5047/Hole In Your Soul

Hole In Your Soul
Date of Scene:	06 February 2021
Location:	Roof: Themysciran Embassy
Synopsis:	Terry comes to Rachel for a consultation, and it is explained to him that taking advice from someone with the alias of 'Lucifer' is perhaps not the greatest of ideas...
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Rachel Roth

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
It hasn't exactly been the easiest of times for Terry, lately. But the same could be said for a large number of the team-members: with Donna's sister in a coma, Cassie depowered, and doppelgangers on the loose, it seemed like everybody had a little piece of hell to live through. Gar had lost a hand, nearly died, and gone through the traumatic process of regrowing... losing a piece of your soul doesn't really /sound/ that painful.

So why was he so desperate? And why did he feel like every day without it dragged on longer and longer? Things tasted blander, the sun felt less warm, and all through and through his colors faded- hair from red to bland brown, eyes from green to gray, and skin paler and paler.

He hasn't seen Donna. Not since the news of Diana's injury- well, briefly during the attack on the Tower, but he's been afraid to face her. Nevertheless, he has come to the Embassy because there is someone he needs to talk to, someone who might be able to help his aimless spirit.

As Terry ascends to the rooftop, he shivers briefly at the cold up there. Even though he is wearing appropriate protective clothing, nowadays it felt like nothing could keep him warm for long, and the slightest breeze could cut through him like a knife. This made no sense- he was a New Yorker. He used to play in snowdrifts, for crying out loud.

He glances across the rooftop, shadows lengthening in the dusk and making things difficult for those without the sharp eyes of a cat... or other senses.

"Raven?" he calls out. The name is quieter than he intends. It's hard to see which shadow is the one he's looking for... or if she's here at all. She may have gone up to the roof, as an Amazon attested to him, but there was no saying that she could come down the same way.

Rachel Roth has posed:
    Raven has been sparse at the tower of late. From making sure that Donna has all the companionship needed in this particularly fragile situation, to assisting in cataloguing and identifying the artifacts that come into the embassy. Especially without Diana's expertise, and with Donna distracted, Raven's rather /frightening/ level of knowledge of history and the occult is of more use now than ever.

    She is on the roof- that much will be obvious when Terry arrives, a in the moonlight Raven floats above the ground, her legs crossed. The cold seems to bother her little- but after all, she does wear a sweater for a reason. That it's enchanted such that no weather bothers her at all isn't obvious... At least until she's wearing it in the apex heat of the Sahara.

    Terry's arrival goes noticed, but only when he speaks does she seem to be bothered. While her time is being accosted more than normal, it's with endeavors she doesn't dislike, and by individuals that are altogether /polite,/ something that the Tower can, occasionally, sincerely lack in both regards.

    Trust Terry to ruin the precious peace she has longed for for so long.

    "I'm here, Terrence. What do you need?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry gives himself an extra wrap-around with his scarf before making his way closer to Raven with slow, plodding steps. Now that Raven has answered him, it's almoost as if the cat has got his tongue for a few seconds- but he eventually manages to find it and wrest it back. "I'm sorry, I don't like bothering you but... I've got a problem, and only you can help..."

But that isn't really the whole of it, though. He is bothered, very bothered by the gulf that has grown between him and Donna, and he has been thoroughly unable to seemingly do the right thing that would help make amends. "But... how is Donna doing?" he asks, stuffing his hands inside his jean pockets to keep them from freezing. It doesn't help that much. He is more than aware that Donna probably has told Raven everything that Terry has done wrong. It's probably why he seems to stand as if his stature were no higher than a foot tall. "Any... news about Diana?"

Rachel Roth has posed:
    There is a short twitch as Terry states that she's the only one that can help. Raven inhales slowly, but audibly, and then exhales much the same way. "I don't believe you," she begins, "But we will let that lie. There is a drunk man named Constantine who can do most of the things I can. I have heard of a man that has enchanted a hockey stick to aid in his magic, you could have tried your luck there. You might even have attempted to visit Stephen Strange. Yet, here you are."

    Chiding aside, Raven lifts further into the air, so that her legs can unfurl beneath her, so she can stand. "Donna is... Troubled. I am trying to keep her calm, but I do not wish to violate her agency to feel how she does. That is why I am here, trying to do my best to keep things level. Sadly, there are /so many/ others that are doing their best to do the /exact/ opposite, aren't there?" she asks, her voice more venomous than most if not all snakes.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
That last remark lands like a well-aimed spear, and Terry winces. "Raven... it hasn't been my intention to do hurt Donna. I don't... want to hurt anybody." His voice sounds a little choked off, but he quickly manages to push down whatever emotion was welling up inside him.

"I know everybody's hurting. You all have more experience than I do. I'm trying, I've fucked up." He frowns. "Is recrimination and anger all I am ever going to get from my family? I already had the nuns for that."

The bells of Saint Sebastian are never too far from here. As the half hour chimes from a church not too far from here, he shudders. Maybe that's the one.

Rachel Roth has posed:
    Raven rolls her eyes, but not in an entirely condescending way. "It's never anyone's intention to. However, you did things without /asking/ first. As if waiting was entirely a problem for you." It might not have been the /most/ impetuous thing Terry's ever done, but Raven wasn't consulted before this most recent escapade. She's going to chastise him for that.

    "It's not recrimination or anger. It's concern. Concern that you won't /slow down./ Not for /our/ sake. We don't care if we get hurt. That's part of what we do. We care if /you/ get hurt." It's the empirical We. Terry should probably remember that he doesn't have rabbit holes to try and escape should he find the statement too comforting. A hug would be deadly.

    "Now, you said I was the only one that can help. With what?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry sighs a little, and nods. "I know. I know. I haven't gone and done something stupid. What happened today... some stuff... wasn't actually something I did. SO... I went to see a magician recommended to me by a friend. Some guy who has the stage name of Lucifer... owns a nightclub. He gave me a ritual that he said might help locate and bind my doppelganger... so he wouldn't teleport away once we descended on him."

He goes quiet for a moment. "Thing is... the book that it came from had a curse. It's not on me anymore... but that's caused me to pause. I was going to show you this thing anyways to see what you thought, whether it was safe to use or not... but now I realize I really should ask you what do you think I /should/ do to get my soul back?"

He spreads his hands, "Maybe I could go to Strange, but Strange doesn't know me. And I could see this Constantinople guy, but he could be just like Lucifer and pawn off some dodgy ritual without any concern of whether I survive it or not. You would care."

And then he adds a slight smile, "Someone has to keep Gar occupied. Right?" Attempt at humor falling flat in five, four, three...

Rachel Roth has posed:
    Raven is impassive, lacking much of an emotional response to Terry's predicament. Truth be told, she's thinking logically. "Sure. A stage name of Lucifer. Got it." she remarks, her tone... Difficult to read. "Gave you a book that was cursed; Do you know the nature of the curse?" she asks, well aware that he sincerely may not. That's not really a jab against Terry; It's just how curses work.

    "Anyone that calls themself Lucifer, regardless of how true that may or may not be, is not someone to be trusted. Do not accept deals, bargains, magical items, promises or power or vengeance, or /anything/ from anyone calling themself Lucifer."

    Offering a sigh, she brings one hand out of her sweater-pocket to pinch at the bridge of her nose. "It depends on /how/ you lost it. Sometimes it's as simple as just /asking/ for it back, and sometimes you have to scatter the essence of an eternal etentity to winds that only blow along specific leylines, and similarly only once in a millenia."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I made a mistake. I didn't know something about how magic works outside of Wonderland... you know. Eyes, mirrors to the soul, and all of that."

Terry sits down on the edge of the rooftop, making sure he's got a firm hold of it, lest he fall his way back into the courtyard and end up braining himself. "At one point I was facing my counterpart and couldn't bring my mirror up. So I thought... I mean, I thought it made sense to look into his eyes and say the words, because it was like a mirror." One thing he had shared with the team was that he needed to look at a reflection of his eyes in order to transform, while reciting the magic words.

"I found out why that was a mistake. He got half of my powers... and then he kidnapped my mom."

He pauses, and wraps his arms around himself. "This is where I fucked up the most. I panicked. I was afraid for her life. He gave me one hour and I was desperate. I went to fight him, and I thought that if I could say the words again, I'd have my chunk back."

He looks up. "I think he figured out the same, because he stopped me from saying the words with his hand, and said them himself. And that's how... he ended up with all of it. My powers. My Cheshire soul..." He looks down at the floor. Fascinating floor.

Rachel Roth has posed:
    Raven listens, in silence. She's good at that, just providing an oddly gargoyle like set piece to talk at and hope for eventual advice on one of various topics. Her features are like stone, especially so with the porcelain tone of her skin.

    "So you looked into his eyes, and found out he could steal some of your power when you transformed using them as a source... And thought it would be clever to do it again." she notes, not essentially chastising- just... Restating the facts.

    "It sounds like he did research in the interim. Or, at least, knew more about your abilities in the first place. So we know that he's... At least capable and in control of what he can do. I will admit that your specific abilities- I don't understand them very much myself." she notes, "So at this stage, what I would do is stay calm, and stay away. Don't go anywhere alone. Not without Garfield, or anyone else. Does he still have your mother?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"No, fortunately... Gar rescued her." He purses his lips. "We were at the Embassy when I got the alert that he had mom. We're hiding the fact that Gar survived... but we only had an hour, I didn't have my Rabbit Hole powers. So... with what I had available to me, I decided I'd risk myself to save mom. I walked into what I knew was a trap and had Gar peek through the windows while tiny to see if /his/ doppelganger was there. And then I instigated the fight and moved it out of the building while Gar got my mom out, unseen."

"Yeah. People seem to have issues understanding them. Myself included. I thought that by repeating what I had done, I could ... revert the effects?" he scratches his head, and exhales. "I feel like I'm fading without that... part of me. Isn't it so thoroughly stupid? I had no idea it existed until a year ago, and now that it's gone it's like I'm a poster left in the sun. But every day that passes, it's harder to do... regular stuff."

Normally, one might attribute that to depression. But soul-stuff is tricky. "I've heard tell that Zatanna does magic by speaking backwards. I wonder..." he frowns again, and scratches the back of his neck.

Rachel Roth has posed:
    Raven doesn't have a whole lot to offer, for the moment- aside from just a thoughtful hand on her chin. "It won't be very long before I understand them very well. That's simply how it's going to have to be." she notes, before returning her eyes, that had begun to stare off to the ground at Terry's side in thought, to Terry.

    "He has no leverage now aside from your powers. As I said, just stay safe. If he /kills/ you, he'll probably /keep/ what he's stolen. Once I know how to take back what he has stolen... We will have to make him curious. That should be easy enough. Until then, don't /try anything./ Please. You have no powers and you have to play to your strengths. In this case, you have to make do with the one thing that you have that he does not." she remarks.

    "/Real/ Titans."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You're right," Terry says quietly. "I should probably just stay at the Embassy to minimize the danger. I was pretty much useless when the other Cassandra attacked." He slowly stands up, shaking life into limbs that have grown cold. "I feel so small and insignificant right now. But every screw up I've done in this matter has stemmed from me being in denial."

He chuckles a little, "I... haven't told anyone this, but... I was afraid. I've been telling myself that if I can't get my powers back and SHIELD has to capture and send my Doppelganger back, I'll have to move out of the Tower."

"It sounds ungrateful as fuck. I get the chance to work with Lois Lane. But somehow going back to /just/ that life..."

He trails off. It doesn't mean that he'll have to stop seeing people, but it would be a very different life. And Gar had seemed far more inclined to be with him after he developed his powers and he didn't have to worry about him being able to fend for himself...

He shakes his head and forces down those emotions /hard/. The glistening eyes are easily explained by the cold, and the slight sniffles as well. It's cold out here. He should probably go back inside.

"Thank you for listening, Rae. I'll do as you say. And if anything fucky suddenly starts going down, I'll try to reach you through the comm."