Billy has long since lost interest in covering his ears and has resumed playing around the tree, digging holes with sticks and filling them with whatever he could find on the ground. Little kid stuff. Katie, on the other hand, is likely only pretending to block out the conversation. Her eyes flit from speaker to speaker, silently digesting everything being said.
"Yeah, that's what he said." she responds to Sera. "Big, people eating Giant who's got a taste for people who're... different. 'Us' different."
"Ouphoria." the Flowering says, correcting Circe pretty quickly. "The club is called Ouphoria."
It doesn't seem to bother Emily in the slightest that Circe calls Charlie an idiot. More than once. Nor does she bat an eye at the proposed pugilism. But at the very first mention of Ericsson's name, her brown eyes narrow to slits. Both children, even especially Billy take notice of the word 'dragon'. Even Emily seems awed.
"Alright. Sounds like you guys know how to handle things. But when you go after Ericsson? I'm coming with you. He's mine." A real fury burns behind her eyes, and she makes a point of making eye contact with all three of the older(ish) women.
Emily rubs her temples a bit, then nods in Sasha's direction. "Fine. I'll give you everything I know. Do what you can with it. Since you guys are all fine and dandy with taking down giants and dragons." She takes a deep breath, exhales, and begins. "So this started for me when I was babysitting for the Jones'. They live off [street intersection]. I'd been with them for about 4 months, watching Billy and Katie. Good kids. I'd been sorta dating Charlie on and off for almost a year at this point. So one night, I'm watching the kids... and Charlie brings me this weird, smelly fruit. Tells me its the latest craze and would blow my mind. Plus it was usually only available at this exclusive club called Ouphoria. So, you know, I tried it. No shame in my game. And it was crazy good. So, then, I did what I had to," she says, giving the three women a knowing look "to keep the supply coming. One taste and you're hooked, right? It took a while before I started noticing the changes. I thought it was some kind of nightmare, or part of the hallucinations the fruit seemed to give. But one day I just looked like this."
She hangs her head. "The kids only took once. I left my purse unattended and they got into my stash. One dose. That was it. They turned into whatever they are now. And they were scary, to be honest. They could do things I've never seen anyone do before. And they're just kids! Crazy, right? So I stopped taking the stuff and gave Charlie the boot. I might have... punched him in the face. Twice. So after that, I didn't see him much. I still worked for the Jones', out of guilt more than anything. They didn't seem to notice anything wrong, so it would have felt weird to suddenly quit. Anyways..." She pinches the bridge of her nose between her fingers, taking another deep breath. "A couple weeks later, I hear that Ouphoria gets shut down. There was this thing in the news about the club owner and a cop having a big shootout. The very same night, Charlie comes back, looking a whole lot different, telling me he's got this plan to undo all the damage he's done. that's when he told me about the giant. And, to be honest, he seemed a little crazy. Crazy and scared. I told him he was full of shit, and kicked him to the curb... but he's been following the kids and I've been following him ever since."
About time for me to wrap this one up, so get in your last questions and things within the next post. I'll post in CTL plots thread on the openings for the next chapters and (obviously) Sasha, Sera, and Circe know the most about what it going on, so they'd be key players if you guys are interested.
Draft this Post
Striking Looks
Mantle Dry Heat
Presence
-1 Glamour into Wyrdstone
Dreaming, -1 WP to analyze, WP to hold Dream together, Dreamscape
