[PRP] vera causa (temperance & jeremiah)

[The Semblance of Unity]

At least he was being civil, although it was hardly required in this demesne. Temperance would never know his polite smile from his genuine one, so the lack of it did not bother her. Still, his question gave her pause.

"Yes, I was there. You stayed behind to keep the way back open, right?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"They way open had to be maintained, constantly channeling our magic into making sure the way back was there for you all." Jeremiah replied, though he was repeating the question he had just asked.

As she had not answered it.

"Did you offer up your blood to help with the creation the new Sigil?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I appreciate that," She smiled, tapping her fingers along her thighs. "It wouldn't have been very nice to do all we did and then simply be stuck."

Temperance gave him an odd look. "Everyone there put their blood into it, Mr. Mercer, even Renard. I don't think backing out was an option. Why - is something wrong with the sigil?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"In a manner, yes," Jeremiah replied. "Have you heard about it? The rot that's showing up on the trees? Not only that but Pax, one of the three deer, is dying."

His head tilted, studying her closely. "There is choice in everything, Miss Clark. Consent is pivotal in all magic, especially when it comes to what you did. So, yes, those that were there could have not donated at all."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I have heard about the rot. I asked someone about it, worried that it was magical, but was told I should ask a dendrologist." She sighed. "Pax? I think I might have met them briefly at the ball - is that related to the rot?" Temperance had known it was magical in nature. Though she wondered why the rot didn't appear in this version of Ashdown.

Her fingers tapped again, idly on her thigh. "Well, it never really felt like a choice. But, um, that's neither here nor there, I guess. Why did you ask, anyway?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Considering what happened last time the cage became unstable, the appearance of a tree rot that has never been recorded before and cannot be explained implies certain things. Things a dendrologist would likely not be able to explain." The implication was there that there was no way it was not magical. "Changes here are quite often reflected within Ashdown. If there is imbalance, if someone pivotal is removed from their station, it can resort in things falling apart. Rot on trees in this case."

Jeremiah was entirely focused on Temperance. It was not the relaxed way he had been at the hospital but something else all together. This was Jeremiah Mercer who was a Noble of the Court. The man who would do what it took to see things through and the cycles end.

"I ask because it is trees, because I can tell what you are," but it would be left at that, "and because I have seen you elsewhere. I was also warming up." There is a wry twitch of his lips. "So that I can ask: are you the third Principal representing the Tree?"

The Semblance of Unity

truth seeker noble power in use NOW, lol

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yes, I'd thought it magical as well, but finding information about it is another matter entirely." She sighed, trying not to feel uncomfortable under his stare. There was something, a kind of push on her when he asked his question and she swallowed a bubble of air in surprise. This, in turn, lead to a minor coughing fit.

The pressure increased. He could tell what she was? Warming up? Magic, she thought distastefully. Temperance looked up at him. "Sorry," she said, the words dragged out of her throat like molasses. "I don't know what you think I am but...I... I'm not one of the principals."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah had expected that answer but he was not sure how long she had been in Temperance's shoes. Sometimes they genuinely believed they were until the fetch started to bleed through and their personality surfaced bit by bit.

He smiled, though that in itself was likely odd, and shook his head. Jeremiah's eyes, with the limited lighting of the room and the small lights he had created, were luminous. "No, of course not," because what was before him was something that rotting and only kept together by magic, "but I will rephrase. Is Temperance Clark one of the Principals?"

The Semblance of Unity

truth seeker still in use, you wily fetch you.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He was horribly unsettling. The pressure had lifted a bit once she'd answered his question, but it was back again it his next one. It felt as though his words were trying to bore into her head. She narrowed her eyes.

"I already said I wasn't." She spoke through gritted teeth. But that wasn't what he'd asked and she felt the pressure increase. "What are you doing?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I am quite aware that you aren't," Jeremiah replied. "... and while I am sure I could go to the source and ask, I respect that she is attempting the Trials of Nobility but she must also be kept safe.

"As I wish to find the truth, my powers of a Noble enable me to do so." His hand flicked; a roll of his wrist. "So I ask again: is Temperance Clark one of the Principals?"

The 5emblance of Unity

power still in use, 'cause he still seeking that truth.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

This ******** was using magic on her. If she didn't like him before, she liked him even less now. It weighed heavily on her. She couldn't say she was a fetch, not even his magic could force that from her, she thought, but this...

Her hands fisted into balls on her thighs. "You are a horrible person," she said lowly. But that wasn't the answer the question wanted. "Yes," she ground out, finally.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Eyes trained on her still, Jeremiah let out a breath. The heavy feeling in the room relaxed as he did, though he still carried himself. "Then she is alright, if not in the place she is meant to be. It is best that she be kept safe, whole because if anything happens to her ..." The look that Temperance was given was a measuring one.

"You need to return sooner rather than later." To the Court but he was not going to say that. "I am aware of your desire for anonymity and have no desire to see it be known who you are but verifying that Temperance is alright was much necessary." Fingers tapped against his leg before he spoke once more.

"Which, to be frank, means I've no desire to tell anyone what she is. If she living and well, that's all that matters."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh? And what would happen then?" Her grey-blue eyes were hard. If the principal died... well, that really wouldn't matter to her. A life for a life.

"Regardless of your desire or not, I must have your word. I have spent too long tying up lose ends for someone else to fray them. You will not communicate anything of her principality to anyone." Her jaw was set. Sonny had been one thing, and she'd been so, so careful, even with Melany. "Or, as I would normally say-" Because she was Temperance and there were very few who could directly force her to saw otherwise. "Would you kindly, Mr. Mercer." Bioshock; so silly. It was a very Temperance thing to say. She flicked her wrist out in a flippant gesture, but the air felt heavy after her words, confining.

azuredreams

power a go go

 

[azuredreams]

"... then this world? This place you want to be in? It would start to break again in little ways that could trigger a cascading effect to reality cracking all over again."

Jeremiah was about to say something else, his mouth opening to respond before he felt the weight of magic. It was oppressive and heavy, not at all like Ezra's magic had felt or how Sunny's had felt so long ago.

Yet he knew the words - he even knew the game they were from - and he suddenly remembered America's conversation about the third Principal. How they had made Sonny unable to talk about them.

How he was certain that was what she had just done to him.

"You-" he started and then stopped. His eyes glowed brightly and the room felt colder than before. "You have my word." His voice had gone lower, though it remained calm and even. "The secret will be kept," the feeling evaporated but he still felt the remnants; slimy and sick, "but I would take yourself back to the Court, dead thing. It's time you stopped pretending and give the life back to the one who deserves it."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"That'd be something else, wouldn't it? But since I'm Temperance, it wouldn't matter." She was born to win this, couldn't fail again.

"I thank you for your word, even if it's very rude to liken me to something dead." She frowned, fingers intertwining in a neat little pile on her lap. "I think if you ask any nurse, you'll find that they think people should deserve to live." She had no idea what she did, but the magic hung in the air,lingering like smoke vapours.

"Was there anything else, Mr. Mercer?" This man was awful, a steamroller concerned with his own little plots and plans only. She deserved so much more.

azuredreams