7539/On genealogy and witches

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On genealogy and witches
Date of Scene: 25 August 2021
Location: Mystique's Quarters
Synopsis: No description
Cast of Characters: Lydia Dietrich, Raven Darkholme, Clarice Ferguson, Rahne Sinclair




Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia has been hard at work on her latest novel, and can be found sitting at her desk in front of her laptop typing away. She has several pens poked into her ectoplasmic mists, and they lazily orbit around her as she sits and contemplates what to write next. She has a couple of journals sitting next to her for reference, and occasionally she'll pick one up, pluck a pen out of the air, and scribble something in it.

She so focused on this that she wouldn't hear anybody entering the room. After all, the number of people who would come in unannounced is very small indeed.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique had decided to give Clarice a bit more security clearance, as in allowing her immediate access to all rooms in an emergency. This would require Clarice to speak to the computer in Mystique's room, and so after the garden chat, she invited her over to read the specific words required for the computer to recognize the younger mutants voice.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Honestly - the fact that this wasn't Already A Thing had concerned Clarice. Redundency is important. What if something happened to Mystique? Sure - she could go running to Magneto, but honestly - she needed access as well. So she's more than happy to follow Mystique, after giving Cynthia another hug and promising to join her for dinner.
    She nods to Lydia, whether the other mutant notices their arrival or not, and then asks Mystique simply, "So - what do I need to say?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia grunts and is eventually pulled out of her reverie when Mystique and Claire start talking. She sets her pens down on her desk using thin tendrils of ectoplasm, and swivels her chair around. "Hey, you two," she says conversationally. "What're you up to?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique has gotten used to not interrupting Lydia, in fact she tries very hard not to when she comes in. The writing was important to her, and Lydia got so little time to do it that the cobalt mutant was just trying to ensure that Lydia got the time she could.

Messing with a few things on the computer for a moment, she hands Clarice a headset with a microphone, "You'll be prompted on the screen what to say and when to say it. Don't laugh at the stupid sentences you have to say though, they cover the vocal ranges of your voice to ensure that no one, other than me, can fake your voice. You will also be asked to enter a code, as a secondary security protocol."

Once she has Clarice set up, she slides right over to kiss Lydia lightly. "Getting another level of security opened up to Clarice. How's the book coming?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Wait - she's going to have to read the phrases off the screen? A hint of tension creeps into her back and shoulders, though she simply responds with, "Got it," as she puts on the headset, positioning the microphone in front of her mouth. The first phrase is easy, and some of her tension starts to melt away. "Today is a nice day to go for a walk," she intones. The next sentence, though, is stated with a more puzzled tone in her voice, and after a few moments puzzling over the words 'tomatoes' and 'shoelaces.' Was she reading it right? "Best friends are like old tomatoes and shoelaces." What did that even //mean//?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia returns the kiss with closed eyes before turning to look at her book. "Writing a sex scene," she says flatly. "It's a lot more work than you'd think it would be." Giving Raven a sly smile, she says, "now that I've had first had experience I've been able to get a little bit more creative with them."

She grows silent as she watches Clarice work out the words to say, smiling proudly each time Clarice manages to work everything out. "Good job on that! Nonsense sentences can be hard because you don't always have context to figure out which words are which."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The sentences were easy enough, perhaps a couple of tough words, but Mystique figured Clarice would sound them out and if the computer had a problem with it, she'd figure something else out. When Clarice reads the first one, it's pretty basic, but the second one makes the cobalt mutant chortle a little.

"Awww," she snorts, trying not to laugh too loudly. "Clarice is an old tomato and a shoe lace."

Now her amber eyes glance toward Lydia's computer for a moment, then back to the green mutant before she leans in to kiss Lydia's neck, a little nibble, then whisper something in her ear.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice flashes Lydia a smile, before turning her attention back to the computer screen. It's 'courage' that catches her up on the next sentence - but she figures it out in the end. "Courage and stupidity were-" she starts, until Lydia's remarks about 'sex scenes' and 'experience' catch her ear, and cause her to choke up, letting out an embarrassed cough. "I- okay. Let's try that one again." A click of the mouse restarts the phrase, and she records the final phrase without any incident. "Courage and stupidity were all he had."
    Honestly, there's so many people she could apply that sentence to.
    "That's it?" she asks Mystique for confirmation.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia blushes at the whisper, and giggles. She pats Raven on the butt and promises, "Later, sweetie." She shuts the lid of her laptop to keep prying eyes from reading what she wrote so far, and swivels the chair so she can face the two women.

"Hey," she says, her tone turning more serious. "Now that you're here and we've got a bit of privacy I want to talk to you about the meeting I had with Isabella the other day."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
She's brushing her teeth again. Rahne has this whole hiding toothbrushes on the station thing, and it's starting to get interesting. The cook found one in the kitchen behind the sink. Reported it, and honestly what can you do about that kind of thing? At least she's hygenic.

She sees the two go past, and pauses. Her face looks curious, and then realigns her path to be following along. She pauses in the doorway, brushing quietly. Peeking inside.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The sentences were easy enough, perhaps a couple of tough words, but Mystique figured Clarice would sound them out and if the computer had a problem with it, she'd figure something else out. When Clarice reads the first one, it's pretty basic, but the second one makes the cobalt mutant chortle a little.

"Awww," she snorts, trying not to laugh too loudly. "Clarice is an old tomato and a shoe lace." She grins and adds, "Computer is thinking, give it a minute to process the phrases, if it needs any more it will let you know, but that should be fine."

As Rahne appears at the door to her room, there is a moment that the cobalt mutant is confused, which is only compounded by the fact that the small mutant is brushing her teeth... again. She blinks a couple of times, prepared to say something but decides against it and just looks to Lydia.

"That meeting seemed to go well," she comments, her arm remaining around Lydia in a possessive way. She was really going to need to work on that. "But I wasn't sitting outside with binoculars or anything. So um... what did you want to talk about?

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice turns, surprised the door didn't close behind them, her embarrassment over Lydia's comment on her writing quickly melting away into a bright smile of greeting at the sight of Rahne. With the headphones and microphone still in place, she makes her way towards Rahne, trying to kiss her at the corner of her mouth. The microphone gets in the way, and she has to shift if down before trying again. "Hey," she adds after the kiss, leaning in against Rahne's shoulder.
    The mention of privacy, though, gets an uncertain look from Clarice. "Should Rahne and I go?" she asks - though there's curiosity and interest in her expression. Of course she doesn't //want// to go.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia makes a motion for Rahne to come on in. "You two are good," she says. "You should probably hear this anyway, Clarice, and since Rahne is practically family I don't mind if she listens in."

Addressing Raven, "It did! I learned a lot. You saw the two books that she's letting me borrow," she says. "I've already gone and started to put up wards in my apartment just to be safe. Oh. Also. I'm protected from weasels" she smirks. "Don't ask."

She turns to Rahne, explaining, "I don't know how much Clarice has explained to you about this, but I'm a mage of middling skill. You've seen the golem that's protecting Bushwick. He's my creation. This got attention of a Contessa Isabella Esposito, a witch of considerably /greater/ talent than mine and, apparently," she grins, "a huge fan of my books. She contacted me and basically has offered to teach me her ways. Oh, apparently I'm the long lost ancestor of Hatshepsut." She turns to Clarice, "Speaking of which we still need to complete that spell for you."

She sighs, and leans into Raven's arm. "So earlier this week, I had a one on one with her and learned a couple of important things. Firstly, she wants me to join her coven, which I think I want to do." She looks up at her lover, "I know you have objections, but I get the sense that Isabella really does have my best interest in mind. I haven't committed to anything, mind you. I've set up a meeting with her coven to meet the other members and find out what's involved with joining them." She shakes her head, "If I don't like what I see there, then the whole thing is off. But joining would unlock my potential and afford me protections beyond what you're able to provide."

"Which brings me to the second point," She says, addressing the room. "Apparently she wasn't the one that found me. An acquaintance of hers that owed her a blood oath found me, which tells me a couple of things. One: Apparently I'm important enough for her that learning of my existence was enough to fulfill a blood oath. The second is that if /she/ isn't the one that found me it means /others/ can. And she has enemies, which means that I have unknown enemies as well. She assures me that since my magic hasn't fully awakened they won't find me but I think she's too optimistic on that front."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne pulls the toothbrush out of her mouth and stuffs it into her back pocket of her pants, then kisses Clarice. She doesn't say a damn thing, but there's something new in how they interact. Her eyes rove around after the kiss, staying close by Clarice in a slightly possessive fashion.

Then she hears all of the things, understanding none of them, and looks so damn confused that she's standing there looking like an idiot.

She looks left. Mystique. She looks right. Clarice. Neither of them is adding subtitles. So she kind of quirks her right cheek into a half-smile and waits.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
These revelations takes Mystique by surprise, neither being anything close to what she expected. Keeping her arm around Lydia she is silent for a time, weighing the information, trying to decide how to word what she's thinking.

"Blood oaths are pretty serious business," is the first thing she says. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they're called that because the magic involved blood." She sighs a little, the rest is a jumble in her head. Emotions are interfering with her thinking, and she loaths then that happens. "I need a minute regarding the rest, alright? To think."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    With Lydia's permission given - Clarice draws Rahne into the room, one arm around the scot, her head resting against hers, as she listens to Lydia's explination of events. A faint frown pulls at her features before she remarks, "I have no experience with anything like this, but- after all Raven's concern that people would use you to get to her, are you implying people might use us to get to you?"
    She lets out a thoughtful sigh as she adds, "If it means more allies - that would be a good thing, and obviously you want to pursue your magic, but... It's a big decision, isn't it?" As for the spell, a hint of an uncertain smile tugs at her lips as she adds, "I would be nice to learn more about my family. Maybe even things Cynthia doesn't know."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Of course, take all the time you need," Lydia tells Raven with a squeeze. "Though, the meeting is happening next Wednesday. It's more fact finding than anything else. I'm not ready to commit just yet."

Clarice gets a nod. "Quite possibly, and we're really light on magical defenses. So far it's just me, and depending on how big of a threat it is I'm simply underprepared to handle it." She rests her head against Raven, "I know you're all used to protecting me, and I appreciate it. This is just a whole new world and we're being thrown into the deep end head first."

"I can perform the spell at any time," Lydia says. "Now that I've done it once and figured it out, it'll be easy to do it again, so just tell me when."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
See, this is why Rahne brushes her teeth. She constantly encountered this kind of stuff late at night at the mansion, and she never once had anything useful to say. So she took to having somthing in her mouth.

This time she was silly and put it into her back pocket. She wonders a moment if she can sneak it back out, but her right arm is trapped by Clarice. She pauses, then she licks her teeth under the lips.

Watermelon toothpaste. Not bad. I can maybe try a few others but this is a good option.

Looking like she's tracking, Rahne nods when Lydia finishes. "Smart," she says. It's served her well in the past.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
While the conversation continues, Mystique is in her own head. There are so many angles she is forced to look at this from, not merely the angle of loving Lydia enough to murder puppies for her... not that Lydia would ever ask for that. She also has too look at this as the leader of the Brotherhood, and the threat level that this might be to them. Then she had to figure the level of protection that the Brotherhood could offer Lydia, as a member, and what Lydia could offer in return, as a member. All of that was made exceedingly difficult to do while standing right there, with her arm around the woman she loved, but she was working her way through it.

"The Brotherhood has never had to deal with magical elements in the past," she says out loud, clearly her brain is finally kicking into gear. "Until now, we have only dealt with humans and other mutants, but that is changing. From a purely professional level, the decision is an easy one to make. We're going to need magical protection for ground missions."

Unwrapping her arm from Lydia now, she does the slow pace to the window across the room. "If I look at this from any other angle, I find myself about chin deep in emotional crap that should /not/ factor into this. The decision is yours to make Lydia, you already know how I feel about this person. I don't know her, I don't trust her, but she's not involved with me. I can tell you this however," she looks away from the window and back to Lydia. "There is no way in hell that you are wandering off to parts unknown alone. Some one is going with you, and it won't be me... if I'm there, there's a good chance you won't have a teacher."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I can go," Clarice offers simply. "In case we need a quick exit." Besides, she's also one of the more accomplished fighters in the Brotherhood. Maybe not at Raven or Mister Creed's level - but who is? "But it's up to both of you," she adds.
    Then with a shrug of her shoulders she adds, "I'm happy to do the spell anytime you like. I assume you'll need //my// blood to do it?" she asks. But Lydia had already demonstrated how easily her ectoplasm can draw blood. At the moment, her free hand hangs at her side - but at the slightest indication from Lydia, she'd easily raise it and offer it towards her.
    Her gaze flicks briefly towards Rahne, a hint of amusement flashing across her features. She has a feeling all of this is as much gibberish to Rahne as it is to her.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
This conclusion isn't anything unexpected from Raven. Lydia looks thoughtful for a moment, as a plan formulates in here head. "Okay. We're going to meet at a predestined location, which you'll port us down to, Clarice." She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose as she thinks this through aloud. "They're going to take me off to an undisclosed location along. I'll try to take my phone with me so I can dial out an SOS if I need to, but if they take that from me, I'll hide a little tracking device on my body." She waves a hand helplessly, "We'll figure out a way to have it ping you if I get into trouble."

She lets out a sigh. "I don't expect any trouble, but I'm trying to remain cautious about this." She turns to Raven, "It's just... The more I learn about this the more /right/ it feels. I hate to use words like 'destiny' but I don't have any better words to encapsulate everything that I get from this."

Grateful for the distraction, Lydia turns her attention at Clarice. "Want to do it now while Raven thinks things over?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
That's when Rahne's hand reaches out, to touch Lydia's. She doesn't understand. She never understood. But she knows that when a person is doing something important, you need a kindness. Just because it's the right thing to do.

So she keeps it simple. A touch, from someone who isn't a danger, and a look from her face filled with faith.

Then she backs up, and gives Clarice a hug. "Good luck," she whispers.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "You don't think they'd let me accompany you directly?" Clarice asks - frowning slightly. That she didn't like - and she didn't think Mystique would like it either. Well - she //knows// Mystique wouldn't like it. "I mean - none of us can stop you from pursuing your path, Lydia, but..." She didn't like the idea of a friend going into the unknown alone.
    At the offer of doing the spell, she nods, stepping closer to Lydia, and offering up the palm of one hand. The other hand holds to Rahne, drawing her forward alongside her. In a quiet aside to Rahne she murmurs, "The spell can show you your family all the way back to... well. The first man and woman."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
It wasn't her usual, Mystique knew that no one was expecting the answer that she just threw out there, but the truth was, no matter how much she hated it, it was Lydia's decision. She didn't want to make it harder on the woman she loved, she wanted to try and make it easier while also being over protective and running a large organization. That was all the more reasons she had to keep trying to work it out in her head. There were so many angles to consider, and she was only through two of them.

"We can work out the details of it before you go," she finally says, chewing at the inside of her own bottom lip and then wanders back to the window to look at the stars. "Let me worry about those details, I already know what can be done if you have to go alone. I hate it, but I know what to do."

There were plenty of times that missions required someone to go in alone, they were just as dangerous, just as risky, the only difference here is that those people weren't Lydia. She had no right to treat it any differently than she would any other mission, and yet she wanted to. Conflict created.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
A grateful smile graces Lydia's lip at Rahne's touch. She knows this is going well over her head, and appreciates the show of support. "I /know/ they won't," Lydia says, turning to Clarice. "I'm trying to find a solution that will keep everybody happy."


"It's a bit of a mind whammy," Lydia cautions, as she takes Clarice's hand in her own. "It's a /lot/ of information to just jam in your head all at once, but it'll fade in a couple of days, except for the parts that you want to hang on to."

She looks up at her friends. "You ready?" When given the go head she extends a finger and an emerald green talon grows from it. She turns the palm face up and gives it a prick, letting blood well up from the small wound. She lets her ectoplasmic aura extend and surround Clarice as she puts a bit of her power in it, letting golden arcs run through it.

"Yajid, madi, salaf." This time the spell comes to her much easier. She reaches out with her other hand and touches the blood with her middle finger and then just /pulls/ Clarice's ancestry out from history. The air is filled with images, slow at first but then faster. Each image is a person from Clarice's past. Her parents. Their parents. And so on. Each has their name inscribed over their head, in whatever their native language is.

Instead of taking in all this information herself, she redirects it to Clarice, letting the aura of her magic grow brighter and dance on her skin as millennia of names and faces cram themselves into her skull. When it's finally over, Lydia drops her hand and takes a step back.

"How do you feel?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne doesn't see it all happen. She's gone. She didn't explain, she just slipped out. It's perhaps bad timing, it's perhaps a bit rude. It's something she needed to do. She did it just after she was told what the spell would do.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice feels Rahne slip away - just as Lydia pricks the palm of her hand. Her gaze flicks towards the departing woman, her expression puzzled and concern, before her attention is drawn back to Lydia, and she watches it all play out - her parents, her grandparents, her greatparents. There were a few that stand out - that she holds onto her. Her grandparents, she knows so little about. Where were they? Were they still alive somewhere? And Frederick Slade - several generations back, but with her hair, her eyes - but not her ears or her skin. Still, it was enough to drop her jaw a little.
    The information comes faster and faster, with more and more names and faces as the tree expands, but even with the overwhelming amount of information that strikes her - one face in her history stands more than the others. Grey skinned, with strange markings on his face... "En Sabah Nur?" she repeats in confusion. Even though she couldn't read the words, she knew the name.
    "I- that-" Clarice closes her palm over the prick of blood at its center. "That was a lot. Thank you, Lydia."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique hadn't intended to pay attention to the spell, mostly because she had no intentions of allowing it to be done on herself, but still she was distracted by the flashing images going by. Humans most of them, or so it looked like and then she just blurts out, "Oh holy mother of son of a bitch!"

Crossing the room it's too late, the image went by and was gone. "En Sabah Nur?!" She looks between Lydia and Clarice, but clearly neither of them know exactly what has her worked up about that, and already her brain is working out how to make sure that NO ONE ever knows. "This... this is a problem."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods at Clarice, gripping her shoulder in a friendly and steadying manner. "It /is/ a lot. You'll be able to flip through them like files on a computer for a couple of days, then it'll start to fade, save for the ones you want to hang on to."

She takes a step back in surprise when Mystique nearly flings herself across the room. "Who is En Sabah Nur?" Her eyes flick to Mystique, "Why is he bad news?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Before Clarice can begin to reply to Lydia, her gaze is drawn to Mystique instead, her eyebrows going up and confusion showing clearly on her features. "Boss?" she asks. "...what's wrong? How is this a problem?" Her gaze goes down to her hand, closed over that drop of blood still, and then to Mystique again. She moves closer, reaching out to touch her with her uninjured hand. "Raven?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique takes a large, deep breath, "Okay, well, no one knows so it shouldn't be too big of an issue, but from now on if you bleed anywhere, we scour it clean." She pauses then and looks at each of them, realizing she must sound like a crazed person.

"En Sabah Nur," she repeats. "He has another name, and those of his blood line are hunted for the sake of recharging him."

Gods this was a nightmare, perhaps neither of then knew the other name, but here goes, "Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur is Apocalypse."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia scowls, not liking the sound of this. She looks to Clarice to see if this 'Apocalypse' is something that she recognizes. "I don't know who that is," she says, slowly. "But with a name like 'Apocalypse' he can't /possibly/ be a good guy." She takes a deep breath, and heads back to her office chair. "I'll do what I can to keep her from bleeding."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Recharging him?" Clarice repeats in bafflement. She shakes her head. "I've never heard of this... Apocalypse. Are you saying he's still alive? I mean, he was... hundreds and hundreds of years back." Or was it thousands? "...no one can live that long. Can they?" she asks, looking towards Lydia for a moment, then back to Mystique.
    "It's alright. It's fine. No one knows, just us. I mean... not even Rahne." Though that was something she'd have to follow up on. Rahne left - was she alright? "Nothing's really changed."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique lays her hand on Clarice's shoulder.

"I over reacted, alright? I just... I haven't heard that name in a long, long time. It is something we have to be mindful of, always." She shakes her head a little, then takes her hand back and steps over to her computer to start a search up.

"I don't know if he's still alive or not, I just know that Clan Akkaba is always looking for his descendants. So..." she turns back to the two of them. "We are going to need some magic to conceal your blood Clarice, just to be on the safe side, and if you do bleed, we clean that shit up quick. I'll see if I can find any indications of the Clan's current locations and who their allies and connections are, but for now we plan for the 'what ifs' and call it good."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia rubs her forehead when she hears the name Clan Akkaba. "Why does that sound like a cult to me?" She turns around and pull open one of her journals and makes a note. "I'll see what I can find out about masking your signature. I don't think I have anything like that in the books that I have, though. If I knew /how/ they were tracking the blood, it'd be easier to come up with a counterspell for it."

Lydia looks thoughtful, tapping her pen against the journal thoughtfully. "I could make a pendant, or another piece of jewelry and enchant it so that your blood gives off the signature of somebody else's." She taps her journal a couple more times. "That'll be easier than trying to mask it every time you spill blood."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Sure boss," Clarice agrees, following Mystique to her computer. She watches with curious puzzlement as she searches for information, one hand reaching out to rest on the other woman's shoulder reassuringly, as she tries to turn all this over in her mind. The thought that someone could want her //blood//? It makes so little sense to her. But as frightening as some may find it - nothing //has// changed, it's simply that they know about it now. "Sure, Lydia. If you think you could do something like that... I'll wear it. Or," she gestures with the bracelet she now wears - the silver bracelet with its green cats eyes. "There's this," she offers.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique's fingers dance across the keyboard with the speed of lightning, then she looks back to Lydia before stepping away from the computer. It will take time, there are a lot of resources, allies, contacts and other pockets of information that have to be searched.

"How can a charm effect blood outside the body?" She asks. She's no expert on this stuff, so she's curious. "I can see it concealing her heritage while /in/ her body, but once it leaves the body? Or did I misunderstand?"

En Sabah Nur... of all the fucking people. "If you're wondering, En Sabah Nur claims to be the first mutant. He's not, but he claims to be. He /is/ very long lived, so it is possible he's still alive. The details on him are scarce, but history doesn't paint him a nice guy. I mean he named his children Death, Famine, Pestilence and War. Those names should sound familiar to anyone who has read the bible. I can't tell you much more then that, but yes... Clan Akkaba is a cult, to him."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks almost horrified at the thought of magicing Clarice's bracelet. "Oh, no. I couldn't do that to your bracelet. It means something special to you and I don't know what it's going to take to get this to work. I'd rather have something that I don't have to worry about accidentally blowing up or anything."

"Well, the idea that I had was more like it masks the blood as it leaves the body," Lydia says, explaining her thoughts to Raven. "Kind of like.... you know how in Krispy Kreme the donuts go through the machine that ices them? Think of the donuts as the blood, and the icing as the spell that masks the blood." She looks thoughtful as she collects her thoughts about the details of what this would look like. "It'd probably be easier if I got a sample of somebody else's blood. That way I could mask hers to look like theirs."

Lydia lets out a groan, "The four horsemen of Apocalypse. Of /course/. That's megalomaniacal levels of hubris right there."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...oh," Clarice answers. "Well..." She's about to suggest she at least pick something out that she won't mind wearing, but really? Why would she care what it is? "Just pick something simple, I suppose. It doesn't really matter what." Her hand slips away from Mystique's shoulder as the woman rises, and she perches herself on the edge of the desk instead, looking bemused that the little blood spell had completely derailed the earlier conversation. Would pointing that out cause Mystique to explode from her two split anxieties over two different people she loves? Probably best not to find out.
    "Well. No, with a name like Apocalypse, I didn't think he would be a very nice guy. What did he want? With that sort of name - it sounds like he was trying to destroy the world. ...the end of humanity?" She theorizes. It's a rather, well, not-so-old-school Brotherhood viewpoint.
    "The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse? That's an old story, I take it? Did he base the names on the story - or was it the other way around? Which is older?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique sticks her wrist toward Lydia with a grin, "How much do you need? Seriously. I can make my own blood match anyone else, right down to the DNA, so by all means, tell me who you'd like her to be and we'll make it happens."

"I don't know his age Clarice, or where it came from, but I will see what I can find out." That's when it hits her and she looks at Clarice, "Oh shit... Cynthia. You're going to need to tell her. She's going to need the protection as well."

This got complicated fast. "What are you going to tell her?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia shrugs at Clarice's question. "I don't know. Revelations is New Testament stuff so sometime after the turn of the millennium. Couldn't tell you when."

"I wouldn't need much. A pinprick just to get the signature, assuming /if/ I can work out the enchantment." She shakes her head. "I don't know if I can make it strong enough to fool DNA sequencers, but if anybody uses magical means to case a scene it won't stand out as anything but normal blood."

At the mention of Cynthia Lydia blinks. "Oh, goodness, yes. We don't want her tangled up in this either. I'll have to make something for her too."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice doesn't answer for a few moments, and when does, she's shaking her head slightly. "Her world's changed so much the last few weeks. Do we need to tell her anything, yet? She doesn't get into fights, or danger. The fact that I have a sister at all isn't well known to the people do know about me. She's less of a risk than I am. And if we want to put something on her that masks her blood..." Clarice jangles her wrist. "She wears the bracelet. Once you have the enchantment figured out, we- I don't know, tell her we want to put an engraving on it. The date we met. Or... 'Sisters are forever' or whatever. We can always tell her the truth later if it becomes a more pertinent risk, or when she's a bit older."
    She givs a shrug of her shoulders before adding, "They obviously seem unable to track the bloodlines from a distance - or they would have already tracked us down - or tracked down our father. Right?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Anger flashes through Mystique's eyes, so she looks toward anywhere else, which happens to be at Lydia instead, just long enough to bite her tongue and stop herself from saying the first thing that came to her mind. Once she has control of her mouth at least, she looks back to Clarice.

"Sure, you can keep her in danger, lie to her, ensure that she never knows the truth because in our world, that's what you do to someone you love, you don't give them all the information so they can make an informed decision." This is stated quickly, without too much anger in her tone but there is a little. "You do for your family what you feel is right Clarice, but think for a minute how you would feel if something like this was kept from you to 'protect you'. You'd be pissed off, you'd stop trusting, and that's already an issue for her."

Now she looks back to Lydia, "Am I wrong in this?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I do /not/ like the idea of lying to your sister about enchanting her bracelet," Lydia says, scowling. "I... that brushes the line of consent with me. Anything I do to people should be consensual." Her eyes flick over to Raven, "Save those who would harm us. How would you like it if you found out that your sister enchanted your bracelet without your knowledge?"

She nods at Raven as they say pretty much the same thing. "I think we're on the same page on this one," she says.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice presses her lips together, her gaze going from Mystique, to Lydia, and back again. "Alright," Clarice agrees. "Those aren't bad points," she agrees. "But we don't really know what we're really dealing with here, yet. Do we? How serious the risk is? It hasn't been an issue yet. Maybe this Clan is gone?" She can hope anyways.
    "I don't know what //I// think about all this. So how do I tell Cynthia about it? What if we just scare her over nothing?"
    She shakes her head for a moment, before inclining her head towards Mystique, "We get more information." She nods towards Lydia now, "You try to figure out the enchantment. And when we learn more... we figure out what Cynthia needs to know. But telling her anything now seems premature."