legendaryenchantment

[legendaryenchantment]

Mildly concerned wizard. Was that safe or healthy? He doesn't know. He hadn't studied wing anatomy in some age ago. Cute functionality, however.

[legendaryenchantment]

He grunted rather than spoke. He heard her. Needed a moment to think. Eyes scrunching closed while he tried to connect the correct synapses to the the thinking. Fae weren't helpless creatures as a general rule of thumb.

Still, he didn't like putting anyone in the warpath of Asmodeus. And yet, he was fucking tired. Wanted to cry over how tired he was. The crash on his partway lean into his overpowered nonsense was not being kind to him physically or psychologically.

If he didn't get rest soon, he ran a risk of capitulating.

That was a greater threat than anything else.

So he nodded as he stood up from his table to head for his bed loft. He didn't have the energy to argue or keep bantering the matter. He needed to sleep.

Up he'd go, dress down, and collapse into his bed up there heavily.

“The attention of infernals bothers me not.” Hedgie would slowly shimmer into view, plucking at a small harp as she hovers on her back in the air. She keeps her usual smile, watching him. “I can provide worthy distraction while thoust prepares for thy encounter.”

She rolls in the air, legs lowering until her feet hover just above the ground. “One nights proper rest would prepare thoust well I believe. I can lead thy infernal on merry chase for that long. It shall not be the first chase I had led for ones of his being.”

[legendaryenchantment]

”Thy countenance speaks of wakeful nights.” A familiar fey voice rings. The soft plucking of harp strings fill the air as she gives a soft hum. “Wouldst thou enjoy a lullaby? I can ensure a restful sleep free of…unwelcome guests.”

@terra-phantasia

"His attention would turn." He was tired and it made him short. He only hoped it wasn't taken as offense while his entire assemblage of politely was in disarray. "He's not worth your trouble."

He'd have to face Ash sooner or later. He was just putting off the inevitable. Too human not to require sleep.

[legendaryenchantment]

Are you particularly sensitive to sins? Or emotional magic? Like what about that fucked you up so bad?

"I'm sensitive to magic. And infernals." Amongst other things. Like emotional turmoil in himself. Rubbing hand over his face in a hard scrub to articulate this.

"Lark has learned to use his emotions to control and amplify his magic. When he is being...loud with his emotions, it flings out energy and power. That's not uncommon. Just severely under developed and controlled in Lark now that he's awakened it. Lack of training and experience combined with the potency of being a grown adult full of said emotive magic." He downed the rest of his mug and stared at the empty bottom. Not enough grounds in it to do an aimless reading. "In some ways, I can be a tuning fork."

Because he'd always been emotionally weak and immature.

[legendaryenchantment]

So what was up with all the thunder and lightning? You been holding out on us!

"My element is plasma. Primarily lightning." Explained in a droning way while nursing his coffee. "My heritage manifests through it at times." A mumble half in his coffee mug. "Both are a form of raw power."

[legendaryenchantment]

Mostly, right now, he was exhausted. Grumpy for the sake of staying awake.

[legendaryenchantment]

I need people to know that this creator is very inspirational to me for some of Merl's quirkier behavior.

[legendaryenchantment]

[txt] sorry about everything

[txt] and thanks

Merlin had just gotten done burying the stone from Lark in the woods (he'd finally noticed it was crashing out his nervous system even though Lark wasn't around) and made his way back to his cabin when he'd gotten the text. He was outpacing the tea and coffee he was drinking.

He didn't want a thanks.

[txt] they're safe and so ar you that's all that matters

[legendaryenchantment]

His Father was on a dream-scape campaign. He got maybe twenty minutes of restful sleep and he couldn't keep fighting the invasions. So he got up and went into his still disarrayed kitchen to have tea and the coldest sausage out of the fridge he could find. Small block of white cheddar. Mindlessly eating both in alternating bites while he felt like the ass end of a well done and over Fae party.

[legendaryenchantment]

"Shameful." He repeated for a final time when all came to light. That was for Taika and Falcata. He didn't have a full read on Avalon, but they were too calm to be terribly implicated beyond being roped into the situation. "Irresponsible and blitheringly selfish." That was for Taika specifically.

"Not to mention weak." A bit of his cambion natured harshness leaked on through like the rest of what he was doing right now. "You couldn't take a modicum of heat and instead decided all of this was the solution to avoid it? I can't believe--" He caught himself with a gnashing of teeth. "You are going to hear this aplenty from others."

He flicked a hand in irritation while cracking open another portal back to his cabin. It was his domain. The hearth and house wards weren't going to stop him. Lark's chair bounced upward with him in and zipped through the portal to set back down in the kitchen they'd come from originally.

Similarly, a circular patch of the library's floor followed the trajectory Lark just took with the children.

He had nothing more to speak to the rest of them. So he walked his way through the portal and let it snap shut behind him.

Without him there to maintain anything, a good handful of minutes would set the library back to proper reality. No more looping time-spare, chair clue, or even the ass itch curse. Just them in a normal library in normal chairs after a few minutes to stew amongst themselves. They could fend for themselves, far as Merlin was concerned, after that.

As for Goose. There was a BIG safety concern with that teleportation ability. So before Merlin would collapse anywhere, he used a bit more reality alteration to attach a simple spell to a small mark at the back of Goose's neck that they'd likely not much recognize as more than a brief itchiness in a simple sigil of light blue ink on the skin. Eight foot radial teleportation limit with a cool down of roughly ten minutes. Enough to learn and become proficient as they grew into maturity and enough to keep safe from danger--and enough to not get too terribly far before someone could track them down.

He could remove it later on. When they were independent and matured enough to properly control the ability.

As for Lark, the 'glue' unstuck (and the sound bubble for the children dissipated). Merlin put his hand out palm up and moved the swallowed stone out of throat and in a delicate teleport to remove it. He didn't get a chance to do much more with it or about anything else as he moved to brace himself against counter before wobbling...and slipping down into the ground heavily. Still overwhelmed with Lark's generative emotional energy, but without going full on demi-god level cambion--he was depleted with no more reason to keep pushing his limits.

He didn't know if he did or said all the right things, but it was the right he could do in the moment.

Falcata muttered a curse and squirmed a little, but otherwise just accepted it, arms crossed tight. Yeah, they deserve that, whatever. Gross. Fuck you.

All flinched at the lightning display, although Avalon was still fairly calm. She was pretty resigned to the whole thing, didn't feel like she had much of a horse in this race.

Avalon chewed her lip, rubbed her chin, and grimaced at Taika. "...I thought about trackin' down their parent, but I ain't got paid yet, so." Doesn't paint her in the best light, but lying isn't getting anyone too far here. She's money motivated, what do you want?

Taika and Fal both gave Avalon a Look, clearly realizing just how fragile their house of cards had been.

Taika let out a huff of air and shook her head. "Who cares, I'm fine on my own."

Falcata had a strong reaction to that, teeth grit and claws tightening into their arms. FINE. ALRIGHT. "Taika was convinced she'd get blamed when Goose disappeared. We were trying increasingly elaborate plots to fucking cover it up, so we'd could find Goose and come back like, oh nooo, fucking...Avalon kidnapped us, or some shit."

"Hey, that was YOUR idea!" Taika protested, and Falcata laughed.

"Yup! My idea! All my ideas! My FIRST idea was to come back after 30 minutes and tell Alan we couldn't find Goose!" They gestured emphatically, exasperation boiling over.

"Then why DIDN'T you? I wasn't fucking stopping you!"

Falcata shot Taika a sharp look, then shook their head and looked at Merlin again. "Taika wouldn't come back with me, I couldn't just port the kids into the house, and I was afraid if I left them outside somebody would get them, and then I was afraid if I got caught bringing them back inside I'd lose Taika. Because Taika is more important to me than how fucking any of you feel about this, apparently." They threw up their hands, and sat back in the chair again, arms once again crossed.

"I..." Taika started to say she wouldn't have left, made herself disappear rather than face the consequences of losing one of the three kids, but...honestly, Falcata's fears weren't unfounded. Fal's enthusiastic efforts to convince her they could cover this all up was the only thing that kept her from running from it after they'd tried and failed to convince her that she wouldn't be immediately crucified for losing Goose.

Why wouldn't she run away? She's never stuck around when things went this badly. She's spent her whole life jumping from universe to universe, leaving the bad shit behind. Everything is temporary. Even home. "...then I thought maybe I could figure out time travel..."

So they're stupid, basically. Incredibly, painfully stupid.

[legendaryenchantment]

May as well hiss and spit at a tornado right now.

You win the prize, Falcata, you've got the ass itch curse. Started as a discomfort before it very distinctly felt like that situation where a long hair is trapped in the crevice and in the rectum both just...hanging around! If there were five of them. Mixed with the itch of someone that didn't properly wipe their ass clean after some really gnarly diarrhea.

Didn't even look at Falcata to make that happen.

"Congratulations, you have a very loving older sibling." He said to Taika. "That's the story? You were babysitting while you went looking for Goose?" He gestured to Avalon then to Taika. "You think I'm daft? Who does that without consulting the parent? YOU CAUSED A MAN HUNT AS EVERYONE FEARD THE VERY WORST!" His voice finally got loud. With it came some fresh strange cracks of 'lightning' off his person into nearby objects.

"You know better. You get one more try to come clean." Calmer once more. The display petering out. He'd have better control if he just succumbed to that power. "Or I'm going to make sure none of you can come anywhere near that house or those kids ever again. You'll be thrice blessed if Lark or Devang changes my mind a year from now."

Wouldn't even be hard. He was already elbow deep in the fabric of reality. For better or worse.

Lark and Taika turned when Merlin spoke, and as he approached, both tried to back away.

Taika’s response to being trapped was many times more extreme than Lark’s non-response of shutting down and internalizing. Taika fought against the “glue” and gave big-cat hiss and growl, quickly converting all fear to anger. She did not like being TRAPPED.

As Falcata and Avalon appeared, all three talked at once.

“How’n high heaven-“

“FAL! Do something!”

“Fucking hell.” Falcata took in their surroundings, grimaced at Lark’s disposition, and averted their eyes from Taika or anyone else who expected something of them. They took a deep sigh and crossed their arms, sitting back.

When the kittens appeared, all three of them, Lark jolted in his chair, digging his claws into the wood. All three kittens were bewildered, but Goose quickly recovered and started winding between the other two happily, and soon enough all three were having a happy reunion and wrestling enthusiastically, all in cat-mode.

Lark relaxed partway, relief tangled up with a whole host of other bad things.

Taika and Fal both looked combination relieved and shocked.

Everyone shut up when Merlin spoke. Taika had a desperate look in her eye, Falcata glanced up to accept their moment of eye contact and quickly looked away, and Avalon looked shocked by basically everything that was happening here. Her round ears flicked back when she was addressed, and she was the first to speak(cutting off Taika). “Lissen, ahm jus’ the babysitter, I don’t know what the blazes is goin’ on here. I thought they were hers.” Pointing at Taika. There was a lie in there at the tail end.

Taika immediately took the opportunity to speak, pointing a finger at the snow leopard. “Avalon made us do it!”

“Now hold on-“

“She’s one of-“ Taika began, but stopped when Falcata interrupted. “Shut up, Tai.”

“But I-“

“It was my fault.” Fal finally declared, flatly, and Taika fell silent. Falcata gave Taika a disappointed look, then shrugged and continued, monotone. “I lost Goose. And…” They looked at Taika again, then sighed and resumed when she didn’t say a word. “Took the other two just to spite him, or whatever.”

Taika finally chimed in again, “We were going to bring them back! We just- had to find Goose.”

Lark leaned forward and put his head in his hands, rubbing his ears and hair. Stupid. Doesn’t make sense. Stupid horrible mess that didn’t make sense. “You could have just- told Alan, and…” he took a shaky breath and shook his head.

Fal shrugged again, glancing at Taika, who didn’t meet their gaze. “…Yeah, well. Tough.”

[legendaryenchantment]

"Now." Merlin spoke up from his table very calmly and without any real volume. It rung out over most any other noise all the same.

And now that he had Names, he had way too much power. As if he didn't have too much power to being with. He was feeling too much of Lark's urgency and darkness to play around. (Lark had far more influence with his emotionally tuned magic than he thought, which was half the reason Merlin got so incredibly worried when Lark kept being wild with it.)

He stood up and disregarded his chair when it toppled over. He came through the portal and closed it behind him for the time being. He wasn't so far gone into the Thing His Father Wanted that he didn't have some limitations.

The chairs in the library jolted across the room as tables displaced. Taika found herself ass glued (by what? Probably a continuing theme of Merlin's Will-power and bonkers reality distortion) to chair she'd been assigned. Lark next to his own chair, a chair that had come to be positioned beside Merlin. Other chairs started to fill with a series of air displacement pops; Falcata and Avalon.

Kids were more gently spirited into a spot on the carpet near Lark along with some assortment of random toys he'd plucked like people out of some random department store. A muffling of sound bubbled around the three of them so when he spoke it wouldn't be frightening.

"You three should be ashamed of yourselves." He said while making some pretty direct eye contact individually before meeting the next. Mostly by turning his head to each of them since he didn't exactly have pupils. "Deeply ashamed. There is no circumstance where this was not kidnapping and child endangerment."

He pointed to Lark. "You have no right, in any light, to take that man's children without permission or communication. Especially when all he's done since their birth is care for them, fear for them, and be the most anxious creature I've seen in a century about how good or bad he's doing as a parent." He lowered his hand. "Any one of you even try to contest that simple fucking concept is getting cursed with the most godawful ass itch known to man. Who is going to explain their utterly shameful stupidity first? Speak oh-so-mindfully."

Lark reached out a hand to grab Taika's shirt. She was too fast for him up until they looped back where they were. Taika balked at the looping, as did Lark, but he already had a grip. He felt like he was running through sand and like he was choking on that stupid fucking piece of rock he'd swallowed, but he could get his claws in and just- just make it stop.

Taika wrenched loose of his grip, losing some of her shirt's hem to his claws. She darted off again, only to be looped back again. Lark caught on to what was happening and didn't move, swallowing hard and watching Taika with clenched fists, panting and trying to do what he was supposed to be doing. His brain wouldn't tell him what he was supposed to be doing.

Another few loops, and Taika stopped, backing into a corner and staring at Lark, holding the stack of books defensively. "How- how are you doing that??" She snapped, only a moment later actually seeing that the portal wasn't empty on the other side. Oh. Not Lark doing that. Shit, she LIKED Merlin. And SHIT, he seems powerful, okay, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Lark took too fucking long to find his voice, and was choked with tears when he finally got something out. "Where- where, are, my kids, where are my kids, where are my FUCKING kids?"

Taika froze, staring at the cat as he was visibly falling apart at the seams. "I- how should I know?" She bit her lip and her shoulders drew up as Lark gave her a disbelieving look. Didn't wait for him to respond before admitting her lie. "I- I'm sorry, it was an accident! They- Avalon is watching them. Um- all...three of them."

Lark put his hands on his head and pulled claws through his hair. "Why..." Why are you fucking lying? Why are you lying? Three of them? Why are you fucking lying??

"I was going to bring them back!"

"Where?" Lark repeated.

Taika sighed, and her shoulders fell. "Fal can take us there. They'll be here in an hour."

"NOW." Lark barked.

"You have to wait!" Taika shouted in return.

Lark kicked the nearest shelf and crouched down to the ground, burying his face in his hands and claws in his skin. He flattened his ears against his head roughly. Shut up, just stop, shut up, just stop.

Taika backed against a wall and crossed her arms tightly, avoiding both Lark's and Merlin's eyes.

[legendaryenchantment]

Lark needed to observe a mirror right now, but everyone was very busy and heated and not at all in a good mind space to start with.

Merlin was off balance and that meant he was full on altering the very fabric of reality to his will. It's dangerous. It's reckless. He can barely regulate. He didn't move, but he knew exactly where everything and everyone was so long as he cared to know. Taika ran. Lark went after.

Reality folded. Running put them both in a loop that had them going right back to the same room before they could even leave it.

He lifted his head out of his hands and stared forward. Eyes inky, no whites. Doing his best to keep his reality rending to a minimum.

When he was hit, Lark leapt to his feet, chair falling to the floor behind him. He backed away a few steps, ears flat and hair fluffing up along his spine and down his tail. Tears started to pool in his eyes, and he immediately turned to exit the building. Only stopped when the pressure came in, and the energy, and that...whole display.

Taika was in a library, a fancy one, pretty and ornamented, real wood shelves and leather-bound books. She had a formidable pile of books around her, and an open notebook where she was taking notes.

Lark knew this part; he'd seen it when he did the scrying by himself just before coming here. He had some idea that Taika was reading magic books. Lark had it in his head to ask Merlin to check out what she was doing and hopefully identify if it was something...significant. relevant. Maybe. Check she wasn't planning a fucking child sacrifice or whatever(she wasn't).

He wasn't prepared for a portal. He should be delighted by a portal. He wasn't. He was scared. He was scared of Merlin, he was scared of Taika, and he was scared of what would happen when this was over.

Not that it matters. What Lark is feeling doesn't matter. Merlin's already decided he knows exactly what's going on in Lark's head, so none of it fucking matters. Why should it matter? It doesn't. Just do what you're supposed to do.

Lark stepped through. Taika turned around, spotted him, then swiped her notebook and some library books off the desk, knocking pens and paper to the floor in her hurry, and took off running.

Lark took off after her.

[legendaryenchantment]

Lark got open handed smack to his face. Hard and sharp.

Merlin sat back in his chair after that. Then swiped the mirror off the table and sent it sailing into nearby while where it naturally broke. He hunched forward with his hands over his face and elbows on the table.

The room got...overfull. Pressure rushed in so much it'd make an eardrum pop. Built up until that pressure popped via darkly colored arcs of lightning like energy started coming off of Merlin and around the room. Coming off his skin and striking into random objects around the wizard. Cracking audibly and with ferocity.

Until a larger and louder boom arched into the broken mirror pieces. The shards shook and shifted and rose off the ground--multiplying their size and number until an outline formed. An oval outline of shards the size of a person.

More of that dark plasma like energy kept striking off from Merlin into the mirror shard edges until the space inside the oval shimmered, went milky white and opaque, then opened up to the space Taika was currently standing around in. Wherever that might be.

There's your fucking scry, your fucking portal, get away from him.

Lark's teeth grit, and he stared at the rock in his hand, feeling all the...everything, in the fucking crystal, that Merlin refused to engage with. It just doesn't fucking matter to you, huh? NOW Lark can tell people, and he's trying to tell somebody, and he won't even hear it. It doesn't even fucking matter to him.

Why is Lark even here? Why is he even a part of this? The kittens are fine. They're alive. They don't even need Lark. Goose doesn't even want Lark.

Lark looked at Merlin for a brief moment, then down at the rock.

And he put the crystal in his mouth and swallowed it.

[legendaryenchantment]

"It is not going to change what I have been telling you." He replied flatly back.

"I am going to help you." Told him firmly to follow. "But you're going to do it in a way that doesn't encourage the route you're brazenly taking toward self-immolation that'll set fire to more than you."

He set his hands out palms up in reach. "So, unless that is a crystal that holds the echoes of the love you feel for your kids or the love you feel for anyone good in your life; Put it away, I do not care. Bring out an empty one."

This is tough love Merlin. End of his rope, but not quite losing his patience Merlin. Merlin that would nail Lark's feet to the fucking floor by hand than let the cat man run off now that he knew what kind of dangerous stuff Lark was doing.

That could be a crystal of pure Charlie energy, a crystal of pure Envy energy, or pure Anger or Jealousy or Depression--if it wasn't Positive he didn't want to hear it. He'd destroy it and come right back to this point again.

Yeah, okay. Lark gazed after him, and he did feel that deep sting that accompanied this kind of conflict, even though he had told himself to expect it and accept it.

The minutes ticked by, and Lark waited for Merlin to return. He fidgeted with the mirror and the objects on the table, considering starting a scry before Merlin got back, but that might be an inflammatory action, with or without the Envy related magic. Anxiety stirred up, he questioning his decision to even…bring the fucking thing, when he knew it would potentially derail them. This wasn't what he was supposed to be here for.

When Merlin returned, Lark steeled himself, and he kept himself stone-faced, fidgeting with the edge of the mirror with one claw. He listened, and rubbed his jaw, then pulled out another green crystal, holding it up. His words came out stilted and tight. "Do you know where I got this?"

[legendaryenchantment]

Merlin was watching things unfold with quiet caution until the stone came out. "You have to stop--" Half a beat after registering the aura on that thing he snatched it and went right out the front door with it. Gave it a crush to release the contents then hurled the remnants into the tree line.

Then sat down on porch edge and rubbed some fingers into his nose bridge. He needed a second to be calm about this. About telling things to Lark's hither-to deaf ears. Being calm hadn't worked the first time and neither had being stern the second time. Took a nice five minutes to sort himself out.

He came back and pulled up a chair to sit opposite of Lark. Looking at him steadily. Hands pressed together. "Your impatience and utter disrespect for the dangers will fucking kill you or someone you love." He very rarely swore. He was channeling his dead father-mentor at this point. "Or worse."

"...ah." He wouldn't know. He doesn't get out of his room and the playroom much, a fact that he was thinking about now and it made him feel a little gross. Because Lark was spending ALL his time outside the house now, and that's good, if it weren't horribly bad. Intrusive thoughts were telling him he'd be healthier and happier without kids. Made him sick.

He drank some more tea. "Yeah, uh...I dunno about that." Not a lie, he was having a hard time thinking about that and not the RIGHT NOW of his kids being out of his sight. Lark rubbed his eyes again, sniffing, and set the tea down and pushed it a bit away on the table to give him some space. Pulled a mirror out of his bag and set it down, and then a ratty sketchbook, a square of knitting, and a fingerless glove. All things he'd gotten from Taika's room. "Uh...Rogier taught me how to scry. And um...it works, and it's fine. I don't...need you to do it for me, or fix anything, or um...can you just look?"

Last object he pulled out was a rock from the bag of holding. It was a small piece of quartz half-wrapped in leather, slightly glowing dirty emerald green. It had a rancid set of emotions wrapped up in it, and the echoes of Envy. His power source.

Lark did hesitate before casting, in case Merlin had an objection. Words were feeling difficult, and he didn't want to overexplain if he didn't have to, but he wasn't just going to bulldoze ahead.

[legendaryenchantment]

"I do come by that house once a week while Devang is off galivanting." He agreed while standing at nearby counter (it's a small kitchen) with his arms cross. "And an extra one to repair the wards after...whatever disrupted them that last time." He scritched fingers through the short scruffy beard he had. Summer was for short beard. Winter for longer.

"Some kind of spell gone awry." He couldn't tell who. Could have been Rogier. Or the little fuzzy one for all he knew.

Merlin had come by the house after the ward was rattled around. Didn't know what it was, but hadn't been focused on that either. He had been made aware of the situation--it was hard to keep out of it. He hadn't stopped being a hermit and he was also aware that Lark didn't like him too much. Or, at least, that was the impression.

Lark, once the door opened, was getting herded into a kitchen chair and given a glass of iced tea (for the heat and the look about him). That first before he heard any talking, thank you.