August 12, 2018:
Vivienne and Robert meet to discuss a good number of things, including recent events.
Brooklyn - A Park
A park, small, very gentrified. A bench, the usual sort.
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions: Doctor Strange, Adara Hong, Tom Judge, Lara Croft, Aquaman, Namor, The Curator (NPC)
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
Quiet mornings were a rarity in New York City, and even moreso for two such as they. Vivienne and Robert had departed the Sanctum early, having spent the better part of two days there handling the aftermath of the attack on the museum. They'd tended to what business they had left unfinished elsewhere, and then found themselves wandering the streets of Brooklyn, only nominally less busy early in a Sunday than usual.
Vivienne had left Robert to his own devices for a few minutes, stepping into the coffeehouse to palce an order, two large coffees, each to their tastes, and an assortment of breakfast pastries, still warm from the oven and steaming, the bag folded over to retain what heat it could, as she made her way back out to the sidewalk. She offered his cup first, before she tipped her head and indicated the small park across the street which still had a few empty benches.
Robert though he rises with the sun is never one for the day itself, his cowboy hat forgotten back at the Lot he is forced to tuck his head in a little and cast his hair around his features, adding shade to his eyes. They're not exactly built for the bright of day hours anyways…
He missed out on the details of the scrolls, he figures he'll be informed or ask eventually. The coffee is accepted with a grateful nod, the scent inhaled before following her towards that park bench.
The tattered jeans, loose open v necked shirt he borrowed from Wong along with sandals feels odd, far too Grateful Dead for his liking.
"The Curator texted me. Apparently he's aware Adara Hong is with us and host of the Ember Stone. He wishes to meet her… "
Handing off the coffee, Vivienne found the most shaded spot that she could, the shadows cast by the heavy canopy, she hoped, both restful for Robert's eyes and cool enough that when the day began in earnest, they would not find themselves swimming through a sea of summer heat. She set the bag down between them, taking her own cup and pulling off the lid allowing the coffee to cool a bit in the light breeze, "I am of two minds in that. On the one hand, I think she could benefit from some of the materials he has access to, and I would be interested to see what the Ember Stone makes of him, but on the other, I worry about putting her so close to his hand. She is so new to all of this…his ability to manipulate her might be greater than what he could manage with any of us."
Shade… a relief Robert's easing in to the bench, making him self comfortable enough to stretch long legs out before him. Glad he is not as afflicted by the light as Darkedge at least.
A grim pull of lips at Vivienne's commentary, "She is very… hrm, explosive isn't she?"
"I imagine he has plans in order, hes far too calculated and prepared but then, I have been wrong several times over now."
"I agree but we also have to maintain some of our play along to keep him sated and off our cases. His knowledge is invaluable and he can help us we just… " He pauses looking at his cup, Lara's fate right now springing to mind, "Have to be mindful."
"What was found out about the scrolls? I didn't realize I was so tired. Not enough to lose near half a day… "
"I think it is a combination of her being so new to the stone and how incredibly volatile it is. I am lucky, I imagine, in that way, the Spear exerts no level of control on me. It works with, and for, and never against me, and will not, unless I turn away from it and from my faith. But the Stone, the Rapture, the Witchblade, they all seem to have their own pull, their own agenda."
Vivienne nodded, allowing Robert to speak while she sipped her coffee, and, finding it just cool enough, replaced the lid, and, setting it down, picked up the bag of pastries. A selection of plain and filled croissant, Vivienne's true weakness, "I think she has a quick, sharp mind and intelligence enough to see what we might not be able to. If we just warn her as to his intentions, and be mindful of her, it might be to our benefit to allow her to have access to what he knows…and to allow us a chance to see what he has been about."
Vivienne offered over the bag, allowing Robert first pick of the selection, "They were not scrolls of parchment, but some alien metal the likes of which I ave never seen before. Strange divined that they had come from Atlantis, in the time before it sank into the sea, and that they referenced someone Wong called Oshtur, an Elder Goddess of the Star, so he said. Strange postulated that she might be some key to stopping Lilith."
"You're also a disciplined martial artist and educated in faith." Robert adds.
"The Rapture…. Judge is a tortured man. I think if he allows me, I may be able to help him face some of his demons." There is a click as the bench is tapped upon with one talon-point.
"Let us hope. She is our responsibility now in this ordeal, wether she is willing to accept that or not." He still doesn't know Miss Hong well enough to fully say.
"How many xeno-metals have you seen?" He smirks slightly. "Fight the old with the old. Makes sense… weapons and artifacts of eras gone… The Curator has stated your spear and the artifacts are likewise ancient. Primordial constructs from entities that spawned the same stories of Titans."
"I assume they will be effective as well."
Vivienne paused, considering, as she began to pull apart one of the chocolate ones, bite sized pieces consumed as she listened, nodding in acceptance of Robert's wisdom, "Yes, I suppose you are right. I have been raised to discipline and I accept and believe in my own self worth. Whatever it was that happened to Tom to leave him a drunk faithless wreck, he clearly was not capable of dealing with it, and has lost whatever confidence in himself he might once have had. I have no doubt it must have something to do with his loss of faith, as he often looks as me as if I am the embodiment of everything that he now hates. Perhaps you will have better luck with him." Vivienne retrieved her coffee, sipping, before she set it back down, "Yes she is. If she wishes to keep the Stone and not to cast it aside, she is." To the question of the metals, Vivienne tipped her head, "Only such metal as you carry. Such things as these…they have never before been my purview. In many ways, it is as new to me as it is to Adara."
"Effective? Only if we can find this Oshtur they were clearly looking for."
"Work in progress. Each time I have approached Tom to connect with him… the Universe decides we are to be tested." Ripclaws eyes drift over to the chocolate sniffing at the air once with a curl of his nostrils before hes gazing past her, along the strip.
"I suppose. This bio-metal, the composites it is formed off are extraterrestrial in nature, my old team, Cyberforce - we found enough files to determine that much." He doesn't go too deep there, its the past…
"Does Strange have a clue on how we go about this?"
"I trust you will eventually get through to him. Help him if you can..and if not, then we can say nothing more than…we tried." Vivienne freed a hand, offering the bag, "I got the raspberry too," before she set it back down. "And that is as much as I know, and I don't imagine they have anything the least in common. If these scrolls are truly from Atlantis, then they were made here. But Strange mentioned Aqua, and someone called Namor…would either of them be able to assist us in finding out more about these scrolls and where they might lead? I know he said he planned to take them to the Justice League. Adara and I are to go with him. he wishes to do as much as he can, before he is drawn away to his own mission, tracking a comet and the Atum. A ancient god of Egypt. Though I have a feeling he is well older than that, as most of the Gods we have encountered are. And he has asked Adara to investigate the museum, to find out more about how they came into possession of them. Only a decade ago, he said."
"We shall see. I do not give up easy and I feel he is an asset, more than just as one of the bearers but a comrade." The bag is pinched up between his claws and drawn over to peer in to, like a knife tip he pierces a couple peices drawing them out to pop them in to his mouth, "Thanks."
"So… underwater city ruled by hostile homo-mer… whatevers that attacked Metropolis several years ago and threatened war on all surface dwellers? He wants to seek them out."
Ripclaw shakes his head from side to side the bag handed back over, "The Justice League as well… he is aiming for the stars, public exposure, big names. Hard pass. I'll help where I can but this is… I have my tasks and I feel this will distract. The Sorcerer Supreme is more than capable and you both should be wary of including the Ember Stone… she is volatile as you said."
"Also this is major dark forces, the knowledge all are engaging will pull…. " He wriggles a toe in his sandal adjusting it with a mumble.
"Welcome. And no, he doesn't. He never mentioned as much. But you forget that I have spent the better part of my life in Europe, much of the news of what goes on here never makes it there, and so I know nothing of these people from Atlantis. If you think they will be more hostile than friendly, then we will simply continue as we have begun, with the small team we have now. As for Strange, I can not control him, no more than I can control Adara. If they wish to go where you believe they should not, what can I do to stop them, beyond giving them advice? But I believe that the fight we are fighting, against whatever darkness the Curator believes is coming…is not the same as what Lilith and Circe, who has also risen bring, and we might not be able to handle both threats without help. So, I will go, and watch and listen…and keep my own counsel until I can meet with you again."
"I have never met them personally. The Doctor may well know more but… " A lift of his coffee as though hes just now remembered he has one and Robert drinks slowly, pushing the dark liquid around on his tongue.
"The news educated me as did the many deaths. They are their own people, you're right and the most we can do is be there and prepared… "
"No, not the same but there is some connection, the timing of these things. That is yours to do though, I will be in touch and around… I am prepared to lend aid also as much as I feel it is… " He doesn't finish that instead shrugging and pushing upright from the bench.
"I owe the help and would not want to see any of you fall so I am in. Meanwhile, I'll do as much legwork as I can on the Curator. He has more for me to track."
Vivienne rose as Robert did, judging, no doubt that he had business to be about, "I know that you are, Robert, and that you are already stretched thin. And my priority is, first, as it has always been, in getting Lara back. If I abandon one soul to save a thousand, I might as well have damned them all. I will not do that. I have committed to you, to her, to our small team first, and before all others, because that is where my faith tells me I must be." She nods then, "You know how to contact me when you need me."
Robert stands quiet, stone faced and solid as she speaks, then looks at her. A clawed row of fingers rises to settle on her shoulder, thumb blade tapping her chin. "I know. I have not yet and will I likely ever questions your conviction in these matters."
The limb falls away as quickly and easily as it gave that brief moment of contact and hes walking, "Lara needs us. I failed her twice now… "
"We'll speak later. I'll also see what I can find out about Oshtur and these demons you seek to battle."
The empty cup tossed aside and the shaman heads west.
Vivienne stood still, having no fear for the claws so close to her throat, no matter their sharpness, her trust unwavering, "I will be here when you need me, Robert. Until I fall, and a new Magdalena is chosen. And when she rises, I hope that the Spear will lead her back here." It would not be the same, of course, but some work, divinely ordained, was more important than the single woman who had been chosen, in that moment, to be the one who carried it out.
Vivienne turned as the shaman stepped back, watching him walk off back into the city before she returned to the bench, picking the bag back up and peering inside. Oh good, he had left her one of the raspberry.