[PQ] Throw Away the Key

Preparations were ever needed, but this next step was especially necessary. A jail was an integral part to maintaining order in any country, large or small, and it seemed once upon a time, the Hollowed Grounds did have such a place. It was in serious disrepair now. The outer shell was fine but inside...well it wasnt so pretty. The iron bars of the cells were rusty, and the locks all broken. In a cellar, which would be a good interrogation room, was infested with flinthoppers. Overall, it needed real work. "Remi. I want you to repair these cells, and reinforce the bars and walls so they cannot be escaped from." she instructed, having made no reference to the incidents that occurred last time he helped her. "Edrei, come with me." she said, leading her down a flight of stairs to the cellar. Flinthoppers were everywhere. "Get rid of the bugs. Then set this up for interrogations. I trust you know what will be needed." she said before leaving - purposefully smooshing a few of the pests as she did - to supervise Remi and assist him as needed. This PQ is closed to Edrei and Remi! You've been given your marching orders! Zariah Come join the chorus of the unimpressed

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

Remi had been more or less grabbed by the Launcelenyns. Not so much with force, by with sheer determination of their collective wills. Though the alchemist tried to remember what it was Ronin had said, that he was stronger than Zariah, decades of subservience to people precisely like the ex-baroness was hard to ignore. And there was always the promise of helping Ianto...Regardless of what had happened with Ronin (what was happening with Ronin), the alchemist would always care a great deal about the fox. And he had promised.

Swallowing, Remi set about his task. Though his sight was slowly coming back in shades of grey and slivers of illumination, for the most part, the world was still fairly dark around him. "Can you who me where, specifically?" He asked, having heard Zariah re-enter (the sound of her heels clicking on the ground was all-too well known to him now). As she did so, Remi breathed reinforced life back into the bars. Crumbled walls were repaired, transmutation making it all too easy to simply move around the structure so that it was sturdy once more.

Edrei Launceleyn
You know I talk too much. Come put your lips on mine and shut me up

"On it." Edy answered with a succinct nod. Turning to look at the assembled bugs that had stopped to eye her warily, their flint-lined legs beginning to sing out a reedy and heat-filled melody, the younger Launceleyn grinned.

"You boys can grind your legs together all you want. Mine is still bigger." She cackled, hands suddenly outstretched as a wall of fire shot forward completely obliterating the bugs. It singed and scalded parts of the room as well, but that was fine as far as Edy was concerned. Sanitary even.

"Bobi, you're on carcass duty." Edy called over her shoulder. The bobcat pounced into the room, happy enough to destroy the burned husks of the bugs and trot outside with them.

Image by Lamreii!

He was nervous, and his fear was delicious. Zariah smirked, directing him accordingly through the cells. As he worked, a thought came to mind. This would be a lovely learning moment. She stepped up behind the alchemist, so close she could rest her chin on his shoulder were she tall enough. Instead, she gently pressed her hands there, standing on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. "A little birdie told me that you've told people you made that special ink for me." she whispered, voice low and sultry. "What else have you told people, Remi, dear?" Zariah's hands drifted down his arms, placing his hands over the locks on the cell doors. "These need repairing too, with new keys." she instructed once the cells were sturdy once more. Edrei would find the room filled with various objects - chairs, old store barrels, rusted chains and manacles. But she would need to be creative to make it a proper interrogation torture chamber. Zariah had entrusted her to use her best judgement - if ever she wished to prove herself, now was the time. Whoop! Next phase! Zariah Come join the chorus of the unimpressed

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

Working as he was, slightly hunched and concentrating, it was all too easy for the shorter woman to place her chin against him, causing Remi to flinch noticeably beneath her. It wasn't that the alchemist was evasive when it came to being touched, but rather that Zariah's was...almost inhuman feeling. Or at least he thought it would be, but instead, her voice was sweet sounding almost. "But I did make you that ink.." Remi replied, sounding unsure. "You did not say not to mention it. And..I am not sure what you mean. I said that I did not know about your..ahh, promotion? When I saw you last."

As her hands feathered down his arms, the alchemist shivered nervously beneath her touch. "Y-yes, of course." Remi said, reaching out a hand to touch the locks that melded and reformed beneath his fingers into something stronger. With a finger that trembled slightly, keys appeared that would fit perfectly within.

Edrei Launceleyn
You know I talk too much. Come put your lips on mine and shut me up

Zariah had a damned magician to help her out. Whereas Edy had...well. Just herself. If ever there was a time she missed having Loren around, it was now. Hell, even Neron would have been helpful.  Crossing her arms, Edy glanced around the room giving it a quick once over. It wasn't anything like the offices they had back in Northaven, nor even the most basic rooms in Northwind, but she'd make it work.

First, Edy cleared all the irrelevant shit into a corner. The starker the better, as far as she was concerned. Leaving just two chairs and the table, Edy grabbed a barrel and set it in the corner. This was going to be the fun part. Using all the magic at her disposal to burn and disintegrate things, Edy collapsed bits of metal, leaving the tips sharp, welded together other riffraf into horrifying clamp-shapes, and then finally made what looked like a gag. All this she simply shoved into the barrel.

What was it for? How did it work? Was it deadly?

Hopefully those were the thoughts of whatever poor sap sat across from the interrogation table. It didn't matter that most of Edy's 'creations' likely wouldn't ever be used. The point was simply to let the imaginations of those within this room run wild thinking that they were.

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Zariah smirked, watching Remi create the keys and fix the locks. With thin, delicate finger she took the proffered keys and pocketed them. ”I see…I didn’t not tell you to stay quiet…but did I tell you that you could speak of our activities?” she countered, catching him in a lose-lose game where he was the only player. From within each cell she picked up rusted and worn manacles and chains, allowing the click of her heels and the rattle of the metal to be all he heard for a time. ”These need fixing too.” she said, dropping the pile of restraints in front of him with a loud clatter, hoping he would jump, as nervous as he was. She knelt when he did, now in front of him and her nose very near his. ”Tell me, Remi…did you tell anyone about the other things you made me? Now be honest, dear one…” she said, still in that silky smooth tone. While Edrei was making the room especially terrifying, her little companion, whilst cleaning up the carcasses of roasted flinthoppers would come across something much more bothersome. A giant Bloatbeetle, having crawled into the cellar to be away from the heat, slow moving and quite content in its darkened corner. Woohooo, let’s keep the train going. Zariah Come join the chorus of the unimpressed

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

"I did not think I needed permission to speak about my own life." Remi retorted with a slight frown. "When Ronin asked, why would I not tell him the truth?"

As Zariah left him, the sound of metal (dirty, clunky, problematic) rang brightly in his ears. The clacking of the mage's heels was nearly covered up, but Remi's ears recovered the sound amidst the metal and it chilled him to his bones. As Z deposited the manacles at his feet, he took a hasty step backwards, pinning himself against the wall and shuddering in a surprised breath...only to feel the air coming back at him. Swallowing, his pale eyes wide as he tried desperately to see through the blackness, he could feel Zariah before him.

"Ronin." He whispered in a shaky tone. "I told Ronin."

Edrei Launceleyn
You know I talk too much. Come put your lips on mine and shut me up

Feeling the predatory pulse from Bobi into the very core of her, Edy paused what she was doing to poke her head around one of the corners. There she saw the no-longer-kitten low to the ground, with the tail-less ass high in the air. Her body wiggled gently as it calibrated itself perfectly, and then, when the feline judged the time to be right...she pounced.

Only...

The bloatbeetle was about as large as Bobi was at this point, and though the little predator dug her claws and teeth against the shell, the beetle seemed not to care at all. Gnawing and snarling, Bobi eventually looked up at Edy with an annoyed scowl, hissing under her breath. Grinning, Edy cackled and nodded. "Good point, we should probably wash the floors."

So saying, Edy created a stream of fire behind the poor beetle to force it into the torture interrogation room. There she plucked up one of the implements she'd hastily created and poked the shell of the creature casing water to spill out. A little controlled fire over top, and voila. A steam-cleaned floor.

Image by Lamreii!

”Ah, a thought borne from a lack of structure. Such a pity such a beautiful mind and sharp talent has been so carelessly handled.” she said in a low tone, taking sincere pleasure in the fear that radiated off of Remi. Again, she fell silent, letting his anxiety eat at him under the weight of nothingness that filled the air. ”Ah, Ronin. Of course.” she said in almost a whisper. Then, in an instant, her hand was upon his wrist and a shock of electricity bolted through him. It was short, but powerful, enough to drop him to his knees. ”Did I not say those manacles needed to be reinforced as well, Remi?” she said, a hint of disappointment in her tone. With the torture interrogation chamber complete, Edrei might then notice the clamor from upstairs. Would she see what Zariah was up to, or would she find other ways to improve the space to appeal to the Head of the family? Yayyyyy, look at this great time we are having! Zariah Come join the chorus of the unimpressed

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

Remi felt as if he was back in Northaven. There were games afoot that he didn't understand, power structures that went over his head, and once again he was somehow in the middle of it, creating things for purposes he didn't agree with.

Indeed Remi did drop. His heart raced and the blood in his ears began to sing as sparks floated before his eyes, even while blinded. "Ahh—" He wheezed, teeth grinding against one another as he winced at the sudden pain ebbing through his knees from where they'd struck the ground. Defensively his other hand wrapped around his wounded wrist as he pulled it to his chest.

Swallowing and nodding shakily, Remi reached out to feel the assorted metal now before him. Gingerly, he touched the links and connections to try and understand what needed to be repaired and where, finding that he suddenly didn't have the voice to ask Zariah. Eventually though he did find the breaks and weakened places, bleeding magic into the metal to repair it.

Leaning back against the wall, his blind eyes wild and his nostrils slightly flared like a wounded and frightened creature, Remi blinked. "Is...is that all?"

Edrei Launceleyn
You know I talk too much. Come put your lips on mine and shut me up

Nah, Edy didn't need to come upstairs. A little banging metal was hardly cause for alarm. Instead, the younger Launceleyn stalked through the hallways using magic to burn away the cobwebs in the corners. Every now and then she'd stop and shake the bars, slam a door and then ram her shoulder into it, and anything else she could reasonably expect a prisoner to try and do while within.

Satisfied that at least as a primary step the jail would hold, Edy collected the carcass of the bloatbeetle and tossed it outside with a dramatic clap of her hands to rid herself of bits of the dead bug.

Image by Lamreii!

Zariah said nothing, only smirking as he collapsed to the ground. The pain he clearly felt brought her heart pure joy. Soon he would understand. Soon it would all make sense, and he would be hers forever, helplessly caught in her web of promises, lies, pleasure, and pain. A true Launceleyn, in all but name. Perhaps he would be, someday, if he was a good little alchemist. She stood by quietly as he fixed the manacles and chains. ”You’ve done such a good job fixing this place up.” she said, her tone having switched to one of motherly warmth. Gently she reached out and stroked his hair, as she might were he her own child. ”I am sorry I had to punish you. I truly don’t wish to. It hurts me too. But I must instill order in this place, as you must learn what I expect from you.” she said gently. ”Just as we prepare this place to punish those who threaten order – those who wish to do harm and hurt and destroy society…Really what we do is good.” she said, smiling a little though he couldn’t see. ”But I need you still Remi. Your magic is so different from mine. You create and build, I can only punish. It is why I am fit to bring order, I have the tools to make the hard decisions and bring peace and goodness to the world, even if it is kicking and scream on its way there.” She let that hang in the air for a moment before standing. ”Come with me and bring the chains. I wish to see what Edrei has accomplished.” Most fun PQ ever! Keep it goin! Zariah Come join the chorus of the unimpressed

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

Remi's nostrils flared releasing a stream of shaky anxiety as her fingers worked against his curls. He listened, hope spilling across his face. Zariah had been kind to him. Cruel yes, but kind as well. She had found him in the woods, she had offered to help. She'd been there during his testing of the barrier and she'd been a key reason that the barrier had fallen.

"Just...tell me." Remi murmured weakly. "If it is to help others...to make this place more safe, of course I will help you." He added, brows knit together in soft and gentle confusion.

However as she mentioned that she still needed him, Remi's blood ran cold and he felt his stomach clench. "And...Ianto?" He asked tentatively, glossing over her thoughts on how best to achieve a stable society. He felt more like a commoner now than he ever had, and such things were far, far above him.

With a silent nod, Remi reached for the chains but found his one wrist still sore. Picking them up with his magic instead, he trailed behind Zariah's clicking heels as if she were leading him by echolocation.