through a set of her options and needs to rest up isn't a habit of hers.

Still, she doesn't pace. She doesn't look like some wild, bloodthirsty creature, not right now. She's seated, hands in her lap, and could almost be mistaken for someone far more polite and proper if those pitch-black eyes weren't studying Harlan as if he were some particularly interesting insect that she might enjoy pulling the legs off of, one jointed segment at a time.]

Get on with it. I'm not feeling patient right now.

[ghostlocked]

[He nods. Fair enough.]

You're angry, right? I'm betting you want revenge, and maybe some destruction for chaos' sake on the side. The city can't handle that right now. Has Law filled you in? The gods are gone, and we're on this shit planet with no food and hardly any resources.

[That might be playing right into Caedra's hand, he knows. Maybe she'll revel in the thought of the parents leaving the kids home alone. She can get away with anything right now. Lying to her would only make things worse, though. She should know the situation given that it affects her, too.]

But I know asking you to play nice for the sake of the greater good is pointless. You don't get anything out of that deal, so I want to compromise. If you go after the person that attacked you, we're just gonna get stuck in a revenge loop. More people will come after you. I'd like to avoid that for everyone's sake, yours included.

[abyssalarcana]

That's never stopped me before, you know.

[Revenge loops here are certainly annoying, but killing without the gods present to revive anyone? Perfect. How wonderful, to leave their organs strewn across the ground where they'll rot and fester - or, perhaps these days, freeze solid and lie dormant across the frigid ground, a stark reminder of how these mortals fall before her like wheat to the scythe. Some of them are stronger than she likes to give them credit for, but they still only have one life. The Abyss surges through her veins and will continue to raise her over and over again here since the Door prevents it from taking her home as it ought to do.

It serves her purposes well enough for now that it doesn't.]

It's sweet of you to pretend you're concerned for me, however. For someone I barely know, who has proven himself an utter worthless piece of flesh, to care for me? How touching. Why are you protecting them? It isn't as if they give you anything you need either.

[Poor, poor mortals. It must be so tragic to be reminded that they are, in fact, just that, now that the false immortality that Hope has provided all this time has evaporated into the cold, thin air of this world.]

[ghostlocked]

I'm not pretending. Did you actually do anything to warrant someone trapping you in an ice block for over a month? You killed Margaery and summoned those demons, but that was months ago. If you've done anything more recently, I haven't heard about it, and believe me, I did my homework.

[Granted, his homework hinted that, yeah, Caedra actually had pulled some bullshit since the Margaery incident, but given that no one would pony up actual details, he's not counting it.]

Did Law show you what happened on the network after you were frozen? Some people don't even consider you a person. They want to find a way to kill you permanently, or ask the gods to jail you, or some other bullshit that involves locking you up without a second thought. I don't think that's fair.

[It's true, everything he's saying. He can't believe he's over here siding with a demon, but, well. He's not going to side with ignorant mob mentality, either. At least Caedra is capable of independent thought.

But, still. She doesn't have any reason to believe him.]

Do you know Detect Thoughts? Some other mindreading spell? Try me if you don't believe me.

[abyssalarcana]

[She could easily word a Suggestion to get him to speak the truth but it would be a waste. It would force her to sit and wait and rest, when for right now she still has the option to incinerate this entire house should she prefer to do that instead. So she frowns, but holds off.]

I do believe you. I know they speak about me like that. They have ever since I arrived, it's nothing new and it doesn't matter if it's "fair" or not. Nobody over the age of five cares about being "fair", it's not like we're all here sharing our toys. But to answer your question, no. I don't know why someone attacked me. I'm sure they all come up with reasons all the time, it's probably not hard.

[After all, she kills people just because she feels like it. Most mortals don't act like that, but if they don't have reasons it doesn't bother her any so long as they end up dead for having made the mistake of coming for her.]

[ghostlocked]

[He'd relieved to hear that Caedra hadn't actually murdered like ten people before the freezing. That would make brokering a deal that much more difficult for him. He's already on uneven moral ground here.

He sighs at her argument against fairness. He doesn't agree, but he gets where she's coming from... In any case, he's not here to debate semantics. She said she was impatient.]

Then let's say you go after the person that attacked you. Even if you leave it there, people are going to come after you again. The revenge loop starts in full force. When the gods come back to find the city at war, there's a good chance they'll throw you into the same prison they threw Delight into. I really don't think you want that.

[abyssalarcana]

[Her mind is never as perfectly quick as her blade and initially she laughs at the reasoning. There had never been a loop like what he's suggesting, despite these people's fears. It comes up on the network, she's seen them talk about it even if she never weighs in, and it's always so funny how worked up they make themselves just thinking about her. The fear is tangible. She loves it.

But this time he might be right, she realizes, if purely because their deaths will be permanent and the fear will be overwhelming. They may actually do what he's predicting and if she doesn't have a way past the Door's restrictions then she will just be a sitting duck when the gods eventually return. Ugh.

Also, it's something that might be fun to try for once - playing along, agreeing to cooperate, lying low until a prime moment. Since she's been here longer than hoped and may be here some time yet, it may be time to try a new tactic.

Just had to get over the giggling first at how stupid the whole thing is. These silly little bugs and their reasoning.]

No, that would be terrible, wouldn't it! Killing each and every one of you just to get locked up for a while. Worse than the ice. So how about a compromise? Bring me the one who froze me and I'll leave the rest alone if they promise to leave me alone. Just the one. I'll spare the rest.

[evocation]

[Kyna has, true to her word, stayed quiet all this time. She's perched on the armrest next to Harlan, trying very hard not to look antsy. It's mostly working, at least until Caedra floats that suggestion. Kyna finally speaks up, albeit carefully.]

Uh... What are you going to do to them? Besides kill them.

[That's just a question. Totally safe, right?]

[ghostlocked]

[Harlan's busy considering Caedra's proposal when Kyna speaks up. His eyes dart to her, but, okay, yeah. It's a fair question.

He can't believe he's actually considering this, though. This is ridiculous. Throwing someone to the wolves isn't a foundation for a peaceful resolution. It's also step one in the revenge loop he's just laid out. Sure, maybe Caedra would keep her word and stop there, but who's to say the rest of the town would call that finished? She's right; someone would find another excuse to come after her eventually.

But... Whoever did this did make the first move. They inserted themselves into this mess, and their fucking stupid attempt at justice is what spurred all this in the first place. Caedra wasn't causing any trouble before they stepped in. If they have to suffer some consequences to ensure everyone else's safety, maybe that's worth it.

He has some questions first, though.]

You don't know who froze you?

A-hunting we will go

[abyssalarcana]

Finding Yusuke was easy enough. She would eventually have succeeded based on his face alone, for the city isn't large and despite her urgency, there's plenty of time. But Law, kind enough to hold up his end of the bargain (no, kind isn't the word, but perhaps useful) had given her the name of his former patient. She looked through the phone list and confirmed his existence, scrolled through the network seeking any of those recorded messages he may have left to others, and eventually she found enough to satisfy the requirements to scry on the boy with a high degree of success.

Still, in tracking him down, she has begun to realize something - he's on the move. She's fast, and quiet, and knows the near future, six seconds at a time, but still he's able to outrun her and hide. He knows he's being hunted. She recognizes the actions of a creature that knows it's prey. Someone must have tipped him off.

Well, no matter. She had wanted to make this quick so as not to let him have a chance to retaliate. Had hoped to sneak up on him and just completely obliterate him and his surroundings in a fireball he couldn't possibly run from in time. But if she has to stalk like some sort of panther after deer, then so be it. She can do that too. All that matters, in the end, is staining the icy tundra ground a lively shade of red and she has all the time in the world.

[wantsnudes]

She knows, you better run. That was the rude awakening Yusuke got to the fact Caedra had returned, and that, unsurprisingly, he had been sold out, once again, by someone who had helped him. Betrayal at this stage seems like less of a shock to him and more of a fact of life. In response, he and Akira had constructed a plan he could only describe as a gamble with risks to rival the one they made in their own world, and now, it was time to put that plan into action.

He's armed with nothing but his blade, as before, an ordinary ring he'd grabbed to wear from a chain at his neck as a decoy, and, if the illusion didn't fool her, Akira had crafted him a Vanish Ball for any attempts at a getaway.

For now, he doesn't listen to the text's warnings; he doesn't run. He picks a spot out on the tundra: open, spacious, enough that he can see Caedra coming clearly from any angle before she has chance to ambush. Yet the town is still close enough that he can turn tail and run to the comparative shelter of the city if this game of cat and mouse (fox and hound?) goes south.

It's a bright day, and visibilty is good. In any other situation, he'd be readily admiring the desolate scenery with a brush and canvas. Now, clad in his thief outfit and mask, sheathed katana in hand, all he needs to do is wait. She'll come.

[abyssalarcana]

That she will, and although she would have preferred to wait until night just to have a little more of an advantage for herself, she also feels as though she has waited far too long already. He's just some kid, after all. Ice magic? No problem. It had taken him a few attempts and a good long battle before he'd succeeded last time, from what she could tell. She'll have the upper hand this time.

The snow makes invisibility pointless; he'd simply track her footsteps across the ground. And when she sees him out there in the open, in that little preview in her mind's eye before she truly steps from around the corner, she pauses instead. So. He's waiting for her. He's been told. Why else would he stand so boldly in such a place? There aren't many who would have had the opportunity, either - but she can worry about that later.

For now? She spends a moment to cast, ringing herself in pale white flames. They'll protect from cold to some degree - and they will certainly keep him from physically contacting her. They certainly look intimidating, as well, and a plan begins to formulate. Perhaps she'll approach as if to talk, for out in the open like that, he'll have an easier time dodging her spells. Then, she can hypnotize him in place to keep him from moving before she slices him open from throat to groin. That sounds like fun.

With confidence, then, she paces slowly toward him, sword in hand and white fire worn like a cloak. "Yusuke," she says, as her lips split in a cruel smirk. "It was quite a lot of effort to learn your name, you know. Aren't you cold?"

[wantsnudes]

Yusuke is quiet as he watches her approach. He still doesn't know the full extent of her powers, nor whether those white flames will sabotage his plan even before he can attempt it. Still, he keeps himself calm, poised, his hand steady on the hilt of his blade. For this to work, he can't show even an inch of unease amidst the feigned confidence.

Fortunately he has a good poker face, with or without the added benefit of the kitsune mask.

"Actually, I'm rather in my element. Wouldn't you agree?" Slowly, he reaches up to tap his mask, where his powers are housed. "You've become well-acquainted with that particular element yourself, I did not think you'd forget it was mine so quickly."

[abyssalarcana]

"Just because you can wield magic doesn't make you immune to its elements," she replies. "A wizard doesn't expect anything other than death if he tries to become his own lightning rod."

It will take her a few seconds to cast the hypnosis - and that few seconds could leave her vulnerable without something to distract him with. What, then? A hex, to slow his reactions down? A blanket of darkness and insanity to hide in, to confuse him and make her harder to find? Ah, or perhaps she could simply beat him down to the ground and leave the pain of such an assault ringing in his ears. She had tried that before, though - he had gotten up from the attack. Stronger than he looks. The darkness, then, once she's certain he doesn't have friends here lying in wait. A hard thing to do in the open, but she eyes the footprints in the snow, looking for puffs of breath from anyone who might have similar tricks to ones she's used before.