Visitation Rights | Pacing the Cage

[twicedisplaced]

Characters: Archie Kennedy (possessed), Reinette, Cordelia Chase, Allen Francis Doyle, D'athe
Rating: PG (for now)
Time Period: Modern
Location: Castle Interior Room
Relative Date: Right Now
Status: Closed
Notes: This is meant to be an on-going log for the time Archie is incarcerated. If one person tags out, another's welcome to tag in! Also, it will

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[ambitious_woman]

Since their conversation before, however brief, Reinette had been concerned for the stranger she met in such dire straights before. He spoke of memory loss, a subject that remained fresh and raw.And she could not help but wonder if they now shared a similar experience.

So when her calls for help remained unanswered, and her own attempts to discover what was happening proved futile? Reinette went in search of her best source of information. The man himself.

Her eyes widened sharply when she finally found him restrained with the confines of a cage. She watched him for several silent moments before announcing her presence.

"Monsieur Kennedy."

[twicedisplaced]

The room, while appearing cage-like, was merely an empty room. Archie had taken some preliminary measures with some restraints, but for the most part he was holding himself back from whatever her was going to eventually do (something he had already convinced himself would happen.)

His attention turned to the woman and he immediately recognized her voice from the messages on the cellular device. He didn't recognize her -- didn't immediately know her face. "Archie," he replied, somewhat ruefully.

The voice was suspiciously quiet.

"I'm very sorry for... for whatever it is I did." He couldn't believe that it would have been anything good or right. He feared he had been some sort of monster.

[ambitious_woman]

"Archie," she tested the way it rested strangely on her tongue. "It is quite informal, but then, this is hardly the time for formalities."

Reinette watched him intently, trying to decide just what to make of him. Normally she was quite skilled in taking the measure of a man. But this was still seemed just beyond her scope.

"You were injured. That is hardly anything you need apologize for. I believe the extent of your injuries was causing you -- distress."

She walked closer to the leg, to examine it.

"I realized that I never properly introduced myself." She recalled his own informal name, and chose to abandoned her titles. "My name is Jeanne. Jeanne Antionette Poisson. But you may call me Reinette."

[twicedisplaced]

Kennedy was still wearing the bloody jeans with the wide rip in the leg. When she looked at the area, he did as well. It had been a topic of some contemplation on his part, as it seemed to be where most of the blood had come from. At least on the lower half of his body. He wasn't so sure about the rest.

Instead of his initial reply, though, his mind went elsewhere. Raising his head, he looked her over. She seemed... reserved. Not as scared as he might think, considering what she must have seen. It wasn't a minor amount of blood. "I've never met anyone as famous as you," he confessed.

He waited for some snarky comment from the voice in his head, but it remained silent.

After a long pause, he continued, "I don't think I would call it distress, though. I believe I'd call it 'off my rocker.' Hearing voices, attacking people, getting into trouble... those aren't really normal things for me."

A frown settled on his face as he thought of the work he'd left behind. "I'm just a school teacher these days."

[visionsinprada]

Cordy gave D'athe precious little time to drop off his things before rushing through the halls. They made their way past the room of pictures, the little buttons hardly catching her eyes as they normally would. Eventually, her mind was able to recall they way to Archie that she'd seen in her vision. Bursting through the door, she looked on at her friend in fear.

"Archie! Are you okay? I had a vision that you were possessed and bleeding and evil!" Cordelia said in an onslaught of words.

She didn't stop to think that he probably had no idea what she was talking about with visions and all. It also didn't occur to her that the Archie they would find might already be evil. When she finally caught sight of him directly, it was then that she stopped to think.

"Unless you're... still evil?" she asked in a small voice.

[twicedisplaced]

Kennedy was a bit shocked when Cordy came rushing through the door. He was, at this time, retrained within the confines of his chain. "I don't..." With a shake of his head, he made sure the chains were secure for the hundredth time. "I don't know what happened, Cordelia. I hurt someone... shot them. And I do--"

He stopped, though, considering what she said. "Possessed? You said you had a vision I was possessed?" He asked.

The demon sneered. "Of course, you idiot!"

"Demonic possession?" Archie was flabbergasted. That couldn't be right, could it? People who were possessed by demons didn't have control over themselves at all, he felt.

[a_true_hero]

Doyle could barely keep up after Cordelia; it must've been a really bad vision. By the time Doyle caught up with her, she was already inside the room and talking to whoever was in there. Doyle got in as fast as he could and saw the other man, retained in his chair. Doyle had a very bad feeling about this situation.

"What...what happened?" He only caught the end of what Archie said, demonic possession? "Did you do this to yourself? Or did someone else do this to you." Doyle wasn't sure what exactly they should do, if this Archie was possessed then they couldn't just untie him. But, man did he look awful right now.

[dathe]

D'athe made sure his toys were tucked out of sight under a bed before he followed after Doyle and Cordelia, his claws clicking on the stone as he followed the sound of their footsteps. He peered into the room he saw Doyle go into, his ears pricked forward in curiosity. Sniffing the air cautiously, and wrinkling his nose at the scent of human blood, one paw coming up to wipe at his nose a moment.

Is he hurt? he asked Doyle, shifting on his feet a moment, staying in the doorway for now, his gaze fixed on the man in the chair. Hopefully the Archie who Cordelia had had the vision about. Is this Archie?

[lostheavensent]

Anastacia hurried along the corridors, a small load under her arms, worry creasing her brow. In the process of looking for her friends for assistance with creating the cure, she'd overheard about Archie's... predicament. She found herself unable to believe it could have happened to her friend, and needed to know for herself that he would be fine.

And she worried that whatever part of Archie remained in him would still need a friend -- more than ever now. She figured that whatever evil face the demon inside him might put on, it couldn't be nearly as bad as what she'd confronted in the dungeon with the others. Even now, remembering, she had to fight at the familiar stinging sensation of tears threatening to pour out. No she thought, shaking her head fiercely. Can't be that bad, whatever it is.

She stepped into the room quietly, shutting the door behind her softly.

"Archie?" she asked, in a gentle, coaxing tone. "It's Anastacia."

[twicedisplaced]

Archie was nearly asleep, drifting somewhere in the haze of consciousness. He barely registered the door closing, his head lulling to the side while he was restrained. His position made sleeping awkward, but he had eventually given in and allowed himself a little rest.

Her voice was enough to break the minor grip of the sandman. He lifted his head, exhausted eyes finding it difficult to focus on her. At first, he was confused to the identity of the woman, but then he remembered what she had said. "Anastacia," he croaked, his voice cracking from a dry throat. "What are you doing here?"

He wondered if she hadn't heard about him yet, but eventually his slow-moving brain realized that she had to have heard, else she wouldn't have known where to find him.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. How are you?"

[lostheavensent]

"I came to see you," she said, offering a little smile as she stepped closer. Her eyes quickly scanned his face, coming to the fast conclusion that he looked... terrible. She could only imagine what he'd been going through.

"I'm fine, I..." she started, but she couldn't just pretend that it was true: the words rang hollow in her ears even as she said them. She was decidedly not fine.

"We've just all had a spot of trouble now, haven't we?" Her smile this time was a bit weaker. "Oh, Archie I'm so... sorry that this had to..."

The words trailed off. It seemed so insincere to offer up an apology for him being trapped like this, warring with some demon in his head and heart. It wasn't anything she could have stopped, she tried to tell herself, but comfort didn't follow on the heels of that fact.

"What happened?" she finally asked, her voice dropping to nearly a whisper.

[twicedisplaced]

He shook his head. "I don't know. I just... I woke up and I was in the grotto, covered in blood. A woman, Reinette, told me that I had been attacked. A man -- I didn't get his name -- said I had attacked him. I really... I don't know what happened. But I was dead, they say. Dead, and now I'm not."

There was a certain amount of fear in Kennedy's wide eyes -- something he hadn't quite shown the others. "I'm not-- not feeling so well, either." Of course he wouldn't be feeling well, but it wasn't like Archie to admit it.

The demon hissed at him, a terrible laughing hiss. It startled him visibly, and sent a shudder down his body. "But I'll survive." He nodded and cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming to check on me."

[dathe]

Returning with his ball, D'athe peered into the room before he batted the ball in ahead of him, chirruping cheerfully. He had hurried back as quickly as he could, so Archie wouldn't be alone long if he hadn't had another visitor after all.

He almost called out a greeting, but checked himself before he could, not wanting to deal with the demon, not right now.

[twicedisplaced]

By then, Archie had managed enough sleep to sort of bask in the twilight of half-dreams. When the dragons came back through the door, he saw another world. It reminded him of his home in Rhy'Din, where dragons were so common they often visited the local tavern.

As the creature came in with its ball, Kennedy spoke up, his voice hoarse from sleep. "You know, in my last realm, you would certainly be popular. There were a lot of creatures there that don't fit well in this world." Unicorns came to mind immediately, but Archie didn't bother mentioning them to D'athe.

"I hope you are fitting well here. It can be hard to be alone." Kennedy smiled a little and regarded the dragon tiredly. He felt it had to understand some human words or else it never would have come along with the others. Besides, the demon seemed to speak English to it, too.

[dathe]

D'athe stopped the ball with a careful paw on top of it, next to the chair Archie was chained to, and tilted his head slightly as he listened. He wanted to ask what Archie meant by the last realm he was in, but not being audible to him made that difficult. Perhaps later, when someone else was there to relay the words.

He put his paws on Archie's knee so he could meet his gaze directly, and chirped brightly. So long as there were others around, he wasn't alone, and he could always make new friends, since his weren't there.

[twicedisplaced]

"I miss it already," he confessed, finding the dragon easy to talk to. "I never thought I would, though. The first years there were so miserable, I could have just tossed myself to the mercy of the sea. But I eventually found a place there."

He thought back on his little house -- a small cabin with a white picket fence, and grass up to the road. It was a tropical climate that left him with warm thoughts. "I suppose my father would be proud to know I was a teacher, just like him."