John Constantine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talentforlying) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2015-03-24 11:53 pm
talentforlying) wrote in fandomhigh2015-03-24 11:53 pm
Entry tags:
The Library, Wednesday
John had gone home long enough to get a good three hours of sleep in, shower, and then gotten back up and come into work.
Real coffee was out, you could ask for tea if you wanted it, and the librarian was in-and-out of Special Collections, bringing out the oldest books and scrolls he could find.
Good luck, Fandom. You were going to need it.
Real coffee was out, you could ask for tea if you wanted it, and the librarian was in-and-out of Special Collections, bringing out the oldest books and scrolls he could find.
Good luck, Fandom. You were going to need it.
Research -- Afternoon
You'll fucking summon something by accident. Wipe your fingers on your trousers, first.
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Kathy felt like she shouldn't be all that hungry. Didn't heartbreak usually come with a loss of appetite? But her body apparently had enough of a hunger strike over the past week and the mere scent of pizza had Kathy braving the more populated parts of the library to grab a plate.
Taking the equivalent of half a pizza back to her chair, Kathy settled back into her chair and picked her book back up.
Ugh. Why did it take so long for everyone to switch from hanja to Hangul? For once, Kathy was grateful for her parents' insistence that she and Sarah go to a Korean-style hagwon after their American schools let out. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to plow through this book of...Cautionary Tales for Children.
Right.
...and though I was not allowed into the store, I snuck away from my mother one day, for I heard the stranger's shop was filled with wonders that took away the breath--and the mind. Even to this day as I write this, the treasure I saw haunt my dreams and call to me...
Kathy's pizza fell back on her plate, unheeded. Whatever. She could eat later. Right now, she was scooping the book into her arms and rushing out to where more people were gathered. "Excuse me?" she said. "I think I found something. I think Mr. Gaunt's collecting souls."
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Very eloquent.
Re: Research -- Afternoon
"Sorry," she said again. "The important thing is that I finished the translation? I can read it. Umm, so this kid sneaks into a store that just opened up and is filled to the brim with treasures that, uhh, 'stir up the fire's of longing in the hearts of even the most ascetic of men.'"
Picking up her notes, she read, "...For I was young and the imp of mischied was in me, and so while the man was distracted, I reached out to touch a battered satchel that was cracked age. Immediately, the man turned to me and let out a shriek unnatural in its power. For a moment, his face turned into that of a demon from the furthest reaches of Hell. I ran from the store, never to return, and weeks later, many of the town sickened and died from an illness that had no natural source."
She looked up at Eleanor. "Sound familiar, huh? But this is the part that really has me worried. 'I said above that I still dream of the treasures I saw in that shop and I do. But more frequent are the nightmares about that face, which I believe to be his true face. His face...and the voices that I heard coming from the satchel. They were pleading. They were screaming.'"
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Even Mother hadn't tried for souls.
Re: Research -- Afternoon
"I gotta sit down," she said, a little dazed, before glancing down at the chair she was in. "I gotta sit more down."
Re: Research -- Afternoon
A five-minute healing trance wasn't exactly sleep, but it was close enough, right? Right.
Re: Research -- Afternoon
"Any news?" he asked more seriously.
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
He had considerable experience in taking out superhumans. You had to know your target really well. "The last thing we need is a bunch of pissed-off barvy people actively trying to bash our skulls in."
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
It was not an encouraging day. He found some books on mystic medicine and started reading through them, hoping to spot something -- anything -- that would be at least a little useful.
"Do we think everyone sick is cursed?" he wondered. "I don't think Emma went to the shop, or she hasn't mentioned it if she did."
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Maybe they had just had an ugly fight for no good reason, or maybe his new treatments were making him paranoid. But that necklace was worrying her.
"Kenzi said that the shopkeeper told people to lie," she added. "So I'm not sure we can even know who has anything."
Re: Research -- Afternoon
"Guys?" Eleanor said. "This book is talking about poison. Psychic poison. It's ... it seems to feed on your emotional state, in some weird feedback loop?"
She looked at the text again. "It's saying it kind of destroys your mood, and then uses your destroyed mood to get stronger. And then, 'subjects had a greatly increased recovery time when their emotional state was improved,'" she quoted. "So we ... need to cheer people up?"
She shook her head quickly. "I mean, obviously, we need to get the items away from them, and heal them, but -- that's somehow part of this, too?"
Re: Research -- Afternoon
Re: Research -- Afternoon
"We'll need -- as much good cheer as we can muster," she said, before sighing. "That sounds bloody twee. But yes. As much -- love and acceptance and all that rot as possible. Pinkie would be excellent."
Re: Research -- Afternoon