Welcome Home: Interlude [closed - Jonah/Cassandra]

[Cassandra]

Everything is a cycle.

She used to think, "everything has a beginning and an end", but that was an illusion she was beginning to disabuse herself of. Too often to be ignored, the beginning and the end were one and the same, each closure serving as a jumping-off point to start things all over again. Knowing that, acknowledging it, freed someone to improve the next go-round, a better starting point for the next cycle, ensuring ascendance instead of a downward spiral.

She liked to think that she learned it from watching her Goddess's creation. The cycle of birth and death, the cycle of the waxing and waning moon. Even now, a shiver passed through her as she knelt on the patch of soil in front of the inner sanctuary; the start of what promised to be a harsh winter turned a chill in the room into a reminder of the seasons' cycle. Fortunately, that was as bad as it would get between these stone walls - the plants over which her fingers danced, selecting a blossom here, a leaf there, would continue thriving throughout the winter months. They were largely undaunted by the chill of a Canadian fall, and somehow even the dim light cast between the stone walls seemed enough for them to happily make do. With the protection the walls afforded against even a blizzard tempest, they'd weather the winter comfortably.

Once a week, she tended to the plants before her - far from having a green thumb, it took these hardy pioneers to help her escape the fear they'd take the same withered course of every plant she'd tried to keep before. Her movements were delicate, careful, and precise as she harvested the single weekly measure of surplus that each plant produced. They would be set out to dry, used in rituals or sold to others to do the same. It was a very Zen-like activity to the solitary priestess, a welcome respite from the business of her own thoughts. The quiet surrounded her simple movements, seeping into her and calming spirits made tempestuous by other things. A calm exhalation and the soft rustling of her movements were the only sound.

[Jonah]

It was snowing and the streets were mostly empty and Jonah wasn't sure what to do with himself. The caverns and the sewers needed attention but they always would. No matter how many of their enemies he struck down, there would always be more to take their place. His large fingers pinched his brow as the words came back to him like they always did.

Your kind faced many dangers - not only the Scourge, but danger from without and within. They were unprepared. Now was when we asked you if you would change things - if you would prepare and strengthen them, teach them to be ready for the dangers they faced. We gave you the choice, Jonah, and it was yours to make.

He had made the choice that he thought was best then and he had continued to do it. More often than not though, he felt like he was stumbling and failing. Joining Tytonidae, he didn't regret it but there were times when he wished he and they could do more. He protected, but was he preparing and strengthening them?

Whenever his thoughts turned to this topic, they inevitably turned to his decision to become a necurat and the people he had hurt in the process. Normally, he thought about Wolffyn in these moments, but that relationship had been repaired for the most part. This time, he thought about Cassandra who he had not seen in...he realized he didn't know how long it had been now. As far as he'd been aware, she had just disappeared.

Distracted, he looked around and found himself outside the sanctuary she had set up for Nox. As far as he was aware, no one kept it up anymore but out of habit, he knocked on the door, his heavy fist sending echoes all around him. He doubted anyone would answer and in truth, he feared someone would and he would discover that someone else had taken up residence in the building, but he waited regardless, for what he didn't know.

[Cassandra]

It was lucky circumstance that Cassandra was being so quiet when Jonah knocked - and as lucky that the man was so enormous, that his fist fell so heavily on the wooden door of the thirteenth crypt. By this circumstance, Cassandra heard it faintly through the solid stone interposed between her and the door he knocked on. Reaching out cautiously with her mind, carefully, she barely touched his consciousness enough to figure out who stood at the door.

Standing, she brushed her hands off on the sides of the baggy pants she was wearing. Belted tightly around her hips, she valued being able to move more than looking like she belonged in this decade. She bit her lower lip in thought. It'd been a while since she'd seen Jonah, and the terms on which they parted were less than auspicious. She rubbed one hand across the side of her neck, an unconscious gesture, as she looked around the sanctuary. Solid, wooden pews ranked across the room, an aisle of lush violet carpeting leading to the waist-high reflecting pool, twin tables, and growing plants in the front. She sighed, a wispy sound purposely without tone or inflection.

She reached out again, and opened a conduit to the man's mind through the maze of the Vathia. Carefully, she fed him one distilled memory - her most recent return to the Sanctum, after a thwarted attempt to get out and socialize, to combat the anxiety she'd found to be her newest companion, even more constant than the big man's lineage head, who had paid her more than one kind visit recently. In the memory, she turned the heavy crypt door's handle, which was never locked, and stepped inside. Barring it behind her, she followed the aisle between twelve empty caskets to a thick tapestry hung on the back wall. Her slender hand reached out to brush it aside, revealing an open space behind it about the size of a large closet, and she stepped inside.

Obscured to all but those accustomed to searching things out in the dark, the circle of symbols on the floor was the space's only other occupant. The girl stood without movement for several long moments, simple presence activating it - while keeping out the uninitiated, who would undoubtedly move about trying to determine its purpose. The world dimmed to nothing, and then faded back in as a larger room, with four similar circles etched into its stone floor. This room was brighter, however, lit by the same ambient light as the sanctuary. Turning to her left, she strode confidently into the pew-lined room--

-- and that's where Cassandra cut off the flow of thought. It was coming easier to her now, the complex process of sharing memories with another. More easily than some things; things both more dear and seemingly more simple, yet strangely still beyond her grasp.

Remembering she still held a precious crop of herbs in one hand, she bustled over to one of the stone tables flanking the reflecting pool, and began to lay them out for drying.

[Jonah]

The crypts were a familiar place and some of the anxiety that he felt began to fade away as he rocked on his heels. When it seemed no one was there, he moved to leave but flashes of images and sensations filled his mind, outlining an almost familiar path to enter the Sanctum that he was somewhat in search of.

The presence felt almost alien but not enough that he left completely. Following the directions shared with him he hesitated outside of the portal, unsure of if he should progress or not but he felt compelled to continue and found himself on the floor covered in symbols of his faith. Moving more quickly, he followed the specter in his mind to the doorway that led in to the sanctuary and he paused.

He didn't know what would be waiting for him on the other side. The memories didn't feel like his own but had they just been summoned up from nostalgia and mixed with his memories of Cassandra? It didn't matter, he finally decided, and stepped lightly in to the room, trying to keep his heavy footsteps from echoing around the room. He followed the purple carpet around the back pews and when he turned up the middle aisle, he saw the reflecting pool and...her.

"What're you doing here?"

[Cassandra]

Cassandra tilted her head and looked up at the big man. He'd gotten bigger since last she saw him, as well. She felt a vague sense of discomfort at his presence, not because of the size, but because of what might be its cause. She'd long considered him a friend, until he came to her asking for blood to become a Necurat. Since then, they hadn't spoken. Necuratism wasn't specifically addressed in the Old Codes, and to her knowledge at that point, was never condemned by pre-Holocaust Noxism. So, she couldn't refuse his request when he made it. She'd left him on the floor and walked away with a vast sense of unease. He didn't contact her again, but neither did she seek him out herself. Seeing him now, she was neither repulsed nor relieved, just unsure.

"Plants," she said in mindspeak, as if that explained everything. Brushing her hands off again, she reached behind her, into a small backpack from which led a small chain connected to her wrist. She slipped her fingers between the cloth and a worn leather volume about the size of a dictionary, until she found a small metal rectangle. She pulled out the tablet computer and held it in front of her, tapping away at the screen for a few moments.

[Jonah]

Having speech forced in to his mind was almost always an uncomfortable experience for the Killer. With Zodiac, it had never bothered him, one of the only that that could be said of. Keara's occasional messages had been disconcerting for a short time but he had grown accustomed to it. Cassandra used to be counted in that number as well but since it had been so long since the two of them had had any contact, that seemed to no longer be true.

The memories that had been forced on him combined with the single word made him grit his teeth but he attempted to disguise his displeasure. "I...see that. I'm just...surprised to see you here. It's been...a long time Cass.

He walked towards her slowly, his footfalls muffled by the carpeted path. She was looking down at a tablet and he frowned. Perhaps he had intruded, she hadn't been expecting him, there was no way that she could have, but she had clearly been the one to send him the memories of how to enter the sanctum, so she must not have wanted him barred from the place. "I've...missed you."

Many times he had wanted her guidance and, out of fear, had been unwilling to contact her until he no longer knew how. He bore that responsibility heavily and almost in a whisper, he spoke again. "I'm sorry."

[Cassandra]

Cassandra took a moment more to tap away at the tablet. Her head was bent forward, and her brown hair fell down over her shoulders, partially obscuring her face. Brown eyes darted back and forth as she swiped from screen to screen, inputting arcane commands – though recently, from what she’d read and heard, more and more of their kind fancied themselves computer experts of one sort or another nowadays. The increased intelligence, brought on by the Blessing, made what were once intricate and difficult tasks to most human minds, child’s play to those of her kind who chose to focus on it. Some small part of her was territorial about it: she was here first, this was something she had been adept at long before entering this city. However, she tried not to dwell on the issue. She had been chosen for something larger, and that part of her history had not been taken from her. It was more important to focus on other things than what should be left behind to her previous - lesser - existence.

Finished bringing up the interface she needed, she turned it around so that he could see the screen. Words scrolled across it, large enough to read easily, and changed without her touching the screen again. She waited for the killer to finish reading each statement before moving to the next. This took some time to accomplish, as the replies were verbose and some required multiple screens to convey.

"No, it is perfectly alright," the text said, as the girl misinterpreted the man's apology, assuming he thought she was busy and he was intruding. "I apologize for the necessity of this electronic aid. I've undergone some recent changes, and have been unfortunately left devoid of some faculties - the most notable of which is my ability to speak aloud. If it is agreeable to you, this tablet will serve to speak for me."

The girl watched him curiously, one hand picking absently at a stray thread that had happened to unravel itself from some fringe of fabric. “It has been quite some time since you have ventured inside these walls, Jonah. I’m afraid that my duties here, as well as my efforts to recuperate and understand the changes within myself, have left me unaware of much that has passed outside. It is well that Nox has held you safely in Her embrace during this time in absentia – how have you fared during this time? I assume that your wellbeing has been assured?”

[Jonah]

He watched the words scroll across the screen in their carefully chosen order and though he understood what she was saying, a look of confusion crossed his face. What had happened to her that had robbed her of her ability to speak? Cassandra was peaceful but even if she had been injured, she should have healed as all their kind did. Unless it was recent? She did not seem hurt though. He did not feel comfortable pressing for answers on that topic though.

What was more disconcerting was the words that she was choosing. Jonah was not unintelligent but the phrasing came across as...too formal. They were friends, or at least they had been. Even their first meeting had not felt like this. The Cassandra that he remembered was...not more open but more...welcoming perhaps.

"The tablet is fine. I'm just...worried about you. Have been for awhile. Just haven't known how to reach you I guess."

He mulled over her question for a moment before finally replying, "I have been...ok. Dealt with some changes of my own but...yeah." He chewed on his lip for a moment before pushing his earlier reservations aside. "You seem...different Cassandra. What happened...if I can ask."

[Cassandra]

Cassandra blinked, her brow furrowing momentarily. When Keara Aithne had asked the same question, she'd simply sent over her memories of the time in the Shadow Realm, causing the elder to recoil. The method was much easier, but she knew better now. Instead, she put the experience through to the tablet - once again, in the overly-complicated language.

"I have spent overly long inhabiting the Shadow Realm," the words said. They were cold, detached, and completely at odds with the expression of pain on her young face. "I was severely damaged, in areas non-physical, while my physical body made itself whole once more. The experience was quite traumatic, as well. Some things I became accustomed to have been removed, or altered. I am currently endeavoring to understand how our beloved Mater Nox has repaired me in accordance with Her divine Nature. It is proving difficult in many aspects, not the least of which has been communication.

"I no longer appear to possess the capability for standard vocalization. It is within my demesnes of ability to communicate unaided my electronics, by means of telepathic speech. However, my success in this regard has remained frustratingly limited. There appears to be some knack to its utilization that I have yet to come to an epiphany regarding. It is extremely disappointing."

Again, the words on the screen were technically accurate, but didn't come close to doing justice to the emotion evident on the girl's face. She used one palm to smear away a stray tear that had trickled down one cheek. Some small part of her mind managed to be thankful she hadn't worn much makeup since she'd taken up residence here. She shook her head to clear it.

"However, the problems which have asserted themselves will keep tenuous hold against the wisdom that comes with time. Advise me of your own experiences. Have these changes been advantageous? How are you progressing in your own concerns?" The care in her features was obvious - Cassandra's discomfort with the man had subsided in the wake of more prevalent emotions.

[Jonah]

He couldn’t tell if the pain that was on her face was meant to be obvious or if she was trying to hide it from him but the words that he read made his stomach drop as he slowly pieced together as best he could what she was meaning. “I’m sorry that you’re dealing with this, is there anything I can do to help?” He was no healer nor did he have any real skills to help her master the art of speaking mentally but he felt the need to make the attempt regardless.

“I didn’t know that you were in the Shadow Realm. I have…spent time there recently as well. If I’d have known, I would have tried to find you.” He had no idea how long she had actually spent there but assumed based on the changes that had occurred to her that it had been a great deal of time and perhaps only recently she had returned.

When she questioned him, he shrugged and sighed heavily. “They were…advantageous eventually. They did not feel that way at first. More like a…test to remind me of what I was supposed to be doing. But things have worked out. I’m trying to protect and help build the community again, teach those that are new to this…life and help them avoid the mistakes so many of us make early on.”

She had not said very much in reply to his apology earlier and so he tried to elaborate on what he meant. “One of the…better changes has been that I’m not a necurat anymore.” He believed that she would be proud of him for this or at least more comfortable with him because of this.