2020-01-26 - There Will Be Blood

It'd been left to Yule, whose brilliant, surely won't backfire on them idea this was, to coordinate. He'd gotten Minerva to agree to using Seraphim, gave the time and location to Isabella, and he had even went out of his way to get a few items made that looked like the symbols Minerva used when she did this for the temporary wards she had had success with in the past.

And so, our brave (foolhardy?) trio of would be safe protectors have gathered, with the M.E. here for moral support, should either of the two need it. Before they start? He goes over that plan one last time, "I've no clue how we do it," Excellent! "But lets assume intent always matters. With what I did with the gluminol that... sorta kinda not really worked? Think of it like using physical to better adapt the item... making it a battery to store glimmer so it lasts longer, or letting it 'absorb' the spell better, yeah? And then doing whatever it is you would normally do to make the ward, Minerva."

Minerva was running around with chalk and marking sigils on things. Because she was paranoid and asking for a bit of protection when you're about to do something that's not been tested and could be EXTREMELY dangerous makes her worried. Not to mention she'd like to live to see her wedding because her fiance was going to be getting here soon.

Perfect time to get messed up! The animals have been put elsewhere today. Just in case things go south. Again, paranoid. "Alight. Just a little protection, not sure if the angels will be tired of me for doing this so much." the one eyes woman muses as she moves to get ready for their scientific occult experiment.

When Isabella arrives, she's dressed warmly and has dispensed her winter coat and gear neatly on the hooks provided by Seraphim Acquisitions. Dressed in a soft, warm sweater, jeans and boots, her moonstone pendant swings gently against the front of it, unable to help but toy with its weight with her fingers as she attempts to keep out of the way of Minerva's preparations. She is watching it all with interest, however - she's no scientist, or occultist, but that doesn't mean that other fields are things that she ignores. There's nothing but utter fascination on her features.

"So what do you need me to do, exactly, once Minerva's done setting up?" she asks, turning to Yule and dropping her grip on her pendant, only to toy with her dandelion bracelet instead.

So to does Yule watch with a certain fascination at what Minerva does, observing it all before that question comes from Isabella. "Try to alter the physical properties of the symbols," The little metal and wood things that Yule has made, perhaps a foot tall, which likely look close to what Minerva is putting down on the floor. "Reach for your physical power... I'm not sure /how/ you do what you do, but think of it like rearranging the symbols so they are like batteries for glimmer." That sounds easy, right?! "Likely have to try a few different ways, since this isn't exactly what comes to us naturally. That should, in theory, prepare the items to better take what Minerva does to them."

Minerva gives a look to Isabella and Yule when she joins them at the table she'd set up. It was in the middle of the sigil of ameth again. Because she'd still not removed that from her floor. It was a permanent to the building. She gives a bit of a moment to pick up the little wood and metal objects that Yule made, "These are neat." she tells him with a bit of a smile. Then there's a look to Isabella, "I'm hopefully not going to muck this up." she murmurs to her. "Just let me know when I need to do my thing." she tells them.

She doesn't use. Not with any regularity - and when she does use, it's nothing overt, meant largely for the purposes of detecting or analyzing things. It's rare that she uses it to actually move objects, or slip through doorways, or any real feats of psychic strength. Normally, she relies on people more practiced than her to execute certain ideas. Today, though, that option is beyond her.

"Okay." Isabella's hand reaches out to squeeze Minerva's fingers with her own. "Back together again," she teases the occultist, before releasing her hand and moving to the table. She presses her palms on the surface, hunches in slightly to look at the widgets that the medical examiner constructed and placed there. Her brows draw down together, and she extends her control outward, slowly, gingerly. She attempts to quietly do what Yule instructs, to arrange and rearrange.

"Even if we dont' succeed, we will hopefully learn something useful for future attempts, or to understand if it is even possible." Even in failure, what is the worst that will go wrong. Such confidence! "You'll do fine." Comes his offering to Isabella, and he? He prepares to watch, his own capability with spirit prepared to assist in those observations so he can try and puzzle out how things all react. "Once you think you have it? Just let Minerva know, and we will see what happens." It's a couple places behind, close enough to be in a good spot to observe, but not so close to get in either of their way as they set about their tasks.

Minerva relaxes just a little when she sees things starting to fall into place. She only has the one eye though so depth perception might be WAY off. She gives a nod of agreement, "You'll do great. And if it fails we can take a stab at it again another time." she tells them. Then she readies herself, making sure to try to clear her mind for the moment.

"Alright, I think we've got everything we need, then?" Isabella says with a quiet sigh, glancing over at Yule. "I'm not sure if any of that told you anything worthwhile, but-- "

The worst of her injuries in the last few months have been healed naturally by hospital stays or reluctant bedrest. She doesn't go out of her way to have any of her healer friends heal her, though most of them insist - Erin and Lilith, in particular. But some of them have. The devastating cut in her back from the Dream with August feels as if it's been rent open again and the pain of it has her doubling over and gasping. The ribs that Lilith had healed start to throb, as well as the wounds inflicted on her by the demonic fruitcakes from the labyrinth. Taken all together? The pain makes her head swim and her eyes water.

Her knees start to buckle, as if filled with water or jelly, she bites back a cry as trembling fingers clutch at the table, nearly tipping over and taking all of the objects on the surface on her way down.

"Yeah. Doesn't seem to be doing what we need it to. We could try on another but this ti-" And that is where his own voice cuts off, a hard swallowing coming as he feels himself stripped of his powers. And at first? Well, isn't that just what they wanted. "Or maybe it triggered after," Thankfully, Yule? Hasn't ever had to be healed by spirit, yet. Not that it doesn't make something deep within him ache,a pit that opens up that can't be fed, like something is just missing from the very fiber of his body. "Shit. Shit," He tries to reach out to help Isabella, but he's just a bit too slow on the uptake, watching her topple over. "The symbols." Hopefully, anyway. He half stumbles forward, trying to scramble for those things they've created, to chuck them into a trash can, or somewhere else beyond where they are at now.

Minerva feels the sudden normalness and there's a moment taken to look up at the ceiling, mainly to not let the tears that are welling up be seen. "Fuck it." she growls as she steps away from the table. "It's not working." she shakes her head. And neither were her powers. And this was why she tried not to use them. The weakness makes her lean against her wall.

When Isabella clutches at the table she moves over to her, "Hey...just take it easy." she tells her. "Are you in pain?" she asks her.

"I was preparing for another form of price being paid." she mutters.

All the shenanigans that she has been up to in the last several months catch up with her in a heartbeat, and as Minerva reaches for her, Isabella extends her fingers, clutching at her arms whenever she gets ahold of them. "It's fine," she breathes, senses torn between all the sudden pain and the storm of bone-breaking inadequacy that drives even her willful heart into the wells of despair that all humans carry within themselves, built-in traps that suffocate even the most stalwart when not given their due acknowledgment. One foot braces on the ground, and she tries to pull herself back upwards again - but the urge to just keep lying there is so overwhelming that she almost doesn't do it.

"Ugh...what's...." Questions are in her eyes on the slow, reluctant, gradual way back up. Her swimming attention follows Yule as he gathers up the items.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he gathered them up to chuck into the waste bin he had managed to find, but when /nothing/ happens, no tingle, no relief, no anything? Yule's features pale. "Is," A shuddering breath is taken as he shoves the bin away, and then it's a turn to Minerva and Isabella, trying to focus on the pair. It's a few more of those seconds that bleed away, before he starts to shuffle over, "Wanted to... nullify the room, yeah? If we get her... out?" It's clear the poor archaeologist is getting the worst of a very bad situation, reaching out to try and help Isabella up, to urge her towards the door that leads away from this place that has gone far too haywire.

Minerva looks to Isabella and there's a bit of a chuckle, "We know that it's not fine. I'm guessing if I feel like I do that you all feel something as well." she admits to her. Then she's looking to Yule and the symbols, "Maybe if we toss them out of the room to see if things...come back? Or try to break one. If you need to use the garbage disposal go for it. Or the stove." she nods towards the kitchen area. Then she's focusing back on Isabella, "Come on, lets try to get downstairs and get some air. Maybe that'll help." she murmurs as she loops her arm around her waist and tries to help her to the door with Yule. "We'll figure out what went wrong...or what is going on. Maybe it nullified all things." she frowns.

She was just trying to get up!

But something is wrong and she manages to determine that only just a hair too late. Isabella just manages to get on her feet before the trash can suddenly explodes. The fact that Yule had been on his way to get the objects away from them might be the only reason why they've managed to get out of it with minor injuries, but the blast sends her flying off her feet again and right into Minerva, sprawling back on the ground. Her ears are ringing, everything feels so heavy, the copper-tang of spilled blood spices the air, as thick and cloying as perfume...

"Ugh..." she groans, turning watery eyes to the embedded shards on her arm. "Minerva, are you okay?" she breathes, forcing herself to get up. "Yule?" She tries to find him through the smoke.

It's a sickening 'oof' Yule makes as his back slams into the wall, expelling all of the air from his lungs. That searing pain sets in a moment later, causing his body to writhe, knee tucking up to recoil. A shuddering gasp comes as he tries to regain what he'd lost when it comes to oxygen, eyes fluttering before they managing to snap back to attention. "Fuck," It's a ragged thing, "Uhh." Ow. Really big ow, as he glances down to the piece of metal stuck out of his leg, "No? But I'll live. We need to get out," Hopefully that will fix it. Never mind the fact what they thought was doing the nullification is now in a few hundred pieces. Slowly he tries to get to his feet, using the wall to brace himself.

Minerva's hand was on the door and she was about to open it, she finds herself thrown into the door with the explosion and the added weight of Isabella. Her head makes a thunk noise as she hits and she just slides down the wall, "Ow..." she mutters as she just stays pressed to the door for the moment. She was starting to hate life again. "I'm fine. This is fine." she grits out as she tries to get up.

"Oh, Jesus." Isabella winces when she sees Minerva's state, and Yule's as well. "Okay...let me..."

That sense of helplessness continues to weigh her down, to the point of beating her further into the ground from which she isn't sure she wants to stand, but she forces herself to move her sluggish body further within, so she could kneel down next to the medical examiner. She doesn't pull out the metal sticking out of his leg; she knows enough about first aid not to do that. "We need to get you to a hospital," she tells him through clenched teeth, before she attempts to assist him up and towards where Minerva's leaning.

No, none of them are fine - but the fact that their abilities are currently nullified gives her the additional saving grace of not feeling Yule's significant injuries on top of her own. "If we can get...your first aid kit..." she breathes to Minerva, body hunching underneath remembered toils. "...and then I can call...an ambulance..."

It's surely the haze of the pain, that lack of of his powers that has him so tilted that any noise is just white static in the background, not even recognized by the man. "I don't need an /ambulance/," Comes the only complaint from Yule, though the way he seems to still be leaning against the wall speaks volumes as to the fact that he's going to be hobbling around, at best. It's more dragged than used as they head towards Minerva and the door, only to find it... lock? Stuck? Whatever the cause, it isn't opening. "Well," Comes his dry, parched attempt at humor, "Technically we did make a room that nullifies glimmer, and no one can seem to get into," Or out of, "right? Surely it'll... wear off soon." It's then he tries to get a sense of directionality, from the wall to where he is now, to the table he had been at before, seeing if there is any ebb or flow of that black hole of a pit of helplessness to understand if there really is a / physical source/ for it, or if it just... is.

Minerva gives a bit of a look to the others and there's a nod to them. The open apartment was kind of a blessing...and a curse. She could see everything, but couldn't get to other parts. She wobbles over to get the first aid kit from under the desk and then she pulls her cell phone out of her pocket, did it work? Was it fried? Oh. She had a missed text! Then she crouches down, "What can I help with?" she asks Isabella as she settles the first aid kit down and opens it.

I don't need an ambulance.

"Yule, far be it for me to question an actual medical professional about these things but there is a cross sticking out of your leg," Isabella tells him tartly. "You need an ambulance." She leads the man into a seated position and inspects the wound. "It'll only get worse if we pull it out, but we can try and kill the pain." This to the occultist. "Do you have any in there? Something topical that we can put on the surrounding areas of the wound?" Her fingers are already moving to tear Yule's pantsleg apart, to start administering first aid. "Him, first. And then you."

The urge to panic rises, but she tries to stamp it all down; there's no room to flail underwater, doing so will only drag her buddies down with her. If there is such a thing in Minerva's kit, she will apply it, and then use bandages to keep the wedged-in object secure, to keep it jostling. It will hurt more, to keep it there, but to pull it out now would be worse. She can't risk tearing anything vital. Once she's seen to Yule, she'll start on Minerva. Every scratch and claw she hears drips icewater down her spine, and her companions can see how pale she's getting at every wet, slurping sound.

"They're here," she tells them both, quietly. "They're feeding, but they're outside this room. Above us, and in the walls. I can't hear them clawing below, though."

"I didn't say I shouldn't go to the hopsital. But really, sirens just for a flesh wound?" Yeah. A bit more than that, and he doesn't fuss at all as they cut away the dark denim of his pants leg to where that horrible thing is sticking out. Really, it'd look stylish if it weren't for all that blood. "We have to wait for them to get here, and then I have to listen to the medics giggle that the M.E. has a cross stuck in his legs,"

"What do you mean, they are here?" Clawing? His brow furrows as he tries to cast a more cautious ear towards the sounds around them, before he mutters, "So, what, we... burn a hole through the floor? And what do you mean, they are feeding? Oh /what/?"

"Yule...she's impossible to argue with. Don't try it." Minerva gives a soft smile to that. Then there's a look to Isabella when she tells her they are here and there's a bit of a moment taken to breathe deeply and then she rises as she means to protect them if anything comes running in.

And OH BOY! Something does, "Get the fuck out of my home!" she growls as she looks to the shadowy thing that comes oozing from the crack in the wall.

She hasn't seen things like these since the day she lost her brother.

So when the cracks appear and silt falls from splitting plaster, and the dark shadow thing spills from it, Isabella goes rigid with fear, a scream choking into the back of her throat as she tries to take a breath at the same time. Green-gold eyes widen at the small droplets that hit the floor, the stink of something alien filling the stale air as it corrodes wood. And then there's Minerva, rising on her feet and putting herself first in the line of fire. "Minerva, no! No...if we're getting out of this, we're getting out of this together, okay?" She reaches out in an attempt to grab the woman's hand.

"We need to get away from it. We need to..." She fumbles for her pockets, finding her leatherman, her gun and...a small flashlight. Perhaps out of desperation, she flicks it on and attempts to shine it right at its face. It wants something bright, maybe she can blind it temporarily, and there's a mad vision inside of her head of Blue Bell chasing after laser pointers. Look, she knows that isn't what it means, but she doesn't have a lot of options, here!

"Yule, it's corrosive - any ideas how to neutralize something like this? You're the science guy!"

"What the hell!" It's a sudden enough tinge of panic that Yule puts weight on his not working leg without thinking, and down he tumbles into a heap on the floor. Thankfully, Isabella won't have to here his counter arguments about the merits of an ambulance ride or not, because whatever that thing is that has just broken not just his hopes that they had nullified the room, but also the ceiling? It has all of his attention.

"Bright? But aren't we all dark?" Thankfully, Isabella's question cuts through the haze as he struggles to regain his footing, "Yeah. A base. Uhh, house hold products... baking soda, drain cleaner, windex, laundry detergent... chalk?" What was it that Minerva had been using to draw all those symbols on the floor! It's to her he looks, seeing which if any they might have any fortune in finding in their immediate area.

Minerva was listening to Yule and Isabella, but she was keeping her eye on the shadow, because that thing was going to try to eat them. "I've got chalk!" she says excitedly. And she did. Because that's the last thing she was using in the apartment. She then scrambles over to the chalk bucket and drags it over to where the group is. She looks up to the ceiling for a moment as she hears voices and she goes a little more pale, "Yeah...I know. I ruin everything." she spits out.

She starts breaking up the chalk though, smearing it on her hands, "Which one of you motherfuckers wants smacked?" she asks as her blows the chalk dust their way. All the while her apartment keeps gaining structural damage.

"Minerva, do you have any of those items? Otherwise it's going to..." Isabella's eyes observe the way the shadows violently ripple at the shine of her light, as more of that acid starts to cascade on the floor. She grits her teeth, backing up with the rest of her party and she keeps the beam shining on the creature. "If...it spills more of it where it is, maybe it could burn a hole through the floor and we can..."

She freezes when she hears it, the sibillant hissing within the shell of her ear. If she was pale before, she grows utterly ashen now, her grip on her flashlight shaking as breath arrests in her lungs. Tears start to well up in her eyes. Because she did leave. She did.

"You wanted me to," she whispers to the shadows. "You wanted me to. I didn't want to, but you wanted...you..." She grits her teeth. "I didn't want to live without you, but you had to be a hero."

You had to be my hero.

The world bleeds away; dimly, she is aware of Minerva spurred into action, grabbing her chalk. She has to buy them the time. She takes a step or two closer to the roiling shadows, her fingers shaking around her flashlight as she takes small, tiny steps towards the voices. "Is that what you want?" she asks from around the knot in her throat. "Do you want me to stay?"

That roiling despair rises up and she tries to fight it down. But the closer she gets, the harder it becomes. Her next words come out in a whisper:

"Do you want me to come home?"

"What?" Yule's voice is shaken for a few brief moments, that singular word not meant for either Minerva or Isabella as he looks off into the shadows while trying to spot something. "No." Comes the next thought, just managing to keep the edge of his composure, and then, with those little tidbits he hears from the others? It's a click that goes on in his brain. Maybe it is because his leg doesn't let him do anything, or he just wants to say certain things before they all get melted by corrosive teeth.

"Hey," It's first to Minerva, a low breath pushed out to try and help calm those nerves, "You know, I really do mean it about your good eye, yeah? And I love how protective you are of your niece. Family is one of the most important things to us. She'll keep your hands full as she gets older, I'm sure."

And then there is Isabella. His eyes narrow as he watches her start to walk, and where she seeks to confront? He seeks to stab directly to the fear with hope, and humor, and putting their minds someplace else entirely. "You are staying. You /have/ to come back, yeah? Cause otherwise, I'm ending up on a boat without a name that'll capsize in a stiff breeze cause I used wine coolers to send it off, rather than wine. Besides, who else is going to show me how to put up that damn bell?" Oh yes. The hairs on the back of his neck are all standing up as he hobbles towards Minerva, and that chalk bucket, prepared to help if (when?) things go all horribly sideways on them.

Minerva gives a look to Yule and there's a bit of a nod to him, "Yeah, I know. My eye has some good properties." she chuckles. She wasn't a vain person and at this time she wasn't sure if she was going to get out of here alive, which would probably upset the fiance. There's there a look to the ceiling again and there's a growl at the voices before she looks to Yule, "Get her out of here please...or as close to the door as possible." she points to Isabella.

Then Minerva is grabbing the bucket of chalk, "You've overstayed your welcome. Get out!" she shouts.

Her determination starts cracking on the seams when she hears his voice and hears his screams, and the way he wails her name, and there's no preventing the spill of tears from Isabella's eyes, drenching her cheeks and leaving them luminous. She even feels it when Minerva hurts it - how his pain is hers, and how her pain is his. That same, hopeless feeling wells upwards in an attempt to suffocate her - and the only reason why she isn't buckling completely is Yule's gritted-teeth reminders of the things she has yet to do. She doesn't know if anyone else hears it, if they're presently being allowed to spectate on the gallery of her guilt and all of its associated sins, but the knowledge that they could be doesn't help; sobs trap themselves in her chest.

"Min...Minerva..." Her voice is a tremulous thing, frayed on the edges. "The chalk...get the wall. Maybe...maybe we can break out that way. Just...just hurry. Hurry."

And with that, she turns the flashlight to its highest setting and hurls it towards the monster. Then she'll spin around in an attempt to grab Yule off the floor. They are all leaving together.

Yule leans down, taking up a fist full of that chalk from the bucket, letting a bit of it sift through as he lifts it up before Minerva can take the whole thing. And then, there is the firm anchor of Yule's hand that curls around Isabella, a tug to pull her back towards the present, the now, and away from those same voices that seek to thread doubts into his own head. "Hey," It's louder than he'd normally give, and it leaves them nearly colliding when she flips around. "I need a hand,"

It's a faint ghost of a smile that doesn't reach his eyes for the quip, and already he is using his small bit of chalk to cover their retreat, a dash upon the floor to make them think twice about following, a small toss here or there at any shadows that seem to have a mind of their own as they fall back towards the wall that Isabella has suggested.

Minerva has a single minded focus for the moment. Dump as much chalk on the shadows as she can. A few chunks get broken off and used as ranged weapons, "Fuck all of you..." she hisses as she lobs one after the other. It helps her not cry or to give up. She'd felt like she wasn't good enough for anyone for awhile now. And just when she was thinking she might be? She gets kicked in the gut for it.

No more, she tips the bucket of chalk and then hurls it, sending chalk dust going every which way as she scrambles backwards towards the exit. Her apartment was going to be fun to fix. If she even gave a shit to do it after this.

She tries not to look. She can't, if she wants to get out of here.

But she hears him calling for her, the way he calls for her in her Dreams, reminds her of the hissing voices that welcome her home. Isabella grits her teeth as she tightens her grip on the hobbled Yule. She uses Minerva's own determination as an anchor, because she won't abide by anyone else flagging, either, and it bolsters her to see the occultist claw back at her own demons. Footsteps drag across the ruined floor as they continue to their retreat, towards the furthest wall as the southern wall breaks, and the bucket of powdered chalk flies. A desperate hand reaches out in an attempt to try and pull the door open again.

The wall shatters, and Yule is ready with his own chalk, but something in the imagery makes it feel all so much more real, especially with the weighing emptiness from the loss of their powers. It has that chalk just slide from his hands onto the floor, left to be dragged by Isabella as those brown eyes just stare towards those turned backs that only he can see. That badly injured leg scrapes it foot through the mess of rubble and chalk, "We... We need to get out," He shudders, voice sounding as if he hasn't had water in ages, and then he's reaching out to try and give a hard yank along with Isabella to help her.

Minerva closes her eye tightly as things just go to hell. When she lands on her floor there's a moment that her head bounces off the floor and makes her teeth rattle. She scrambles to get up, "Calling an ambulance for Yule." she breathes out as she gets to her phone. "Isabella, are you alright?" she asks as she takes a moment to assess her apartment to see what happened...but her mind keeps wandering.

"Oh," Yule pants, even as he sprawls on the floor, unable to keep upright anymore as he glances towards Minerva, "take her side why don't you." When she mentions the ambulance. Though it is the way that his heart isn't in it, the man's voice far too flat, how those eyes just stare off towards where he witnessed his family melt, and not even a twitch of a smile comes from the man.

When they finally collapse into the apartment, the nightmare is over.

She dimly hears her name being called, but Isabella shakes her head. "Are you?" she asks Minerva quietly. "Thankfully you had all that chalk around." And that their mad scientist was able to use his background to tell them to use it. As always, teamwork manages to prevail, though it is a close one - her attention wanders to the room that they've left, seeing it perfectly intact. "Yule?" Concern flits over her expression, watching his faraway stare.

But she waits for the ambulance to be called, and she'll accompany Yule to the hospital once it gets there. Until then, she will finish bandaging up Minerva, and then herself.