xp_logs | New Orleans is Sinking: New Dawn

Remy deals with the Guilds.

The Guild meeting was paticularly contenious. With Belladonna gone, and the exiled Guild members back, each Guild rocked under internal turmoil and issues. None as great as the Assassin's Guild, which reported that dispite issues, some of their members had disappeared alongside Belladonna. Even though he held the chair of the first ever leader of the unified guilds, Remy didn't seem happy. It wasn't until the first half hour that he finally stood.

"Based on what dat I've seen, dere is a very simply solution. Dere is no doubt from de Guilds dat I am proved to be Sebastian, or dat my control of de Assassins and de Thieves is rightuous only de laws. De only doubt is how to fit Belladonna's innovations into de framework of de Guilds. I plan to fix dat now."

Remy paused and gestured at Tante. "Over de years , dere has been every effort to win out, over guild and over de city. Dat's as it should be. But not through de slavery dat everyone claims. As de head of dis council, I make three statements."

"First, de control through council is officially ended. De individual Guilds will make dere own choices for dere Guildmasters, and de council will be an advisory body, and not a controlling one of de decisions made."

"Second, Remy declare dat de Arrangement is returned in force between de Guilds and de Carrib community. Tante Mattie will provide de details in ensure dat it remains in force dis time."

"Finally, as Sebastian D'Armade, Guildmaster of de Thieves and presumptive Guildmaster of de Assassins, Remy officially abducate both roles. In dere interum, I appoint Arlen D'Armade and Daniel Boudreaux to that temporary control until dere Guilds can ratify a leader." Remy looked up at the wide grin of Tante. "Dat is all."

***

"I really don't know what to say, Lebeau. You were brilliant in there. You--" Arlen was cut off as Remy grabbed him by the throat and dragged him across as table. His fingers shifted slightly, finding a more advantagous grip as Remy hissed.

"Got 'bout no patience wit' being jerked around."

"You've.." Arlen gasped, and forced Remy to back off. "You're a symbol, LeBeau. What we needed."

"You knew I'd give up the control."

"Yes. Gambit, no. Never. He'd really make the Guild what Belladonna wanted. By the way, good call. If you had killed her, the Guilds would have turned on you withen the year. Letting her go, to face the Assassins, gained you allies you don't yet recognize. If you killed her, you'd have faced revenge the rest of your life."

"I'm getting impatient."

"Remy, you don't want to be here, the head of a criminal empire. I needed something people could rally to, and you seemed the best. Unfortunately, when I found out who your parents were, they weren't enough to shake Belladonna." Arlen shrugged. "I lied. I'm a thief. Who knew?"

"It's my life."

"It is." Arlen reached into his jacket, and pulled out another envelope. "This is the information about your real parents. You do come from both the Thieves and the Assassins you know. Very Romeo and Juliet, but in this case, about as low on the totem pole as you can imagine. You are part of this, LeBeau."

LeBeau finally released his grip, looking at the envolope like a poison snake before finally stowing it into his jacket. "You had no right."

"No. I had the need. I know you understand that." Arlen waited for Remy to nod before continuing. "The Thieves owe you a debt, and so do the Assassins, although Daniel still hates you. Zoe will take over the Gravious, and Lucian the Marceaux. Ciel will hold her title, which means half the Guilds will be friendly, and the other half not. You have a plan for that?"

"Non. Remy going to find his girlfriend, and make sure she's alright." Remy's hand touched the envolope again, in his pocket. "Dat's de important thing."

"Go. Tante will keep them in order." Arlen laughed. "Go. This time, you're stuck trusting another, Gambit. God help you."

Remy goes to find Ororo, and a shocking bit of information.

Remy had lost an hour with the Guilds, each moment tearing at him as
he suffered through it. The lives his actions were protecting were
more important in the general sense, but in the personal, Remy would
have traded them to make sure Ororo was alright. Sofia's call had been
both dreaded and welcome, finding out that she was at one of the few
clinics that pledged to to stay open. The woman had said it wasn't
serious, but every instinct in LeBeau was against that. After all,
they'd all gone down to likely die, and now only Remy had accomplished
that trick.

Even with their victory, the clinic was still packed, as the
casualties of the night came in. The hougans had been out imposing
order, groups of men put into duty to prevent looting or rioting,
other groups finding the hurt and the dead, and getting them off the
streets to those that could help them. Only the Mardi Gras-like relief
madness of being alive allowed them to be effective, and the loss of
life had been unseemingly slight in the city.

Remy finally located a nurse who pointed him down a hallway. He passed
Sofia, who was waving him at a room, and stepped inside with his heart
in his throat. "'Ro?"

The woman that looked back at him from the makeshift cot was pale, her
normally-striking blue eyes circled with dark smudges. Stilll, she
managed a smile at his appearance, pushing herself up from the supine
position she had been resting in. "Remy. By the goddess, it is good to
see you."

He crossed the floor in two steps, bending down to take her in his
arms. "When dey said all dat wrong wit' you was exhaustion, Remy
thought dey were lying. No way dat someone goes into dat storm and
comes out. 'cept you, chere." There was genuine admiration in
his voice, along with the delirious relief that she was alive.

For a minute all she did was press close to him, equally relieved to
find him seemingly well and all in one piece. She had been drifting in
and out of comprehension until she reached the clinic, and even after
that the news seemed to be something out of a dream. The city saved,
the storm broken, and all of her friends alive. And Remy, safe and
warm in her arms.

"It worked, then?" she murmured finally, refusing to pull away quite
yet. "The plan succeeded?"

"It did. Once de mansion was destroyed, it only took Daniel's presence
to destroy Belladonna's influence. De storm did some damage,
especially outside of New Orleans, but nothing worse den been dealt
wit' before. Dere's going to be relief crews down here for de next
month, I bet, but nothing major was destroyed." He kissed her neck and
lifted her off the bed easily. "Come on. Get you out of dis hospital,
into de air 'gain."

Ororo's arms tightened about his neck and she gave a small shiver;
when she pulled back, her expression was haunted. "Remy, I... there is
something I must tell you."

"What's dat? Something happen?" He tensed, not unsurprisingly, but
contiued to walk with her. The atmosphere in the clinic was very
closed in, and outside would be better no matter what.

"When I held back the storm, it took all of my power to keep it from
reaching the city. I must have expended too much energy. My powers..."
She swallowed; as they stepped outside into the slightly-muggy air
there was no familiar tingle as it touched her skin. "My powers are
gone."

Remy walked over to a bench and put her down on it. He was silent as
he sat down, pausing only to transfer a bulky envelope from his jacket
to the seat. Folding his hands, he looked at her. "Dat's happened
before to people, chere. Moira told me once dat over-exertion
can temporarily--"

"Yes, I know," Ororo interrupted, her tone a bit harsher than she had
intended it to be. "I know," she repeated, more gently this time. "And
perhaps that is all it is. Still, I cannot help but think..." Trailing
off, she shut her eyes temporarily, her awareness of the world around
her limited now to those more mundane senses - sound, smell, touch.
When she opened them again to look back at Remy, her expression was
serene. "If they are gone for good, I am glad I lost them doing
something worthwhile."

Remy took her by the upper arms, looking deep into her eyes. "You
saved dis city, 'ro. Wit'out you going up 'gainst dat storm, we were
dead from de start. No matter what happens, you going to have us from
now on. It's not de powers dat make you extraordinary. You manage dat
one all on you own."

Normally the silver-haired woman didn't cry, though sometimes the
skies did it for her. But the rain had been averted today, and she had
no command to make the clouds open up anymore, so the only water that
touched her cheeks came from her own eyes. "Thank you," she murmured,
reaching up to wipe the tears away with the back of her hand.

Remy once again took her in his arms, holding her close and ignoring
the crackle of the manila envelope crushed between them. "You always
got a place wit' me, chere, for as long as you want it."

"I can think of nowhere else I would rather be, especially now, in
this city. The one you saved." She smiled, turning to place a kiss on
his stubbled jaw. "Who would have ever thought - Remy, the hero of New
Orleans."

"Not me. All of dem." Remy smiled slightly. "Dere's a big party going
on now. Word is getting through dat some people were responsible;
tourists no less. Don't think dat dey used to getting recognized as
heroes dese days." He shrugged. "De people, dey don't know de names,
wouldn't tell anyone official even if dey did. Just people pointing
and saying 'dey saved us' and dragging dem in."

"They deserve it. All of them," Ororo agreed. Though she was still
exhausted from her exertion on the levies, Remy had been right. Being
outdoors did help her feel better, and she found some small
amount of comfort in the fact that she hadn't lost that. "And why are
you not at this party?" she questioned then, trying to inject as much
teasing as she could manage into the query.

"Because you're here." He said simply, before picking up the envelope
to move it. He motioned as if to put it into his pocket, but stopped,
looking at it.

The pause didn't escape Ororo's notice and she glanced down at the
envelope as well, unable to tell anything from its nondescript
exterior. "What do you have there?" she asked with mild curiosity.

"All dat Pere LeBeau stuff? Turns out dat Arlen's been telling
everyone dat Remy LeBeau is actually Sebastian D'Armade, long lost son
of a former murdered Guildmaster. Had a whole ton of evidence to prove
dat Remy ended up on de streets and was simply lost." Remy shook his
head. "'course, it's all bullshit. De only way to get at Belladonna
wit' de other Guilds on board. Guild law is very important to dem.
Otherwise, dey just crooks."

He shook the envelope slightly. "As an apology, he gave me dis. Arlen
did find my parents, but it turned out dey weren't de ones he needed.
So he put dis together and gave it to me. Names, photos, even my birth
certificate, he said. Find out who I really am, what Remy's real name
is."

"Oh, my." There didn't seem much else to say to this revelation, and
Ororo merely placed a hand on Remy's arm, her expression hopeful.
"That is... wonderful, Remy."

Remy didn't say anything, turning the envelope over and over in his
hands as he looked at it. The envelope started to glow purple, and it
exploded in Remy's hands with a sharp pop. Small fragments of charred
paper rained down on the ground below the bench.

At first all she could register was shock; Remy had just destroyed
everything, all the information that would have led him to his true
life and answers to questions that had existed as long as he had. But
then, hearing the happy sound of people walking by, people still alive
because of his decisions, his actions, she began to understand.
Whoever he might've been, he was someone else now.

Someone worth being, well and truly.

Sliding her hand down to clasp his, Ororo leaned in and rested her
head on his shoulder, watching as a slight breeze stirred the bits of
paper on the ground. "I love you, Remy Lebeau."

"I love you too, 'ro. Whoever in dere, it not me now. Never was." He squeezed her hand. "Come on. Let's go meet some of de thousands dat you saved, neh?"

He kissed her, briefly and hard. "Let' go show dem a hero."