8890/Sun King Ascendant: When the Sun is in the 4th House

Sun King Ascendant: When the Sun is in the 4th House
Date of Scene:	30 November 2021
Location:	The Midnight Mission
Synopsis:	Moon Knight calls for more aid in discovering just who and what Agnes is... and Zatanna has a vision of the Sun sitting in the house of the Moon
Cast of Characters:	Jonathan Sims, Lydia Dietrich, Marc Spector, Morrigan MacIntyre, Zatanna Zatara

---

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Mr. Knight finally got the Midnight Mission's teenaged guest out of her self-imposed exile by asking (on Jon's suggestion) that she take over some of the duties of tending to the temple. As Jon had guessed, she knows the right rituals and formulas, as if she were training to be an Egyptian priestess despite being a 13-year-old English girl. The incense that Jon's been keeping at the temple passes her muster, but barely, and she eyes the statue of Bast with an entire TED talk worth of lecture about Bast being put in place of honor for a temple to the /moon/ in those dark eyes. She says nothing, however, letting her expression say it all--however odd she may be, she's still a teenager, and clearly thinks she knows better than these wayward adults about how to go about honoring the gods of the Nile basin.

    It might seem odd, then, at least to Mr. Knight, that when she gets a moment alone she chooses to take a bit of chocolate and honey from the kitchenette in her dorm and bring it, almost shyly, to the base of the statue of Bast. She places the offerings there, kneels in front of the statue, and begins to speak softly. In Ancient Egyptian, fluent as if it were her first language.

    "<Great Bast,>" she says, "<I still do not entirely understand why this place focuses so on your status as Eye of the Moon when you are the child of Ra, companion to the Pharoahs, defender of the sun. Nonetheless, I know even in this aspect you are sister to Sekhmet, and I would implore you to intercede with her on my behalf. I fear the Mistress of Dread may bring her wrath down upon this place, and the people here have been kind to me. I would ask, Lady Bast-->"

    She cuts off on hearing... something. Perhaps someone entering the room?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia has heard about the latest addition to the Midnight Mission, the girl that they rescued from the 'blood donation' site. She isn't sure how she'd take to meeting another vampire so soon, so she decided to make a peace offering in the form of a warm, home cooked meal. A vegetarian mushroom and barley soup held in a wide thermos and some fresh baked bread that's still warm.

"Oh! Hello," she calls out not expecting Agnes to be out and about. "Sorry to interrupt, but I thought I should meet you." She steps into the ritual chamber with the food in her hands. "I brought you some dinner," the pale woman says. "I figure it might have been a while since you had something home cooked."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Someone else enters, but not from the front of the Mission. Moon Knight's primary means of entry comes from a trap door behind the statue of Khonsu. He had just finished up a patrol and clean up mission he had been on that evening and enters the great hall as he usually would: armored and pristine despite the dirty nature of his task that night. He steps around the statue of his patron and looks on the pair of females for a moment before approaching.

    "Lydia," he says in greeting to the vampiress. "A pleasure as always, how does this night find you?" Agnes might sense a distinct difference from this man and the man in the suit (Mr. Knight) who was her primary caretaker, even if inflection of voice and build were almost identical. He looks at the offering before the statue and a smile creeps into his tone. "Ah... I see you brought Lady Bast some gifts. I will not ask the why, but I am certain that she appreciates it." He looks up at the statue and inclines his head in a reverent, but almost familiar manner.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan's never been to the Mission, but she knows where it is thankfully. When there is a call for a Doctor that is what brings her here. She's unsure of what to expect really and the Egyptian temple motif gives her a bit of a PTSD flashback of the Underworld jaunt that happened months ago. The redhead with the stark white streak in her hair is dressed much like she always is, for business. Her heels might not sound out against the rugs, so she does give a wave after taking her sunglasses off, "I hope I'm not interrupting, someone called for a Doctor." she muses as she wiggles her bag at her side.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The mystery of the young girl now residing at the Midnight mission has Zatanna rearranging her schedule. Recently, to her manager's disappointment she has stopped performances which has freed her to follow other interesting pursuits. The girl's unusual talents and the circumstances surrounding her discovery intrigue the magician.

People familiar with Z would recognize the faint displacement of air as she portals into the main temple area, dressed in street clothes, no top hat. She wears a comfortably fashionable jacket in black and white tweed over high waisted black pants, and a tailored white shirt, and oxford brogans - all the latest from Harajuku. In keeping with a visit to a temple, she bears the goddess a gift of an abundance of Moonflowers planted in a onyx and silver pot.

"Good evening, Lydia. Thank you for having me, sir," she dips her head deeply to the priest. Then she nods to the young girl with a faint smile before pacing to the altar to place her offering next to the others. After bowing to the Goddess, she turns to address the others, "This must be Agnes, I take it? How is everyone?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes stands slowly from where she kneels before the statue of Bast. She looks a little awkward in clothing that, despite being new-bought by Moon Knight, still runs in the sort of old-fashioned vein that she'd been wearing. A blue plaid skirt with buttons down the front and white lace along the hem, a crisp white button-down with pockets on the front, white tights, her own penny loafers, white leather gloves. It's a stark constrast to her coloring, dark eyes and light brown skin, dark auburn hair. The thick, curly mass has been wrestled into a braid by Jubilee on Agnes' own insistence. She might look familiar, somehow, but it's a thing where she can't /quite/ be placed, like it'll come to the mind if only it's thought through enough and yet... never does.

    She fidgets with her skirt, frowning around at all the people. Food is what draws her, finally; she steps forward to curtsey to Lydia politely. "Thank you," she says softly, and her accent is London, but posh; it might sound like Jon's to anyone who doesn't know enough to tell them apart. She reaches out to take the thermos and the bread, smiling. "It smells lovely."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"It finds me well, Mr. Knight," Lydia says, then nods at Z. "Evening." She looks over her shoulder when Morrigan arrives and gives her a smile. "I'm Lydia," she says introducing herself to both the girl and Morrigan. She looks at the small collection of people and she gives an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry. I didn't bring enough food for everyone."

Turning back to Agnes she asks, "Are you settling in well? Is there anything you need? I can get to pretty much anywhere in the world so if there's something that you'd like me to pick up, all you need to do is ask." The implication being, of course, if there's something in /England/ that the girl wants, Lydia can get.

Marc Spector has posed:
    The focus on Bast may be bothering the Fist of Khonshu just a touch (maybe he should've made Bast and Thoth a bit smaller in comparison to the temple's true patron) but he lets it slide--*this* time. Instead, he focuses on the people gathered. "Ah. All three of you. Thank you for coming. That makes things even easier." He gives Morrigan and Zatanna both nods of greeting.

    "Yes. This is Agnes. I have called on all three of you for similar purposes. I need an opinion about her. A mystical opinion." If Mr. Knight isn't subtle, Moon Knight is like using a tank to knock on a person's door. He has little time for subtlety and his outfit alone makes that more than clear. "I am no expert in these matters but two viewings of her have proven... difficult to ascertain. Something is... not natural about her. Thus, I am asking on the three of you. I know you each have connections to the mystical realm, at the very least, and I was hoping that your combined skills could possibly succeed in determining the nature of this anomoly, where others have failed."

    He pauses at Lydia's offering to the girl and smiles under the mask. It doesn't surprise him that an acolyte of The Great Mother of Egypt would slip into a motherly position when presented with the child's presence. Even so it is strange to see it in practice--especially since the last time he saw the woman she was turning a vampire mage into paste against a load bearing wall.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Lydia. I'm Morrigan." the redhead offers with a smile. "And I've already eaten, but the thought is appreciated." the Irish woman states. There is a nod given to Zatanna, "Miss Zatara." she greets her. Then she looks to Moon Knight and there's a smile, "Moon Knight." she gives him a nod as well.

Then she's listening to things, "Hello Agnes, I'm Morrigan. Are you alright with people trying to figure some things out about you? If not we can give you time to adjust to new surroundings and things of that nature." she offers in a gentle tone. Yes, giving the teen a choice was a nice gesture!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna regards the girl warmly and nods, agreeing with Morrigan's words, "Nothing without your permission, Agnes." Her blue eyes move between the other two women, the Priest, and then back to the young girl.

"If you don't mind telling us what you know about yourself, that might guide us, helping you. But first, I'm Zatanna Zatara, and I come from an old family of magicians on my father's side and homo magi on my mother's. Homo magi means we are natural magic users, and that's one of the things we'd like to discover about you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes clutches the thermos to her chest and frowns around at all of the people. Edges toward Lydia /just/ a bit more. Lydia brought food. And offered to get other things. "I know what homo magi are," she says to Zatanna. "I know about magic, and I know what I am. I come from a line of magi on my father's side and my mother carried the metagene. I can make fire as a quasi-magical... well, I suppose you might call it 'super power,' I will be learning magic this year, and I have psychometry, as Dr. Sims and Mr. Knight and Jubilee discovered last night." She sounds like she's reciting for school more than talking like a normal child. "I don't know what my blood will tell you beyond all of that, but if you need more than Dr. Sims took I'm not opposed."

    She frowns around at all of them. "You weren't on their board," she says suddenly. "She was," she nods to Lydia, "and she was," nods to Morrigan, "but not you. You should not get involved. They are going to try to kill everyone else." A pause. "You should let me go. I can find my way home on my own, and neither the vampires nor my father need come here for me."

    Then she swallows, and adds, looking to Lydia, "...But if you're going to insist I stay, could you get Jammie Dodgers?" Her tone has turned plaintive, and much more... normal teenager. "Nobody in America's even /heard/ of Jammie Dodgers. Jubilee thought they sounded disgusting. Well. She didn't say so, but I could /tell/."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Moon Knight gets a scowl from the vampiress. "I don't..." she starts. Stops. Tries again. "Ever since /this/ happened to me I can't access my magic." The black motes of ectoplasm that surround her shift in agitation. The pang of the loss of her magic is a festering wound, one that she refuses to address right now. Shoving it into a box she moves on. "I don't know what use I can be."

That being said, she turns to the girl and takes in her scent, nostrils flaring. She shakes her head, "She smells human enough, though there's something familiar about it...." She closes her eyes and scents her again. "No. Can't place it. Cedar, amber and... oud? That's the closest I can place it." She gives Agnes an apologetic shrug. "Sorry about that. Just... out of all of us, I have heightened senses."

Jammie Dodgers? "I've heard of them but I don't know what they are," she admits. She pulls out her cellphone and does a quick search. "Oh! Cookies! Ooh, they sound delicious." Or they would have back when she was alive. The memory of what is and isn't delicious hasn't left her, yet. "I can pick them up for you no problem." She looks up from her phone. "Anything else? Do you need more clothes? Toiletries? Anything for your hair?" She runs her fingers through her own tightly curled locks, "I know how it is with curly hair."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight winces at the reveal that Lydia's magic is still locked from her since her change. "I apologize. The fact slipped my mind..." He shakes his head and looks instead at Morrigan and Zatanna. "Then in that case your opinions will be needed..."

    He frowns at Lydia for a moment. Her magic being locked due to her change would need to be addressed soon. There had to be a work around for it. Somehow. Her skills, while still formidable, should be at their fullest potential. But, one matter at a time. He'll address another option for her later. One that might prove easier for her than for him.

    Zatanna gets a nod. "She is correct. The vampires that we've encountered have marked the three of us..." he gestures at Morrigan, Lydia, and himself. "You were not identified as an accomplice to the Heliopolitans yet, and it could be safer for you in the long run to extracte yourself from this affair. I won't hold you, but I do ask for your help... as I have in the past."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Jammie Dodgers are indeed delicious. I keep them around the house just in case I want some with tea." Morrigan chuckles to that and then grows silent again. There was a lot the girl was trying to process. Having a bunch of adults trying to get things from you was something that was probably not helping.

She does take a step back, allowing others to speak for the moment. The older woman wasn't in a hurry here and there was enough chatting going on to not try to distract her. She doesn't acknowledge that she's on a board. That's something she'll figure out later. "Do you just want us to do some sort of mystical scan of sorts, Moon Knight?" she asks.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna's eyes light up as Lydia lists what she scented. She murmurs half to herself, "Turkey smelled like that. In the mountains among my mother's people. I wonder...." she regards Agnes speculatively.

She nearly smiles at Lydia's skill at engaging the girl. Sandwich butter cookies with raspberry jam filling, indeed. "They sell them at most bakeries though they might not have quite that packaged taste you're looking for."

. One eyebrow raised high, Zatanna regards the MoonKnight, then turns the same look on the self-assured girl though more kindly, saying in an even voice, "The Moon Knight invited me here, list or no."

" You're of the same blood that I am from what you say, which involves me until the Priest dismisses me. There are precious few of us left in the world, so I would hate to see another one of us endangered."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes shakes her head to Lydia. "I'm fine. Jubilee's been helping, and Mr. Knight was kind enough to provide new clothing." She swishes the skirt back and forth a bit. "What happened to you, that ruined your magic?"

    She brightens, and smiles at Zatanna. "I've been to Turkey! My father took me, on one of his buying expeditions. It's a lovely country. I misspoke, though, I meant 'magi' as the singular of 'magus.' My father is a... well..." She frowns. "It's a bit complicated. And not really important. Jammie Dodgers and tea are one of my /favorite/ things, but I always hear you don't really have tea over here properly. Are you from Ireland, Dr. Morrigan? You sound like it--Ireland's lovely, too. Our domestic is from Ireland, she sounds sort of like you."

    A beat. "Not that... I didn't mean... you're obviously not a domestic! I just meant..." Her cheeks darken, and she turns away to go sit down in the chair usually kept beneath the statue of Thoth, plopping herself in it and opening the thermos as if to just... pretend she never said that.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia shakes her head, having heard that she had been marked (and marked /whelp/. Somebody's going to die for that.) "I'm not afraid of them," she says, steel in her voice. "I stormed a heavily guarded concentration camp filled with dangerous mutants to save my girlfriend once." Sure she had nightmares about it later but she did it. "They should be afraid of /me/."

Z's comment catches her attention. "Turkey, hunh," she muses. Then, "She probably wants the packaged kind. It's okay. I can pop over to a Tesco somewhere in London and pick some up."

Agnes' question causes her to balk some. "I had a near death experience," she says, skirting the truth. "It wasn't something that I was able to walk away from wholly undamaged."

Marc Spector has posed:
    "Actually, Dr. MacIntyre" Moon Knight says. He is going to maintain a professional relationship with the woman in public regardless of their private relationship. "I have soemthing for you..." he moves forward and reaches into his beltpouch. He produces two vials full of dark red liquid and discreetly offers them to the virologist. "Her blood" he says softly. "Dr. Sims drew it. Check to see if it holds any clues about who she is... run it through DNA searches if you can. I want to know who this father of hers is... his name is Elias Bouchard, if that helps."

    He turns, not moving far away from the redhaired woman but that is natural enough and nods to Zatanna. "I appreciate it, Zatanna... your assistance with these fiends will be most helpful." He glances at Lydia. Her evasion, while slightly flimsy, is not entirely untrue in it's content. At least she understands the possibility that revealing that vampries walk among her would-be saviors could complicate her view of those individuals.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"What I wonder is your father?" the magician asks, head tilted inquisitively to one side.

With her eyes closed, Zatanna straightens and touches three fingers to her heart, then raises them reverentially to her lips and forehead. The temple changes. The Moon Priest illuminates the astral realm with the silver light of the deity he serves.

Lydia's shape is shadowed - she belongs to the night now, the traces of her magic like starlight on leaves. Both fit the people she knows.

The homo magi shifts her perspective to look at Morrigan, perceiving her as light through a clear, running brook early in the morning, bright with magic.

Zee tenses when she looks at the young girl, her hands knotting. With an effort, she relaxes them as she focuses. Imagine trying to see an x-ray image without proper lighting. Misty forms, full of power, show indistinctly through a magical distortion surrounding the girl.

Abruptly, Zee steps back frowning, "I can confirm she is not...homo magi. I don't know. I think she is bound somehow. Warded, perhaps?"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"My mother and her family are from Ireland and my adopted parents hail from there, yes. My other heritage is Romanian." Morrigan tells Agnes. "Americans do not do tea properly, no. That I will agree with." she grins a bit. "I'm sure if you stay around here though we could get you to a place that does do tea right." she adds. There's a bit of an eyebrow quirk, "That's alright. I have no idea what a Domestic is and at this point I'm afraid to ask." she admits.

"There's a distortion of sorts. And physically there is something off." she frowns. Was Morrigan checking things out, yes? Was she happy with she was seeing? Not really.

When Moon Knight addresses her there is a look to him, her features softening, "I always like surprises." she muses softly. Her fingers reach to take the vials, linger over his gloved ones for an extra moment, "On it. I'll get prelim tests and things done." she tells him.

She gives a smile to the gathered, "It was nice to meet everyone and to see others again." she dips her head. "You know how to get ahold of me if needed." she adds to them before she heads for the door. There was work to be done!

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes keeps her gloves on while she pours a bit of soup from the thermos into the cup on top, and then dips bread into the soup. She eats that while people are talking about and to her, though her gaze darts around at them as they talk. Zatanna saying she's warded and Morrigan saying something is 'physically off' gets a narrowed gaze. Curious, and wary.

    But then she focuses on Lydia, and says, "Near-death... is that why your aura is all dark like that?" She gestures to the ectoplasm around Lydia. "Wait... you're /very/ pale, and the photograph said 'Clan Valkkai'... you're a vampire!" She blinks, and then her eyes get /very/ big. "I've never met a /nice/ vampire before! The Uraeans were just /mean/. They /hissed/ at me when I asked them for cookies and orange juice after..." She stops, and swallows, and frowns down at the food. Then she goes back to eating.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia blanches as Agnes figures her out. "Yeah," she says, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm a nice vampire. Clan Valkkai think all life is sacred and serve the Light as best we can. There aren't many of us, and most of the other clans think we're weak."

She shakes her head and chuckles at the assertation that Americans don't know how to do tea. "I'm a tea drinker," she says. "Or at least I was. I've got a tea set at home that I'm not using, so I'll bring it and an electric kettle by with a few samples of my tea."

"Bound?" she repeats, turning to Z. Her writers mind starts going through several possibilities, none of which are good. "Agnes," she asks gently, "out of curiosity, what is your first memory?"

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight considers Zatanna's words for a moment and frowns. He then looks at Lydia and then at Agnes. "Ms. Dietrich... I have a proposal for you... if it is alright with you, and your girlfriend, of course, could you stay here at the Mission in the apartment downstairs and look after Agnes while she stays here?" he asks calmly. "Having seen how you intereact with the girl, I am certain that your ability to care for her far surpasses my own and" he glances at the girl, "she seems to have taken a liking to you as well. Far more than she has to Mr. Knight at the very least." He adds. "You don't have to answer right away, simply... an offer that I want you to consider if you can."

    He then turns his attention to the girl and the magician. "Wards... and I take it you cannot remove these wards without harming her? Otherwise you would have otherwise already done so?" he asks the homo magi, his tone speculative and probing. The more he knows, the more he can look into, after all.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Not quite herself, Zatanna doesn't react immediately to the Moon Knight's question, only shakes her head. "It's like she doesn't wish to be seen. It's more a shield than a ward. Something bone-deep.

Oh, excellent questions from both Agnes and Lydia. Clan Valkkai? That explains so much about Lydia.

"I thought so, Lydia but I'm not sure. Whatever Agnes is, it's not run of the mill, believe me."

Zatanna takes several deep breaths, and rests her forehead in her hand for a moment, dizzied when she looks at the young girl again. There is the purple tinge of fear about her, but not for herself - more for the people around her. She has glimpses of light that hurt her eyes behind whatever shields the young girl - a majestic form, fitting in this hall of gods, black against the rays of the sun. The magician squints and raises her hand to shield her eyes.

A glimmer of an idea comes to her. Slowly Zee's eyes open, blinking as if she walked into a dark room after being outside in bright sunshine.

The magician of words opens her mouth, saying nothing, struck dumb, trying to reconcile the teenager who likes Jammie Dodgers with the vague recollection of a myth. "I'm going to have to consult my books." Dreamily she asks, Agnes, "Do you like beer, Sekhmet?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes frowns at Lydia over the thermos. She's sipping at the soup, very carefully, as if determined not to spill a drop. The question clearly confuses her, but she says, "My third birthday party. Callum Brodie hit me, so I hit him back, and that was the first time the psychometry happened. I saw that his father hit him a lot, and I told /my/ father, and... then I didn't really see him anymore." She frowns down at the soup. "Father said the dark ate Mr. Brodie, and Callum was just going to go that way, too, and he wasn't a good influence. He was probably right, in retrospect, but I was /very/ cross about it at the time." She frowns a little more, brow furrowing. "...Why? Oh, do you think--"

    And then Zatanna calls her Sekhmet and she startles enough to spill the remaining soup in the cup right onto her lap. She doesn't even seem to notice the heat, shaking hands going to cap the thermos swiftly as she stands, knocking the chair over in her haste. "Oh no. Oh /no/. I told you, I /warned/ you, if she's here, if she's come for me..."

    She turns to the statue of Bast, holds out her hands in supplication, one still holding the thermos and the other the bread. She cries out in a version of the Egyptian tongue prevalent in the Ptolemaic era, "<Please, /please/, ask her to spare them! It's not their fault! They're just trying to help, /please/, Lady Bast, I beseech you, ask your sister to hold her firey breath!>" She actually drops to her knees, sobbing. Even if one can't understand Ancient Egyptian, one can understand the pleading tone in her voice.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I'll talk to Mystique about it," Lydia replies to Moon Knight. "But you may want to get somebody who'll actually be awake when she is. At the very least I'll come and check in on her at night."

She turns silent when when Zatanna goes in for a deeper look, and watches her intently. Her lips pull into a scowl when she addresses the child as Sekhmet. This couldn't be good.

And then Agnes is on her knees, pleading to Bast. This /definitely/ isn't good. Immediately she's on her knees, too, wrapping a comforting arm around the girl. "Hey, it's okay," she says, calmly. "She isn't here." If she was, they'd know, right? She looks over to Zatanna desperately. Right?

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Throughly confused, Zee splutters at the girl's panic. "We need Jon, I think." The pain in the girl's voice and on her face strike a chord deep inside the magician. Instinct keeps her from comforting the girl. The power is in her, not outside her. Agnes is no lamb but prays to be saved from the lion inside herself.

"I'm no doctor. She doesn't know, Moon Knight. But, I think you have welcomed another god into our midst."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight nods at the vampiress and then Zatanna drops a name he himself is not unfamiliar with. He turns to look at her as Agnes rises to start pleading to Bast. He frowns at Zatanna's explanation and then turns as the homo magi opens a portal to excuse herself from the Mission.

    "I assure you, were the Lioness of Destruction in our midst I would know. *Khonshu* would know." He looks to the statue of the mood god and shakes his head. "She's not here, Agnes...you're safe..." he sighs and looks at Lydia. "Please stay with her, I am going to get ahold of Jubilee... she has been looking out for her and they have a somewhat... sisterly bond together. Perhaps she can assist in calming her down..."

    He gives another look to the young girl and shakes his head before turning to head downstairs in search of the other vampire of the Heliopolitan's roster.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    When Sekhmet's firey breath does not immediately strike down the Midnight Mission, Agnes' sobbing slows. When Moon Knight declares he would /know/ if Sekhmet were there, she buries her face in her hands, cheeks flaming with embarassment. She spilled soup on her new skirt and made a scene, chased away the nice homo magi--who'd surely have /fascinating/ stories about magic--and all for what? Something that she didn't even need to be worried about.

    She stiffens under Lydia's touch but doesn't move. Not used to being comforted, clearly. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I'm sorry." She curls in on herself, almost like she's bowing to the statue of Bast.