Speaking with Sebas

It's been a bit of a trial trying to get back in to see Sebas. First there was a request to see him, but the temple had explained that he was unavailable, but hadn't given an explanation. Then they explained that he'd been moved to another temple for safe-keeping, and then moved _back_ to the temple of Eluna for still some other reason. Andelena and Dolan had been checked three times by three different sources before being allowed into the back rooms of the temple. Where the security had stopped them three more times as a sort of terrible icing on the cake before a kindly woman explained the details while leading the way not to the rooms that hold those recovering from injury, but the actual barracks for those in training to become paladins of the order.

"You see, we had a few people come in looking for him. A group of three young men claiming to be his friends but... None of them were from Selentia. So we turned them away and moved him. Then we had a woman claiming to be yourself, but of course we know you Andelena so the ruse was easily thwarted but it warned us that someone desperately was looking for your brother." She sighs and continues. "So we moved him to the temple of Vardama, figuring that no one would be looking for him there, and he contracted a terrible illness alongside a few of the clergy there. We had to wait for him to respond to the treatment, and recover before we could allow you to see him. It wouldn't do for you to catch it from him after all, or for him to become sick again while his body recovered from it. It's been a rather bit of an ordeal for him I'm afraid."

She stops before a seemingly random door and motions toward it. "There you are. That's his door. We figured he'd be safer masquerading as a common initiate. So far it's been the safest place for him. Not that he seems to be enjoying the training very much."

"I'd just wager they are," Dolan snorts, once he's listened to the entire tale. He'd been very patient with all the security checks - he knows better than most why they're there - but he's had dark circles under his eyes today, and by the time they get through all the rigmarole, he's yawning hugely and repeatedly. The Temple staff will be aware that this is not especially unusual for the Corona, as the man doesn't seem to get a whole lot of sleep at times.

"Thanks for protecting him for us," he goes on, the cheeky grin very much in evidence for the Sunguard leading them. "The woman we rescued him from can jump straight into the Hells. She'd be welcomed there. How's he feeling now? Anything we ought to know?"

It's like Andelena's expression doesn't know whether to land firmly on concern or relief, because honestly, in truth, she doesn't know herself. Her brother is safe. They're checking them as thoroughly as she'd prefer. Yet there's the oscillation between temples and her brother's wellbeing, and that is what firmly puts the furrow of concern on her brows--

And then the image of her little brother having to portray an initiate cracks a grin on her face, followed by Dolan's declaration her mother can use the Iron Hells like a long walk off a short pier into the Tornmawr. "If only she _did_, babe," Andelena replies, before she turns her attention back to the woman, although her hand is still gently on Dolan's forearm as she stands off to Dolan's right. When do the soon-to-be Donnelies keep their hands off each other? Hardly ever, and now is only proof of this.

"Has he been asking about me?" Andelena asks of the woman.

"He's well enough now. Hale and hearty enough to complain about having to train with everyone else at least. Which is heathy enough in my book." The woman says with a touch of a smile that says she is more amused than actually upset about Seb's antics. She looks at Andelena and nods. "He asks after you a lot. Particularly while he was sick."

Here her face goes a bit grim for a moment and she shakes her head. "Your brother cares for you very much, more I think than he or you know. But it's not really my place to say. You should go in and talk to him."

Dolan's more listening than anything else, knowing that the man barely knows him, and that the relationship between his wife-to-be and her brother is a complex one. He's opted today for the usual deep golden gem in his right eyesocket, and casual clothing that acknowledges the summer weather, complete with rolled-up sleeves. No weapons are in evidence, thanks to the security measures, but the usual cuff on his left shoulder is firmly in place. "That's what we're here for," is his only response. _Let's be about it._

Andelena's expression softens greatly, and there's a moment where she smiles more to herself than anyone else, looking down at the floor. "He's always been like that," she says. "The baby of the family, you know. He'd whine for me to help him if it was something he didn't want to do."

But the smile turns into a sigh, something that acknowledges the years that have passed since then--and the things that have happened in those years. Andelena nods to Dolan. "Let's head on in," she says.

The door isn't locked, which isn't surprising, and though there's a knock that precedes them into the room, and Sebas has been warned of their coming, he looks a bit surprised standing there somewhat awkwardly. What Andelena had not been warned about is most immediately obvious - at least to her. The young man's hair has been absolutely shorn to a very short military cut. He's even wearing the uniform of an initiate. He looks like a fresh-faced recruit frankly.

"Andelena!" He says with pleasure, eyes darting to Dolan and offering the other man a nod. "Brydion. Sis, they _cut my hair_. Look at it. It's _terrible_. Would you tell them to let me stop this farce? I'm not cut out to be a paladin! The food! The training! My arms are so tired!" It seems that the begging and complaining has already commenced.

The first thing that bursts from Dolan's mouth is warm laughter, and the cheeky grin is at least halfway present as he walks into the room, reaching for Andelena behind him to caress her arm. "Play along," he warns seriously, the laughter fading. He steps aside to let Andelena greet Sebas first, leaning his good shoulder instead against the wall to allow him to watch from the sidelines. "There's a damned good reason why. It's to keep you safe."

Andelena simply _can't_ help but laugh. It's actually laughter so loud that she has to hold herself while laughing, and when she's done, she flicks away a tear from her steel-gray eyes. "Awww, my baby brother," she says. "It's you, all right. The moment you stop complaining is the moment I know something's wrong."

She nods to Dolan's explanation. "Like he said--it's for your own good. The shit we're dealing with here is... It's _bad_. There's evil and we're aiming to stomp it right the fuck out. Being surrounded by paladins is probably the safest you can be, Seb."

There's a moment more before she looks into her brother's blue eyes and asks, "You doing okay? We were told you got sick at the Temple of Vardama."

Sebas gives a little sigh and sits down on his bed, motioning for them to... only to realize that there's nowhere really to sit in his cramped little cell. Initiates are not given much space. Still, he seems a little put-out that there's no rescue incoming. "Yea. It was... My head was on FIRE. I thought... Well. I'm fine now. Really. The clerics got me better and I'm feeling much more myself."

Dolan lets out a low whistle from his position against the wall. Curiously, he doesn't seem to want to put his back straight against the wall for some reason. "Sounds nasty. I'm glad you're doing better. We were wondering."

He lets out a sigh, and turns his whole head to look over at Andelena, questioningly, then straightens up and crosses his arms. "So, maybe it's time we told you a little more about why Andie came back, and why we pulled you out, yeah? Why we were asking all those questions."

The steel-gray eyes are soft again, even pained, as Seb describes what happened. "Here's hoping whatever it was doesn't come back again," Andelena says. "I'm glad we were able to finally get in here to talk to you after you got better."

Then Andelena turns to Dolan with a look that says something quite loud and clear in response to his, before she looks back to Sebas. "You deserve to know everything," she says. "How much do you remember after we got you out of there? We had that talk, but... You were kind of out of it."

"It'd be best if I knew. This not knowing seems like it's liable to get me into more trouble than not." He says firmly, lifting a hand as if his hair is in his face and then shaking his head which is an amusing thing as well. Sebas looks between the pair.

Approval colors the mobile half of Dolan's features. He looks very different from the man his sister first fell in love with. Harder, older, and it's not just the ruined right half of his face. There's something sharp and focused in the lone brown eye that regards him with a penetrating stare, but he nods, breaking the effect. "You might have noticed that I look a little different than what you probably remember," he starts, that flash of a grin suddenly surfacing. It's a self-deprecating thing colored with a tinge of matter-of-fact acceptance. "Why's a damned long story, but what you need to know is that I'm a fiend hunter. I study and root out fiends and the cults they form. It's what I do for the Temple."

He remains right where he is, his arms dropping to his sides to open his stance. "We've been tracking a fiend and its minions that have been harassing a lot of people around here for money, stealing innocent people to be turned into werewolves, and a whole wagonload of other nasty shit. They're threatening my family, too. They're helping the servants of Caracoroth raise a werewolf army, and your mother is funding that army in exchange for the services of a fiend."

And while Andelena's older, too, and the scar that decorates her cheek is nowhere is as prominent as Dolan's own scarred flesh, the Sunguard's steel-gray eyes are set into the focused, grim expression that Seb would be unfamiliar with. "Mother's little 'I look young again' trick is definitely the result of her funding this shit," she says. "She's getting a return on investment, and it's at the cost of what she's doing with the family. Bry and I want to try and get Gale out of that house. And while Bry's the fiend hunter, I try my damndest to keep pace with him and provide the muscle."

Her arms fold across her chest. "Which is why we need you and your information. Now's not the time to worry about Mother and staying in good with the family, because this shit's so much fucking worse now that we know what Mother was willing to do to _you_ and to Gale."

"I had noticed." Sebas says gently, shifting uncomfortably. "I knew she looked different. Thought that she was trying a new makeup or something." He sighs and shakes his head.

"I never imagined that she'd do something like this Andelena. Truth is that I still can't believe it. She _believed_ that my horse spooked and I fell off. Even if the blasted horse had spooked I wouldn't have fallen!" He seems affronted.

He clasps his hands in front of him and leans his elbows on his knees. His body hunched over itself. "Much less that she'd do anything to Gale." It seems he's as aware of who the favorite is as Andelena is. "But Gale is _not right_. So if I can help... Just tell me what to do."

"She believed it?" Dolan suddenly sounds concerned, the one eyebrow shooting towards his hairline. "How much do you think she actually knows? A lot of times, people start deals with fiends thinking they're the ones in control, and that ain't never really the case. Fiends have had thousands of years, a whole lot of lifetimes, to perfect the games they play. Anyone foolish enough to play their game is going to come out on the losing end. Every damn time."

He shakes his head. "So she might be caught too," he muses, suddenly sympathetic. "What do you know about her friend, Lady Derwes? That's who she's getting all this from. Gale's probably as possessed as you were. I can break it, if I can get to him."

Andelena looks... Perturbed, to say the least, but that settles more quickly into an overall sort of confusion that lasts as she looks off at a nearby wall.

"It just doesn't... Make any damn sense. Say Mother got taken in for a ride. The question's still how or why. If she's possessed by a demon herself and that's why she's letting this Lady Derwes do whatever the fuck she wants--why did she agree to it in the first place?"

She looks at Seb. "I always thought that once Mother and Father wrote me out of the family, it was done and that was that, and we all went our separate ways. Am I wrong on that? Has Mother been looking to get back at Bry and I the whole time?"

"You..." Sebas sighs and rubs a hand over his face for a moment. "I guess I should start at the beginning. You see when you left she was FURIOUS Andelena. All her plans ruined because of one wayward child? She wanted everything the way she had it planned and you threw all those plans away for what?"

He smiles here at Dolan apologetically. "No offense to you Brydion. But _she_ didn't understand it. And she wanted Andelena to come back home hanging her head. To give up on you and realize that mother was right all along." Sebas sighs. "Then suddenly she stops talking about you and starts talking about this new friend she made and Gale... He starts talking about this girl..."

He stares off into the distance. "I just can't tell Andelena. Has she been possessed?" He shudders suddenly, looking worried and disgusted. "That _thing_ inside me... It was terrible Andelena. It wasn't there that long but every second was suffocating. What if ones been in her for... Since she met that woman? She's been acting so strangely!"

He hesitates a moment then continues a bit more. "She kept hinting that something might happen if I kept sticking my nose in places that it didn't belong Andelena, but when I got hurt she was surprised. Really worried about me. It was like I was just a boy again and she took care of me. Would a fiend do that?" He looks at Dolan here, his eyes tearing up. "Is she a fake?"

Dolan's grin flashes bright across the mobile half of his face, ready and easy, clearly taking no offense. "Your mama don't understand anything but what she wants, Sebas. She never has, and she never will. The problem is, that kind of thinking is a fresh-plowed field for a fiend's brand of bullshit. She's quite vulnerable to machinations of that sort, and I'll wager she fell quicker than blinking."

The grin fades, then. "I wouldn't be surprised. Would a fiend do that? Maybe, if they didn't want you to realize that something was wrong. Maybe not. It's hard to say," he admits, tilting his head sideways. "You bring up a good point, though. Is she complicit, or suckered?"

He pauses, then. "Lady Derwes is the source. She's actually Aza Chidea, of a house that was banished from Charn for consorting with demons, which means they were stupid and got caught. I know what happened to that maid of hers." A shudder ripples down his spine. "What do you know about her?"

"I'm not ruling it out. Hell, at this point? I think Mother being possessed might be the most logical explanation," Andelena says. "This Lady Derwes meets Mother, befriends her, tells her she can help her out with a 'wayward daughter' problem--and then one of her fiends possesses Mother."

But Seb tearing up as he talks about her caring for him causes Andelena to sigh. She walks over to her brother and she pulls him into a hug. "They like to wear the faces of the people we love, Seb," she says. "They like to impersonate people and act like them once they're in the body. To get people to let their guards down. To get _you_ to let your guard down. They can care for you but it's a lie that's useful for them later."

It's the Sunguard in her, really. She was not always a good big sister and she knows it. But... she can make a better attempt at it now that he's out from underneath their mother.

It's not until his sister hugs him that Sebas seems to actually give into his emotions, hugging her tightly and acting a much younger man in her arms. It's been a while since they embraced like this, but he clearly hasn't forgotten how much such a simple act meant to him as a child; nor is it unclear how much it means to him now. He looks up at Dolan and shrugs. "I really don't know that much about the Derwes woman. Lady Derwes."

He corrects himself automatically without thinking like he's been told the correct answer often enough that the correction is rote. "I wish I did. But mother hardly talks about her save to extol her virtues. Her amazing creams. Her special tonics. She talks terribly about her sometimes, about how demanding and rude she is. But mostly they're two peas in a pod."

GAME: Dolan rolls sense motive+1: (12)+21+1: 34

That the correction is rote says much to Dolan of Sebas' true opinion of the woman, and he allows Andelena to hold her brother. He hasn't really earned that right, and he knows it well. "It's like Andie says," he sighs, watching from the edge of the room. "This is what they do. It's hard to tell whether she's complicit or a victim, without talking to her, yeah? Let's start with Gale, and see what we can do for him."

He frowns, studying the man closely. "Did you ever have any interactions with her? Or did she mostly focus on your mama?"

"Or that daughter of hers that Gale's so hung up on. I really want to know if she's a chip off the old block," Andelena says, still holding Seb. Instinctually, she lifts her hand up to ruffle his hair, but--well, there's no hair really to ruffle.

"And Father. He usually enables all of Mother's shit or he's fucked off to go pal around with the Baron. Has he actually been leaving the house to go fart around with his friend? Because if he's been keeping to the house despite not doing much of anything with Lady Derwes--that's gotta be shaken down." The note in Andelena's voice suggests to Dolan that could be another route for investigation, too.

"She spends all her time with mother. Though I know that mother was upset with her recently because she went on vacation." Seb smiles a little, and shakes his head. "I think I know less about her daughter frankly. She's a quiet, mousy little thing. The sort that Gale would never pay a seconds attention to normally. And Father? Well he's been off doing various hunting things. He actually went a month ago for an extended camping trip with the Baron. They're supposed to be gone another two months or so."

"Vacation? Where did she go?" It's a casual question, but Dolan's stance is anything but. He folds his arms across his chest again. "Any chance at all we might be able to get an audience with the Baron?"

"How long ago was this 'vacation', too?" Andelena asks. She finally lets go of Seb, as he seems less likely to burst into tears now that he's been given a long-enough big sister hug to drive them off.

Then she huffs a little. "You know, that's actually entirely in character for Father," she says. "I always suspected maybe they had something going on. I mean, shit, you leave your wife and children at home to go on months-long hunting trips with your liege?"

Andelena looks thoughtful, turning to look at Dolan. "If my father and the Baron are currently in a camp polishing each other's thunderbelchers, I don't think we'll be getting audience with 'my Lord Valence' anytime soon," she says. "But should be easy to find out from the Baron's household if he's actually out in the woods or not--and if he and Father are acting strangely, too. The servants of that household, seeing they see more of Father than our family servants do, would be able to comment."

"I thought you knew." Seb says with some curiosity, regathering himself and looking at the pair in surprise. "She's here in Alexandria. Has been nigh two weeks now. She's supposed to be back in a couple more weeks."

Then he grimaces and nods at Andelena's words. "All I know is that father spoke of touring the baron's holdings and that might take them the better part of _six_ months if they take their time about it, and she's right Brydion. Father is probably occupying the Baron in one of his holdings. If they _aren't_... ah... polishing one another's thunderbelchers... I'm not sure what they _are_ doing."

"Is that so." Brydion's comment is a drawl. "She say anything about a brewery or a place called Blue Moon? Probably not to you, but did you overhear it at all or something?" He wears a frowns, though. "You be careful. You don't want her seeing you here, yeah?"

His frown deepens as he ponders Andelena's comment. "You think yer father might be keeping the Baron busy so he ain't see something he ain't s'posed to see? This a new thing, or been going on for years?"

"Could be the reason for _this_ trip, Bry," Andelena responds, "but Father was frequently absent when I lived in that house. It's part of the reason he lets Mother do everything she wants to do by her rules under her complete control--she has the household arrangements and he gets to fuck off to go play grab-ass with the Baron. Can't really say I blame the guy--if I was married to Mother, I'd probably want to fuck off as much as I possibly could away from her."

There's a sour look on her face as she adds, "And if he has feelings for the Baron--could also be why he let Mother toss me out of the family. He doesn't get to be with the Baron and has to be married to some awful shrew on account of his family station, so either I get married to an old man with multiple rolls of fat or I get cast out of the family."

She sighs. "But really. What Bry says is the truth. If that Lady Derwes is here in the city--you need to stay _away_ from her. Let me give you directions to our apartment. If you need to run anywhere, run to the Temples--but if you gotta get Bry and I and we're _not_ at the Temple of Daeus, we're probably at home with the cats."

"Actually... That's one of mothers new investments. The... lady said she'd look into it for mother while she was here. Why? Does it mean something?" Seb looks confused and then snorts at Andelena. "I don't know if father is really into the Baron that way, but it... might explain a few things if it's true. I wouldn't know if he's acting strangely of late with him being gone most of the time... You don't think they're making some kind of move on the Baron do you?"

He frowns slightly and then looks at his sister ruefully. "I can take care of myself Andelena. They're teaching me here you know! And I've known how to handle a sword for years now besides! Don't worry about me so much."

Dolan doesn't answer either one of them. He's listening, but as Andelena continues, his gaze drifts away from the pair of them to stare sightlessly at the wall behind Sebas, and then at the floor and wall away from Andelena. Sharp eyes will spot him trembling, and he reaches out a hand to steady himself against the wall.

Andelena looks like she's about to ask a question, or answer his question, but then she spots Dolan beginning to go adrift. "Hold on a second, Seb," she says.

She turns around and goes to Dolan. "Babe, Bry, it's me, Andie," Andelena says gently, her hand gently taking his free one. "We're in the Temple of Eluna in Alexandria. It's Variday and the date is the fifth of Firetide in the year 1025. I'm here, Seb's here. Name some objects in the room for me, babe?" Not that there's many. Initiates don't get much to their name. But her attention's fully on Dolan.

Seb notices a bit after Andelena that something is up, but clearly doesn't think much of it until Andelena brings it to the forefront by changing the subject and moving to Dolan's side. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"

GAME: Dolan rolls will: (4)+11: 15

Dolan doesn't respond to Andelena, and indeed flinches from her touch, a thing he _never_ does. "No. No. I can't." What is he talking about, or responding to. "I didn't want to. Never." He doesn't seem to be aware of Sebas at all.

Andelena winces as Sebas comes closer. "He's stuck in an episode. When you've been through some shit--sometimes it comes back to haunt you. I should have been more careful, damn it. Don't crowd him--he's gonna break out of this, but he'll respond best to me." She completes this with a shooing motion.

"Baby, it's okay. It's over. It's gone. You're safe. I promise. I _really_ fucking promise." She's leaning in on being rude and it's because Bry's asked her to in the past. "It's me, Andie. Everything's gonna be okay."

Sebas backs off as he's told, but frowns at the waving motion a little. His eyes on Dolan for a moment and then he sits on his bed again, clearly waiting for the two to work through what's going on.

Interestingly, it's the coarse language that seems to reach Dolan first, but he still doesn't look at Andie. He's still turned in on the wall. "Baby, I - what? Shit. No. I can't. Where?" He looks up and around, but the expression he turns on the pair is haunted, racked with naked guilt, and he won't look Andelena in the eyes. "What the fuck? What is your brother doing here?"

"We're in the Temple of Eluna, baby," Andelena tells him, reaching for Dolan's hand and taking it gently in her own before she squeezes it. "It's the fifth of Firetide in the year 1025. We're visiting Seb in his quarters. More like a little box of a room, but that's what they give you when you're training to become a paladin."

She looks over her shoulder with an apologetic smile at Seb. "You can come back over. Sorry, didn't mean to order you around like that. Had to do what was needed."

"Nah. I'll stay over here." Seb says cautiously, watching Dolan carefully. "I've seen a few men who've been to war. They get that look sometimes. Like they're seeing someplace else. I've seen them... do stuff they'd regret later. He doesn't know where he _is_ sis."

Still Dolan flinches from Andelena's touch, a thing he has _never_ done before, even at his worst, and if he is racked with guilt, and won't meet her eyes, at least there is sanity in the gaze that he turns on Sebas. "Sorry. You ain't need to see that." He lets out a deep breath. "No, I got it now. There's some things as -" He shakes his head quickly. "Never mind. We need to find Lady Derwes. If she's here in Alexandria -" It's as if he is pushing something aside, and he still hasn't let go of the wall yet.

"It's okay," Andelena says, still focused on it. "I told you already--I forgive you, Bry, but there wasn't any damn thing to forgive in my eyes. I'm the big idiot for talking on it so long. I'm marrying you, remember? It's you and me and the Knight."

Then there's a light, light smile on her face. "Breathe for me, baby. You're here in the Temple. You're safe. I'm here. You're here. Our love is safe." Guiding him back home.

"Maybe you ought to let him be sis. Why don't you and him go home? He'll feel better surrounded by familiar rather than..." He makes a motion to encompass his tiny uncomfortable little cell. "I'm not being much help anyways and... It sounds like you two have something to talk about."

The words wash over Dolan like a benison renewed, one that he had entirely, if we are honest, forgotten about. That, if nothing else, seems to pierce through the cloud of guilt that subsumes the harlequin features and hunches his shoulders. "I -" His gaze lowers, and the flesh and blood eye closes. "Pretty garbage of me to lose it like that," he sighs. "Yeah, I s'pose we'd better go. You two should talk more."

"He's my little brother, baby--we got time for that. But I also have time for you." Andelena's eyes are fully on Dolan as she says those words. They always have been in some way. She's never been a perfect sister for Sebas nor a perfect lover for Dolan, but the gods know--she's trying. On so many fronts, she's trying. "You're not garbage. You just got a lot on your shoulders. Lotta people do. But you're not supposed to carry that shit alone."

Her hand squeezes his gently. "Remember. We're getting married. I'm gonna be your wife, regardless of what my mother and her 'best friend' think of it. All the more reason _to_ get married."

She looks over her shoulder at Sebas and smiles. "We're gonna head home," she says. "You stay sharp with your training, okay, Seb? Don't complain too much."

And before she forgets as she goes to leave with Dolan, she says, "Love you, baby Seb." Words that have been said for years--and haven't been said for years--now coming back to life.

Nothing changes. Nothing will stay just the same. As it goes for Andelena and Dolan both.

-End