Hunt 34: Chapter 7 [The VerbenaVerse]

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~~META:
title = Hunt 34: Chapter 7
~~
====== Hunt 34: Reprisals - Chapter 7 ======
//Game was 2/27/21.//

===== Tuesday November 23rd, 2010 =====

==== Ancient Magic ====

Josh and Leta are caught completely off guard the moment they realize William and Anita have vanished! They turn to Chaplain and Magdalena and ask if this is their doing. Chaplain retorts, "Not me, I have no clue." Magdalena frowns as she steps over to examine the spot they were standing. She then crouches down and starts spouting nonsensical gibberish((High Speech
)) while tugging on her crucifix. As she casts her spell, Josh, Leta, and Abby all see her start to flicker in and out of reality! Other than her hair and her pale green dress, Magdalena seems to flip back and forth between appearing as a holy woman or a biblical whore.((Her Nimbus
))

There's a sudden pop of pressure about a minute later as Magdalena stands up with an expression that clearly telegraphs, //"What the fuck?"// She says carefully, "They've been displaced in time! Somehow William did it and they're about thirty years from now. This is not Supernal magic as we know it, but it is definitely ancient magic." Leta drawls, "Yeah, don't touch it. Trust me, you don't want to get noticed!" Magdalena nods absentmindedly and then continues, "William didn't do it voluntarily. However, somehow he dragged Anita with him and location-wise we're only a few miles from here."

Leta explains, "He's done this before. Apparently, he went to some future with a lot going on a few days ago." Magdalena visibly struggles to put things into words before she says, "I'm not trying to sound obnoxious, but it's difficult to explain what I can make out to others. The best I can do is time is always shifting and any time you view the future it really is essentially a 'This might happen.' However, whenever they went, this fragment seems to be 'There's a very strong possibility of this happening.' However, I think they're eating filet mignon!" Leta grumbles, "Yeah that sounds right." Magdalena shrugs and says, "There's nothing we can do right now, they'll snap back... eventually."

==== Leaving A Note ====

Leta asks, "Should we stay here and wait for them, or go do what we came here to do and leave them a note?" She turns back to get Doctor Ranjip 's opinion and is startled to find that he is working on the comatose police officer! Ranjip glowers at her and snaps, "I'm not going to just leave him!" Leta shrugs and admits, "I want snacks." Doctor Ranjip retorts, "I am not surprised, considering how many calories you burned. Also, you're crackling." Abby cuts in, "Perhaps we should deal with Veltis now, before the NPD shows up."

Leta concedes the point and turns to find Veltis, still a six-foot-tall golden sexy lady, is clearly struggling to keep his memories intact. Chaplain growls, "If there is a time limit, I need as many of you as I can to help me with this." That declaration makes their choice for them, so Josh grabs some chalk from the police cart and finds a relatively clear space near the spot where they vanished. Between chalk drawings of two flaming vaginas, Josh writes out, //"Granddad, back in Earle."// With that, Doctor Ranjip finishes his work and then they all troop back inside Sage Hall.

==== Ritual Magic ====

Once back inside Earl Recital Hall, Chaplain and Magdalena effortlessly rearm the wards and fully integrate them. Chaplain then hops on the stage and starts closing the trap doors. Once that is done, she grabs the piece of chalk that Josh carried in without thinking and starts sketching out arcane symbols on the stage! The hunters can tell Chaplain is in 'pissy-work' mode and leave her be.

Once Chaplain finishes drawing on the stage, the hunters realize she is sketched out an elaborate pentagram, but it is not perfectly spaced. Chaplain lays out a lot of unlit candles around the pentagram and then starts moving the hunters to their assigned positions on the pentagram. Veltis sits in the center while Mick and Leta end up closer to him and the center then the others. Chaplain adjusts their poses for maximum effect while Magdalena remains outside the circle of candles; she simply sits down in the front row.

Once everyone is in place on the pentagram Chaplain moves to the center with Veltis and starts her spell. She also spouts inane gibberish while she pulls out a crystal knife and starts sketching symbols in the air. The hunters can tell that something isn't going quite right, and Leta realizes that Veltis's demonic physiology is screwing things up. However, after a few minutes Chaplain manages to adjust, and spell truly begins. The candles suddenly light spontaneously, while Chaplain starts dancing! The hunters can feel the wards contract slightly to contain the magic, and Leta thinks to herself, //"This is some// Craft //shit."//((That movie may have had a definite impact on a younger Chaplain...
))

As she dances Chaplain mentally pokes the five hunters to join her. Josh and Abby join in immediately while Mick and Doctor Ranjip hesitate. Josh and Abby synchronize swiftly and are soon dancing in place and emitting the same gibberish. Leta realizes this is the only way to save Veltis so she joins in, willing to share energy. Mick joins in a few moments later, and Doctor Ranjip warily joins them last. Once all five hunters are linked in the spell, they can sense each other's intent!

==== Getting To Know You ====

As the five hunters fall deeper into their gestalt consciousness, it becomes immediately clear that Josh simply wants to help. Mick rationalizes everything by defaulting to treating Veltis as a fellow police officer, and the police always watch out for their own. Abby's intent is a mix of hurt and hope, as she is still stung by Veltis's inability to remember her. However, she also brings a great deal of curiosity into the shared space. For Leta, helping Veltis is everything and the only thing that matters, but there is a smidge of curiosity as well!

Doctor Ranjip continues to hold back, but the others can sense his fear that this is too much like Arcadia versus his core desire to help his patient. His changeling mind throws off the ritual again, as Chaplain was not expecting that, but then Doctor Ranjip surrenders to the gestalt fully. His arrival firms everything back up, and the hunters can sense his all-consuming love for his wife Kanchana versus a first-hand experience of the Battle of Verdun!

==== The Ritual Comes To A Close ====

The spell continues, and then the hunters realize they are levitating off the ground while still dancing! Leta and Josh go deeper into the gestalt, and Leta realizes that despite her grumbling, Chaplain bears them no hostile intent whatsoever. Josh detects the same thing, but he goes a little deeper. He manages to touch Veltis's mind very briefly and sees all the damage the spirits did while trying to help him. Essentially, his 'memory palace' is in shambles! Josh redoubles his resolve to help and tries to focus on reconnecting Veltis's short-term memory.

The spell reaches a crescendo, and then suddenly ends! The hunters find themselves back on the stage, flat on their backs, while in the middle of the circle Veltis starts cycling through his shape shifting! He pops back into being a rat, and then a raccoon, and then both the succubi and incubi forms. Leta jokes, "Now do an emu!" Veltis slurs, "Maybe later." He then shifts into a panda bear and the stage creaks underneath the sudden weight. Josh cries out, "No!" Veltis suddenly shudders and collapses, and every member of the cell scrambles or rolls out of the way as Leta dives in to get him. Despite her fears, Leta finds that Veltis is breathing normally and seems completely relaxed! With that out of the way, Leta announces, "Food, now, in the face-hole."

==== The Return Of The William And Anita ====

Upon their return to the present, William cries out in surprise as Anita stabs him with her spoon and he yells, "We can get dessert here!" Anita snarls, "I wanted that mousse first! If you don't know the first rule is 'Don't deprive a woman of desert,' then how did your wife stay with you for so long?" William avoids the question and says, "We'll go get dessert! After all, you still have the spoon!" They look around and find themselves totally alone, and William wonders or the others went. Anita points to the message between the two flaming vaginas and cracks, "I think this is for you!" William eyes the message and shrugs in acceptance.

They had inside Sage Hall and down to the Earle Recital Hall. They push open the doors but then stagger back as a cocktail of body odor, sweat, and something else assaults their nostrils! They gag as they stumble in, causing the others on the stage to look over to them. Veltis suddenly wakes up and yells, "Yo! I'm back! Where the fuck have you been!?" Leta says snidely, "How was dinner? How was the future?" Anita grumbles something about raspberry mousse while William exclaims to Veltis, "We came back to see you!" Veltis takes one look at Anita and retorts, "You're not shifting this on me, boy!"

Mick attempts to climb to his feet with dignity but fails completely and goes down ass over teakettle. The others just sort of look at him, and William and Anita find that their friends seem primed and pumped with energy, but also utterly exhausted. They notice Magdalena on the outskirts and how several candles are still lit while somehow pointing downwards from their place on the ceiling! His energy apparently spent, Veltis burrows into Leta's sweatshirt and declares, "You smell nice."

==== Anita Gets Her Just Desserts ====

The ambient magical energy in the room suddenly finds a grounding point... Anita! As the energy flows through Anita to the ground, Anita reaches out and channels her newfound power to open a tiny gate, reach inside, and then pull out both plates of raspberry mousse! As the energy grounds underneath her, Anita keeps both desserts and crouches down protectively over them as she starts voraciously eating! William asks incredulously, "She went into the future to get dessert?" Anita growls a warning and William resolves not to go near her!

Doctor Ranjip announces, "Leave, fumigate, food." The others nod in agreement and Abby suggests Local Burger. Anita takes pictures on her phone of her raspberry mousse as the others agree with Abby. The cell spends several minutes cleaning up the Earle Recital Hall, removing the candles from the ceiling and repairing what damage they can. Once every trace of their presence is gone, they head outside and return to their cars.

==== Local Burger ====

The cell, plus two mages, walk into Local Burger at 10 o'clock. There is one other customer present and Magdalena carefully guides Chaplain inside. A staff member brings them over to the table by the windows, and then surreptitiously opens them! The cell takes no offense, and swiftly puts in their favorite orders. The food arrives quickly, and the hunters and their allies dig in with gusto. Veltis immediately scrambles out of Leta's sweatshirt and starts snatching fries while eating his own food.

He then starts stalking Anita's fried pickles. Anita keeps moving the fried pickles away from him, leading Veltis to declare, "You know I'm a demon, right?" Anita insists that he ask nicely anyway, and they get into an argument over the pickles before Veltis suddenly asks nicely. Startled, Anita freely hands him a pickle, which he snatches and darts across the table. As he sullenly devours the pickle, Veltis grumbles that food freely given doesn't taste as good as food that's been stolen!

As everyone save William and Anita continue shoveling food into their faces, Josh retains enough self awareness to send a text message to the members of The Smiths Daughters pack warning them to stay out of the recital hall for a while. He then sends quick texts to Chief Vandernoot, Special Agent O'Malley, and Polly, promising a more detailed update later. Polly immediately texts back, //"Where are you?"// Josh replies, "Local Burger," and a few seconds later Polly texts back, //"Fuck you; we'll be there in fifteen minutes."// Josh sends a final text, //"You might want to plug your noses."//

==== The Cell Reunites ====

As promised, Polly's Honda pulls up to a space next to Local Burger, and she, Hope, and the Curran boys climb out, head inside the restaurant, and join them at their table. They order food as well, while William decides to keep things quiet for now. Polly's and Hope's orders arrive quickly, and they dig in. As she eats, Hope asks quietly, "What is going on? I can hear my sisters hunt." Josh explains the situation equally quietly and Hope mutters, "So yeah, my next stop is to join them." Polly nods without rancor.

As Chaplain recovers her strength with food, she informs Magdalena, "I still hate you, you know." They start sniping at each other, and the angrier they get, the thicker their respective Bostonian accents((Magdalena is from the North Shore wile Chaplain is from Newton, so their accents are different.
)) come out as both women start swearing like professional longshoremen! The hunters watch the exchange with amusement and the Curran boys with horror, but after it runs its course Magdalena offers Chaplain a ride home, as Chaplain took the Peter Pan to get here. Chaplain grudgingly accepts the offer.

As they get up to leave, Leta sincerely thanks them for coming out here to help them. Chaplain's anger deflates a bit as she admits, "This settles my account with Management, but I do appreciate your help rescuing me from the Scelesti." The hunters realize this is Chaplain's way of saying she appreciated the visit, so Leta tells them, "When you get back, you can tell everyone the Stryx don't hate you!" Magdalena and Chaplain share meaningful look before Chaplain turns back and says, "About that. I'm not going to lie to you, my cabal is going to pump me for everything about you. I suspect Magdalena is the same." Magdalena nods in agreement, and they share another look before Chaplain continues, "Here's our favor to you. We are not going to say anything to our respective cabals until Friday. Enjoy your Thanksgiving."

The hunters return the sentiment, and the two Bostonian mages exit Local Burger, get into Magdalena's car, and then drive away, to get back home. The hunters finish their food around 11:00 o'clock and find to their surprise their bill has already been paid. William declares, "When the bill is paid, don't ask." Polly retorts, "Like your bay window? There's still a tarp over it!" With that, the hunters leave a generous tip and head back to their cars.

----
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[[{}wod:hunter:recap:34_chapter_6|<= Chapter 6]]
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[[{}wod:hunter:recap:35_chapter_1|Hunt 35 Chapter 1 =>]]
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