zerotohiro | I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame [Eachdraidh IC Contact]

Hiro, you're in all likelihood asleep right now. But when you wake and find yourself lucid, I need to know where you are.

[Not even five minutes go by before she gets a response. It was another late night and so sleep wasn't coming that easily anyway.]

Grell? [If he sounds surprised to hear from her, it's because he is. The longer he talks, the more awake he starts to sound.] I'm up. I mean I'm awake and I'm back at the castle. Why? Everything okay?

[Grell being alive is one less thing to worry about, at least.]

You remember our arrangement, I trust? I find myself in need to call upon it, and it's better spoken about in person.

Of course I remember. I can come to you, I think. Where are you? I can be out of the castle in like ten minutes if you're close by.

If you can, take the ring to Diasbaile. I'll be waiting on the other end.

Edited 2015-07-02 00:48 (UTC)

[The only response Grell will hear at first is the sound of one teenage boy crawling around under his bed, an imp hissing at him and Hiro snarling back along with a brief scuffle for one of his shoes.]

Make that ten minutes from now. I'll meet you there. [He'll disconnect the locket and be on his way. Never mind the fact it's way too early for most people, he'll be there soon enough.]

[she waits on the other side like she promised, already awake since before the sun rose and prepared for the day. at least the nightmare that had woken her did some good in allowing her to take care of these things, and she seems lost in thought until she notices Hiro.]

Did ten minutes pass already?

It might have been more like twelve to be honest. [There's a slightly sheepish grin as he approaches. It's clear that he pretty much just rolled out of bed, shoved his feet in his sneakers and threw on his usual hoodie. He didn't have time to bother with actual shorts instead of loose sleep pants and he didn't have time to bother fighting with his hair. Grell felt that whatever she was going to assign him was important enough that it couldn't wait a few hours. He wasn't going to make her wait.]

So what's going on? [And then, somewhat casually:] You're up pretty early.

I couldn't sleep, so I decided to use my time rather than lying at the ceiling.

[with a little jerk of her head, she indicates he should follow her. they needed somewhere indoors, so she could effectively ward it - no matter what, Severine could not be allowed to find out what they were planning. heaven knew what she'd do if she knew about the accident last month.]

And that meant seeing to certain arrangements - I'm truly sorry if I woke you.

[He barely gives it a second thought as he follows after her, though he can't help but wonder what sort of lengths Grell's going to go to to keep things secret. Ariadne had already smeared his lips with blood as a warding method once. He's just hoping it's not that. Still, there's a sound of agreement followed by a shrug.]

Don't worry about it, you didn't. I mean not really. I was mostly awake still anyway. [He's just glancing around the area as they make their way inside and whenever they stop he's quiet and still so that he can wait for Grell to set the wards in place.]

…I'm just glad you're back. [You know. Considering what Jason told him.]

Edited 2015-07-02 19:29 (UTC)

[she pauses in the drawing she's doing of runes (a handful of ash in her pocket now being applied to the back of the door, it'd need to be dusted off but it served to draw well enough) and looks to him with a smile.]

With my and Jason's abilities combined, she stood not a chance.

[there, it's done, and they are locked from earshot.]

The Seelie are down their chief torturer. Which is small comfort if we're ever captured.

You mean the lady who tortured cats and people under Caer Glaem? [He sounds casual enough about it, but there's a tiny bit of relief slipping into his tone knowing that she's been taken down. He also knows there's a second trip Grell and Jason will be taking, but Jason didn't give him those details at all.] She was totally dumb if she ever thought she did stand a chance.

[He wants to ask questions. He wants to ask a ton of questions about what they did and where they're going next, but he doesn't. Grell brought him here to ask something of him, not the other way around.]

On the bright side, our court knows how to break people out of jail. [As proven with Katsa.] But there's still a lot left to cover, isn't there?

Much more. But our court will pull through for its own, I know.

[if for no other reason than they needed all the bodies on their side they could get, but that sort of dark humour is not meant for such early morning.]

...I asked you here because I need you to look into something. If I hadn't pledged Jason my aid I'd begin the work myself and ask you to be beside me, but it stands as it does.

[Research. He should have figured and he suddenly looks even more curious now, head tilting slightly in question.]

He told me you guys were making two trips, so...I figured. What kind of something are we talking about?

It's not something for him, actually. It's something related to that story I promised to tell you. The long one.

I need you to look up any information you can find on a figure known as the Mother. Legends, rumours, whatever you can find and bring to me. Don't go exhausting yourself over looking up the information, but even a small scrap will be useful. If you're asked why, say that you're researching around the times that the Jabberwock brought famine to the land and you heard the name mentioned in connection.

...Actually, information around that period in time would be useful as well, though I don't mean to overburden you.

['About Severine.' He doesn't say it out loud, but he allows the look of recognition to flit across his face.]

Mother. [He raises an eyebrow.] I mean no, no it's not overburdening anything. Somebody's gotta hit the books while you guys are running off bringing down bad guys, right? [Though he has zero idea where to start looking...that's a problem.] I'll start asking around, see what I can find out. We don't know anything about her at all yet?

[On the bright side, he has ideas of how to ask questions about the time period with the Jabberwock...but he'll have to dig deep.]

She healed the land from the Jabberwock's rot, it's said. More than that, we'd need stronger magic for. A stronger seal.

[blood magic.]

Stronger binds. [It doesn't need to be said out loud where the train of thought is going, though the weight of importance is more obvious now.] How did you hear about her?

From someone I would trust with my life and to tell me when I'm wrong. They wouldn't lie to me, I'm certain of it - only refuse to answer.

And if someone else maybe went to them and asked questions on their own without hinting that it's for you? Would they still refuse to answer? [But he's already thinking.]

I can start asking around...start going out again, maybe, and try to talk to some of the people in the nearby settlements and see if they can give me some ideas where to look.

He doesn't know any more than I do on the subject - through him I was made aware of her existence at all. But what you can do, again, I'd appreciate it. Even if you find nothing, it will matter significantly that you made the attempt, and it will tell me something about her.

[There's a deep breath followed by a very slow nod.] Okay. I'll do my best to find anything I can about her. I'll ask anybody who might know.

[Who knows? Maybe he can ask Morla since he already has other things to ask her. Or he can ask some of the natives if he plays his cards right.] I'll try to have some information for you whenever you and Jason get back.

I can't thank you enough, Hiro. This could be the key to unlocking an understanding that is desperately needed before something...unusual occurs.

You say that like unusual things don't happen here all the time. [But he gets what she means.] I can already think of one or two people I can ask. Give me a few weeks and I should have some kind of answer.

I will. And when we get back from Mair, I'll contact you regardless - just to let you know we survived and an accounting of how many injuries Jason has.

[ignoring the fact that she's more likely to gain injuries than him. sometimes true self-preservation was a foreign concept.]

I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame [Eachdraidh IC Contact]

7/1, audio, early morning

7/1, audio, early morning

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