Handle The Secret

Participants:

eve6_icon.gif kaylee_icon.gif

Scene Title Handle The Secret
Synopsis Can you keep it?
Date January 1, 2020

Kaylee's Home


Is she home?

You use to be able to tell by looking in the River.

The River is closed.

Focus.

Knock knock

At Kaylee's door, Eve stands with her hands behind her back. Trying to wait, she could just phase in. That was always an option but could her finances really handle another repair door fix and does Kaylee really need to not have a safe working door in these times?

Eve is being cautious, thoughtful. Almost laser focused. Almost.

Slowly, she begins to tap her foot. The ends of her muted blue dress swishing across her pale, barefeet. She radiates nerves, energy still chaotic but there is something subdued about the woman standing there.

“Eve?”

The telepath’s familiar voice comes from behind the former seer, surprised. It was hard to surprise Kaylee, but then again… Eve has been a blank spot for the woman ever since she became a red sparking cloud.

“Wh—” It was rare to see Eve unless something needed the telepath’s attention. Eyes narrow suddenly, one would think she was reading the other’s mind. The distance it closed to her apartment and key pressed into the lock befores she looks at Eve again, gaze moving over the others face.

“You dreamed too.”

That isn’t a question. The door is unlocked and pushed open to allow the other woman in. Of course, Eve will see the wall full of photos, threads going here and there. No prophecies, but the Yamagato display is all there in photos, notes on post-its, and so on. “It's good to see you. Sorry, I didn’t contact you as soon as I knew you were back.” It had been awhile. “It’s been…busy. In fact, I just got back from dropping Carl back at his home.” Kaylee offers the other woman a smile, “So great timing as usual.”

Eve smiles weakly and places a hand on Kaylee's shoulder in greeting. "I did."

Following her inside she frowns, she was hoping to see the little one, "You tell him Aunt Eve said hello." Children, even in this world had the power to take you out of the bleakness of the reality surrounding everyone. She would have to go visit Little Walter and Dee soon.

"It's okay, busy busy. We all are, lives and saving the world. Never ends. Wheel keeps turning. Don't try to break it, might break a hand." Eve scratches at her elbow as she eyes the wall of photos. She needed less of her own artwork around, she didn't like to look at it as much. Reminders. "Come to Cat's tomorrow, all the Dreamers. We should discuss. But… I'm not here for that. Something has happened Kaylee,"

Eve looks scared and she hugs herself tight while rocking back and forth, "It came to see me, in the Oracle Room." Her face twists in pain as tears flow freely from the corners of her eyes, "It's been controlling us every step of the way. Every vision, every… everything." Eyes are wild as Eve leans forward.

“Carl will be upset he missed you. You made quite an impression on him,” Kaylee explains, shutting the door behind them and tossing keys into a bowl next to the door.

The telepath starts to pull off her winter gear, but slows to a stop when Eve started to speak. As Eve lays out what she’s there for, brows tip upwards with worry and concern. The entity had visited Eve?

“I know,” Kaylee says softly when the other women is done, a hand reaching up to grasp at… nothing. Even now, she could still remember the weight of the snake around her shoulders and it sends a chill up her back. “I’ve known for awhile,” brows furrow, “But not that it was more than my father. She made him a seer. You too then?” she asks focusing on the dark haired woman again.

Turning towards the wall, Kaylee studies the pictures on it, “I’ve never liked knowing the future, but even I fell into the trap, but then I had a nightmare.” She moves to the wall and turns to look at Eve while she points to the photo of the fire scroll. “The one I saw in my nightmare was different then the actual scroll, but what is the truth?” She lets Eve see what she hasn’t shown to others, the confusion and uncertainty. “We can’t trust anything we know and that scares me.”

"The day Odessa and I hopped backwards through the River, ending up on the side of the past. It said I was lost, it knew in that moment I would be her herald. I think she… reached forward from where she was and placed the gift on me. When I was a child." Eve's eyes dim as if she is deflating more. "Made me sing for her, have ever since. She's right here." The former seer taps at her forehead.

Both women are scared. That much is plain. Eve moves closer but she stops. "He made Edward a seer? Then…" She draws back, "How many has she placed around? Working towards her absolution." It's stunning, the scope and just how deep the Entity's plan goes.

"What of the scroll?" Eve tilts her head, "It was different…?"

The telepath can’t help but feel sympathy for the woman. To be the cause of her own insanity and now to know it. All Kaylee can do is touch the other woman’s shoulder gently, offer what support she can.

“In my nightmare,” Kaylee finally says, turning to tap the figure holding a sword before the dragon, “He had impaled himself on the sword.” She looks over at Eve, over her shoulder. “Which version is true?” She asks, off hand, finally stepping back. “I want to understand her motivation, why she is doing it, and happened between them. She gave my father his ability and he used his to protect his children. Destroyed the world so that all of his kids lived, but at the cost of so many lives….” Kaylee sighed, closing her eyes against the twist of guilt.

“That… that is a good question, tho” Kaylee murmurs, even though Eve didn’t pose one. “How many seers were of her making, Eve? All of them? Even if we trust or ignore the words of seers we could be playing her game.”

"Sacrifice himself… sacrifice is the only way," Eve whispers to herself and looks up at Kaylee. "It's true but we already doing it," Eve sighs and shakes her legs out one at a time. "It wants Adam gone, just like everyone else. I know where he is. We can stop him." Those words should bring joy to Eve's mind but it doesn't. Instead she only feels regret. Regret that the both of them were too old to see reason. Stuck in their ways.

"Do we eliminate him? What if he truly is trying to help! But at what cost?" It unnerves her to be so… on the outs. No new visions to consult not that they would offer true direction.

Eve takes a moment and looks down, "The moment we went back it locked onto me. I don't think we can compete with something that has such a long game running, it can see everything I see. Everything I hear."

Is there any escape?

“Inadvertently, you setting us upon this path.” Kaylee muses, not accusing, just a simple fact. “It had warning of what was to come. So even if what the company did was successful, she put things into motion…” Brows furrow and she looks at Eve, curious. “Do… Do you think Adam remembered the visit?”

Looking at her wall, Kaylee looks over the images. “Even if we forget again, she’s still going to work through the seers. No.. not just seers,” Kaylee amends, “She worked through Richard’s mother, too. This time it was through you.” Kaylee sighs. “How do you win?”

Kaylee gives a huffed chuckle, “Sacrifice. Joy was sacrificed to trap it, too.” She had seen that vision of the past, of course, the woman lived. “How?”

"I'm not sure, when I saw him… he said he remembered everything and what we knew of him was false. A narrative." Eve's eyes wide a bit and she takes another moment to think. "By not believing," Said with a snort and roll of her eyes. How did you just stop believing in something. Maybe Eve knew some former Christians…

They were trapped. "We're stuck between two immovable forces. I think we tackle one and deal with the other later. Priorities Gilly always tells me," She frowns.

You haven't even tried to save her.

What happened to your bond? What happened to the love for you sister?

Coward, looney bin. Useless.

You were never a seer.

Eve's internal monologue is the loudest her thoughts have ever seemed to Kaylee.

Bury the Lie.

Follow the Riddle.

You were never a seer.

"It told me where to find Adam. I think we're meant to stop him, is that wise?"

“To find him?” Kaylee asks curiously. They could stop him, but could he even be stopped? “I don’t know, Eve. But what if killing even just stopping him dooms us all?” A hand brushes behind the immortal’s photo, and plucks it off the wall. .

“Joseph’s vision has been sticking with me lately.” Studying the Brit’s face, Kaylee murmurs, “The only way forward is back. That’s what the woman in my vision told me as I tried to run towards Richard with Adam and the snake standing above him.” Suddenly the telepath gives a little amused huff.

“Maybe we do need him…. To capture him.” Kaylee turns the photo towards Eve, holding it pinched between fingers. “I need to get into his head….into his memories and figure out what he remembers.” There is a flicker of hope and determination, but it is quickly battered down by Eve’s negative thoughts.

“Eve.” Reaching over, Kaylee snags the former seer behind the head and pulls her close enough that their foreheads touch. “Listen to me. You’re not a coward. You are the craziest and bravest MoFo I know.” Her words are softly spoken, yet firm. “You and I, both, need to get off this pity train. We need to to get everyone together to plan how to catch him with your knowledge.” Blue eyes struggle to focus on Eve’s. “And you need to find Gillian, cause we will need her help, too. A thousand year immortal will be one hell of nut to crack.” That was no lie.

“Now,” Releasing her hold, Kaylee asks Eve, “Do YOU want to save the world, Eve Mas?”

Eve flinches but is drawn in, she closes her eyes and nods her head slowly. "There is another way, we don't need Adam to get to his memories." She's unsure if it's worth leaving him alive, "Isis, she's connected to him. Maybe we can reach it through her." It was their other option, maybe even easier than catching Adam himself. "All of our non gifted friends are in trouble. He won't stop, we owe it to that side of our family."

As Kaylee speaks, Eve gasps and nods. Sucking in a ragged breath as her body shudders. "Gilly…" There was so much to do. Eve's mind is loud, as loud as it always is if Kaylee chooses to listen. "Yes, I want too."

Save your sister.

Miss Mind is right, no more pity party!

Come on little herald, we've got work to do.

"There's a link, I think with me and It. Will you look, let me share." Eve decides then to open her mind for Kaylee to see the encounter for herself.

The telepath is much like a cat, curious to a fault. So when she notices the curtains part on Eve’s mine, Kaylee looks at the point at the center of the other woman’s head. There was an overwhelming need to look and see this entity and see what caused the former-seers distress.

“Okay….”

Slender fingers are cold against Eve’s temple. When pulling someone deep into their own mind, there is a sense of their stomachs dropping and the gentle fall. It seems like forever that Eve is suspended there. When Eve’s vision clears, Kaylee is setting next to her in a movie theater. The telepath’s booted feet are propped up on the back of the seat in front of them. She looks rather grunge with a worn brown leather jacket and smeared eyeliner that faintly tracks down her cheeks.

When was the last time they saw Kaylee in her mental form?.

«I don’t know if it is bad or good news.» The blonde tosses in a handful of popcorn watching the movie screen when Eve pops in next to the telepath and then offers the bucket to her. On the screen, Eve’s memory of the encounter with the Entity plays. «I found no link, nothing unusual other than yourself… I went pretty deep in.»

Finally, Kaylee gives Eve a side glance. «Whatever link there might have gone with her when she left you in the new form.»

"Am I really that fat from this angle?"

Eve props her feet up next to Kaylee and frowns, no link. That was good, but it meant they couldn't use said link to find the Dragon. "Well, at least we tried." She reaches over for some popcorn and tilts her head at the screen. Watching the Entity move using Sibyl's body.

"You know who I think got the shittest end of this stick? That poor girl, whoever Sibyl Black was before all of this." Watching the gold eyed deity speak.

"I want to find her family, they deserve to know… don't they? Wouldn't we want to know if one of our family's body was being used for this?"

Kaylee watches the girl, that she once knew held Sibyl, and slowly shakes her head. «I think they know… they have too.» The memory played out, the telepath lifts a hand and the scene flickers and changes to something Eve isn’t familiar with.

On the screen, Kaylee stands with her back pressed against a wall, feet shimmy around the edge of a gaping endless pit, while a moth flutters about her head.

«I think the poor child was lost as soon as her ability manifested.» Kaylee explains her tone subdued and sad, watching herself trying to reach for something. «// No normal person’s mind stuck in that survives long. She would have been a vegetable. We almost lost Eileen to it.//»

"That's not fair. Nothing about it. These gifts may be hard to manage but to take us out? From the very beginning, a cold and cruel way to go. She deserved better. Still does today." Eve props her arms up behind her back and scoots down lower into the seat. Digging for popcorn she pops a piece in her mouth and crunches hard on the kernel.

"What if we amped The Vessel's ability so much that it just turned around on It?" Thoughtful hm as she cocks her head to the side and looks over at the memories playing out.

"Ok let's go back, so you're seeing the convo. But what about this," The former seer leans forward in her seat now as her eyes buzz and the screen changes before their eyes, rewinding and then reducing itself to white noise. Next a terrifying image is displayed on the screen. A mountain of bodies, Adam Monroe. Yaeko taken over by the Entity.

Eve winces at the beheading and almost covers her eyes, "What a horrible part," she whispers and then is looking at awe as her body is restored and the crimson light is seen entering her from that long ago. "It must have given me this, but maybe it wasn't supposed to be a gift at all. This is the moment I didn't remember, I couldn't see. Deleted scenes," Heh, but her snort is not full of life. She's still in shock at it all.

«Her poor parents.» Kaylee adds in an aside.

#FFFF80|«I’m not sure that amplifying will help or if it will destroy those around it, becoming a large blackhole for all minds around it. Pulling them into oblivion.»## Always the pessimist, Kaylee… or a realist. Depends on who you ask.

Then she feels a tug at the threads of Eve’s memory, pulling her attention to the former seer. The hold on the memories is loosened with an air of amusement, this lets Eve take over and show her what she wants her to know.

Clearly, whatever Kaylee expected it was not what pops up on the screen. Boots come off the back of the chair and the telepath leans forward eagerly to watch what happens. «Holy shit, Eve. You did time travel!» There is excitement in the teleapath’s mental tone.

All of a sudden, the control Eve has is wrested from her and she find herself standing in the memory, after she and Odessa had crawled from the pile of bodies. Kaylee grimaces at the memory of the tastes and smells. Ugh. A hand covers her nose and mouth even though it it won’t help. It was a memory after all. «It’s like when she took you over, your body remembered this moment.»

The memory freezes and Kaylee turns her attention to the piles of bodies. «I think I have seen a recording of this moment, but… not with the two of you in it.» A photograph is suddenly in the telepath’s hand and offered to Eve.

The Eclipse of 1671
This tapestry, believed to be crafted between 1675 and 1680, depicts a well-documented total solar eclipse over the island of Japan in the year 1671. The eclipse coincided with the height of violence in Shakushain’s Revolt and a mounting death toll of Imperial forces on the island. While the eclipse was visible from the capital of Edo, it was viewed in totality directly over Hokkaido.
No record remains of the Ainu perspective on the eclipse, however, imperial onmoyuji Takeya Masatane is recorded as describing the event as “a moment in which all of our worst fears are realized.” Masatane likened the eclipse to the mythological disappearance of the sun goddess Amaterasu into a deep cave and advised the Shogunate to withdraw from Hokkaido. Against Masatane’s wishes, imperial forces pushed into Hokkaido and were massacred in the battle of Jigokudani where nearly 700 imperial soldiers were slain and their bodies left in the valley as a message to the Shogunate.

Eve's expression is wide as she looks around the memory they are now standing in, never not impressed with Kaylee's ability and the things she could do with it.

"Hokkaido." Eve frowns and squints down at the photograph, "That's where we were, where Kiso Mountain is. Where the Dragon and Adam first met…. where the Bargain was struck." The Bargain that got Adam his power and led to the Dragon roaming free. "Somehow it was trapped there but we don't know how…"

Seeing everything up close again, smelling it. Her body remembered as did her mind now. Another gift from the Dragon. Another truth perhaps?

"Tell me what you think," Eve whispers as she goes to look up towards the sky. Was there an eclipse?

The telepath crouches near the bodies, brows furrowing, she starts to reach out to push the body over, but remembers it can’t be manipulated. Instead the hand drops limply to her knee. One thing is clear as she looks at the bodies, gaze lifting to fall on the arm of a tiny child buried in with all the rest…

«Eve…These ain’t soldiers. Maybe they changed history to cover this up.»

The words are strangled and tinged with disgust, it wouldn’t be the first time historians hid the truth of a moment… the same could have been said for the fire scroll. He gaze moves from one body to the next. The further she looks the larger the field of bodies gets. Enough innocent bodies to fill a city. There were men, women… even child. «Oh my god,» Kaylee breathes out, straightening again to stare out at the massacre. «They did all of this? Eve… we…» There is a stinging prickle of tears behind her eyes, forcing her to look away small bloated corpses… of course, she ends up looking to the sky…

Above the former seers head is fuzzy until, the woman next to her looks up as well. Slowly, the sight above them sharpens and Kaylee noticeably gasps. The sky was suddenly alight with the graceful waves of the green aurora they both remember so vividly from so long ago. It makes no sound above them, just a lazy shift of beautiful shimmering colors in sharp contrast to the fiery war like colors of a feudal Japanese sunset.

Kaylee slowly looks down to the frozen image of the woman she knows as Joy, hovering over Eve, her golden eyes were unnerving. «We have to stop her or else this…» A hand sweeps over the mounds of bodies. «She wants this. Why??»

She looks shocked, "No… no no." Shaking her head Eve now truly sees what was in front of her. Children. Innocents.

Who is innocent in this life? In the Many?

The last word echoes through the place and Eve grips her head and rocks back and forth. "Stop that! You behave!" The clouds above darken a bit as something can be seen. Moving behind him, shifting about, there are no gigantic footfalls that sound just a ice chill wind that fills the place. The face that peers through is familiar to both women.

s_eve_icon.gif

"Why does it want this?" The ice slowly creeps over the faces of the massacred as a visage of Sibyl pops up in front of Eve repeating the lines: "It doesn't matter,"

"Mother and Father, come back to throw this world to the dogs. To spring forth something anew! Or is it old? What once was lost…"

The Eve next to Kaylee stands to her feet and shakes her head roughly, "It doesn't matter if we live or die, it's all the same to it. We won't remember anyway, if It succeeds."

The larger Eve vanishes, as if blown away by a leaf blower. Eve's shoulders sag as the smells of death and decay surge back and the ice leaves. "Many becomes One. That's the goal. That's it everything. Damage the threads, burn them maybe. No materials, no Merge."

Her attention is still on the bodies, when Kaylee whispers under her breath, «The company made the same mistakes. Her head comes up. «They tried wiping her from their memories and re-wrote history,» she declares. «Smug bastard made himself the hero Kensei.//» Of course, he did. Fucking Adam.

Then she suddenly notices the changes around her… The telepath goes very still, watching Eve as she struggles. In truth, Kaylee was looking for a sign that she needed to get out of the woman’s mind.

When it calms down, Kaylee reaches out to touch the other woman’s temple. «Eve,» she asks in concern, how had she missed it. «When did this start? The voices?» Her voice is gentle, worried about the former seer.

"He has always been the Hero, in his mind. We just hadn't realized yet. Can we set the history straight?" Just maybe… maybe…

Eve's eyes widen and she looks up towards the sky. "I think I've always had them," the voices, "But the noise from the Future just twisted them, maybe covered them up." Absently rubbing at her arm and looking back down at the telepath. "Sometimes the voices align. Sometimes they do not. Others they fight. Others they help." Raising her hands as if to weigh.

"I'm not sure if I would like to be here by myself." Whispering it softly, almost as if she would rather not say it.

Listening, the concern melts into something else. The hand, that touched her temple, rests along Eve’s cheek, as Kaylee whispers just as quietly, «I understand.» She couldn’t imagine her life without the hum of voices around her.

The hand doesn’t move, but the telepath’s eyes close. A look of concentration falls over her features. She’s up to something, but luckily Eve doesn’t have to wait long…

As deep growling rumble vibrates the ground around them until cracks appear under their feet. There is nothing below them as the earth opens wide, causing bodies to tumble into the void. While everything tumbles into the darkness, the pair seem almost like they are floating there in space. ##FFFF80«But I also know they can be overwhelming.»## The telepath’s voice echo around them, like notes on a summer breeze.

Kaylee’s eyes open, giving the Seer a gentle smile before she looks down, when Eve’s gaze follows, something rises up from the darkness. Brick and mortar, the familiar smell of grease and home Eve hasn’t seen in sometime. The walls rise up around them and slowly they are surrounded by darkness. Only then does the telepath’s hand leave Eve’s cheek, leaving her there in the inky dark. A moment later, the telepath flicks on the lights. Even the sound of the light switch is distinct…

They were standing in the middle of the car bay of Mas Mechanics.

Eve is home…

«I’ve done this for others. Joseph had his church. Varlane was his childhood home.» Kaylee picks up a wrench, studying it, like she might find flaws in her work. A quick turn and it is offered to Eve. «When the voices become too much, think of home… of this happy moment and the voices should fade enough to give you a short measure of peace.» It wouldn’t rid her of the voices, but she can escape when she needs to.

"A safe space," Eve whispers as the mindscape morphs, growing in dimension, color and memory. A soft echo resounds from within Eve and a light exits, zooming forward into the building before them. It's just as dilapidated as she remebers, not before the Bomb. After Peter and Gabriel. After the First End.

She breathes in deep, tipping her head back as her eyes close, her barefeet dig into the gravel and cracked pavement pieces. "There May never be a favor big enough to repay you Miss Mind," Eve feels the solace that comes with this place. The darkness a fading memory here.

Here there was light.

A loud bark can be heard within the shop. Two barks. A commotion can be heard inside as well as music, a lazy guitar picking dissonant notes. "Mmm, would you like to come inside?" Misty eyes turn towards the blonde telepath and Eve gives her a pale hand.

"Let's go inside."


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