Eyes wide shut

[Fusion]

MP -- Apt 6

Claudia: [sharply] "Why does that matter?"

Because you lied to me! Because I would tell you anything if you asked! Clara thought desperately…but she didn't say it aloud. She shook her head, disappointed.

"Because you think there's a link and the CONTENT of your dreams may be significant."

Claudia: "They were dreams that were meant to scare me, which they did."

[deadpan] "Riiight. Next time, do you think you could be just a little bit MORE VAGUE? I don't think I can handle all those DETAILS."

Claudia: "We need to figure out who's behind this, not play twenty questions about what Claudia is dreaming about."

Clara gives a frustrated sigh and almost laughs. Claudia was being SO stubborn… it was RIDICULOUS and more than anything it was ANNOYING.... and it wasn't going to deter Clara, who was at LEAST as stubborn as her older sister.

"Taking a closer look at your dreams and your hallucinations may be the ONLY way to figure out who's behind this. Is it more fire and brimstone? Or is it PERSONAL? Is it about ME… or am I there? Is someone ELSE you know there, or are you alone? Do you always wake up INJURED? What do the VOICES say? Have you ever seen the VORTEX before, or ANYTHING from our joint dream? AND WHY WON'T YOU JUST TELL ME?? Are you protecting me from something, or are you just EMBARRASSED? It's just a DREAM, Claudia. Usually whatever's in it is just a metaphor for something ELSE. I mean… maybe the vortex is a symbol for DADDY, maybe on some subconscious level ALL of us feel that we'll NEVER escape the gravitational pull of the great Zacchara patriarch. Who KNOWS?"

 

[Arsenal]

Mike awoke shaking his head, his eyes running with tears. he had failed Karen, and to have her pulled from his grasp was a moment that had harmed him more than any other in the...episode.

He rolled off the couch and sat, crouched low, for a very long time. out of respect for his friend and mentor, Nicolas went about his way after cleaning up quickly, and left him ONE message.

It was what it was. We will either either gather from it strength or despair. Choose strength.

Mike sat upright, then rose to his feet, and quickly made his way to the bathroom to take a very quick and hot shower. As he emerged from it drying off, his battle armor and weapons were on the bed, as well as a duster to cover it up. Mike snapped back to his old training, to what he knew.

Moments later Mike emerged into the courtyard, and tapped Nicolas on the shoulder. The demigod followed him quickly to Morgan's apartment, where they quickly opened the door and entered as Nicolas removed the moisture from their garments and shoes...

 

[Spellbinder]

Apartment 4

<< Morgan felt fatigued, but the panic, the fear she had in what ultimately turned out to be a deep reaching nightmare...it still whispered in her head. something happened, why else would she now be manifesting her eldritch armour and a pentagram of protection>>


<< the armour manifests when she uses an EXTREME amount of magick at any given moment or when her life is in danger...the pentagram of protection, a spell taught her by Ororo, a powerfull barrier that can be broken by FEW...but how could she have done it if she'd be asleep?>>

<< Blaze called, and the slightly "out of it" Morgan answers. thunder rolls in the night sky as she informs her sister that she's alright, and tells her and Sharon to come over...and fast.>>

<< as she hangs up she turns and looks over her shoulder...it feels like she's not alone, but THIS TIME, as nervous as she may be...she wont lock up.>>

<< instead, she picks up Tinkerbell.>>

you'd tell mommy if an evil presence was here...

<< she cuddles with the siamese, who purrs, trying to reassure her mommy.>>

<< Karen arrives with the others and Morgan turns on a lamp.>>

everyone had the same nightmare?

<< she looks at Mike, whom she'd never known to be so...SUPPORTIVE of her in the past, but she remembered it from the dream.>>

 

[Siren]

Claudia gripped the edge of the granite countertop with her hands and hung her head forward, irritated that Clara was drilling her with so many questions and not just letting the situation go. It took everything the brunette had NOT to blow up at her sister. She knew Clara meant well, and if the positions were reversed she would be doing the same exact thing. Shutting her eyes....however it didn't make the situation any less easy.

AND WHY WON'T YOU JUST TELL ME?? Are you protecting me from something, or are you just EMBARRASSED? It's just a DREAM, Claudia.

"IT'S NOT JUST A DREAM!"

Finally screaming out, Claudia pushed away from the countertop, looking directly at her sister with heated eyes.

"It's my LIFE! My PAST!"

Blowing up was the best thing to do, it would throw Clara off. Claudia was a damn good liar, even her father knew that. She could get up in front of a courtroom full of people and lie like her life depended on it and no one would be the wiser. She understood Clara wanted to help; wanted to know the truth. But that wasn't an option.

Sighing out in frustration, Claudia rolled her eyes shut taking a couple moments to calm down.

"The dreams are personal, Clara....that's why I lied to you earlier. Because I wasn't sure how you would react about WHO I was dreaming about."

Claudia's body relaxed more in a more 'defeated' manner as she approached the countertops again, leaning her body weight into them and crossing her arms.

"Trevor...i'm sure you're aware that he has a son, Richard Lansing. He's a lawyer--he became uncle Rudy's lawyer...his mouthpiece in Italy. [shaking her head] We started playing games with each other....cat and mouse. Flirting. Seeing who would give into the obvious sexual tension there was between us first. Finally our relationship became strictly physical....[pausing, Claudia looked down] but it didn't stay that way. [scoffing] I'm Claudia Zacchara, I sleep with men...I manipulate men...I USE men, I don't FALL IN LOVE with men! [tears filled her eyes] But I let myself fall in love with Ric. NOT that I ever admitted it to him.....anyway, things ended badly between us a couples months before I left Italy...but the past few nights i've been dreaming about him. [giving her sister a look] Sexual dreams...atleast they start out that way. But by the end.....everything turns violent...he attacks me...and touches me [closing her eyes embarressed] and I usually wake up before it continues any further."

Claudia quickly wiped away some fallen tears that trailed down her cheeks. Though the story was true, she left out one major detail; that it wasn't Ric attacking her, but Trevor.

"I didn't want to tell you before because I KNOW how much you despise Trevor--I do too. But Ric isn't anything like him....and I just didn't want to hear lectures or...[sighing] I don't know. I didn't want to have to tell you what HAPPENED in my dreams with him.....I promised myself I would never end up like my mother. That I would never let a man defeat me and hurt me like daddy hurt her. I guess whoever is doing this knows that...."

 

[Firebird]

From Apt 8 to Apt 4

After having spoken to Morgan, Blaze hung up the phone.

"Morgan's okay and Karen is with her. But she asked that we all meet over to her place."

Standing up, Blaze gently helped up Sharon as the two would exit the apartment as thunder rumbled.

Heading up Morgan's steps, Blaze and Sharon moved inside before she took a seat.

everyone had the same nightmare?

"It appears so. I'd rather not have another one like that again."

 

[Arsenal]

Mike returned Morgan's gaze and...winked. He knew she needed to be better for this to work, and he also knew that he could not ask for so much FOR Nicolas from these people of he did not give more TO them. He answered the sorceress as he went to karen's side, checking to make sure she was OK.

Yes. There are a lot of things in the dream that we need to explore further but the first two I can think of is the fact that Ava and Karen both have connections to this demon that may help us beat him. It appears that the Egyptian gods also have experience with him, but unless Dominique has any info, or Nic can get some of the NICER gods on speed dial, we need to start there.

 

[Seer]

and so

<< the meeting begins again...with caution and care, and a painfull shared experience. >>

<< the darkhold becomes the storybook of choice, and the entry of Barbas is read by Karen [the same as before] and the beautifully illustrated picture of the demon in his ORIGINAL form as well as the form he was left in after his battle with Hecate along with a list of other forms he has assumed through the centuries...many of which were legendary , infamous figures , including a child murderer...that terrorized the very town where....KAREN grew up in. He was checked by Verna Eckert, a smaller, but no less beautifully drawn picture of her can be seen as well on the second page.>>

<< the entry in the darkhold indicates that the demon was once human, but has vexed the inhabitants of earth (both human, "god" or otherwise) for as far back as can be remembered. the entry indicates that vanquishing the demon is virtually IMPOSSIBLE.>>


<< Ava would leave for Aerie, to try to contact Hecate. Who better to consult than the woman who first fought and defeated him? The others would talk a bit more and remember the nightmare they had all shared, all noting that a few of them should have been lost, but that something or SOMEONE had pulled them out before it was too late.>>

<< for every precious answer, there were more questions, and through it all, they STILL had to continue going forward. Tomorrow was now TODAY and on top of this, they had their lives to attend to.>>

<< The Zaccharas were in much the same boat, not realizing that the Six were suffering just as much.>>

<< all they could do was go forward, and all we cando is watch.>>