Inside 71: All I Want For Thanksmas Is You

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"I burn for my transgression. She comes, she comes. The spawn of the queen, how could I have been so foolish?" the man mutters. "You. Yooooouuuuu. Too late my hour. Too early yours. Find her. End my suffering." He laughs madly. "Lost in the fishmarket, what a fate. Oh that I had drowned before I e'er clapped eyes on her." Suddenly he's worked up into a frenzy, frothing at the mouth and shaking violently. "AARGH! Don't let her near me! Kill me first! Quickly!" He manages to get his teeth into the cloth of his straightjacket and bites at it viciously to no effect. "So many foolish choices! When does anyone ever see? Could I, could I..." He begins weeping, curling up into the fetal position as much as he's able.

Wow. He's really unstable, and probably suicidal. No wonder Sapphira said not to let him hurt himself.

[Deathkeeper]

[All I Want for Thanksmas is You]

Nim waves again to the detective.
"Call me Nim. I go to Inside City College, so not a detective. You looked like you wanted some peace and quiet; that's why I pointed you here."
Nim turns to the lady.
"Everyone's phones and stuff are going crazy! You don't know anything about stuff that makes music play out of everything nearby do you?" he says loudly to the lady.
"Also you got any cool antiques about about cool ancient monsters?" Nim has only gotten more interested in the subject recently so it doesn't hurt to ask. Inside antique shops are pretty great.

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

Ugh.

Not only does Alex need to baby sit someone,s he has to baby sit someone who's a madman.

Fantastic.

Is there some semblance of sense in his ravings? Let's see. The queen's spawn. Talking about Sapphira? Or maybe some mortal queen? Probably the former since Sapphira referred to him as an old friend. Too late for him (crazy) too early for her?

Still hope for me.

Kill him? No chance. That would be a pretty obvious one way ticket to getting murdered by an angry devil. Alex really preferred the more hands off patrons. It gave her FAR more leeway to act and potentially usurp plans. Only problem is, she is having a hard time wanting to usurp Sapphira's plans. Just imagining how much corruption they'll no doubt culminate in? Delicious. She shivers just thinking about it.

Alex finally settles on sitting down on the couch nearest the restrained man, reclining in a suitably seductive fashion.

"So, old friend of the Mistress, are you? Don't suppose you can tell that story?"

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"Miiiiiiiistressssss. Best night of my life. Who knew? Now I burn. Burn burn burn burn burn burn. You. Burn." The madman wriggles around to face Alex. "Mistress this, mistress that. I should have... I should have... Where are my knives? There's a throat what needs cutting!" He lunges at Alex, but can't really do anything, bound as he is. "You have the image. Did you... Your walk yes. Sir now madam. Escape! Escape!" He rolls over and over, coming to rest at the foot of Alex's couch. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't." He suddenly starts laughing at Alex hysterically. "No point in seducing me. Those bits're all burned out! Ha, ha! Best night of my life!" As quickly as the hilarity starts, it ends with the madman collapsing back into weeping. "So fell the house of Crowley. A bucket of ale, bartender, to drown my sorrows and my poxed life."

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

Alright.

Saying this guy has a few screws loose would be an understatement.

Less a screw loose and more a whole hardware store rattling around unattended.

Should the lunging get a little too close, Alex will plant a foot on the madman to hold him at bay. Considering that he's bound he couldn't be that much of a threat, right?

So!

It sounds like this fellow had a wild night with Sapphira. And they had a child together? And-

Her eyes narrow a little.

"How can you tell what I was like before the Mistress changed me?" she asks. That shouldn't be obvious, should it? She's incredibly adept at acting her part.

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"All the priestesses are shaped the same. Mistress can't help herself. I could've... I should've been you. Some things are too precious to give up. We never see the consequence. Find her! The war goddess, she will free me. Blood and wine and blood and wine, drink until you cannot stand," the madman suddenly tries to bite Alex's foot. "Walk away, walk away, into the dark. Respite. Endings. Infinity. Not for me, no no. To the pit with ye! To fall and burn forevermore. Bring her to me... Restore my honor in the sight of my queen. No! No queens, no mistresses. Kill them all! Blessed silver silence!" His voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. "The palace is all circles. Round and round and round."

[WindStruck]

[All I want for Thanksmas is you!]

Solstice visibly winces a bit as the loud, annoying music becomes incomprehensible noise, maybe like static.

"Um. Yes. 'Weird stuff'," Solstice calls back. "It surprised me in my room and it.. I think it is everywhere.."

She sighs. She had no idea what she would do ... no, wait. Maybe a few ideas. But they probably were not good ones.

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

Thankfully Alex is wearing shoes and the biting is largely ineffectual.

"All the same? Mistress is partial to the shapely ladies, then? I suppose I can't blame you for wanting this," she gestures at herself. "Instead of lunacy."

How many people would seriously pick insanity over a luscious figure?

"Can't say I know any war goddesses. Nor would I feel inclined to free you even if I could," she replies with a cruel smirk. "I think I like watching you wriggle around on the floor too much."

She feels a spike of guilt, taking pleasure at his suffering as she is. I can do better.

War goddess?

There are too many goddess in the Nexus to count.

Who could he possibly be talking about?

Some sort of rival to Sapphira?

"Hmm..." Alex hums aloud. "Priestesses... The Mistress must have more warlocks, then."

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"Warlocks. More locks. Locked away, never see the light! Light, how I long to touch your face again." The madman gives a look of melancholy. "Too late, too late, too late. Power at a price. Manhood at a price. The best night at a price. Who would fardels bear? The wages of sin are pain undying. If I had been you... I..." He rolls onto his chest and tries to push himself up, muttering and then shouting an incantation. "HAVAAD THULU FAVOS!" There's a crackle of eldritch power, and the madman actually rises off the floor a few inches from the force of it. Alex was just asking about other warlocks of Sapphira's? That little show makes it clear that there are, and this man is one of them. A frighteningly powerful one. Probably as strong as or stronger than Alex. "She has need, what need. Why torment me so? I will serve the mistress I will."

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

"Everything costs something," Alex sighs. "You got a night of fun. I got a sword to save my town."

She scowls.

"I should have just let those weaklings die. They didn't deserve what I sacrificed for them."

I don't really believe that. I don't. I DON'T. I'm sorry Annabelle, I couldn't get to you faster.

Then a raised eyebrow at the eldritch display. Pretty lights!

"Alright that's enough of that. You can rave all you want but you had better not burn my rug. It really ties the room together."

Serious warning right there.

"If you ruin anything you're getting locked in the bathroom."

[Vahnavoi]

[Near Cormorant House]

The masked figure turns on its heels to face the beast when it hears the crash. It grabs its long sword with both hands and cautiously approaches. When the piece of rubble falls on the wendigo, the figure stops and lifts its sword above its head. Then, at the same moment when the beast charges forward, the figure does as well and executes a single downwards slash. The arc of the gleaming white blade lingers on the air, as if it escaped the sword and became a thing of its own, like the first ray of dawn splitting the night sky.

If the masked figure judged its blow right this time, it ought to hit the front of the beast and bisect it vertically. If not, its blade will once again cut only part way before being repelled by the eldritch cold. Whether either scenario is enough to stop the wendigo for grasping it, remains to be seen.

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"Ruuuuuiiiiiin. The house has fallen. You're already ruined. Just a matter of time. You can taste it, can't you? Like fish-oil. It fills everything. Eeeeeevrythiiiiiing." He coughs. "Magic mirror, on the wall, who's the cruellest one of all?" More laughing ensues. "Her cup runneth over with ill intent. So much that it fills every one it touches. Lost, we are all lost. Some shepherds lead the sheep astray. Here. She comes. She will come. She'll save me. She could save you. Don't look a gift in the mouth. Blue was her color, like the sea. Let me free so I may drown myself in her power!"

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

Alexandria watches the madman writhe and laugh and rant and...

Considers something.

See, now she's curious. This insane fellow has thus far proven uncannily insightful in spite of... well. Being mad. So how would he react to-

The tiefling reaches up to her face with both hands and covers it. Feel the darkness in her soul like a greasy stain. Feel the grime between her fingers. Push it deeper. Further. Fainter.

How long can she hold it down?

Probably not very.

She can already feel it prickling at the edges. Like the sting of a nettle. An awful burning feeling. But for a little while, maybe a few minutes at most, she can feel real joy again.

Rose pulls her hands away, her face changed. No horns, cercine ears, fair skin, a single burgundy rose tucked into her dark hair just above the left ear. Not a real change of Mask. She can't risk that. No way no how. Not until the venom is purged from her. Somehow. This is just a spell. Many faces, one she's well acquainted with. She couldn't find her hind legs with it if she tried.

"Not everything," Rose insists, offering the best comforting smile she can manage. "Not me. Ashmedai couldn't control me, Buttercup couldn't control me, and Sapphira won't control me, either. I might have messed up bad, but I'm not giving up. Not yet. Not ever."

There is only darkness and ashes for me. No, my fire's still burning bright and my heart can still feel.

"Now," she says, taking a deep breath as she focuses on the madman. "You must be important. How come?"

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

The madman falls silent as Rose changes. Then she asks him a question. "My story's done, let me die in peace. She got what she wanted but not all. So I burned. Trust is weakness, if you want it done right, do it yourself. The little one is gone. Hopefully, for good. What year is it? Pray she never finds her. Pray to the gods whom I forsook." He chuckles grimly. "Fate has his tentacles in everything. This is mine. Free me. Please." He looks pleadingly at Rose. "Just a prick of your thorn, and then blood, so much blood, then final darkness."

[Rebonack]

[Alex' Apartment]

Rose is putting pieces together here.
The queen's spawn.
A wild night.
Pray she never finds her.

It's becoming increasingly clear to Rose what this madman is beating around the bush about.

"Don't let Sapphira find your daughter," she guesses. "Is that what you're trying to tell me? Is that who's so important?"

Why would a half-fiend be such a big deal?

She met a few in her travels. Some of them were a bit on the odd side. Some really fell hard on their fiendish heritage, which typically manifested as meanness. There must be something else going on here that Rose doesn't know about. Some context for-

Wait, Fate?

Wasn't that temple she robbed a church of Fate?

[Shadowcaller]

[Park Inspection]


"I'd just reach over and take it. You wouldn't feel a thing." the large cat-beast reassures her
"But yes, if you can provide someone to fight - someone skilled, of course, that would do nicely."

[Park Inspection]

The woman considers these words for a little while. "And my other body? Would it also be missing a piece? I suppose so." She answers her own question as she was making it.

"Very well, I agree to those terms, fey. A part of my heart for another body."

[Morty]

[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

Non-police involvement in those matters is always tricky, but Michalson won't look a gift cranium rat in the mouth.

"Peace an' quiet are nice, but what I need is a solution. The fact that the music isn't playing 'ere is a clue. It seems to work only above a certain tech level."

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"The air. The heir to the throne. She's the center of the circle. I could've been you. I chose wrong." The madman wriggles around to face Rose. "She did this. Now I burn for my transgression. Kill me. Please. Freedom. You could be free. She could set you loose." He begins sobbing again. "Mistress, take me back! I repent, I repent! It wasn't my fault. It wasn't..." "You feel it. The tar of Corruption." Not a question. He really does have an insight born of madness. "Flame purifies. Flame refines. Find the flame."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Kraken Open a Book]

Persistence, it would seem, is all our aquatic heroes really needed. Before long they step out of the long dark hallways and back onto the street! It looks like Suzie has successfully acquired several books with the help of no one else! She is very wise and clever. Well now what?

Buttercup, you're Under Arrest

Nick scratches at one of his lame human ears that have to strain to hear what people are saying.
"That's sort of what I'm getting at. You can try it, and report back to me. But...well, I'll have the team do some brainstorming. What if we have nothing she wants even if she was willing to hear a proposal to release her claim on our people or at least stay out? If we're lucky she'll want something weird we didn't think of because faeries are like that." That's mostly what Nick got out of all that briefing. Faeries are weird.

[Kraken Open a Book]

Victory! Was there ever any doubt? No magical library could ever contain such a fierce and formidable Kraken as her! "Muahaha! Foolish keepers of forbidden knowledge, daring to defy me! Minion, we must return to our lair and-" Suzie pauses and frowns. "Minion! We must acquire a lair, and then return to it!"

*****

[Buttercup, you're Under Arrest!]

"Thank you, sir. Let's see if I get anywhere with this." Ithuriel swiftly about-turns and heads off back to her prisoner. There's more interrogating to do!

And really, how much damage could Buttercup have done, being left alone for that short amount of time?

[Rebonack]

[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

Michalson makes an astute observation. Not all technology is vomiting the awful tune everywhere. Anything electronic appears to be affected while that hand cranked gramophone is immune. So they know the effect is magical. And they know know that machines that don't run on electricity are immune. What they DON'T know is the how or why.

"Hmm?" the old woman hums at Nim. "Only music I'm hearing is my record playing, honey. That and the old radio. Don't know what you're talking about. But I have got a pretty little statue around here somewhere..."

She sets the ear trumpet down and begins rummaging around on her shelves, eventually coming back with a foot tall sphinx statue fashioned from black quartz. It's sitting atop a rectangular base, its wings folded against its body. There's a slight aura of magic pulsing around it.

"I've got this old thing. Pretty, isn't she? Some old fellow in a nice fedora sold it to me, something about falling on hard times," she says, smiling at Nim as she places it on the counter.

This probably won't help solve the mystery.

But it IS pretty!

Fascinatingly, once Michalson's phone is within thirty feet or so of the old store the music stops playing as well. Something in here is suppressing it somehow. If it weren't then that vacuum tube radio in the back of the shop and that old juke box would probably be blasting the obnoxious song, too. What's in here that isn't out there? Old gramophones, some music boxes, old books, lunch boxes, ancient toys, odd curios, fancy lamps. Lots of things. But what would suppress an electronic plague?


[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Solstice

"Yeah it's pretty annoying," Zee shouts back. "And it DOES seem to be everywhere. I've no idea what's causing it. I would look into it, but I really need to decorate for the Thanksmas party. Hmm oh!"

She smiles over at Solstice.

"I've got a job for you, Solstice. In exchange for a further one month lease on your room, I would like you to search for the cause of this musical plague and, if possible, find a way to put a stop to it."

Hey that's a pretty good deal, isn't it?

"I can't have this music making everyone's ears bleed during the Thanksmas party. It would help me out a TON. I think that's definitely worth at least another month of board."


[Alex' Apartment]

So maybe there IS a way to remove Sapphira's blot on her soul? That greasy mass of mean stealing her joy. It isn't as bad when she's like this, but she can still feel its caustic touch. She probably shouldn't remain Rose for much longer.

"She can help me?" Rose asks. "You mean your daughter? She can remove what Sapphira did to me?"

It shouldn't count. It couldn't possibly count, right? Her mind was all fuzzy with Buttercup. If she had been thinking straight she never would have agreed to the deal. She KNOWS devils. They've always got an angle. They always win, even when you think they're going to lose. But when she's Alexandria she wants to do Sapphira's bidding just because she knows it'll result in cruelty and corruption. And acts cruelty and corruption are the only things that make Alexandria feel nice. It's insidious. It rots the soul from the inside out.

"Come on, lets get you somewhere more comfortable," Rose says as she moves to pick up the man and begin moving him toward... what? The bedroom, probably? He can lay on her bed. Rose can sleep on the couch. The greasy, slimy, nasty part of her suggests that this wretch shouldn't be given the dignity of comfort, but Rose pushes it down. She can hold out a little while longer. She'll flop him onto the bed, assuming she gets that far, and asks. "Why do you want to die so badly?"


[Buttercup, you're Under Arrest!]

Ithuriel will return to discover that Buttercup has made an effigy out of vines and branches and flowers. It's sitting in the chair that Ithuriel was using while Buttercup reclines across from it. She's interrogating it with some really important questions like!

"This is the last time I'm asking, Mister Flowerface! What's your favorite type of pie!"

[Deathkeeper]

[All I want for Thanksmas Is You]

"Yeah, I'm a biologist not a mage. I don't have a lot of ideas." Nim tells Michalson. But this place is still amazingly quiet.
"She is pretty. How much, Miss?" Nim asks the owner as he inspects the little statuette up close. It's pretty. And Nim can't help but suddenly be interested in sphinx iconography. This one looks a lot like the statue from the old temple, just in a different pose and material.

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"It takes the pure of heart. You must stop her! Before... before." The man is lifted to the bed and lies there. "You. Hoooope. Trust her. Protect her. She is weak but strong. She is unholy yet sanctified. Fate plays a strange game." He fixes Alex with his blue eyes. "Never never never. Forget. Who are you? Who am I? My name, my name. It's been so long. Light, please kill me. I repent!" He finally seems to realize he was asked why he wants to die. "She did this to me! Stole my mind, threw me in the poorhouse. She destroyed the house of Crowley!" He becomes agitated again, thrashing about. "Burn her! Let me go!"

[Recaiden]

[Park Inspection]

The woman considers these words for a little while. "And my other body? Would it also be missing a piece? I suppose so." She answers her own question as she was making it.

"Very well, I agree to those terms, fey. A part of my heart for another body."

"It would, if that body is to be you."
The cat fey smiles a smile full of sharp teeth. "Then by the Staff, we have an agreement." The last few words echo through the park, fey grammar magic coiling around them. The woman is owed a body, the cat is owed a piece of heart. One way or another, these things must be delivered.
The fey takes her grip off the reins, and gets out a paintbrush to soon fulfill her part of the deal, while at the same time hopping out of the chariot and reaching out towards the woman. Any skin contact would do for collecting, no need to bother with the literal heart.

[Morty]

[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

That is very notable and Michalson doesn't have a good answer just yet. He takes out an eyepiece from his coat and puts it on. This makes the world around him ablaze in all the colors of magic, allowing him to perceive its currents and sources more clearly. Is there any magic here that counters whatever is causing the music?

[Rebonack]

[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

"Oh, well, I DO like this one. But she isn't making me any money just sitting around here collecting dust!" the old woman laughs. "I'll part with her for, mmm... (pretty reasonable amount considering this thing is some ancient relic that probably belongs in a museum)."

The price the shop keeper is asking for is more like what you would expect to buy some random gaudy trinket from a second hand store for.

A total steal.

Acquire the sphinx of black quartz, Nim. You need it.

Meanwhile, Michalson does productive things.

There are a number of magical auras scattered around the shop. Most notably the statuette that Nim is interested in and an old wooden mask sitting on the shelf. But they don't appear to be pushing away the scintillating fog of red, white, and green that seems to represent the digital plague. No, something else is keeping it at bay. It's seeping toward the shop, creeping in under the door, but with each note from the old phonograph the fog is shoved a little further away. It's the music, it would appear. Music from a machine that isn't powered by electricity.

It would probably be easy to test this out since there are several little music boxes for sale.


[Alex' Apartment]

"Okay, alright. I'll try to find her," Rose says. "But I'm not sure where to start looking."

She's pretty sure she would be able to recognize this daughter when she sees her, considering the sort of ascetic that Sapphira seems to like.

"I won't forget. I, nngh... oowie zowie I haven't got much longer. I don't... I don't think I can kill you, even if I wanted to. I-I can't. I won't."

Alexandria blinks as the Rose illusion evaporates, placing her face in one hand for a moment, then giving her head a shake. Then she straightens up and looks around. The bedroom? What's she doing in here? She looks at the lunatic laying on her bed, trying to parse what just happened.

She gives a nasty smirk. "Oh I get you now. You were just trying to lure me in here, weren't you?"

[Deathkeeper]

[All I Want for Thankmas is You]

Nim smiles and pulls out some cash from his wallet. He figures she doesn't have a card reader.
"Done. Thanks, Miss."
Now he just has to figure out how to transport it. Nim takes the statuette and tries to see if it'll fit in his school backpack. And now he can touch it to see if it really is quartz.

[bc56]

Alex's Apartment

"Bring back the other one!" The madman looks at Alex seriously. "You change your mind. Oh, that I could change mine. That change is done. Done for me. I'm done for." He spits a wad of phlegm out and keeps talking. "Bah. Nothing to chew anymore. Don't want to age like this. I had my time. Want it to end. No soul left, just tar. Fate won't take me like this. End my suffering."

[Morty]

[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

Very, very curious. Michalson pockets the eyepiece, since using it for too long gives him a headache. He walks over to the counter.

"How much for one of those boxes, ma'am. Believe it or not, they're pertinent to my investigation."

[Shadowcaller]

[Park Inspection]

As soon as the fey approaches tiny flying creatures suddenly start to swarm out of the woman's face and arms. They just barely fit inside a persons palm and have the wings of various insects and insect-like creatures. Groups of them are car webs lined with cold iron which they will attempt to throw over the cat. As they're thrown they unfold in the air, getting significantly larger (though not as large as a standard web).

"Get them!" A shout can be heard as even more of the creatures start to emerge from the nearby trees. It's a trap!

[Rebonack]

[Alex's Apartment]

Alex rolls her eyes and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

She's done with this crazy. Maybe she'll thumb through her infernal legal codices again, see if she can't find anything useful regarding the unique situation of owing your soul to two DIFFERENT fiends.


[All I Want For Thanksmas Is You]
Nim and Michalson

The statuette is indeed made of black quartz and it could fit in his backpack. As he's examining it he may notice an inscription on the bottom.

Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow!

Huh. What's that about? Some kind of invocation?

"Hmm, a music box you say?" the old woman asks. "Well, you're one of those Intersection officers aren't you? I think I can part one free of charge if you're using it to help our lovely city."

She takes down one of the little polish wood music boxes and offers it to Michalson. It's the sort with a key on the side to wind it up, though it'll only begin playing music if the lid is opened. Inside is a little pewter pair of dancers that rotate when the lid is up.