Owner	Pose
Thea Queen	Saving Quilly, the mutant possessed with a rage spirit had been a success. Or at least to most of them. Thea had gotten a little messed up by the spirit itself and without the healing powers of the Asgardians that had been part of that same rescue it also meant she needed recovery time. A recovery time that was getting in the way of actually saving the others who might already be in Egypt, under the hands of some cult that have a relation to the Khushu Idol. No one can keep Thea down for long though so soon enough a message was sent to Abcde. To meet up? Do a follow up on what they had discovered? The Hood needed answers and Abcde was the one to give them to her. So a meet was set. In Queens? Fair enough, it's not as if she was that far these last few days, staying in New York.. So at the arranged hour Thea is swinging up to land outside Abcde's apartment, on the roof. Silent as a cat even if she does hiss at a small pain that lingers on her abdomen. But it would soon heal she hoped. A glance is given to the window of the apartment that she was told to come to. Lights on? She starts to move down the fire escape ladder to approach that window and peek inside. And maybe even give a slight knock upon it.
Abcde Prescelta	Something told Abcde that red arrow was going to the kind of person who climbed in windows. She was right. This was not a disappointment at all. The windows to her kitchen open up and she offers a hand to help Thea inside. Mittens is sitting on the kitchen counter and is now staring intently at Thea, wondering just why this silly human is climbing in through the kitchne window when there's a perfectly good balcony. Ah, humans! who can understand them.     Abcde says, "Welcome to my home." There's a cauldron boiling up something and it smells _delicious_. Probably not magic potions, probably some kind of soup or stew. There is a large wooden spoon in it though. "It's okay if you want to keep the disguise on, I get it." There is, also, an Alexa smashed to pieces and resting in a box next to the garbage. The box is labelled Recycling? as if she isn't quite sure if it is or isn't recycleable.
Thea Queen	Hey, it's not as if going through the front door, then up the elevator with Mrs. Coldwell while she tells you about her grocery shopping and shows you pics of their family would be a better choice for someone dressed as the ..., Red Arrow. Window spelunking it is! Or veranda. But through the kitchen is a lot more dramatic for many. So in she goes, hopping into the room with Abcde's help. "Evening. And thank you." she tells the other woman with a faint smile, hood still up and continuing to disguise her identity. "I hope there isn't a trend of possessed Alexas on the loose.." She comments upon noticing the broken Alexa on the recycle bin, then taking in the rest of the room. The cat is the last one she pays attention too, watching for a time before extending one gloved hand to the kitty. "This disguise is as important to you as to me.." she says. And really, it is! Besides, she doesn't go around showing her id. Too many people would be compromised otherwise. But maybe in due time! "Nice place you have here.." For the rich, spoiled girl that she used to be it's only sort of .., adequate though.
Abcde Prescelta	Abcde laughs, "That's a good one. Possessed Alexas. I mean, they are already kind of possessed aren't they. No I am getting rid of it because some spy friends made me realise how dangerous it is that it listens in on absolutely everything you say. I need my home to be safer than that. Even if it does mean I have to do the blinds manually.."     Mittens stares at the gloved hand like it's either nothing to do with him or the most intrusive thing in the world. Somehow his eyes get wider. Somehow this is amusing to the cat who starts to purr but seemingly doesn't want to touch.     "Thanks. I bought it with the advance on a book I'm writing," she says and lowers the heat on the cauldron and walks out in to the living room. She takes a seat on the couch, feet tucked up underneath her. "I'm imagining you live in a cave.. no wait that came out wrong. Like Batman, I meant like Batman."     After a bit Mittens wanders out of the kitchen and sits on the carpet staring at Thea as if he's expecting her to do something. Whatever that thing is, it'll no doubt be the wrong thing.
Thea Queen	Oh, Mittens likes to play hard ball is it? She leans her hand to allllmmmooooost touch but never does, fingertip twirling near it's nose before eventually it retreats if it just continues to stare. She can be catty too! "Or you get a tech wiz to fix those for you." a grin on the woman's thin features. She had her own wiz, Overwatch! Yet then she gets a more guarded tone and asks, "You have spy friends?" Attention goes here and there again once they make way further to the living room, taking in the quaint place. Modern witch's den for sure! Living in a cave though? That makes her laugh amusedly. "Only from time to time. But it can get too crowded sometimes you know?" clearly she seems the type to enjoy her independence and solo ways. "You are writing a book then?" She asks, not exactly sitting but leaning one hip against the side of the sofa, arms crossing and looking at Mittens as he comes out to stare at her from the carpet. She just quirks a brow up at him and lifts her chin. Hmph! Catty indeed!
Abcde Prescelta	Mittens meows angrily at Thea. No hissing, just demands. Unfathomable demands. Whatever Mittens wants it's probably not pats.     Abcde nods her head in response to spy friends, "Yes. There was time travel involved, it was a whole thing. Quite confusing, adorable love story stretched across multiple decades, evil terrorist leader and corrupt police."     She grins cryptically about all of that and says, "A second book, a sequel to my first hit. It's about a teenage witch learning about magic and the way the world works." She then picks up a small blue felt mouse and tosses it across the room. Mittens chases after it and returns with it and drops it at Thea's feet.
Thea Queen	"Sounds on par with what I have been getting. I mean, after possessed spirits it's only a small stretch to time travel.. I am trying to keep my vision open and broad." And also it's just better to accept things than go down a spiral of drinking or drug abuse again. Win-win! "Love story is a nice touch though." hey, at least someone was living it fully! A glance goes to the mouse that is dropped at her feet. For a moment it seems as if she will simply ignore it all. Poor Mittens. Out-cat'ed! But then she does lean down to pick up the lil mouse. Of course that first she plays it around in her hands while talking with Abcde, "I hope the witch isn't called Abcde." A small grin on her lips and then finally she tosses the mouse over to the other side of the room, it bouncing on the floor. Eventually she does ask, "I was coming over to figure out if you may have more of an idea on what we were facing in Starling. Quilly has been recovering fine by the way. He's still perturbed with all he saw and did but ..., one step at a time." just like an addict on the way to recovery would say!
Abcde Prescelta	Abcde looks slightly amused and shakes her head, "Well. Open minded is good. Time travel usually isn't. In this case there was an evil djinn involved. Things didn't go.. well. Honestly, there's still some unanswered questions about ... any way."     She chuckles, "I didn't name the protagonist after myself no. I was young and trying to be anonymous at the time. After I published my first book I was happier to take credit for it all." She pauses a moment as Starling City is brought up. Of course she's here about that.     "I'm glad to hear he's doing well. That was a .. scary kind of possession. But not nearly as scary as what you seem to be getting yourself involve in," she says. Walking over to a closet, she opens it up to reveal books. Lots of them. She slides one out and walks back to the couch. Laying it out on the coffee table, she sits and says, "Join me if you'd like." She tugs at a satin book mark and opens up a page revealing the symbol that was tattoo'd on to Quilly's arm. Was being the operative word after she cut it off and burned it.     The paper is old and the ink has aged suggesting the book is quite old. Certainly not Abcde's personal diary but something written by an ancestor. She turns the page and on the next is a lot of writing in what appears to be latin. The calligraphy is exceptional.
Thea Queen	An evil djinn. "Okay then." Not one to be elongating that line of conversation for much longer. Not exactly the type of foes she usually goes against. Djinn-slaying arrows are out of stock, you see? "For someone young you do seem to know your way about all this .., magic.." a vague gesture made with one hand. She walks around the couch to approach the coffee table, a look given at the old book before she eases herself back to sit, the leather of her outfit heard stretching. Bow is placed on the side and she leans forward, hands on knees to watch the pages. The words there though? She doesn't seem to recognize them. Not exactly an history or languages buff! But she does arch an eyebrow at the quality. "What exactly are we getting ourselves involved in?" see how she used the word 'we'?
Abcde Prescelta	Abcde chuckles, "Well I'm an absolute book worm. When my parents realised I was going to waste my time reading fantasy novels they started letting me read the coven's books. I've read most of it twice. Some of it three times. It was good study before I could finally do magic myself."     She motions to the page, "The Khushu Idol, or Khufu Idol, depending on the source you're reading from. There are some objects in the world that are innately magic. Others are made through awe inspiring acts. That awe is sometimes fear and pain, not wonder and joy."     She turns the page again and there's a drawing of a face. "This is one of the former. Dark dark magics, magics that will rot you from the inside and chew you up, spitting out only bile and misery. This is a focii that allows its possessor to access dark magic that is normally beyond them."     She looks back to Thea and says, "It draws its power from the lives taken by the one that possesses it." The lights flicker ominously at that very moment. "We're talking invasive mind trespass and control, we're talking necrotic regeneration, unnatural healing, blood magic and a beacon to The Darkness."     She turns the page, "And the worst part is, someone many years ago figured out a way to protect themselves from the idol sapping away their own life force, so that they might master its use, feeding it the life force of those they kill. This horrible thing went from pure misery.. to misery loves company."     The distant rumble of thunder suggests rain might be on the way. "This is no fairy tale. If it's in this book, then a member of my coven once saw it.. some ancestor who knows how long ago confirmed it's a real thing. If a person in Starling City had that tattoo... then I fear the idol must be back."
Thea Queen	While it's always good to unveil a mystery about something Thea doesn't appear to enjoy what she hears. At all. It's visible by the slight quirk on the corner of her mouth, the way her hands squeeze together. "Why now and why Starling though?" she then asks, but it's mostly to no one in particular. Whatever answers there may be most likely will only be speculative. "Though do you know who this someone that has the idol is?" She then finally asks, looking up at Abcde, blue eyes shining under the domino mask of her thin features. Attention goes back to the book. "Don't suppose your book has a way on how to destroy it too?" She asks, perhaps a touch hopeful.
Abcde Prescelta	Mittens gives up on the toy mouse and jumps up to sit at the head of the book. Tail coiled around his feet, his yellow eyes stare at Thea penetratingly. Abcde is about to turn the page again when he places a paw on it. "It's okay Mittens. Little Red Arrowhood here is one of the good ones," she says to her cat and tries to push his paw off the page. Instead, his claws come out and dare to tear the page if she tries to move it again. His ears flatten.     "Mister, she needs to know what is coming her way if things get out of control. Please remove your paw." It's rare to see a cat respond to words, but after a moment, Mittens breaks the stare with Thea and looks over to Abcde and lets out an extremely adorable mew, then pulls his paw back. Hard to stay angry at that."     The next page is a drawing of what looks like a Chinese town. There are bodies drawn dead on the sides of the roads and the liquid running down the street is stained red instead of blue. There are a lot of bodies and at the center of the page is a man on his knees with a dagger in his chest, his other arm holding the idol.     "As the power of the idol grows through blood death and fear and blood sacrifice, so too will the darkness spread. Its corruption will tear at the fabric of the reality around it until everybody goes insane. Everybody."     She clears her throat as rain starts to beat against the glass doors leading to her balcony, "So.. uh.. that's what you're up against. Pure evil. Destroy it? hah.. no. Do I look like a Sorcerer Supreme to you?" She smirks, apparently that is humorous to her.     "Who though... well... there are ways we could track it down. The stench of darkness is something that betrays itself. It might not tell you who but it'll at least give you a good idae of where. Mittens doesn't think you are up for this though..."
Thea Queen	Mittens' penetrating gaze brings a perhaps needed pause from the rising tension about what she is learning. She points her hand to where she threw the little mouse and where it is still lying on the floor. All abandoned by the wall! "I threw it. You didn't expect me to *also* go run after it, right?" a brow arching at the cat before attention goes to the book, smirking at the disruption attempted by Mittens. "Pure evil, trying to set it's jaws on Starling. I got it. Though they do seem to have ran off for now. Or at least ..., I haven't heard of any more activity. Doesn't mean the danger doesn't still exist." It's when Abcde speaks of ways of tracking it that her eyes shoot back up to Abcde, "Ways to track it down sound just like what I need. Any on that book of yours you can share?" she purposefully ignores the part about anyone thinking she not being prepared for it.
Abcde Prescelta	Abcde stabs a finger at her book, then shuts it, "This book? Nah." She smiles. Mittens curls up on the table top and starts licking himself, grooming. Apparently the game of fetch is uninteresting now.     "However, there's lots of books that discuss the darkness. It's kind of a general.. idiom, a long running theme through history. Some scholarly witches believe it to be a living entity that craves the life force of our world. Others just think it's the manifestation of ill will..."     She stands up with the book and takes it back to the closet shelf. "But we can wander the streets of Starling looking for the tell tale signs. Unnecessary cruelty, a raise in violence and hate. Bodies ending up in the morgue more than usual.. and if we get close enough I can put together a special liquid that will spontaneously boil if it has infected the area."
Thea Queen	"That does sound like a plan then." Thea says in acceptance of wandering the streets of Starling. "And if an area was found infected, what then? It meant it could still be there or ...?" she gets back up to her feet, brushing her hands over the front of her vest in an unconscious manner. Nervous? Maybe just a little. No need to panic though! She has learned with the best after all.
Abcde Prescelta	She nods her head. She peers for a while at Thea, almost as if she sees the scared woman behind the mask. "There are options. Firstly, an object like this cannot sustain its idiom if it's damaged. Break it in some fashion. If that doesn't work - it needs to be moved. For an object this powerful to function it needs to be set at the intersection of two ley lines."     There's a pause, "If I'm saying things you don't understand just interrupt. You know what a ley line is right? A channel of mystical power. The world is covered with them, the residual scars of.. actually no one is quite sure what, but whatever it was it was powerful. Think of it like... unplugging it from the wall. Move it. And third, if you happen to know anyone who has a pure totem, we could use that to fight any magic that is derived from the idol. The darkness cannot operate in the light.. and while I am a white witch, even with my wand, I don't have the power to fight back against the darkness. I'd need something much stronger."
Thea Queen	Ley lines doesn't seem to be an unknown concept to Thea, the woman nodding while Abcde speaks on, arms folding together and she pacing about the room. "That does narrow it down a bit more." she states. "Depending on how many of those ley lines there are." "But it's a plan. First things first, take a walk around Starling looking for manifestations, finish studying those files we got from Al-Fidr and then go from there. Good." The suggestion about knowing someone who has a pure totem has her get a bit sarcastic, "I don't have a sorcerer supreme on my back pocket either." she can't help it! "Will you help me then in finding the source of this?" She finally asks.
Abcde Prescelta	"You did call the coven for help did you not?," Abcde says with a smile. Mittens stops cleaning himself and sits up again, meowing loudly. "It's a yes, of course we will help." We? Oh yeah the cat is definitely involved in this somehow.     "Truthfully even if you hadn't come back to talk to me about it, I'd still be going to Starling to hunt for the idol. I might not be powerful enough to destroy it, but no one will be if it's not found sooner rather than later."     She walks to her bedroom and picks up a go-bag, slinging it over her shoulder, then holds out her hand and an old looking wooden broom flies across the room and in to it. She maaay be a bit excited about working side by side with a vigilante hero. "I'm packed. When do we start?"
Thea Queen	"Good. Thank you then." A more genuine smile on Thea's lips and she inclining her head back at Abcde. Eyes then stray to Mittens and she tosses him a wink. Go-to bag and broom though? She lets out a laugh. "Nothing like the present." she tells the other. "We can go now." And with that she makes her way to the window to go out once again. It wouldn't take her long to slide down and reach her motobike..
Abcde Prescelta	As Thea is riding away, the full moon is briefly eclipsed by the shape of a woman, a cat, and a broom flying through the air. Was that Abcde?? ... nah couldn't be?