Family Reunion || Beginning
Feb. 4th, 2018 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe ritual begins - complete with human sacrifices.
Warning: Death of minor NPC.
Topaz stared hard at the headstone in front of her. She hadn't been here since before she had left England for the mansion. Five years. Sorry, Mum, she thought bitterly, her eyes still tracing the letters carved into the stone. She was supposed to be helping Taboo set up, but she couldn't tear herself away from the grave. It had been almost seven years since Alice Ashdown had died. No one ever could have predicted the fallout her death had caused.
"Topaz." It was only one word, but it carried the weight of authority. "You'll see her soon enough. I need you to come here so I can mark you with the protection wards."
A muscle jumped in Topaz's jaw as she turned to look at her father, moving toward him without a fight. She had no intentions of going through with this. But she needed to behave and buy herself enough time for London to alert Amanda to what was about to go down. "You're missing something," she pointed out stiffly. Just because she would never do something like this didn't mean she hadn't thought about it. And perhaps researched it. And all the books said had the same “ingredient” so to speak. "Unless this whole 'we'll be a family' thing is a ruse and you're planning on sacrificing me to bring her back. Which wouldn't surprise me, actually."
"Oh, Topaz, you always were so suspicious. Do you really think I'd bring back your mother by killing you? That's not what I want at all." His tone was scolding as he took her chin between his fingers and began painting her face with a reddish substance that smelt suspiciously like blood. "It will be taken care of shortly."
Topaz resisted the urge to flinch back. Behave, behave. "I'm suspicious of the person who used me as tool, ditched me with a bunch of strangers, then lied to me to try and sell me off to... whoever those blokes were." She hadn't put much thought into what her fate would have been after that little misadventure. "I guess I'm just naturally paranoid."
She was distracted by a faint flicker magic nearby, and her eyes swiveled automatically to see three men appearing - one holding Adam Destine, one holding Albert, and one holding Grace and Jasmine. "What the..."
Come on Amanda, where are you....
"I am going to destroy you, old man. I am going to change your bone marrow into Greek fire and burn out your wasted life into a smoking husk." Adam growled, lowly and dangerously; almost a primal growl.
The plan clicked in Topaz's head, and this time she did jerk away from Taboo. "Forget it," she said, backing away, trying to ignore the feeling of blood on her face - and trying not to wonder where it had come from. "You want to fuck around with them again, that's your life, but you're not dragging me back into it."
"You'll stay. You'll stay if you want your little friends to survive." Taboo's face was stone as he looked at the remaining Destine siblings. "And it's apropos, don't you see? They killed your mother and their deaths will bring her back. Justice, at last."
Jasmine didn't even listen to him or give him the honor of a reaction, but set about connecting herself to the earth. Her siblings might have amulets people could take away, but they could never separate her from her power source. A tingle ran down her back as the familiar feeling clicked in place and she cautiously glanced around.
Grace was oddly calm about the whole situation. She knew Jasmine was working on something, and while Grace felt powerless without her amulet, she wasn't concerned. Anger was slowly building within her, and her eyes were watching for any moment, any give, in which to unleash her fury. It would just be a matter of time.
Unlike his brother, Albert's anger ran as cold as ice, his eyes staring at Taboo, unflinching, unwavering. There was a saying, staring daggers, never had that been so apt as it was now. "Listen to your little girl old man, let us go and maybe...maybe we'll let her go but you're not walking out of here...and you know what, neither is she." A cold smile pulled his lips up as he flicked his gaze over to Topaz, "Sorry sweetheart, but the sins of the father, I promise you won't suffer...too much."
Topaz's lip curled in disgust as she looked between the Destines and her father. Not that she suddenly developed any sympathy for them, but this was out of control. They were in London, though. They were in London, and Amanda would feel the moment Taboo started the spell. There was no point in delaying. "Fine," she nearly spat. "Let's just do this."
"Stand on this side of the grave," Taboo directed, nudging Topaz towards the spot he indicated on the far side of Alice's resting place. "And take my hand. Focus your energies on me. Yes, that's it." He sounded approving, father-like again. "Now, Peter, bring the first of them here." He pulled a sharp, curved dagger inscribed with sigils, out of his robe. "Make sure the blood covers the grave. That's very important."
Even as he was jostled forward Albert couldn't quite believe this was happening, after everything they'd survived...besides no-one was crazy enough to actually use human sacrifice anymore, nothing else was so guaranteed to turn the magical community against you but...he didn't care. The change in Albert's eyes as he made that realisation was visible, that cold confidence seemingly melted away as his eyes flicked from Topaz to Taboo, terror building in his eyes as he started to struggle, to pull back away from the man, dragging his weight as much as he could. "Wait! No...you're crazy, please I don't...Adam..." The cold metal biting into his flesh cut of the man's voice as his eyes met his brother’s for the last time, pain and horror mixed in his gaze as a rattle escaped his lips. And then the light faded from his eyes, his body slumping down in Peter's grasp as darkness overtook him.
"I am going to make both of you pay for this. I don't care what deal I need to make or what I need to sacrifice, I am going to destroy everything you hold dear. I will rip the heart out of your world and crush it in front of you. And once I'm done killing you as slowly and painfully as I can fucking imagine, I swear that I will bind your souls in fire for a fucking eternity of agony." His voice had gone into a low rasp, speaking not from his throat but some darker well at his core. His stare caught them both; inhuman, any traces of a sane person scoured away. "Whatever side of their grave I need to do this from, I promise you that this is last moment of peace you will ever enjoy."
Topaz's expression was blank, but somehow horrified at the same time. He had done it. He had actually done it. Up until this moment, she, like Albert, hadn't believed Taboo would go through with this. It was mad. How could he? She opened her mouth to say something in response to Adam's threats, to try and separate herself from this - Taboo didn't have anything he cared about, but she did, and she'd be damned before she Adam Destine near anyone important to her - but could she really deny her involvement? She was here, after all. She closed her mouth again, eyes dropping to Albert, dead at the foot of her mother's grave.
This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. How could this happen? Grace's eyes widened, and she heard herself choking on air, trying to make a sound, any sound, to show that she did see her brother be brutally slaughtered in front of her. But there was nothing. She couldn't even make a sound. Goodbye, Albert she thought to herself, tears spilling down her cheeks. Maybe if she cried enough, her tears would join the ever widening puddle of blood at Albert's feet, joining her to her brother one last time.
Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as Jasmine fought to contain her sobs. Her brother may have been an arrogant prick far too often, but he was still her brother... still the one who had played horsey with her when she was little. She could not tear her eyes away from him eyes staring lifelessly at the sky above him, other memories of them growing up whirling to through her mind. 'Farewell brother' she mouthed to him, even though he was beyond hearing.
Taboo was muttering the words of the ritual, waving the knife in patterns over the grave, seemingly oblivious to the reactions of what he'd done. Now he lifted his head, his expression serene. "The next one, if you please, Peter," he said, and the robed man tossed aside Albert's body and moved forward to take hold of Jasmine's upper arms. He dragged her forward, ignoring her struggles, her words, until she was before Taboo. He yanked her head back by the hair, exposing her throat...
Warning: Death of minor NPC.
Topaz stared hard at the headstone in front of her. She hadn't been here since before she had left England for the mansion. Five years. Sorry, Mum, she thought bitterly, her eyes still tracing the letters carved into the stone. She was supposed to be helping Taboo set up, but she couldn't tear herself away from the grave. It had been almost seven years since Alice Ashdown had died. No one ever could have predicted the fallout her death had caused.
"Topaz." It was only one word, but it carried the weight of authority. "You'll see her soon enough. I need you to come here so I can mark you with the protection wards."
A muscle jumped in Topaz's jaw as she turned to look at her father, moving toward him without a fight. She had no intentions of going through with this. But she needed to behave and buy herself enough time for London to alert Amanda to what was about to go down. "You're missing something," she pointed out stiffly. Just because she would never do something like this didn't mean she hadn't thought about it. And perhaps researched it. And all the books said had the same “ingredient” so to speak. "Unless this whole 'we'll be a family' thing is a ruse and you're planning on sacrificing me to bring her back. Which wouldn't surprise me, actually."
"Oh, Topaz, you always were so suspicious. Do you really think I'd bring back your mother by killing you? That's not what I want at all." His tone was scolding as he took her chin between his fingers and began painting her face with a reddish substance that smelt suspiciously like blood. "It will be taken care of shortly."
Topaz resisted the urge to flinch back. Behave, behave. "I'm suspicious of the person who used me as tool, ditched me with a bunch of strangers, then lied to me to try and sell me off to... whoever those blokes were." She hadn't put much thought into what her fate would have been after that little misadventure. "I guess I'm just naturally paranoid."
She was distracted by a faint flicker magic nearby, and her eyes swiveled automatically to see three men appearing - one holding Adam Destine, one holding Albert, and one holding Grace and Jasmine. "What the..."
Come on Amanda, where are you....
"I am going to destroy you, old man. I am going to change your bone marrow into Greek fire and burn out your wasted life into a smoking husk." Adam growled, lowly and dangerously; almost a primal growl.
The plan clicked in Topaz's head, and this time she did jerk away from Taboo. "Forget it," she said, backing away, trying to ignore the feeling of blood on her face - and trying not to wonder where it had come from. "You want to fuck around with them again, that's your life, but you're not dragging me back into it."
"You'll stay. You'll stay if you want your little friends to survive." Taboo's face was stone as he looked at the remaining Destine siblings. "And it's apropos, don't you see? They killed your mother and their deaths will bring her back. Justice, at last."
Jasmine didn't even listen to him or give him the honor of a reaction, but set about connecting herself to the earth. Her siblings might have amulets people could take away, but they could never separate her from her power source. A tingle ran down her back as the familiar feeling clicked in place and she cautiously glanced around.
Grace was oddly calm about the whole situation. She knew Jasmine was working on something, and while Grace felt powerless without her amulet, she wasn't concerned. Anger was slowly building within her, and her eyes were watching for any moment, any give, in which to unleash her fury. It would just be a matter of time.
Unlike his brother, Albert's anger ran as cold as ice, his eyes staring at Taboo, unflinching, unwavering. There was a saying, staring daggers, never had that been so apt as it was now. "Listen to your little girl old man, let us go and maybe...maybe we'll let her go but you're not walking out of here...and you know what, neither is she." A cold smile pulled his lips up as he flicked his gaze over to Topaz, "Sorry sweetheart, but the sins of the father, I promise you won't suffer...too much."
Topaz's lip curled in disgust as she looked between the Destines and her father. Not that she suddenly developed any sympathy for them, but this was out of control. They were in London, though. They were in London, and Amanda would feel the moment Taboo started the spell. There was no point in delaying. "Fine," she nearly spat. "Let's just do this."
"Stand on this side of the grave," Taboo directed, nudging Topaz towards the spot he indicated on the far side of Alice's resting place. "And take my hand. Focus your energies on me. Yes, that's it." He sounded approving, father-like again. "Now, Peter, bring the first of them here." He pulled a sharp, curved dagger inscribed with sigils, out of his robe. "Make sure the blood covers the grave. That's very important."
Even as he was jostled forward Albert couldn't quite believe this was happening, after everything they'd survived...besides no-one was crazy enough to actually use human sacrifice anymore, nothing else was so guaranteed to turn the magical community against you but...he didn't care. The change in Albert's eyes as he made that realisation was visible, that cold confidence seemingly melted away as his eyes flicked from Topaz to Taboo, terror building in his eyes as he started to struggle, to pull back away from the man, dragging his weight as much as he could. "Wait! No...you're crazy, please I don't...Adam..." The cold metal biting into his flesh cut of the man's voice as his eyes met his brother’s for the last time, pain and horror mixed in his gaze as a rattle escaped his lips. And then the light faded from his eyes, his body slumping down in Peter's grasp as darkness overtook him.
"I am going to make both of you pay for this. I don't care what deal I need to make or what I need to sacrifice, I am going to destroy everything you hold dear. I will rip the heart out of your world and crush it in front of you. And once I'm done killing you as slowly and painfully as I can fucking imagine, I swear that I will bind your souls in fire for a fucking eternity of agony." His voice had gone into a low rasp, speaking not from his throat but some darker well at his core. His stare caught them both; inhuman, any traces of a sane person scoured away. "Whatever side of their grave I need to do this from, I promise you that this is last moment of peace you will ever enjoy."
Topaz's expression was blank, but somehow horrified at the same time. He had done it. He had actually done it. Up until this moment, she, like Albert, hadn't believed Taboo would go through with this. It was mad. How could he? She opened her mouth to say something in response to Adam's threats, to try and separate herself from this - Taboo didn't have anything he cared about, but she did, and she'd be damned before she Adam Destine near anyone important to her - but could she really deny her involvement? She was here, after all. She closed her mouth again, eyes dropping to Albert, dead at the foot of her mother's grave.
This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. How could this happen? Grace's eyes widened, and she heard herself choking on air, trying to make a sound, any sound, to show that she did see her brother be brutally slaughtered in front of her. But there was nothing. She couldn't even make a sound. Goodbye, Albert she thought to herself, tears spilling down her cheeks. Maybe if she cried enough, her tears would join the ever widening puddle of blood at Albert's feet, joining her to her brother one last time.
Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as Jasmine fought to contain her sobs. Her brother may have been an arrogant prick far too often, but he was still her brother... still the one who had played horsey with her when she was little. She could not tear her eyes away from him eyes staring lifelessly at the sky above him, other memories of them growing up whirling to through her mind. 'Farewell brother' she mouthed to him, even though he was beyond hearing.
Taboo was muttering the words of the ritual, waving the knife in patterns over the grave, seemingly oblivious to the reactions of what he'd done. Now he lifted his head, his expression serene. "The next one, if you please, Peter," he said, and the robed man tossed aside Albert's body and moved forward to take hold of Jasmine's upper arms. He dragged her forward, ignoring her struggles, her words, until she was before Taboo. He yanked her head back by the hair, exposing her throat...
