[PRP] missed (shun & jeremiah)

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun waited for his own tea to cool while also waiting to hear what Jeremiah had to say to that. His head canted to the side. So he knew Minerva, it seemed.

"You know a Minerva Mercer, then?" he asked. Apparently she couldn't speak.

"Considering her familiarity with... some version of you, I figured it was something like that."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"In a manner, yes. She is related to me, though I confess I am not sure how." Jeremiah was quiet again, fingers tight around the cup. This was not something he easily talked about and it had only been in the past month that he had spoken about it to someone aside from Algie.

"I found Pride," he said, the way he tilted his head implying that this was related, "and he is alive though his magic is ... chaotic and destructive. At one point, he was Jennifer and Pax? They were Ming.

"A type of magic was used to bind them but a third was required. A young woman recruited by Adoelle, one who understood the magic involved and could cast it. The same magic that bound them, bound her as well turning her into the Sorrowful One, Noeh.

"Before that? Her name was Minerva Mercer." Jeremiah would let that settle for a moment before he continued. Especially when it turned out that the Mercer ties to the Court of the Sorrowful One went deeper than anyone truly knew.

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Ming. Shun had suspected that of Pax briefly, but that was just confirmation. And it was interesting to hear that Pride had been Jennifer, the other teenager who had been killed in relation to the original trio.

Though, he found himself staring at Jeremiah as he revealed Minerva's other name, who he was more familiar with. It at least explained the whole nonspeaking bit.

No tongue and all.

"Well... s**t. So some other version of her managed to get a hold of me. She seemed pretty worried that Melany may be dead. They were in the same dancing troupe before she vanished on her end."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Melany isn't dead, I don't think- That would-" Jeremiah smoothed a hand across his face before he sighed. "As I said, she isn't actually missing so far as I know but that doesn't mean she isn't-"

This was a ******** of a conversation. There was simply too much information and it was likely rare to see Jeremiah looking a touch rattled. It was only obvious in his slightly pinched expression but it was there all the same.

"It might possibly explain some oddities that I am aware of regarding Melany. If, perhaps, she is not the one from this reality. Noeh called her friend, so it is not surprising that she would have been concerned though ..." Why not talk with her Jeremiah about it? Why reach out? He shook his head and pushed the thought away.

"Did she act as if it was your number? Like intended for it to be you that she called?"

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun furrowed his brow as he watched Jeremiah try to sort through all of this. It wasn't easy. There were a lot of implications to the call he had received and unfortunately they didn't have much else.

"She specifically sought me out, yes. She knew I am a detective. Apparently, her Jeremiah had given her the number and stated that I would be able to help her. She initially refused to tell me who she was, having been told that I would not believe her. That I would not want to assist her otherwise."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"... and you said she called him Jerry?" Jeremiah was thinking things through, his fingers raking through his hair before he took a sip of his tea. "In the 80s, that's what Jeremiah Tailor was called."

Which he was not entirely a fan of that and would- Well, it wasn't him so it did not matter.

"That does imply it's at least a reality wherein I know you and likely trust you to take care of something like this. I'm not entirely certain how this is occurring but-" Jeremiah's shoulders lifted and dropped. "Something else is going on, some wires," his lips twitched, "have gotten crossed somewhere but it's not surprising all the same. Though I do wonder why she would think you would not assist, given who she is."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Yes."

Shun tilted his head at Jeremiah, "Do you know much about Jeremiah Tailor?"

He then slowly nodded, "That was what I was wondering. I can understand the bit about thinking I might not believe her, but not so much about why I might refuse to assist her."

This Minerva didn't seem to know him personally, so it wouldn't make sense that some version of him bore a grudge and 'Jerry' was aware of it.

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Not much, other than he ended up running a drag bar called Andromache. The other issue is that there's at least one other but the one that was before all of this?" His fingers flicked, meaning that it was before the cage.

"It was New York City, the 80s, and homophobia forced him off the force. He ended up opening up the bar with his pension, since he was close to retirement anyway." Jeremiah's lips twitched in amusement, as if he would have done something similar if he had been forced off of the police force because of homophobia. "I believe you were a bouncer there and ... well, several of us were there but several were not. They died," his voice went flat, "during the epidemic."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun furrowed his brow at this, "Someone mentioned to me that I was a bouncer at some bar, though not that you had run that particular establishment..."

It was an odd thought. That much didn't bother him as much as the idea that the Jeremiah of that era had been forced off duty because of something like that. Times were not the easiest for the LGBT community now but things were far worse before.

"That is... unfortunate to hear, though."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Well, not me but-" Jeremiah's shoulders lifted and shrugged. "You know what I mean. It is not something I am particularly fond of talking of. Not the details about Andromache but that particular era. Unlike then, that was when I grew up. I remember-"

He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now but I will tell you that it is responsible for all of this. Renard was working on something that would have stopped the epidemic from ever happening and apparently it was potentially dangerous so he was caged."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Right. I cannot say I blame you either..."

It could not have been easy for Jeremiah back then.

"I heard something similar. He was trying to save his friends when he ended up going too far, or something along those lines," he stated. The idea of Renard attempting to stop epidemic was certainly noble enough.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"How far would you go, Shun? For friends and family? To ensure that they might get to live? That the fate that befell them would not happen at all?" It was certainly worth asking, worth knowing, because it spoke of character.

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun went kind of silent there.

"Family never meant anything to me," he admitted with a pause, "Friends..."

It wasn't until relatively recently that he felt he could consider some people as such. As someone who always felt he didn't need any and the like, he had trouble knowing if someone actually was a friend, or merely a good ally.

That said, there was a lot he'd do for some of them. But...

"...I am not certain."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"He wanted to remove the epidemic from existing, he wanted to spare friends and those held dear from what it caused, and that is what lead to this. At least, a part of it because I am certain there are other details but it's stretched so far away from that now." Jeremiah took another sip of his tea, the last bit of it, and set it down.

"Oddly enough, Jerry Tailor was like a father to Renard and likely one of many reasons he attempted what he did."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"His intentions were good, no doubt. But in doing so, he nearly unraveled the world, to my understanding."

Shun set down his own cup of tea for now.

"But despite knowing all of that, you do not yet know who Minerva Mercer is to your past self?"

Azuredreams