12424/Sisterly Concern

Sisterly Concern
Date of Scene:	13 August 2022
Location:	105 W 29th - Jon and Cael's Apartment
Synopsis:	Clarice visit Jon to learn what is up with her big sister. She doesn't like the news. She vows to help restore Lydia to her sense - or end the creature masquerading with her sister's face.
Cast of Characters:	Clarice Ferguson, Jonathan Sims

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Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Perhaps showing up unannounced on someone's balcony is less than polite - but Clarice is a very straight-forward sort, and once she has something in her mind...
    The young teleporter appears on Jon and Cael's balcony in a flash of purple energy that prompts some surprised barking from Bear - who runs towards the balcony door with a wagging tail to go investigate.
    It's a good thing he's not meant to be a guard dog.
    Clarice studies the large, white dog uncertainly - and lifts her hand to knock on the glass - waiting to be admitted, rather than teleporting into the apartment herself. I mean, there's rude - and then there's //rude.//

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon has actually fallen asleep with a book on his chest and a cat in his lap. He was letting the sun play over his form, to try to be rid of more of Viscera's influence, but fell asleep in the warmth of the sunset and kept on sleeping through twilight. A nap, so a time for normal dreams instead of a visit to the Archive. A light sleep, in other words.

    The knock on his balcony door--and Bear's bark--so startles him that he jumps up, unceremoniously dumping Nimue to the floor. The cat glares at him and flicks her tail, then goes off to her cat tower. Jon peers at the person on the other side of the glass and gets up to go open the door.

    "Ms. Ferguson," he says politely. "Umm, what brings you here--?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I didn't mean to startle you," is all the pleasantries Jon will receive before Clarice immediately asks, "Where's my sister?" she asks bluntly. "You're one of her friends - I haven't seen her in days, she's not answered her phone - I don't thing she's been in her apartment," though it can be hard to tell. The point is - she hadn't been there at sunset. That she was //certain// of.
    "Do you know what's going on?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Your sister?" Jon stares at the woman, baffled. And then, "Oh. /Lydia/." The tone in his voice is a mixture of pain and anger, and his nostrils flare as he takes a slow breath. What Lydia did isn't Clarice's fault.

    Still, his tone's suddenly curt as he steps back from the door and gestures. "Come in. Can I get you anything? I have water, tea, coffee, juice... plenty of liquor, too." How old even is Clarice? Old enough to look old enough, and Jon doesn't much care, right now. "Trust me. You're going to want to have a seat for this."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    The change in Jon's demeanor doesn't escape Clarice's notice as the young woman woman frowns, following him into his home. "I don't really need anything - I just need to know what's happened to Lydia. Something is obviously wrong," she says bluntly. "Just tell me. She's been- Things have been different since she and Raven... She wouldn't really explain to me what happened." She stops near the couch in the living room, glancing for a moment at the dog sniffing at her hand, and watching as Bear goes to get a ball to offer to her. She doesn't take it, however, as she focuses on Jon instead.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon, for his part, goes to pour himself a glass of what looks to be Spirytus, regardless. He knocks it back in one gulp, wincing, shakes his head. "Well," he says, "/I/ need the drink." Sighs, and mutters, "I really need to see how much Balder would charge me for a keg of Asgardian mead."

    Then he turns to look at Clarice, a frown furrowing his features. "Lydia's... something... happened to her. She, umm. There are these... doors, in our base, and we've been going through them and going through a kind of... mystical journey. This one door showed us our greatest fears, and Lydia... couldn't face hers, I guess. She did something to herself. Cut out her empathy. Gave in to her Predator." He shakes his head. "She broke up with Raven, yes, and she's been killing people."

    He sighs. "That's not why--we were trying to figure out how to help her deal with that, but then we've been, umm..." A pause. "Have you ever read any Lovecraft?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice frowns at this news from Jon - but it doesn't seem to surprise her. In fact, she comments quietly, "Pete was able to sense that," she admits. "The one time he's been close to her recently. That she was changed, colder, more- emotionless. We've been worried about her, but she's been keeping us at arm's length. I knew she was killing people, I-" She smirks slightly, "I helped her with some of the bodies. They weren't good people, you understand. She always made sure of that at least, but- ...that killing didn't bother her... That's not something I expect of Lydia. Even if they were assholes."
    She frowns as Jon asks about Lovecraft, incomprehension on her feature. "Lydia had pointed me to a short story... The House in the Mist? Something like that. I'm not much of a reader - I never went to school. It's just... scary stories, yeah? It was alright. Why? What does this have to do with what's happening to her?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "It's not just scary stories," Jon says, and then smiles faintly. "I have discovered that if you presume most things you read about exist /somewhere/ in the multiverse, you're less likely to be surprised. But... well. There are beings that live... outside of reality, sort of? Like, not just outer space, but outside the whole of the universe. It, umm..." He pauses. How to explain to someone who's never gone to school or read much?

    After a moment, "If you just assume they're /really/ evil gods, you won't be far off. They're literally called Elder Gods or Old Gods. The whole business with the angels was ultimately about them stealing energy--souls--from our universe, and Saint Michael trying to fix the problem in the /worst/ way. We fixed it, and so between taking revenge for that, and stopping us from interfering with other plans... they've come after us. The Justice League Dark, I mean. Several of us have had nightmares, been attacked by them, one of us was kidnapped and replaced and almost no one even remembered her."

    He fiddles with the glass, frowning. "Lydia got a nightmare... oh, I suppose it must be almost a month ago now? These things, umm... they feed on fear. So they've come to us representing our worst fears. Lydia's was... being eaten alive? I guess? Being trapped, and... fleshy things."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "The monsters are real," Clarice reinterates, as she tries to make sense of what Jon is trying to tell her, "And they're mad at you and your friends - which includes Lydia, so they're coming after all of you and giving you nightmares. But- why would that cause Lydia to abandon her home? And avoid us? She's //alright// - isn't she? They haven't-" Is her sister dead? Wouldn't Jon simply tell her that? "I feel like you're avoiding saying something. Just out with it."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon turns away from Clarice again, setting the glass on the counter and gripping its edge. "She accepted their power," he says in a clipped, irritated tone. "She's using it on people. She used it on me. Attacked me." His shoulders hunch, and his whole form tenses.

    A few black feathers fall as he turns, shirt shifting to reveal a line of them along his shoulder. He winces in pain, but otherwise doesn't seem to notice. "Flesh," he says, still trying to explain. "She's remaking people's bodies. Changing them."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "What?" Clarice asks in surprise as Jon admits to the attack. She doesn't doubt his words - she just can't make much sense of them. "But you're her friend. Why would she-"
    The words about changing bodies, though - that does strike a chord in her. "...she turned my hand black," Clarice admits quietly. "Said something about a new power that- she offered to make me look... 'normal.' I told her I wasn't ashamed of who I was; I didn't need to //hide// anything, and she put it back. She also- she said she was working on- that she thought she had a solution for Theo. But why would she attack you? Why would she attack a friend? She was making it sound like a good thing - not a weapon." Her eyes study the feathers, her eyes questioning, and worried as her attention stays fixed on Jon's back.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I don't bloody know!" Jon bursts out, shouting, gripping the sink so hard his knuckles turn white. He closes his eyes, taking shuddering breaths. Clarice is just trying to understand. She doesn't know what happened. She's worried about Lydia.

    "I went to talk to her." His voice is tense, slightly higher pitched, but at least he's not yelling. "To try to... understand. Try to offer help. I should have been more wary. I should have treated her like a threat, I just--I didn't want to think of her that way. And she--she..."

    He pauses. Swallows. Presses on. "She was unhinged. Half-mad. Insisted she was helping people. That everyone consented. But--she's a vampire. She can hypnotise people, I've seen her do it. She could hypnotise people into thinking they're okay with what she's doing to them." A pause. "I almost wish she'd--" He stops, and shakes his head.

    "She... changed me. I reverted back, mostly, but she... she made it so I couldn't fight back, and changed me." A beat. "I think, until we can handle her, it'd be safer for you not to be around her. She might change you to whatever she thinks you should be, just out of... thinking she's doing the right thing. She'd be wrong, as wrong as my relatives who used to send me ads for skin bleaching products... but it's coming from a place of fear. Fear for you. So there's that, I guess?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I don't mean to hurt you," Clarice says - not without sympathy, as Jon begins to lose his cool. She keeps her distance, watching them with concern. "I just- she's my sister. You're her friend. She- I know she's changed, little by little, since she joined the Brotherhood but she was always- ...the gentlest of any of us. Hurting anyone was painful to her, this- Hurting a friend, that isn't Lydia."
    She continues to watch Jon's back with a frown on her features. "There must be something I can do to help. To help her. To help you. I'll- I'll tell my brothers to keep their distance. They won't like it, but- Hopefully they'll listen."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "If this isn't Lydia, then the Lydia we know and care about killed herself a few weeks ago and left us with whatever's been walking around wearing her face." Jon spits out, bitterness lacing his tone.

    He regrets the words as soon as they're out, and finally forces himself to turn to face Clarice. "I'm sorry. I--this has been hard. Something in what's going on /is/ Lydia, on some level. Maybe not hurting people, but--/something/. I don't know what. Secretly thinking you'd be happier, safer, if you didn't stand out so much? Secretly thinking people should conform to her ideals? Is this a twisted version of the power she used to make the golem? I don't... I don't know. I'm not /her/. I don't know what she's been carrying around in her heart that she never told anyone."

    They frown, regarding Clarice. "We're trying to track her down. You could come with us, to face her. Even if you can't get through to her--you deserve to see what she's become."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There's pain on Clarice's face when Jon turns back to face her. That her sister could be dead, and something else walking around in her skin- That's a familiar fear to Clarice, and it hurts. "When she became a vampire," she confides quietly, "I was afraid that whatever we were left with might not really be her anymore. I was wrong. If that's finally happened after all..." She shakes her head at the thought.
    "Her family should be there for her," she says firmly. "There has to be a way to get through to her - to bring her back. I mean, she's still thinking about me, about Theo. Some... part of her must still remain." Right?
    But is it enough?

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I honestly don't know what's worse," Jon says softly. "That she's gone--or that she was always capable of this. I--I /hope/ I can come to see it like... like she's possessed, or under control of something. But I just can't get past--if I take a drug, and then kill someone when on that drug... maybe I'd never have killed anyone, but I still took the damn drug. You know?"

    He shakes his head. "Maybe it's not fair. I don't know. Maybe... maybe I'll forgive her, someday. And I generally feel--if there's a chance for someone to change, to do better, I generally support that, over killing them. But if she won't--"

    They swallow. "This power she has--it's a danger to the fundamental nature of reality. These things, they want to poison the dreams of all humanity. If Lydia won't give it up, and won't change, and there's really nothing else to be done..." If they have to kill her. It's a harder thing to articulate with her sister standing right there.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Lydia is barely capable of hurting someone in a fight - let alone harming a friend. Whatever happened... Lydia wouldn't have hurt you. Not in her right mind. So..." So, what? What options does that leave them? She winces, a deep frown pulling at her lips.
    "We have to try to save her. ...//I// have to try to save her. Maybe- if we know where she's at, I can bring in Pete, to try to get a glimpse of her mind. He'd know what's going on. If it's still //her// or not. Or if we've lost her to something else. If it's something else - we kill it. If it's still her, somehow - if there's some way to bring her back, then I have to try."
    She's silent for a moment before adding quietly, "She'd hate that she hurt you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Your sister's changed, in that," Jon notes. "Hurting people in a fight, I mean. I'd chalk it up to being a vampire, but she'd been having trouble in combat even after that. But, well--people /change/ when they get more combat experience. You wash out or you harden; there's not a lot of in between." A pause. "I should know," he murmurs, frowning.

    Then they shake themself. "She has pretty strong mental defenses--Viscera's supercharged a lot of that. I wouldn't want to risk your brother unnecessarily--but it might be a way to help. We have some other ways to tell, too. We'll figure it out, one way or another."

    He looks down at the floor. "I know that. Doesn't change what happened."

    A hesitation, and then, "I was--I was in a cult, once. I was drugged and mind controlled into having sex with a friend of mine." A beat. "She resisted. She begged me to stop. And I--didn't. I /couldn't/. In that moment, I didn't want to. I just kept going, until the drugs started to work on her, too." He swallows. "I don't even--I don't /do/ that, usually. She forgave me, said it was the leader of the cult that really did it, but it took me /years/ to believe that I really didn't have any culpability, except maybe in joining the damn cult in the first place. The cult leader taught me my mental defenses. I didn't know what I was taking was drugged. Like that. Even now--even now, it bothers me. I refused to admit my daughter was /mine/ for--years, because of how she was conceived. Because of the guilt, of what I did."

    He shakes his head. "She'll hate that she hurt me--and she should. But I don't yet know if Viscera and her Predator conspired to use her power to do this, or if there's still some of her in there. I don't know if I can forgive her. But I know I don't want to see her dead until we know what's going on."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Pete's pretty strong - and as long as he's with me, I can get him clear of trouble fast," Clarice points out. "I don't need to ask him to know he'd help. In fact, I think he'd resent it if he found out I didn't let him. I don't like putting him in danger but- he is 18 now." Hell, Theo's almost 18 now...
    "It doesn't change what happened," she agrees. "And you don't have to forgive her. Look, as long as the goal is to find out what's happening, and stop her from hurting others... I'm in. But I won't help in some revenge attempt. Are- How many people know what she did? Do your other friends - do they want to help and stop her? ...or do they want to stop and kill her? Emotions can get pretty hot in this sort of thing."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon laughs. "You know--they're more willing to think of saving her than I am? It's funny. Normally I'm the one advocating to save people no matter what." A pause. "Which is why I'm letting them call the shots. I'm--very biased, right now. Not thinking clearly."

    He shakes his head. "My friend Chas, he went through something similar. Summoned an angel, and it controlled him, forced him to torture and kill people. And Rien... she's seen a lot. She knows there are mitigating circumstances, and she doesn't want to make a snap judgement."

    They sigh, and run a hand through their hair. "And me? I don't even want revenge. I just don't want her to hurt anyone else. I don't want to keep being afraid she'll come back for me again. And I want to see justice done--whatever that means. But justice and vengeance are not the same thing. Perhaps justice will be that she lives, and makes amends for her wrongs. I don't know."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice nods her head. "Alright," she agrees. "I'll help. I hope we can save her. I hope she gets a chance to tell you how sorry she is, even if you throw it back in her face. But if she's gone, and something else is wearing her face... Then I'll help stop her. I won't let some monster destroy her memory."
    She moves towards Jon, but stops more than an arm's length from him. "Thank you for telling me what's going on. Is there anything I can do for you? I- can't help but feel some responsibility. Like I should have known what was happening."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's head suddenly comes up and his eyes widen. "This isn't your fault," he insists. "I /knew/ what was happening, I saw the signs, and I didn't want to believe. So if it's your fault--it's even more my own."

    He hesitates. "I've seen what your portals can do. Could you--I mean, is it possible you could target one closely enough to--" He flexes his right hand, then shakes his head.

    "No, never mind. That's--I shouldn't ask someone to help me remove my bloody arm. Sorry. No, umm--coming and helping us get her back is--it'll be enough."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice's eyes go to the arm, then back to Jon - her brow crinkling. "...you want me to remove it?" she asks. She knows Jon lost his arm in the fight against Michael. She knows it shouldn't be there. But that he would want it //gone// again...
    "I can," she answers. "But it wouldn't cauterize the wound of anything like that. You'd just- you'd have a seveered artery, pumping out blood with every heartbeat. It's a terrible idea."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "My body isn't normal anymore," Jon says with a smirk. "I regenerated most of it after I got eaten by a hellhound. Slowly and painfully, but--I could heal the wound easily enough. It's just... I can't seem to get rid of it, after she forcibly regrew it."

    He shakes his head. "But I shouldn't ask you to take that risk. No, it's--I just need to spend more time out in the sun, I think. Ease the, umm--the knots in the threads, mystically speaking."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice nods her head, watching Jon uncertainly. "Look - you've been through some shit, apparently, and as much as I want to help - I mean, I also want to be sure your head's clear. People say and do weird things when they're- Anyways. Give it some time, and if you can't get rid of it and still want it gone... ask me again in a few weeks or something. I bet you'll find a better solution, though."
    When Clarice smiles, it's a remarkably broad-lipped thing, but her eyes remain sad. "Thanks again for telling me. I should get out of your hair," and go tell her brothers what's going on.
    "...I mean, unless you wanted me to stay?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon shakes his head. "No, umm--I think I'll start dinner, actually. You need to see to your family. I--I'm sorry, for what it's worth. I should've done something sooner. Said something. I don't know." Another shake of the head, and he starts walking over toward the balcony door.

    "I'll let you know, as soon as we know anything. Rien d'Arqueness is tracking her, and she's one of Logan Howlett's kids. If anyone can find Lydia, etcetera." He gives her a tight smile. "I know she's family. We won't go without you."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Oh, it's not my fault - but it is yours?" Clarice asks in a dry tone. "Is that how it works now, 'Commander Sims'?" she asks, shaking her head.
    "...I'll watch for your messages. Stay safe," she says as she accompanies him to the balcony door. And in the meantime - maybe she can learn something on her own about Lydia. As Jon opens the door, she steps out, though the remarks - "You know I don't need to go outside to teleport away, yeah?"
    And without waiting for a response, she disappears in a flash of purple energy.