8722/On Vampires, and Faith

On Vampires, and Faith
Date of Scene:	18 November 2021
Location:	The Laughing Magician
Synopsis:	Lydia and Jon meet up at the Laughing Magician and have a talk--about Lydia's (un)life, the vampires they fought recently, faith, and magic.
Cast of Characters:	Jonathan Sims, Lydia Dietrich

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Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's back at a booth on one side of the bar, scrolling through his phone and trying to make (very bad) sketches in a notebook in front of him. He's got training in the morning, but he needed to talk to people and his husband's working late, so... here he is, haunting the Laughing Magician again.

    If nothing else, it's the right kind of atmosphere for the work he's doing, trying to pull out vague memories of dreams about things that happened to other people, all on the off-chance that his feeling that 'something's still broken' is accurate.

    He's not drinking anything stronger than a Sprite with grenadine--yes, for the love of the gods, a /Shirley Temple/, look, they taste good--but he's got an ashtray full of cigarette butts next to him.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It's late at night at a time when any decent human being should have gone to bed by now. Fortunately nobody can really say that decent human beings frequent the Laughing Magician, which is what brings Lydia here. Sure, she herself is a decent person but human? Not anymore.

She walks in from the street wearing a red tartan skirt, heavy boots, and a burgundy sweater, over which her heavy gray trenchcloak hangs and her ashfall of ectoplasm is calmly falling about her.

She spies Jon working in his booth, and comes to sit down and join him by way of getting herself a Manhattan at the bar. "Evening, Jon," she says with a pleasant smile. "Hope you don't mind if I join you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon blinks and looks up at Lydia. "Oh! Yes, please," he gestures across the table. "Please, feel free. Ahh. I hope you're. Ahh... I didn't get a chance to ask how you were, last night. After... after that business in Queens, I mean."

    He has the grace to look embarassed about bringing up the fact that Lydia had to flee after a fight, so that she wouldn't try to eat any of her allies. As if it was /his/ fault somehow; maybe at least for not checking up on her.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia gives Jon a gentle grin as she says, "I got back up to the Asteroid, and they had emergency... uh... donors for me to feed upon." She's still a little uncomfortable talking about how, and what she eats. "The one I was worried about was Jubilation. She was in just as bad a shape as I was and she doesn't have an entire organization to help her like I do." Her eyes wander out the door as if she might just catch the teen vampire wander by. "I hope she hasn't hurt anybody."

Her eyes wander back to her companion. "Those vampires we came across worry me, too. I think they're from the same clan that kidnapped me and tried to turn me." She shakes her head. "Not positive, but the M.O. are uncomfortably close."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I'm worried about her, too," Jon says softly. "If nothing else, I know Mr. Knight offered her a place, and I know she /really/ doesn't want to hurt anyone. I'll try to check in with her, though."

    He eyes Lydia for a moment, speculatively. "...Really? That's... not ideal." Understatement of the week, at least. Maybe the month. He closes the notebook he'd been sketching in (really very badly--is that supposed to be a room or a pool?) and sits back a little bit.

    "What about them was similar?" He has an air about him of a man taking notes despite closing the notebook. "I know... precious little about vampires, I'm afraid, aside from, ahh... well. Fiction, you know?" His ears turn slightly darker. Whatever that's about, it's embarassing evidently.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I want a chance to really get to talk to her too," Lydia says. "Have a vampire on vampire chat. She... she doesn't have anybody to guide her on her journey and... while I'm new to this myself, I at least have a mentor who helps me." She shakes her head, "It's a testament to her will that she hasn't hurt anybody yet."

Her brows furrow into a scowl. "It was the dark magic," she says. "My clan is the only one dedicated to the light and life, whereas theirs is dedicated to the primordial dark and death. Polar opposites in many ways." She pauses to take a sip of her Manhattan, "Mm. The only thing that casts doubt that this was their handywork is that this is too.... obvious for them. They're usually more subtle than this."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "To be fair," Jon notes, "it took the resources of a superhero whose entire milieu involves 'protecting the nightwalkers' to spot them. It's not like any of the rest of us had any idea before we showed up, and Tim's internet searches on the place came up with nothing that stood out."

    He chews on his lip, thoughtfully. "They knew who /I/ was, too. By the, ahh..." He lifts his left wrist, shows off the bracer. "And taking the leader's statement made him burst into flames, which, well... if that happened to vampires regularly you'd have been lit on fire when I read the story you gave me about your golem."

    He smiles. "How's that doing, by the way? Still rattling about?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia's lips purse in a moue of thoughtfulness. "I suppose you're right," she concedes. "If Moon Knight hadn't directed us there, they would have been able to scrub the crime scene. Not that there was much left to investigate. They would have been smarter if they hadn't engaged with us," she muses, "and find out who the new players were, and from there deal with us individually. But they didn't seem to be the type to have been turned for their intelligence."

Lydia's hand wanders up to the ankh pendant she wears around her neck when she's asked about the golem. A look of sadness pass by her features as she says, "It is, but I don't have the magic anymore to maintain it. It's beginning to show cracks that can't be repaired." She lets out a small sigh. "Sooner or later it's just going to fall apart and I'll have to decommission it."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Oh." Jon's voice cracks on the word, and he reaches out a hand. "Oh, Lydia, that's... awful news. I'm so sorry." His expression is sympathetic, a frown creasing his brow.

    He hesitates, then, "Is there nothing that can be done? I mean... those vampires use magic. Not that you want to use /that/ sort of magic, of course, but... if your own clan is dedicated to light and life, perhaps you can access that sort of magic?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia's lips set in a hard line trying to contain her emotions about losing access to her magic. "My sire can use magic," she says, "so I know it's possible. My magic was based on faith and... that just isn't an option now." She reaches across the table to take Jon's hand and gives it a squeeze. "God doesn't look favorably on the undead."

Jon can sense that there's more to it than that. Lydia's faith was part of her center, that her Jewishness was a big part of her identity. Losing that... well... she tries not to think about it.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I've never felt any need to... well, then again, I suppose my gods are quite different than yours, hmm?" Jon raises a brow. "I will say that I would have thought that vampires more generally would fall under, ahh... going against the natural order of things? And yet... Khonshu goes out of his way to protect you, to help you. So perhaps you are part of /ma'at/ after all."

    He returns the squeeze, and then pulls back his hand, sits back a bit. "I... imagine, though, that for you it must be like... how I would feel, now, if I was suddenly /ifset/. If the gods, and Thoth in particular, would not longer answer me." He frowns. "I... am impressed, actually, that you're still moving forward, despite that."

    He frowns slightly. "Have you yet... reconciled that? You don't act like someone who believes themselves, ahh... I don't know the proper terminology. Damned, or outside God's love, but that all sounds very... Christian." He smiles apologetically. "Excommunicated, perhaps?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Perhaps that's what I'm destined for," Lydia says softly. "When I meet my final death, my soul will pass the Halls of Judgement and be weighted against Ma'at's feather instead of..." she flails a hand, "whatever it is that happens to Jews." She lets out a little chuckle, "The afterlife is a hotly debated subject amongst Jewish scholars since the Torah is relatively silent on the subject."

She frowns as she stares at her cocktail, turning it in circles in her hands. "I don't think I'm damned. At least not as damned as I ever was being a filthy Jew. I still have faith, even though I no longer derive power from it." She looks up to give Jon a sad smile, "What kind of person would I be if I lost faith just because I can't cast a spell anymore? I don't see it as God turning their back on me. They're just telling me that that isn't my path anymore."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Well... in my estimation you have a good chance of making the journey." Jon smiles, brightly. "If that is where you're meant to go. Faith is a tricky thing. I have no doubt my gods exist--I'd be a fool to, given all I've seen just recently, let alone knowing Moon Knight for years--but the faith I have now is that they have... the right goals. Are sending me down the right path."

    He tilts his head a bit. "So what is your clan like, then? I'm trying to imagine vampires dedicated to /light/ and failing... not that I doubt you, it just doesn't fit in the popular imagination." And then, deadpan, "Unless you sparkle in the sun, of course."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I do not /sparkle/," Lydia huffs exaggeratedly. "I /wither/. Just like any good vampire should." She shoots Jon a grin before answering his question seriously. "It's less about literal light, and more about the metaphysical. Honestly, it's about 80% philosophy more than anything else. When you cut down to it that's what really divides the clans."

"To us, even though we are bereft of it, life is sacred and it's our duty to protect it as we can," she explains. "We... honor those who share their life with us through their blood. We'd rather starve than harm an innocent person." She chuckles, "It's paradoxical, I know. That's why there's so few of us. It's a hard path to follow but it /does/ have it's advantages."

"We're much more in touch with our human selves. Even though we live with the beast just like all the other vampires, we've developed techniques to keep it at bay... even to put it to sleep for a while." She grins and shakes her head, "I've even been told that should I get old enough, you can keep it asleep nigh infinitely."

"Life magic isn't an anathema to us. We have ways that we can wield the Light without harming ourselves," she says. "Though I don't know /how/. I've only been a vampire for a month, so I've still got a lot to learn before we start going down that path.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon smirks. "I know the feeling. At least you have your mentor around... I have to have dream conversations with mine that I wind up forgetting in the morning. I get the distinct impression she's annoyed with me much of the time." He sighs. "I've been working on remembering my dreams, but..." He shrugs. There's a lot to do.

    "And the enemy clan... is dedicated to darkness, death?" He frowns. "The energy they used... it /was/ Primordial Darkness, antithesis to Phoebe's Light. Unless there's another clan running about with that sort of energy..."

    He trails off, expression concerned. "Have we put you in danger, Lydia?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia shakes her head. "No more danger than I've already been in. When she was unable to turn me, Bhanavi lost interest in me. I /hope/. Bhanavi is in the upper echelon of the Irappu clan. She may even be their leader, but they're like any shadowy secret organization so who knows who's really pulling the strings. Then again, she and Hatshepsut have been at each other's throats for /millennia/, and I /am/ Hatshepsut's direct descendent."

"That kind of power is typical Irappu," she ventures, "but I don't think I can say they have a monopoly on it. I think we need more information before we can really pin it to one clan or another."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon nods. "Well, I'll make sure Mr. Knight knows about this. Or you can, of course." A pause. "I... wanted to say, it's been a pleasure, well, fighting alongside you. You're quite capable." He smiles. "I... actually look forward to doing so again, as odd as that feels to say."

    There's a buzzing sound, and he pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Martin's off work." He smiles fondly, then looks up to Lydia. "I'd better get going. Let me know if anything comes up?" He waggles his phone. "The old-fashioned way, you know. No amulets now."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia makes an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "Thank /God/. I was getting tired of lugging around all these trinkets and doodads people wanted me to wear to communicate with them when, you know, a simple text would suffice." She shakes her head. "Even Moon Knight's little earpiece. He's insane if he thinks I'm going to keep that thing in my ear all day."

"Anyway. You've got a husband to get off to, and I've got a Manhattan to finish. It was good seeing you again," she says with a smile.