[PRP] tampered path (chester & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

other ashdown was starting to become a second home and Jeremiah was not entirely sure he liked that at all. Yet what it did mean was that until he caught what it was he was looking for, he would continue with his increased patrolling.

The only thing in his favor was the somewhat fluid time of the place. It was not entirely easy to do but sometimes, he was certain, he was able to give himself extra minutes before he finally would head out. Mostly because he wanted to go home, to get warm, and to settled in with his husband.

This day saw him closer to downtown in other ashdown, making his way to Cabot and towards the fairy alley that Lady had been found at during fashion week the previous year. It was a place he liked, for one reason or another, and more so the fountain that was there.

Jeremiah leaned for a moment, fingers swirling in the dark water, before he was doing something he had not done since Ezra had found him here: calling forth all the water within it. The water began to rise in a lazy spiral upwards into the air.

Smerdle

look, jer and this fountain have memory. dad memories. sometimes he wants to visit and play with the water that father made him hold up for a long time.

 

[Smerdle]

Chester had avoided the alleys until recently, but his return had landed him a job, so he was trying to be more open minded about the whole thing. He hadn't expected their existence to be so faithfully replicated here, which led him to wonder if the one he had wandered through that day had been on this side in the first place, a path between the worlds that he had been oblivious to at the time.

He paused when he heard the fountain, gathering himself before he stepped around the corner. There was someone there, a man, somewhat less otherworldly than the woman had been, or at least he was when his back was turned. The water didn't go unnoticed, but in that moment Chester decided it was probably best to make his presence known sooner rather than waiting to see what this person might do. He could only imagine how they might react if he was witnessing some ritual he shouldn't have—

Wait. Was that Jeremiah?

"Mr. Mercer?"

azuredreams

chester says : just don't turn into creepy singing woman pls

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah's head tilted as he heard his name called out. The water did not budge, instead continuing to spiral upwards as he turned around to face who had called his name. His fingers flicked in greeting at Chester, once he realized it was him.

"It's been a while, Mister Poole. How are you doing?"

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

After nodding in greeting, Chester watched the water curl slowly out of the fountain with a focus on imitation. It was how he had begun his education and how he continued to explore what was possible when he was in a rut. In this case, he was surprised to find that he wasn't as interested as he had been in some of the other displays he had seen. It wasn't the magic itself—Jeremiah's power and control were formidable—it was the subject matter. Water just wasn't as much fun as clockwork robots and secret codes.

"I'm all right. Learning all that I can, here and at home. There's always more to know." A small smile lifted his features after he spoke, but his words still bordered on junior mad scientist in mood. "I hope you've been well? The world seems to be hurrying toward something lately."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Let it be known that Jeremiah was not allowed to mess with that kind of stuff. Mostly because he was too busy trying to crack secret codes and avoid clockwork robots on a whole.

Things like this were built more on nostalgia and memory than anything else. Which was why the water, once it had made a circuit, was cascading back into the fountain like a waterfall. "There's a lot more to learn given all the changes that have happened in the past few months. Especially since magitech is a thing now." Jeremiah smiled just a little at that. "I've got a friend who works in that field and he will not be quiet about it.

"I've been busy but doing well." He paused, his eyes cutting towards the fountain (memories) before he looked back to Chester. "It is, though that is because we are running out of time sooner rather than later."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I've considered magitech myself," he replied, glancing away from the fountain as the water began to fall. He had memories too. "But for now, I think I prefer more mundane tinkering. It gives me time to think." He shifted his bag on his shoulder as if he might take something from it, then appeared to decide against it.

"I've been reading that list." He gestured loosely at his jacket pocket where his phone might have been. "I was at the ball and in the void and I still don't understand. I feel the urgency, though. I didn't think it would be an end, just another change."

For Chester, not much had actually changed the first time. He stood motionless on the shore of a sea of principals, nobles, and sigils, his hands clean. "It is an end, right? Is there a way to stop it?" Just a toe in the water. It was a start.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"There's a lot that goes into the creation of magitech. Theory, understanding of what you're doing and what you want to create. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there are spell schemas involved in the creation of them." His head tilted as Chester went to his bag but then stopped.

It was noted but let go of. Chester's questions pulled him away from it further. "For you, it would be an end. You were within the void and saw another time, Chester. One where there were some who had lived out lives in another time.

'They're cycles and you are part of them. When this one ends, you'll be in another one with no recollection of the ones that came before." A breath was let out, his eyes glowing brightly. "The only way to stop it, to prevent this from happening, is to potentially open the cage. Undo what has been done that created this in the first place."

Smerdle

u asked a srs question

 

[Smerdle]

Cycles. He supposed that mostly explained the presence of a few familiar faces on the beach, including his roommate's and possibly Algernon's. He still wasn't sure about that last one, and he certainly wasn't about to bring it up now.

"Hm." A detached sort of horror crept through him in the wake of this news, full of inevitability and a loss of the control he loved so much. Chester carefully packed it all away to deal with later, his only real reaction a furrow of his brows and a momentary catch in his voice that he cleared his throat to dispel. "The cage isn't what we made with that sigil? Not that I would be opposed to unlocking it because, frankly, it was weird, but if we did, wouldn't she... Sunny, I believe... be a threat again?"

There was one other thing, something he might have missed had he not been as concerned, and for a second he debated leaving it alone. Then that second passed. "Also, you said I would start again. You wouldn't?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

If Algernon was mentioned it would have been find. Jeremiah was well aware, and had seen pictures of, his husband's alternate self.

"The cage was broken with the deaths of the previous Principals. It's falling apart is what caused Sunny to ... fracture." Jeremiah's eyes glowed brightly for a moment before he sighed. "The Sigil that you helped create, the one that you blooded, is a replacement for what already existed. If the cage is opened in a manner that is not so drastic it may not result in Sonny breaking at the seams. They are magic."

His focus stayed on Chester, studying him a moment before he finally answered. "No, I would not. Not anymore. Those who are Nobles of the Court are no longer bound to the cycle of rebirth."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Less than twenty minutes had passed since he had wandered back here and Chester already felt like he had stepped into a new existence. Why was it always this alley?

"I see." He didn't really, not the whole picture, but he was confident he would in time. Diagrams might have helped. "You're being very forthcoming. Thank you for that. I saw Nobles at the ball, but I didn't think they could be people I knew." Jeremiah was intimidating, sure, but he wasn't on fire. "And... well... I don't want to die. So, I'm all for gently opening the cage." Chester swallowed, shifting his weight. It was time to test his knowledge.

"It's only Nobles who aren't... reborn, I guess? Not moonwalkers or wargs?" It pleased him that he knew the lingo now, like he was finally a member of a club he had chosen to be a part of instead of one he was forced into.

azuredreamsass

 

[azuredreams]

"While there is a time for not being forthcoming with information, this is not that moment. The more informed you are, the better you can take care of yourself," Jeremiah said. His posture was slightly less relaxed as it had been, especially as he talked about these things.

"You don't, so far as I know, die. More like a game reset, wherein you are still Chester Poole but your life circumstances, and the time period, could be entirely different." There was a gesture made for Chester to walk with him because he never did like standing still for too long.

"That is correct. Moonwalkers and wargs are still considered part of the cycle and are reborn. I don't actually know if they'd still be a moonwalker or warg in the next iteration, however." His eyes cut towards Chester before flicking to the alleyway ahead that lead to the fairy fountain. "The Court is meant to be a source of guidance and mentorship for those who are still part of the cycle."

5merdle

word count to here: 865

 

[Smerdle]

That might have been the case, that he wouldn't technically die in a reset, but for him, to become someone else in every way save for name would be just the same. He might end up eighty years old or, heaven forbid, a jock like his parents. Chester kept his misgivings to himself, following in Jeremiah's stead with questions rather than complaints.

"So, what I saw in 1969 was a real cycle? Not some sort of 'what might have been' scenario created by the librarian? And the Court at the ball was meant to guide, but the Nobles there were engaging in ritualistic murder and terrorizing innocent people." All right, maybe his questions were complaints after all. The smile that threatened was entirely sardonic, born of helplessness, nerves, and the tiniest scrap of restless anger. Why, when he had finally found a place he fit, did everything have to come crumbling down? He pushed the expression aside, huffing a short laugh out of his nose as he shook his head.

"The goal would be to stop the cycles and open the cage in some unknown, non-traumatic way. Do you think that would end magic entirely?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"They were memories, more like, of those who have - at one point or another - have played roles within the cycles. You saw Alg, did you not? Another him, one that was younger than it would be possible for him to be in his mid-forties now." Jeremiah gave Chester a half-smile at the mention of the Court but there was a sadness there in his eyes as well.

"What the Court is meant to be and what happened at the ball are ... not necessarily in alignment. We who have come into our power as Nobles are actually striving to see that change but it's not quite as simple as wanting to change things." He understood, at least, what Chester was likely feeling. As one would understand, find their place, it would be ripped from under them.

"That is it, essentially, however: magic would continue to exist. It existed before the cage and would likely exist after the cage. It, and us with it, would be free. Not safety but actual freedom." As there was, of course, a difference.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I did see him. We didn't talk. That would have been... strange." The only person he'd spoken to was a man he had since seen around town in the most fleeting of circumstances. He seemed much happier here, but then again, so did Alg.

"It sounds like you're in a better place to change things than I am. So, I guess I'll just wait and hope." His monotone infused these words with unintended sarcasm, and he shook his head again. "I don't mean that in a bad way. I just don't think I have that kind of drive. The world-changing kind. You implied that I blooded the sigil as well, but I didn't. I stood by while most of the others did, but I held back. I watched. I watch. I don't know if I can do."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah tilted his head, bright eyes studying Chester, before a small nod was given. "Most did, though I am pleased to see that someone did not, if only because ..." His head shook. "Choice. You had a choice and were able to not do so."

His shoulders rolled, attention flicking off to the distance for a moment.

"I have been in a similar enough place, admittedly," he glanced back to Chester, "and not that long ago, at that. Where I watched and did nothing. It was costly, in the end, and it lead me to who I am now."

Smerdle