Hermetics vs. Choristers: Go!

[Ashley McGowen] Boston is a city with a strong Hermetic presence. Large and diverse as the city is and has been for three hundred years, the Tradition mages there have cultivated a strong council. There are two chantries: one in the north side of Boston, a more traditional group of magi, wealthier, made up of professionals, and a much more scattered group in the South, in the poorer and more violent sections of Boston. The south is far more open and less concerned about politics - Orphans and even a few Hollow Ones are commonly seen at the chantry there.

Needless to say, most of the Hermetics frequent the north. Ashley, who grew up in the suburbs north of Boston and has, upon returning from Europe, applied to Boston University there, has little choice in the matter really.

From some mages in the north Boston chantry, held in a church built over three hundred years ago - ancient as far as American standards go - the returning Hermetics have gotten a very warm reception. One or two of the magi there even view them as heroes, particularly Bran. Charismatic, strawberry blond Bran, who has been more than eager to explain his part in striking back at the Technocracy, who has told the other magi that the War is only over because they have given up.

Ashley, for her part, is often a bit of a tagalong to the two Flambeau. She was a shy, quiet youth clawing her way out of a deep depression when they left for Europe. Two and a half years later she's matured, and has amassed a small library in the apartment she's rented in Boston. Bran and Justine make frequent use of it, and it is there that they invite Hannibal when he comes calling.

Ashley has a much cozier living space than either of the two of them, anyway.

[K. R. Jakes] It is late when there is (finally) a knock on the door. After twilight, with the city sinking into smoke and fog; after the streetlights have all blinked on. A map of stars, but made earthly.

--

And outside, there are three. Hannibal, Virtue and K. R. Jakes. At a glance, they're an unlikely trio. The dynamic might take a moment to unravel. The one who knocked is Hannibal: his knock was brisk, preemptory; as if he could blow the door down with one touch. As if he were used to being the big bad wolf and most houses he visited were made by little pigs. He's saying something to Simon and his expression is guarded black amusement, although the remark is casual enough. His voice is loud, too; the timbre enough to reach out. You'd never expect him to be subtle, to be quiet; you'd probably not be disappointed, either. Hannibal was a big black man who carried himself like he'd conquered the world, once, like maybe he'd just be fine watching from the shadows.

He's saying something to Simon, and Simon is Virtue, and he is looking a little blank in response. They're likely to be well-known, Hannibal and Simon, each to each, each in their own select circles, each without their circles. They're an intense couple, and Hannibal is the Bad Cop, and Simon is the Good Cop, but the Good Cop isn't particularly gentle when the shit hits the fan. "I haven't questioned your decision, Hannibal," he says, in response to whatever was asked. "They seem a little wild, but..." He shrugs. Simon has grace, and there it is. Understated. You'd never think that he wasn't subtle. But he wasn't.

The last member of the trio is the quietest, and she seems somewhat removed from their interaction -- although the very perceptive might note that she was also thinking sarcastic thoughts about it. Her eyes are dark, and her hair is red, and she seems very young, perhaps a little nervous. She stands closer to Simon with her hands deep in the pockets of her jeans. "What do you want me to do here?" she asks.

Hannibal flicks her a look. It isn't dismissive. It's testing. "You're here to observe. In case you decide to change your mind." The look flicks from Kage, to Simon; the corner of his mouth begins to pull, amused and gloriously so.

"Who are these people again?" is what Kage asks.

[Ashley McGowen] Dusk. Ashley has a well lit apartment (with one eye, she must), and the windows glow as the trio approaches the town home that lines a comfortably middle-class street. It's quiet and cold. It doesn't snow in Boston as much as it does near the lakes in Chicago, but there's still that snap to the air, a bite that comes in off the ocean.

Hannibal's knock at the door is almost immediately answered by the small Tytalan, all short dark hair and blue eyes. She looks as though she's in her mid twenties, a little younger than the other two Hermetics there in the apartment but not by much.

She inclines her head respectfully toward Hannibal and is about to voice her greeting when she's shouldered aside by a tall young man, pale and freckled and bespectacled, but handsome in his way. "Master Hannibal. It's a pleasure to see you again," he says, gesturing them inside with a smile.

It earns him a rather poisonous look from Ashley, but he does not seem to take notice.

As the trio steps inside, Justine is waiting for them, looking up from where she's bent over a book at the coffee table. As she sees them she rises, offering a brief sort of half bow.

[K. R. Jakes] Hannibal doesn't acknowledge the jockeying for position; indeed, one might wonder whether or not he noticed (just as one might wonder whether or not Bran really noticed). His halfsmile stays when the door opens, and he redirects his attention from his cabalmates to his student's cabalmate -- and thence to his student. Tall, charismatic Bran; and could someone like Hannibal wish for a better student? Bran and Justine have returned from Europe, and they've returned unsilenced. So Hannibal's halfsmile stays when Bran replaces Ashley, welcomes him (as is proper) and the others. Hannibal is a big man, so it can be somewhat disconcerting to realize how light on his feet he is when he passes over the threshold. He walks like a man who knows how to leave no footprints, but cast a long shadow.

"You say that now," Hannibal says, and god damn his halfsmile anyway, "But we'll see how long you can keep it up. Bran Summers, Justine Noble, allow me to present my cabalmates; Simon Virtue, bani," a pause. The perceptive would notice. Hannibal checks himself, checks with Simon, "Celestial Chorus; his new student, Kage Jakes. These are obviously the once-students I told you about and their House Tytalus satellite. Ashley McGowen."

Now, Simon no longer looks quite as blank, although there remains something about him -- as if he were attending something elsewhere as well as what is right here and right now. He isn't. None of the mages present will get so much as a thornprick of Awareness, no shiver of knowledge that somebody is Working something and that somebody is Simon. Seers have that look, sometimes, and distracted men, and daydreamers who are living their dream (and finding it grim, and dangerous). "Thank you for having us," he says, and he seems to be addressing Ashley first and foremost. But it's hard to tell. "The boy with the name," he says, of Bran, turning to look at him (quietly). "Hannibal isn't the only one who's spoken it in this city."

Throw gasoline on a fire, why don't you, Simon?

Kage, when Hannibal introduces her, inclines her head too, although for a moment her shoulders tensed up. There is a very contained sense of grace, in the gesture; there is also something like contained flamboyance in the way she unsnaps the buttons of her coat. That is all there is to hint at anything that isn't quiet about Kage, really -- her dark eyes are pensive, and after a moment's taken aback at Bran's sudden appearance in the doorway, she seems content to be quiet. And watchful. She smiles at the Hermetics, however, and the smile's a bright thing, taking her briefly out of the realm of plainness into something approaching gorgeousness, before the smile's sheathed away again, all careful.

[Ashley McGowen] Their House Tytalus sattelite. Hannibal, too, gets a look much like the one she gave Bran when he shouldered her aside to welcome his former mentor into the house. There are more offensive terms he could have used: Faust, Renfield, and he didn't use those - wisely, as they may have incited violence - but what Hermetic really likes to be thought of as an accessory?

Still, House Tytalus is not what it was and has not been in several hundred years. It's peripheral, and Ashley seems to recognize that she too will be peripheral for the duration of this meeting. Bran seems to finally recognize some of the tension, and without looking at her he reaches over and takes hold of her elbow. It's an intimate gesture that she lets hang for a moment and then shakes off. To Simon, she just nods. "You're welcome."

Justine smiles and approaches the other trio, raking her fingers back through dark hair to straighten it. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Ah well, people talk," Bran says, with a sunny smile. "It's a pleasure to meet friends of Master Hannibal." He eyes the other three for a moment, seeming nonplussed that Ashley shrugged off his gesture, and reaches up a forefinger to push his glasses a little higher on his nose. "So to what do we owe the occasion?"

[K. R. Jakes] They're just human beings, mages. They exchange pleasantries just like anybody might. They rely on courtesy, on tradition and cultural ritual just as much -- perhaps more so, in certain cases -- as anybody might. Kage closes the door behind Simon and herself, rather than leave the apartment open to the cold, however lovely and sea-touched the air might be.

"Hmm," Hannibal says, and baby, his voice is deep and resonant, however acerbic his expression, the way he raises one eyebrow (what aren't you doing right because there's something). He still doesn't seem to notice any tension. He also gets straight to the point. "I've brought you," plural, "a riddle. I want you to keep something for me. If you can solve it, more the better. Keep it for yourselves." His smile widens, slightly. "I'm also interested to hear what you've chosen to do with yourselves. Europe, eh. Was that the Tytalans idea?"

Once again, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the Chorister and his apprentice seem much more keenly aware of what is going on in terms of how people are feeling than Hannibal does. Seem, though: that's a tricky thing. Something can seem to be what it is not. Simon looks briefly pained, a furrow appears between his eyebrows, shadow of. He interrupts with: "We've been on the road since dawn. Would you mind if I - ?" Sit down, he means.

Kage speaks, too. She says: "To be fair, I think that some of the occasion is also showing me real Willworkers. And I apologize if my ignorance is going to offend: but what is House Tytalus, other than a Hermetic House that is not Flambeau?"

[Ashley McGowen] "Oh, of course, I - " Bran begins to say to Simon.

"I don't mind if you have a seat at all. Please," Ashley interrupts, gesturing toward the couch and two chairs that are arranged around the coffee table. They're short one seat, but, well, she can stand. Or Bran can, if he's so determined to play good host. She doesn't seem too inclined to offer them tea or the like, though; damned if she's playing butler to Bran and Justine's meeting with Hannibal.

"Anyway," Bran says to Hannibal, taking a seat on the couch. Justine, the type inclined to stay quiet and listen - she doesn't seem to miss much, this woman - takes a seat in the chair adjacent to him. "Ashley did mention traveling to Europe, yes, but we decided to go together. The magi there haven't given up on the Ascension War as thoroughly as they have here, especially in the more remote areas."

Ashley listens to Bran's explanation, a furrow growing between her eyebrows. "I thought moving out of an area where we were comfortable would be good for us," she tells Hannibal. "Besides which, the Order is rooted so deeply in European tradition that I think it's to our benefit to spend some time traveling there."

Then she turns to Kage, shrugging when the woman apologizes for her ignorance. "Like you said, it's a separate house. The majority of us believe that we Ascend through struggle and conflict, and we stress the use of the Ars Mentis. We're split up into different philosophies like the Traditions are."

[K. R. Jakes] This is how they array themselves -- Bran on the couch, Justine in the chair adjacent to Bran; Hannibal in the center of the couch, and Simon beside him, because it appears that Kage is not going to take that seat.

This leaves the chair, and Kage doesn't yet sit; she is giving Ashley the opportunity; she is stretching out her calf-muscles, because she has been cooped up in a car with Hannibal and Simon all day, and she loves Simon, and she respects (mostly) Hannibal, but she does not appreciate them for so many hours in a tiny space. "Hmm," she says, in response to Ashley's answer. "Thank you. ...Do all of your Houses claim to be deeply rooted in European tradition?" The phrase is borrowed, for clarity. Then: "And ...was it good for you? Do you feel that you've changed for the better? I'll apologize again if I'm overstepping myself as your guest."

Simon rubs his left knee, absentmindedly. His expression is abstracted once more, and distant, even while he pays close attention to the Hermetics argue and discuss, and his catechumen ask questions rather than stay quiet. The perceptive might notice that the distance in his gaze becomes even more prominent when the War for Ascenscion is mentioned -- specifically, giving up on it. He feels that like an ache in his bones, and there's a melancholy behind the gesture.

Hannibal, for his part, after having claimed the lion's place as far as the couch goes, and flicking a quick glance around, taking it in, careful, almost sharply, edgily cautious, drums his fingers against his thigh. "Kage is almost asking the question I would ask you, Ashley: do you believe that Bran and Justine benefited?"

Hannibal isn't smiling, and he leans forward, his elbows on his knees, his fingers steepled.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley does not take the chair. She stands behind the rest, slightly angled so that she can see all of them and easily hear all of the conversation that goes on. Kage can, now that she is standing closer, see the injury that she bears to the present day: the left eye slightly unfocused, the lump of scar tissue on her left temple that is partially hidden by the shaggy tufts of brown hair that hang down over her forehead.

Kage asks Ashley whether she thinks she's changed for the better, and the Tytalan opens her mouth, appearing to have a ready answer. Hannibal directs the question so that it is framed in terms of Bran and Justine, though, and that gives her some pause. The observant would notice a look that passes between her and Bran.

It's a short look, but much is conferred: frustration, expectation, tenderness mingled with regret. Bran appears for a few seconds as though he might answer -for- Ashley, but Justine crosses her ankles and gives him a kick in the shins. Quick, "accidental."

"I think all three of us benefited. We left as Initiates Exemptus and returned as Adepts within the Order of Hermes, so I think that alone proves the point. We had a chance to speak with many Order chapters in Germany and Romania and Bran and Justine have been very active against the Technocracy. I think between those things and learning to deal with each other within the cabal, besides the fact that we traveled mostly on foot...well, it was definitely a learning experience."

[K. R. Jakes] Hannibal raises an eyebrow at Justine. Or at Bran. They're both on that side of the room; it's difficult to tell. He was raising his eyebrow at Justine. Kage doesn't raise her eyebrows, not at all. Rather, since Ashley still doesn't sit, she does -- but quite as if she'll have to stand up quickly very soon. She watches Ashley, with a brief flick of her gaze toward the other Hermetics, when she answers.

And it's a good answer, maybe. At least, Hannibal doesn't seem to be about to scoff -- at least, no more than usual.

"Will you stay together?" This question is asked not by Hannibal, who doesn't seem as if he'd care for how blunt it is, and not by Kage either, who is new and wideeyed enough at this point in time, that in spite of her social graces, she'd just as soon question everything if everything looked like it would have an intelligent answer. The question was asked by [compassionate (intense)] Simon.

[Ashley McGowen] "I had a chance to make people there remember the old stories and teachings," Justine says quietly, when she sees Hannibal raising his eyebrows. "Particularly in eastern Europe...they want to believe, there, they're just looking for proof. I know I've learned." And she goes quiet again. A woman of few words indeed, quite unlike her far more verbose companions. There's a tranquility about Justine that is unique to most Flambeau. A sense of purpose and conviction, something almost spiritual.

Simon asks if they will stay together, and the result is another quick series of gazes - Ashley to Bran, still loaded with emotion and questions, Bran's look to Ashley, seeming very certain and confident until he sees her looking at him, and Justine's look at the two of them. For a long moment nobody answers, perhaps waiting to see whether one of the other two will. And in that silence Simon can perhaps gather all that he needs to know.

In the end Bran clears his throat and says something to break the awkward silence. "We've been together as a cabal since we were apprentices, Master Virtue. We've grown together through a lot of things. We chose to return to Boston as a cabal still."

[K. R. Jakes] They all know that Bran didn't really answer the question [That maybe they can't really answer the question yet]. They also, all three of the guests, the Flambeau and the Choristers, choose to behave as if he had; Hannibal doesn't pry, and Simon doesn't ask another leading question, and Kage certainly doesn't touch the subject, although she looked over at Simon (first, always) and Hannibal during the awkward silence. The way they sat there, side by side, comfortable; the way they reacted to each other, also comfortable, as if they'd worked together so often and so well that there could be no severing of common purpose [there's a light, there's a sun, bringing all the shattered ones].

"I see," Simon says, politely. "You'll stay together, even if you don't stay together. It can be difficult; one day you should ask your teacher why he deigned to enter into a cabal with a Willworker who is not of your Order. He was resistant to the idea, at first." Simon doesn't smile when he says this, although there's a lightening of his expression, and Hannibal snorts loudly in response, but does not deign to add to the story right now.

[Ashley McGowen] They'll stay together, even if they don't stay together. The three younger Hermetics don't relax at all at these words. It is perhaps the most difficult for Justine, and it is evident upon her expression: she is at the mercy of the other two and what they decide to do. She can have no part in the cabal's decision, all she can simply do is watch it unfold. To any Hermetic, this is maddening; it is a situation in which her Will does her no good.

It is the ultimate quandary for some Hermetics, the idea that sometimes they just have to sit back and let people be people. That sometimes, no matter how badly they want something their Will cannot be done.

Justine folds her hands in her lap and looks down at them. Ashley looks elsewhere. Bran smiles, looking from Hannibal to Simon. "I would be interested in hearing how that came to be. None of us really joined up with any other Traditionalists outside the Order of Hermes, even with how much we traveled, so I'm curious as to why Master Hannibal would have chosen you. No offense intended, of course."

[K. R. Jakes] Simon doesn't look offended. He looks blank once more; the sort've blank that is difficult to write on. There's a brief pause and then both of his eyebrows rise, creasing his forehead; he is looking at Hannibal, and he is dropping his hand over the side of the chair, fingers twitching toward his student. Kage is leaning forward now, too, and she makes it look almost carelessly elegant. She wrinkles her forehead, too. This isn't a story that she's heard, maybe, or maybe it's a story she's only heard a certain way, and she's looking forward to hearing how it might be phrased here among these volatile [breaking up is hard to do] magi.

Hannibal snorts, again. He leans back noiselessly. His fingers are still steepled. He does not do it for effect, but a natural tic; something that helps him focus. "Don't disappoint me," he says. "Haven't you ever thought about it before." The question isn't quite phrased as a question. "The other Traditionalists; what use are they? Look at Simon; what do you think? Don't worry about offending him," and here, a faint smirk, although it's -- practically a ghost, compared to usual. "He doesn't offend very easily, nor does she."

Kage doesn't quite look as if she'd dispute this, but amusement and something a little more inscrutable touches the corner of her mouth for a moment.

[Ashley McGowen] "Other Traditionalists Will the world to change, but they call it something else. It keeps them from understanding their ability to affect the world - they have to jump through unnecessary hoops," Ashley says, before Bran can answer. "Particularly in the case of the Chorus. If you have to say that your magic comes from God then it isn't really magic."

She looks sidelong at Simon and Kage as she does it, apparently nowhere near as concerned with tact as Bran is. Leave it to one of the Tytali - if they want to defend their Tradition and their way, as far as she's concerned, let them. Stronger ideas prevail.

Bran looks at Ashley and his mouth thins for a moment before he looks back at Hannibal. "Ashley has summed up my thoughts on it. It doesn't mean that their way is wrong, necessarily, there are just -better- ways."

Hermetic ways, naturally. Bran sucks in a breath. "Which doesn't explain, really, why you've chosen to form a cabal with these two."

[K. R. Jakes] "Very good," Hannibal says, and it would be difficult to miss the sarcasm -- the same way it would be difficult to miss the ocean from the lower deck of an oceanliner. Maybe the ocean isn't visible down there, but you can sure as Hell feel it moving under your feet. Somehow, it almost feels subtle, the way it poisons his tone; re-fashions it into intolerance. Bran and Justine are very familiar with this tone-of-voice, with how softly he speaks.

"Now I'd like to hear some proof that your thoughts are truly your thoughts, and not just the safe party line; I didn't ask whether or not our way is better. It is. And I didn't ask whether or not they could achieve similar feats as we, true practitioners of magick, even though they lean on false -- no, excuse me;" He pauses. As if he was going to check himself. He doesn't." -- half-false crutches. The Order knows that they can perform feats of True Magick. I asked this: what use are they? Look at him; what do you think? And I'll tell you why in a moment."

Ashley was nowhere near as concerned with tact as Bran was, and Hannibal didn't really appear to acknowledge that any sort of tact (or courtesy) was necessary at all. He clearly thought that he was being tactful by calling Simon and Kage's magickal system something that leans on 'half-false' crutches, rather than 'wholly false' crutches.

The young [still innocent, in her way; still wondering over the world, and how dark it is] redhead sits up during this speech, and she is just as pale as she ever is, just as calm and composed, except she is standing up, saying a little too quickly: "You say that your magick comes from pure Will. Am I correct? Where does your Will come from?"

And Simon Virtue says, in a voice that is before a storm quiet (contained [grace]) : "Hannibal Caspian Temple." He is coming out of his blank place. Perhaps the cabals are taking it in turns: showing their weak points. Simon still doesn't sound -- offended.

[Ashley McGowen] Bran, looking somewhat chastened (he probably should have known better than to echo another's thoughts) turns his eyes to the two Choristers. He looks at them, appraises them, and he ponders his reply. Justine, too, is eying them, though she chooses to keep whatever conclusions she comes to to herself.

"The Chorus seeks to banish the Darkness, as we do. It's smart to ally with people who are going to aid your cause and die for it, particularly if you know that their Will is of no contest to your own." He explains this as though he and Hannibal were the only other people in the room. As though he understands that despite his words, despite how Hannibal might feel, they will follow them anyway.

Justine doesn't say anything. Neither does Ashley. But the furrow between the Tytalan's brows grows as Bran reaches the last bit of his explanation. To Kage, she says, "My Will and my Mind are the same thing. If I think or believe something then I Will it so. It doesn't really matter to me where my Mind came from."

And, after listening to Kage and Ashley, Justine chooses to speak. "I disagree with Ashley. I believe in God, and God's divine Will was strong enough to create us. He set it alight in us."

[K. R. Jakes] Hannibal listens to Bran. He really, really listens. He's a man who steps lightly, but whose presence is a shadow; is difficult to ignore (however much one would like to). He doesn't blink as he listens, either, and he doesn't -- by sheer Will, in fact -- turn to look at his cabalmate when his cabalmate says his name. At least, not right away. Bran says his piece, and Hannibal smiles faintly, and he looks away, sidelong, toward Simon.

Bran acts as if only he and Hannibal were important; as if only he and Hannibal could understand what he was saying. This isn't so; Simon, who is no longer blank at all, but intent, focused, keeps his steady gaze on Hannibal's head. He looks unhappy, and his unhappiness is always colored by something like yearning; by something grim, something unflinching. Kage, in spite of her own questions (attempts at diffusing the situation), pauses. The pause is visible; the pause is very near tangible. Then Ashley answers her, and her gaze comes back from whereever it went -- somewhere distant, just like her mentor; somewhere far, far away. The way she looked at Bran for a moment, though; as if she were unreflective, and he were lightlessness. Kage takes a quiet breath, and then Justine disagrees with Ashley, and she exhales.

"Three things," she says. "First, you. Bran Summers. Why would that be particularly smart? It seems to me that if one feels the need to be surrounded by insuboordinate minds, by those who can't threaten one's place, one is weak and a coward." Calm, Kage; calm. The student is not nearly as long for Awakened life as either Simon or Hannibal, and she was alone for a while, Orphanned without knowing the word, before Simon found her, before Simon decided to take her in, won her trust. "Second. Ashley: How does it follow that it doesn't matter where your Mind came from? I'll agree with what you said before; but where is the connect? And, Justine: Have you always believed in God, or did you come to that belief after you Awakened?"

[Ashley McGowen] Three pairs of eyes are drawn to Kage and fixate once she begins to speak to all three of them; this time, Ashley appears interested in earnest. Justine -was- interested in earnest to begin with, and so she just listens with a polite little smile as the least experienced person in the room questions her more aggressive cabal mates.

Ashley just nods slowly when Kage calls Bran out on his cowardice. She doesn't smile - she so rarely does - but she makes a quiet noise of approval.

Bran, for his part, frowns deeply. It is the first time this evening that he hasn't been smiling. "It's less that I'm afraid of being challenged as that I -know- my Will is superior. If it weren't, then why would I bother to lead?"

"Circular logic," Justine points out, succintly. To Kage, she says, "I was raised believing in God, but it took on a very new meaning for me after I Awoke. But you'll forgive me, I'm not very accustomed to talking about my faith."

Ashley, who took the longest to answer because she seems to be trying to mull Kage's words over, just shrugs in the end. "I just don't think it matters. My Mind didn't exist, and then it did. If something greater than myself exists it's there to be overcome. It's not that I think I just sprung out of a vacuum, but whatever gave me thought doesn't really have any bearing on my actions."

[pause!]