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Post by demikara on Jul 15, 2019 18:39:50 GMT -6
Tyrus had easily gotten Lex to agree, and Kasimir had folded like a stack of cards with gentle prodding and a reminder that Tyrus knew the family magic, vampire or not. That worked on most vampires actually, though given he was essentially in exile, he didn't see too many vampires any more. His next target was usually sympathetic, or could be persuaded to be at least. After June was when it got to be tricky. The rest of the council was, as far as he was concerned, full of bastards. But he'd have to pick one to finagle down and fast. Catherine at least need the restrictions partially removed or she was going to die and he would not allow that to happen.
He had managed to make an appointment though, so him showing up in June's doorway was not unexpected. He smiled to her, his politician's smile, and stopped in the doorway until she invited him in. It was one thing to be just outside. It was another entirely to show up and step in. "Councilor Blackwelder, your secretary waved me through. Thank you for agreeing to see me so quickly." He just hoped this would work. The other targets were hard targets to break.
He'd find something though. He may no longer have the court resources behind him, but he did have all the training from years of playing the game, and resources of his own as well.
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Post by Circe on Jul 17, 2019 17:01:16 GMT -6
June set aside a batch of paperwork as Tyrus entered the office. "Of course, although I must admit this is a bit of a surprise. You usually do everything you can to not talk to us." She said eyeing the smile with caution. The man had been raised by vampires, and while he was still human by some means the Council didn't quite understand, they also knew any time he approached them of his own free will was to be treated with caution.
"I've shifted a few appointments around, giving us hopefully enough time to discuss whatever this is that's so important you've begged this meeting." June added, knowing that by far she wasn't a favorite person of many of the unseen community.
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Post by demikara on Jul 17, 2019 17:09:30 GMT -6
"I'm usually just as busy as you are." He admitted. "Though I've given in and gotten a personal assistant. He's been helpful." For a given value of helpful. He took the seat and offered a smile. "I came because a student of mine is showing signs of a serious illness, magical in nature, and I need the council's assistance." All true. "My student is suffering from magical poisoning. Are you familiar with it?"
He had to play this safe. Luckily, he had a great many students, even if most of them were just control lessons for small children. Pin-pointing this far was going to be, he hoped, difficult. Of course, given magical poisoning required strong magic to begin with and he had approximately one student the council had ordered him to take, she probably already had a good idea of who he was speaking of. He wanted to take his time getting there. There were reasons Catherine had her binding, and she didn't discuss them with him. He'd find out though, no doubt as he tried to convince councilors to at least lessen the binding.
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Post by Circe on Jul 17, 2019 17:18:14 GMT -6
She didn't return his smile, and instead sat there stone faced as he sat down. "Perhaps then we should increase your caseload for Broadmoore then?" June asked, more than happy to send individuals for treatment rather than incarceration. Although, at one time Broadmoore had done double duty. After Tyrus's proposed reforms though, they sent sentenced individuals to other facilities housed elsewhere.
"But, I am aware of its existence, however there are less than a 100 cases reported per year. It's the stuff of fiction mainly Mr. Rahal, as very little research has been done to prove it a thing." June commented, her mind trying to suss out just what exactly Tyrus was getting at. The man often went through Kasimir, as the vampire was admittedly easy to bully and still had a soft spot for humans. Either he hadn't gotten what he wanted from Kasimir, or Alexander even, or there was something more going on that meant he was carefully picking his battles.
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Post by demikara on Jul 17, 2019 17:36:22 GMT -6
"He does primarily work for me at Broadmoore. The facility is mostly renovated so we'll be able to start accepting more patients soon enough." He was proud of his work there, and rather vigilant over it, given his concern that someone might lapse back to their old ways. Things in the Unseen moved slowly. Attitudes did as well. His lips twisted at the idea that it was little more than a legend.
"I wish it was the stuff of fiction. It's too akin to mundane radiation poisoning, if opposite in nature. After, it comes from not being able to release magic, instead of exposure to magic. I have some older literature to back it up, a few pre-veil books and scrolls. They're fragile, but they were key in diagnosing me as a child." He knew magic poisoning all too well. "Despite my casual use of magic now, as a child I hated using it." He shrugged and grimaced. There was nothing he could do about his childhood. Not doing magic was his way of rebelling and the cause of quite a few of the scars on his back.
"It's caused by not using magic. It's essentially a build up that needs released. Otherwise, your own magic begins to kill you slowly. It's...not pleasant."
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Post by Circe on Jul 17, 2019 17:49:29 GMT -6
"And might I ask how you came into possession of items that more than likely belong in Council archives?" June asked. From what she had heard from the latest archivist, was that most documentation before roughly 800 A.D. was absent at worst, and limited at best. Much of it was from contradictory schools of thought, and hardly the stuff that was anything more than hypothesis and theory; there was no practicum present.
"While I'm not loathe to dismiss you Mr. Rahal, I am one of practicality and managing risk. If the solution is as easy as the release of magic, then why are you not instructing your student to do as such in a proscribed environment?"
June was far from happy with Tyrus's insistence that he make circles around the topic, hardly ever addressing the real subject matter. It was a waste of her time, and his could have been better suited to preparing the facility for more patients as far as June was concerned.
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Post by demikara on Jul 17, 2019 17:53:09 GMT -6
"Gifts from my parents. I'm sure I could be convinced to part with them." Especially if he got his way. There were advantages to being stupid rich and raised on politics. "And I have. But there are two problems. She is reluctant to use magic. I've been working with her, but she's scared of herself. She has excellent control though. But also, she is bound very tightly. She cannot use her magic to the extent she needs to in order to stay alive."
He met her eyes. "Catherine has served her time in hell. She will be a warden for the next two centuries, minimum, essentially an indentured servant of the council. I would prefer if her binding was removed entirely. I will settle for it being less restrictive."
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Post by Circe on Jul 17, 2019 18:02:23 GMT -6
June sighed as Tyrus explained the situation in more direct terms. It was as she had suspected, that there was trouble in Dallas and not the kind that the team could handle. With the caseload assigned to that branch, it was amazing that things had held up this long, given the circumstances at current. "Keep them." She said as she mulled over what he had said.
It was true that Catherine had risen to the level of Warden based on her own skill alone, and had never been one to take advantage of her father's political position. But the incident in South American had spooked all of Council, and they had placed her in Broadmoore after much deliberation about whose safety they were protecting; hers or the rest of the unseen.
"I don't think you know what you're asking for here Tyrus."
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Post by demikara on Jul 17, 2019 18:06:11 GMT -6
"Then tell me. She won't talk of it. She insists I ask the council why she's bound. I know it was a code black. I know roughly when it occurred. But whatever it was is getting in the way of both her as my student and her as my friend." He needed to understand why they would hobble one of their best Wardens, one of the most dedicated people he had seen. He knew her well enough now to know that she couldn't have done anything intentionally.
She had a soft spot for kids, however well hidden it was, and he was pretty certain a soft spot for the idiots on her team, including Bronson who was little more than a child half the time. She hated using her magic, used her psionic abilities rarely, and was mostly harmless despite all her training. He needed to know why they would do this.
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Post by Circe on Jul 17, 2019 18:31:38 GMT -6
June took a breath and pursed her lips for a moment before letting it go. A gulf of silence sat between Tyrus and herself as she tried to best explain what had happened. "It was when her father died." She finally said. "There was a dispute between Oberon and a minor god of the greek pantheon, Pan. Sir William, may his soul be eternal, took Oberon's side as he was loyal to the Seelie court. Unfortunately there was dimensional spill over, and MCU was called in to mitigate the damage." June began to explain.
The Council had held their collective breaths as the reports came in, many of them not good. The toll had been unimaginable, and they had lost many valuable individuals during it. "Eventually Oberon betrayed everyone, believing that the power of a Titan raised by Pan would protect the Seelie from the constant aggressions and encroachments of the Unseelie. Sir William challenged him on it, and they both lost their lives as a result." She continued. The situation had been a mess.
"Catherine did what anyone would have, she lost her mind. Her grief and despair fueled a blind rage that decimated entire armies... easily." June added. "There is some.. recording I think is the mundane term... thanks to Agathon."
June muttered a few words under her breath, the lights dimmed, and an image shimmered into being. The two were treated to a view of a muddy field, somewhere in the South American jungle. It didn't take long before the shaky and slightly blurry image stabilized, focusing on an individual who looked like Catherine. The woman had waist length long, white hair that was whirling about them on an invisible wind. It was this same wind that tossed aside armies like dolls, crushing and incinerating as it went.
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Post by demikara on Jul 18, 2019 7:22:58 GMT -6
"Oh Catherine." He murmured. He understood her reluctance now. This would have killed people. She had lost herself to her grief and paid the price. "I can see the need for the binding. She doesn't have the training to redirect her magic when her emotions are high." He had it. There was a reason there was an abundance of rubber ducks when he got drunk or overly anything. The only time that had been different was when he had been knocked out hard, and even that hadn't been this. "I can give her that training. But I see the need for a binding. Could we loosen it at least some? She need to use more magic than she currently is."
She needed to learn how to control her magic until she was in a safe place. That was going to be significantly harder to do, especially given her now understandable reluctance. She wasn't going to like it, but they'd have to step up training if something like this had happened. She couldn't continue to be so reluctant if she was going to actually master her magic and not have it run roughshod over her.
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Post by Circe on Jul 18, 2019 15:11:34 GMT -6
"In a way that is true... she was initially trained as a psychic, probably because that was easiest initially. We did however, discover that her father's familial signature is for producing remarkably strong psychics. The magic however we're not entirely sure where that comes from." June explained waving a hand to pause the recording. "While she has indeed served her time in hell... I'm still not entirely sure you know what you're up against, and call me risk adverse, but what happened there gave the Council a great deal of concern." She added, waving two fingers across the image.
The images faded and ran together to produce a new image, this time it was Catherine against a six man containment team hand picked and sent by the Council to retrieve what was now a liability. It wasn't a fair fight, and it quickly turned into a blood bath that the now Warden seemed to almost revel in. "I apologize if these images are disturbing to you, but if you're presenting yourself as willing to train and teach control... you have a right to know what you're getting into. I'm not Agathon who enjoys other's misery, you've done us a great service by taking over Broadmoore, we at least owe you this." She continued as she paused the image again. The expression on Catherine's face was wild, dark, and unrepentant.
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Post by demikara on Jul 18, 2019 15:34:02 GMT -6
Tyrus watched, not looking away. "It looks like a berserker rage." She looked like she was enjoying herself. The Catherine he knew would not enjoy this. He had no doubt this was some kind of limit remover, similar to a berserker rage if not the exact thing. "I grew up in the vampire court, June. I have seen much, much worse." A berserker rage was harder to teach against. It would be harder to redirect. "I confess I'm not certain how to train away an instinctual response like that. But I am certain that I can learn how to. Until she is taught, it may be best the entirety of the binding not be removed."
He was going to have to carve some serious time into his schedule if he wanted to be able to help his friend, and carve out serious time in hers as well. And he had to convince her, somehow, to put her all into this. It looked like, however informal the arrangement, he really was about to take on apprentice, if one more learned than he had thought. "I do have experience with vampires in a rage at least. I'd have to use a different method to take down Catherine, but it would be doable, if she's unable to clearly think in her rage."
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Post by Circe on Jul 18, 2019 15:55:24 GMT -6
"Perhaps. When we did finally manage to retrieve her, she was nigh unreachable. Her mind was closed off and any attempts, psychic or otherwise were easily thwarted. In the end we had to result in giving her a heavy doses of ketamine to keep her tranquilized in an effort to maintain her own safety. Considering the physiology, I'm personally surprised it worked as well as it did." June replied.
She knew that Tyrus had grown up in the vampire court, and perhaps one of the tamer ones in her opinion given the proclivities of the others. But, she couldn't disagree that perhaps he was one of the few that could actually provide an acceptable remedy to all parties involved. Even if one of those parties was reluctant to agree. "I'm sure you'll find a way to train through the response." She said, hoping that it was at least possible. If it wasn't, then there was little left that could be done. "Because let's face it Tyrus, you're going to have your handsful."
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Post by demikara on Jul 18, 2019 16:04:59 GMT -6
"She's scared. She's not going to make it easy." He admitted. There was very little easy about what she'd need to learn. He could acknowledge the difficulties in what was needed. "If it was feasible I'd request six months alone with her. But I already know it isn't." That would be ideal. But it wouldn't work with his responsibilities or hers. He'd come up with another solution and not back down from it. Catherine would have to learn control and to use her magic and not fear it. It was going to be a very long journey, but if it meant she was free, it would be worth it.
"She's been getting better with her control now, with the binding on. She only has troubles when frustrated, and even those aren't as severe as they used to be. If my parents could train me how to redirect my magic when I was five, then I'm sure I can train her to safely redirect it." There was a reason that when drunk his magic defaulted to rubber ducks and flamingos and chocolate milk. He had trained it when he was five as an instinctual reaction to a lack of control. It was a little difficult to retrain it, and it wasn't safe to do so.
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