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After convening with Mearcstapa and Jack to make sure they were both safe (and to get clothes, so them and Jack aren't walking around completely naked), Lux leads the way into the Freehold Hollow.
Their lights are shimmering erratically, lime green-tinged. They're not wearing a shirt, because it'd just get bloodied anyway, so instead they have some gauze or something pressed to the larger wound on their chest that is still bleeding.
Mearcstapa has taken the time to grab his go-bag as well as his usual messenger bag and a pair of slip-on shoes; he didn't even bother to put on his boots because that involves tying and tightening and he didn't want to wait once he heard what was up. His freckles are erratically shifting color between green and red and back again, with different parts of his body going different colors at different times. He hasn't said a word for at least the last ten minutes, perhaps longer, everything in him in full alert mode.
Jack's mien is flickering erratically, bits of charcoal exploding away from him to disappear into nothing ness as he shifts from foot to foot, unable to keep still. He's got a hand on Lux's arm, or shoulder, or side, anywhere he can keep in constant physical contact with them without hurting them more. His clothes are Mearc's - a pair of brightly patterned pj pants and a t shirt, and he's got his docs unlaced and didn't bother with socks.
Sturm arrives very swiftly thereafter. Probably on account of she just departed the Winter hollow after other busines. The normally surly giant is... actually abnormally surly this evening - shoulders hunched, tugging on those terrible, bloodied bracers of hers - and then stopping to pinch the bridge of her nose between her blood-stained fingers. She's wearing her black overcoat, ripped jeans, an old concert tee, and an incredibly deep frown. She spots the group of Darklings, and stalks over.
"Fuckin' A," there's a grumble. "You all look like shit."
Lumi appears out of thin air coming toward the door as people start piling in. She's dressed in a long black greatcoat that adds just enough bulk to her frame to suggest it's armored, and she's wearing a longsword designed purely for function, with no adornment or decoration to it or its black scabbard. "Landeswehr," she says directly to Lux, as indication that she's who she seems outwardly to be. It may not mean anything to anyone else. "Let's go move to one of the cottages, so at least we can have a little privacy and put our backs to walls. I expect Marjorie to be along shortly." She simply turns and heads off, fully expecting people to follow her while she scans the area looking for threats. Rarely do Freehold members see the martial side of the Knight of Utmost Silence. It's usually bad when they do.
Mearc follows, but he takes the rear of the group, glancing over his shoulder as he does so--watching everyone's back. He trusts Jack to have Lux, while he has both of them.
Lux is clearly very much on edge, glowing eyes flitting around anxiously. They look at Sturm, staring a second before asking cautiously, "What candy did you give me last time we got high?" Then Lumi appears and they jolt, like a startled cat, eyes wide. But then she says Landeswehr and they relax, though a tremble lingers through their body. "Okay." They take in a breath, then move to follow.
Jack gives Sturm a quick nod, and flinches when Lumi appears. Almost all his attention is focused on Lux right now, and he doesn't say a word to either of them, though he glances over his shoulder to confirm that Mearc is bringing up the rear.
"Shit," Sturm shakes her head at Lumi's arrival. "Yeah. Landeswehr." Beat. "Nerds and Sour Patch Kids," Sturm gestures to Mearc and Jack as she lists the candies. A dark look crosses Sturm's face when Lumi mentions that Marjorie will be joining them, and she reaches up to scratch the back of her undercut with a long sigh.
Mearc snorts softly when Sturm mentions the candies, but still isn't speaking yet.
Lumi reaches the door to the cottage in silence, opens it and checks the room like a professional soldier. Doors and corners. She even thinks to look up, because that's the sort of paranoid person she is. "In," she suggests in her flat tone, while she stands at the doorway waiting for everyone to pile into the building. Walls only do so much with a Helldiver, but it's more than nothing.
Sturm's answer makes them relax a bit more, nodding faintly. They follow quietly into the cottage, but don't sit down. They seem too full of anxious energy to sit still, instead pacing and wandering while holding a hand over the deeper cut, though the one of their shoulder is still bleeding some too. Iron leaves some damn nasty marks. "Anyone... know how to properly bandage wounds? I'd like to... keep as much of my blood as I can, until I can get a healer in here."
Jack eyes the corners, doors, and ceiling too, when he walks in, before his gaze shifts back to Lux. Once they're all inside, he reaches out for Mearc's hand, too, if he's close enough.
"Petra's boyfriend is nocturnal - and he's my sparring partner. I can text him, and he can probably wake her up if she's not already awake." Sturm follows Lumi - double checking behind her - and only when satisfied does she lean her back into a corner. Though whatever post she takes up isn't far from Lux.
He pulls the first aid kit out of his go bag. "I have this, I'm not the best at using it, but if anyone is trained, feel free to use my supplies." Jack gets a nod, but the hand isn't accepted for the moment. Instead he posts up on the wall the door is on, holding a small hatchet. In case someone enters without making their intentions clear.
Once everyone is inside, Lumi steps in herself, closes the door, throws the deadbolt, and then situates herself so that if someone comes through it they'll be looking right at her, as the first target. She moves like she's always making sure she has an arc for drawing her sword. "Do you have quick clot bandages? That will do until we get a healer in here. I made a couple of calls, but only got voicemail.
"Getting ahold of Petra would be good," Lux mutters to Sturm with a nod, then turns to look at Lumi. "You... want the full report about... everything? Or should I wait for Marjorie to get here?"
"Petra's the one I'd call too," Jack agrees. "Or Annie."
Sturm nods, stepping outside to fire off a few quick text messages. She'll miss the next round of poses unless the group waits for her to return.
She, of course, fires off a text message before leaving - and then grumbles when she remembers that it doesn't work.
He gives Lumi a nod, moving away from the door to tend to Lux with the supplies in his kit--quick clot, ahoy. There's...a little less tenderness than might be called for. He is working efficiently more than gently, sorry Lux. But once he's done, he kisses the top of their head lightly.
There is a fair amount of wincing and whining. They're a fucking baby.
The subtlest, lightest rap on the door, and from without, Marjorie's voice. "Landeswehr."
Jack freezes and looks to the door, and grips Lux's shoulder (the not damaged one) just a little tighter.
"Let's hold off until--" Lumi cuts off when the knock comes, and Marjorie's voice, and she moves to open the door again. She gives a bow, moves aside, and then after Marjorie comes in she glances around outside before she shuts the door again.
"If you keep getting in trouble, hummingbird, I'll need to take a first aid class for you." Another forehead kiss, then he moves back to beside the door with his hatchet.
Hood pulled up over her head, hands tucked into her opposite sleeves, Marjorie steps inside, closing the door after herself. She presses her back against the wall, and takes a deep breath, moving toward Lux and -- pausing halfway there. "Okay. Explain. I've heard the short version."
"We could all take one together, make it a date." Jack gives Mearc a ghost of a smile before bowing his head respectfully at Marjorie.
Fortunately, Sturm is adept as fuck when it comes to sprinting the fuck outside the hollow to fire off text messages that she's already sent. There's another knock at the door - this one's rough, and hurried. "Landeswehr," comes the Jotunn's rumbling voice.
Lumi positions herself in a guard position, opens the door again when Sturm returns and offers the password, and then returns to where she was once everyone's back inside. She otherwise just waits and listens, letting Marjorie handle things.
Lux's glowing lime green gaze settled on the Queen and stares for a long moment before drawing in a deep breath. "I'll start at the beginning, since I don't think Lumi knows everything."
"Started a couple months ago, when Asbolus saw some suspicious files in Robin's cottage during a meeting with her. Labeled 'Dreamcatcher'. He told me. Later in a meeting with Marjorie she mentioned she was having visions about an iron dreamcatcher, and I mentioned the files Asbolus told me about. Marjorie told me to start looking into things--and to look into Robin, to try to see what was going on." They eye the Queen for a moment, then look to Lumi. "So that's what I've been doing this whole time, but Robin was fucking... really careful. You know about what happened on the Radio and all that. A couple weeks ago me and Asbolus broke into Robin's office and... well, you saw us. We found a suspicious letter, which I believe was between Robin and Marjorie. It was signed M, anyway." They look back to the Queen. "Our suspicions about Robin grew but I still had no proof to bring to the Hands, and I didn't... want to make these accusations without proof, especially with me being an Oathbreaker."
"So... I went and talked to Robin, a couple days ago. Played dumb, asked her about what was on the Radio and what she made of it. Was trying to get anything from her, but she still fucking... didn't give anything. I did notice that she kept her hand right beside a hidden iron knife the whole time I was talking to her, though. And--I'm pretty sure she came close to trying to break my brain, too. I saw her write down Jack's name. But I called her out on it, continued playing dumb and wide-eyed ditsy, and she ended up playing it off like she was writing the number of a contact in Baltimore to hand off to me."
"I'd been considering whether or not that was enough to come to you, the past few days... Then, well, this. I woke up a split-second before she tried to drive an iron knife through my heart. We ran." Their eyes lock on Marjorie. "But not before she said that you had already tried to stop her."
Mearc's gaze lingers on Marjorie, likely more on the back of her hood than anything else, at this angle, as he watches in silence. His freckles seem to have landed on Very Bright Green, with only a few lingering specs of red at the edges.
Sturm winces towards the end, there - but she stays silent, back to the wall and watching the faces of everyone in the room.
Boy, it sure would be inconvenient if the Winter Regent just crumpled like a fucking wet tissue and collapsed to the floor just now in a pile of hooded robe.
Shit.
Jack's eyes go wide as Lux talks - clearly the majority of this is new information to him. He looks to Lux, then to the rest, and then -
"What - fuck?" He lurches forward, his immediate response being to try to help.
Lumi's sword comes out in a flash as Marjorie collapses, faster than the time it takes her to realize what probably happened. She takes a couple of steps closer and curses. "Fuck," she says in a sharper tone than usual, a bit of emotion leaking in around the edges.
Lux blinks, eyes going wide. They stagger back a step, looking panicked suddenly. "I--what--Marjorie?" Apparently their anger towards the Monarch isn't absolute, as it's swiftly replaced by worry.
Mearc moves from beside the door to right in front of it, his posture shifting as he gets ready for a potential fight.
Lux pales--as much as they can pale, which really just means that their colors wash out of color. Immense guilt hits them like a brick wall, face twisting into a desperate frown. "I... I didn't mean..."
"Not your fault, firefly." It's an almost automatic response, from Jack, and he gives Lux a concerned frown before returning his attention to the comatose Marjorie.
Sturm pushes herself up from the wall - there's an incomprehensable grumble. Then? "Fuck." Beat. "Fuck."
As he realizes what happened, he leans into the door. "Fuck, are there any Truebalms that would be in the hollow at this hour? Or any of the court hollows? Doll's one, right?"
Why has Mearc been paying attention to Doll Wood? Reasons.
"... I can think of one." says Sturm.
"Sturm," Lumi says in firm command. "Would you move her over to the bed?" She slides her sword away, pauses for a couple of seconds as she looks around and gathers her thoughts. "If she put herself into a coma, then we're not getting her out right here and now." She glances at Mearcstapa, considers that, and says with a look at Sturm, "if you know one, we should try to get in touch with them."
"Someone who's skilled at Oneiromancy....might be an option, too." Jack returns to Lux's side and puts a protective hand on their shoulder again.
Lux stays back and out of the way, their mantle cold and shimmering as they stare at the comaed Queen, trying to keep their composure and... sort of succeeding. Sort of. "Yeah. Don't... think Trubalms are going to be of help right now..."
"You know, on some level, it's possible provoking this response from Marjorie was Robin's secondary goal. She'd find out inevitably, if you got away. It's a clever attack, if she was thinking that far ahead." He grimaces.
Sturm follows Lumi's instruction, delicately sliding her arms underneath Marjorie and lifting the Winter monarch up - supporting her like one might a baby - and carrying her over to the bed. Good thing Sturm's strong and good at lifting things up. Also probably good that Marjorie doesn't way much more than wet paper. "With how far back some of our evidence points... I wouldn't be surprised if this was a planned outcome."
Lumi's eyes scan the room again, and then fall on Jack. "Martingale, right?" she asks. "Would you go start putting out word in search of a skilled oneiromancer? Do not include context about what happened or to who, but that we need to help someone get out of a clarity coma? Let's not let word of this get out where Robin might take advantage of it."
Lux grimaces, eyes closing for a moment before looking to Mearcstapa. "...It makes sense, yeah... The fucking bitch is smart..."
Jack's still flickering, but the idea that he can do something about this whole mess seems to have calmed him down a little. That, and the fact that Lux isn't in danger of bleeding out anymore. "Can do. Somewhere as public as a notice in the Freehold?"
"If you don't want to do it as a public notice, I'd spread it to DA, then get word to Annie--she talks to everyone who comes into Club Vertigo and has good people-sense, and you'll hit a lot of the Freehold with that method. Lots of people talk to Direct Action; the Summers for training, Teagan gets around talking to everyone because Everybody Talks to the Mirror, Jackie and Sigrun lead a lot of the patrols. And Vertigo's a solid hangout for most of us." He glances at Lumi, though, to see if that would be acceptable.
"Action first, speculation later," Lumi suggests. Firmly. "Mearcstapa, good ideas. Also, can you reach out to people you trust, quietly, to ask for people to stand guard with Marjorie until Robin can be dealt with? Do any of you know of a secure place that nobody else in Winter, including me, would have known about where we can secure her? It might not do much good if she knows the right skills, but it's something." Then she snaps her fingers. "Alain. Do any of you know Alain deVahl, to contact her?"
"I may be able to secure a location, it will take phone calls. I will not tell you where it is."
"I can talk to my motley," her answer is simple. "They'll know as soon as we finish up here. I'll keep details to a minimum, though." Sturm is still standing near Marjorie - almost protectively. Which is weird, considering she yelled at her less than an hour ago. "Once we put word out about that, what're we doing about Robin? Where the fuck do we even start looking for her?" Beat. "Wait, I know Alain. Snooty chick, right? Why?"
"I should probably assume that everywhere I have been lately has been compromised," Lux mutters with a wince. The question of what to do about Robin has Lux's eyes settle back on Lumi, eyelights sharpening to lasers.
"I'll talk to Annie, I'm in Vertigo often enough." Jack nods. "Dunno Alain though - who's she?"
"She's an oneiromancer, and Winter," Lumi answers for Sturm. "As for Robin, I think our best bet there is to lay a trap for her, and when she springs it, we kill her before she has a chance to escape. We'll need to figure out the details, and I'm open to suggestions." She says it like someone might talk about throwing away a piece of bread that had gone moldy, like it's simply no big deal to her.
"I don't mind being bait, if you think she's vengeful enough to take it. She might not care about killing me now though, now that she has nothing left to loose," Lux murmurs, clearly itching for any reason to be there when they kill Robin.
"Fuck," says Sturm.
At that, Jack's hand tightens on Lux's shoulder still more. "You shouldn't have to be bait, babe, that's...'s fucking dangerous, she already..."
"Fuck." Sturm frowns. "Lux and I set Wren towards stopping Robin's plans at the money level - which is her chosen arena, right? I don't think Lux is who she'll be going after..." Beat. "If Robin's as smart as she seems to be, I think Wren is in big danger... and might be our bait."
"Make sure that Wren is alerted to the danger immediately," Lumi says when that news comes to her. "She might be in danger currently, if Robin is running down a hit list. If she doesn't attack tonight, that might work."
Lux scowls, about to argue with Jack, then just falls quiet. They glance to Sturm as she offers up the different idea, looking sulky but not disputing.
"Wren, with enough warning to write up a plan, is a mad genius." He nods, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts. "Lumi, do you want any winters on guard duty, or is this only other courts?"
"Sturm, d'you have Alain's contact info? If she's winter, it might make more sense for you to reach out to her, if you're on...well, neutral terms, at least. If not I'll do some digging, see if I can find her."
"Not alone," Lumi says in answer to Mearcstapa's question. "At least not anyone who has had recent contact with Robin. If there are others on duty with them, then that gives me less concern."
"...I want to be there, at least," Lux mutters after a moment. "If I can catch her off guard, I can hypnotize her with my lights, keep her from disappearing while others kill her."
"... I also don't like suggesting this, but I've got a house out past Kenzo where I lived off the grid for a bit. With some updates, it could be relatively secure - and only like. Four people know where it is, and it's not in my name, so finding it will be very hard." She frowns. "... but I don't have Alain's contact info, though I could probably get ahold of her pretty easily. I know where her Bar Of Choice is."
"Lux, don't be a martyr. I know you feel guilty right now. But please, don't put yourself in harm's way at this point in time." He frowns, then looks up at Sturm. "I've got places in mind, too. If Lumi wants Winters not to know, can you trust me with securing a safehouse and recruiting guards?"
"You give me the name of the bar and I'm happy to make the connection, 'les you want to. Doesn't matter to me." Jack shrugs.
"My primary concern is that if Winter courtiers as an aggregate know of a place, there's a good chance that Robin does," Lumi provides by way of explanation for her concerns. "Knowing that kind of thing was partly Robin's job, after all. If one of you thinks you have a way to get in touch with Alain, then I'll leave that task to you. Her, or another Oneiromancer."
"I'm not trying to be a martyr," Lux snaps. "I just want to watch her die. I'm offering myself where I'd be useful." They step away from the others and finally move to sit down, slumping into a chair, face tense and cold now.
"What's useful now is for you to not put yourself in more danger than you need to." Jack sighs. "We don't have to figure it out now - maybe there'll be a way for you to be there without putting yourself at risk. Lumi, you want us to send any onieromancers we find to you?"
"I'll text you the name of the bar once we finish up here, Jack - and the name of a bartender that I've used before for information about some patrons. He's one of us, so I'm sure it won't take more than a polite request." Sturm turns her gaze to Lumi. "We made sure to run a checklist with our core group to make sure that none of us went through Winter when we got set up in Philly, but." She shrugs mightily, and then looks to Lux. "Yeah, fair." She sticks out her tongue. Wow, a less-than-entirely-serious expression from Sturm? "Lux, if you get any more hurt, I will kick your ass."
"Please," Lumi responds to Jack. "I'm going to remain here with Marjorie to keep guard until we have other's to do that job, and a safe place to relocate her to." She looks around the room and then says, in her constant flat monotone. "This isn't any of your fault. Forget what you might have done differently, at least for now. Think about that later, when this is over. We don't have time for it. Does anyone else need instructions or clarification?"
"Okay. The other big concern I have is that Robin created almost everyone's new identities in the past almost-two years. So in addition to setting up guard rotations, I will be busy suring up paperwork, making sure she can't pull everyone's identities out from under them." Mearc smiles. "This is why I became Scrivener."
Lux shrugs at Sturm, then looks to Lumi. "Anything you want me to do? Or if I'm just going to be ordered to lay low, I might as well help out with guard duty."
"Where do you want me on this - other than coordinating, I mean?" Sturm quirks an eyebrow at Lumi. "... and if we happen to encounter Robin, I assume there's no need to try and bring her back alive?"
"That may be less of a problem if Robin is dead shortly," Lumi says impassively to Mearcstapa. "but it's a good point. To that end, I can't imagine that she's still a member of the Freehold after tonight's attack. I'll talk to Ari about the official declaration as soon as I can, but don't try to capture her alive. Both for your own sanity and your safety."
"She broke something tonight. The feeling's what woke me up." Jack shudders and takes the few steps to Lux, resuming the physical contact.
Lumi adds to all of this, "in fact, Lux, would you reach out to Ari on my behalf? I don't wish to leave here until further guards arrive."
Lux nods in agreement with Jack. "Yeah, it snapped as soon as she stabbed me." They glance to Lumi, then nods. "Sure." They push to their feet. "I'll go track them down."
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