Comments | jla_watchtower: "Suicide Notes" -- Epilouge 2

og_outsiders in jla_watchtower

"Suicide Notes" -- Epilouge 2

Feb 22, 2007 11:44

The inside of this private hospital have begun to grate on him -- the lingering in the shadows, the waiting for the doctors and nurses to leave. Sometimes, he just wants to fold himself into the shadows and disappear entirely ( Read more... )

phantom stranger, suicide notes, sabastian faust

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grey_walker February 22 2007, 18:36:07 UTC

"Sleight of hand is the oldest sort of magician's trick, Sabastian."

The Stranger is there.

"Older even than this world."

og_outsiders February 22 2007, 18:41:31 UTC

Faust doesn't take his eyes off the woman lying in the bed.

"Well, you know me. Never met a game of Three-Card Monty I could pass up."

He takes a deep breath and then glances over at the Stranger.

"When did you know? About her?"

grey_walker February 22 2007, 19:05:49 UTC

"Your exchange?" He queries in response. "Nothing is hidden from me, Sabastian. I had but to look. Your spell was very clever."

og_outsiders February 22 2007, 19:28:31 UTC

"I do what I can," he says, nonchalantly.

His fists are shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket, and his eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

"He had to think he was killing her. The intention was key."

grey_walker February 22 2007, 20:07:45 UTC

"Of course. Love. It was necessary for the knife to work."

His tone is matter-of-fact.

"Did you achieve everything you had hoped to?"

og_outsiders February 22 2007, 20:15:22 UTC

He looks down at the comatose Jean Loring on the bed.

"June's pulled through. She's still unconscious, but she's going to wake up. She has her soul back."

He doesn't come right out and say that she also has The Enchantress back, but then, he doesn't have to.

"Palmer won't stay in prison long. He'll mope for a while, and then he'll get back to what's important. Being a scientist. Being a hero. He wouldn't do that if he knew she was still alive."

grey_walker February 23 2007, 02:58:02 UTC

"You feel justified. Jean's fate is a mercy, and Ray Palmer will achieve his destiny."

There is no reprimand in his voice.

"And what of your own destiny?"

og_outsiders February 23 2007, 16:05:47 UTC

"My destiny?" he says, incredulity dripping from his tongue. "My destiny was bought and sold with my soul. All I wanted was June to be alive again, to be the whole person she deserved to be, so I traded Palmer's fate for that."

He looks down at the glamoured Jean Loring.

"She's my destiny right now. Someone needs to watch over her, to make sure that if she is the Witch Queen, that she doesn't rise."

His face is grim, emotionless.

"I'm her guardian. Her warden. I owe that to Palmer for bringing June back."

grey_walker February 23 2007, 16:46:36 UTC

"You do indeed. It seems a fair exchange."

There's an unspoken but at the end of that sentence.

og_outsiders February 23 2007, 17:54:14 UTC

"You don't sound convinced," he says.

grey_walker February 24 2007, 19:59:18 UTC

"The most valuable gift mortals possess is free will, Sabastian. Too often, supernatural forces seek to subvert that gift - whether by bending an individual's will, or by attempting to remove the consequences of choice. It is not a course of action to be taken lightly."

og_outsiders February 24 2007, 21:41:03 UTC

Faust bristles at that. He's always been someone who's gone to great lengths to assert his own free will.

"You're probably right, but the die is cast. Since no one died, Palmer's soul's not in danger, and sooner or later, some magic type or other will point that out to him. But for right now, he can't carry this burden, so someone needs to carry it for him."

He turns finally and looks at the Stranger.

"And there's no one else. He's not gonna forgive me for this when he leans, but it's what has to be done."

grey_walker February 25 2007, 05:19:59 UTC

"Perhaps. I pray that it unfolds as you hope it will."

og_outsiders February 25 2007, 16:50:55 UTC

Yeah, you and me both, pal.

Faust walks to the window and opens it ... it's a cold night, but the heat doesn't seem to leave the room. A lit cigarette appears in his hand, and he blows smoke out the window. No one below seems to notice.

"You know what she is, don't you? She's a vortex ... a point where mystic energies and events converge ... Eclipso, The Enchantress, maybe The Witch Queen ... none of that was an accident."

grey_walker February 25 2007, 16:59:59 UTC

"An eldritch nexus. The first of the new age of magic, and the last of the previous age." He confirms.

og_outsiders February 25 2007, 18:13:04 UTC

"And that usually means something wicked this way comes."

He lets the thought hang in the room like smoke.

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