paradisalost | 56? Now that's all I can think about.

[Filtered to anyone who is not trying to attack the town]

[Jilly's voice is serious and to the point as she flips the journal open] For people in the castle, I know the Doctors and the church will have places to offer if you need a place to go, but if you're in town, Caritas is open. I'm going to talk to the mayor and see about passing a message to as many townspeople as possible, though. They have fewer options than we do and we can't just leave them. [they don't come back].

Obviously, we need as much room as possible here...but help would be good. And extra supplies. Lorne would probably appreciate it if we didn't completely wipe out his bar.

[Willow]

This is the worst possible time to ask this, but...that sanctuary spell for other buildings in town. Is it possible? I don't know how long this will go on, but we won't have room at Caritas for long and these people have nowhere to go.

[a small pause, and her frustration seeps through, friend to friend] There has to be a way to keep them safe.

[/Willow]

[for a long while, she tries to leave it at that. She really does. But even though she has complete faith in Willow, she doesn't know how long a sanctuary spell would take...or if they would even be able to manage it, with Abel terrorizing the town. And she wants to believe the heroes can stop this…but it had been days, with every death adding blood to Abel’s hands. It might be the castle, but she knew he’d take the blame for each and every one.

There’s a terrible idea forming in her head. One that she really wishes would go away. She wants nothing more than to go with Bruce’s idea of ignoring Legato forever. But she promised she would help defend the town...and right now? She's running out of options.

She’s sounding more than a little strained when she makes her next filter]

[Bruce]

I have an idea.

[a pause] I don’t think you’re going to like it.

[/Bruce]

[Legato]

[....She's pretty sure this particular filter is sending her to hell]

...For the record, I hate you.

[/Legato]

[That done, she has a promise to keep. She's moving quickly, heading for the police station, but she can be stopped at any point on her way to or from speaking with the mayor and the sheriff.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes, I am. [and she would, either way. But it was important that he understand]

....can you stop Abel? Without hurting him or the others on this loss? Can you get him under control?

No, you're not.

Given just a little bit of time and some planning, yes. [ But, then again. 'Hurt' is somewhat relative. ]

If we give it more time, we might as well wait for the loss to be over. He's already killed people. People who don't come back. He'll blame himself for all of this, and it will only get worse if he isn't stopped.

He's my friend. I can't let him pay for the castle's cruelty when there's something I can do about it.

[think, Jilly. You had these reasons thought out. Use them now.]

Legato could stop them. [probably.] If there was someone else we could turn to, I'd do it...but anyone worth trusting would have stepped up already if they could. Legato won't step in without a reason.

He claims he wants to keep the peace for...whatever he's protecting. We dont' have to trust him, but we can use that, at least in the short term.

There are other telepaths in this castle. Use some of them.

If it was anyone else but Legato, I would have no problem with your idea, but the fact f the matter is, this isn't something we can do. Not without risking him messing with their heads and making things even worse with his telepathy.

Can you imagine how much worse the guilt your friend would have if he did something while doubly mind controlled? And this is assuming none of them are immune to telepathy.

Can any other telepath control half the town? I've watched him put on musicals. While drunk. If there's anyone strong enough to control the vampires in this state, it would be him.

If they're immune, then we're no worse off than we were before.

And Legato wants to prove that he's peaceful. I don't know why, but he does. And he seems to want to use me to convince you that he's willing to work with us.

He's never lied to me. And he wouldn't start now. If I set the terms right, he won't do anything other than keeping more people from dying.

[a beat]

There's...one other problem.

What is it?

Abel's already starting to talk about people like they're trash.

If Legato isn't on our side...

[a pause] I really don't think we want him on theirs.

Is he aware of the conflict that's going on at the moment?

With how he watches the town?

...I wouldn't bet on him missing it.

Then that means he already is on our side, or he's going to play Switzerland through it all.

[she's an honest girl] Most likely? Switzerland.

...unless Abel or Riful asks him to get involved.

[if Riful did, they didn't have a chance. If it was Abel, however-]

Please...this could stop Abel. And we'd at least know what Legato was up to.

[it wasn't so much a plea for permission as much as understanding, but it was a plea all the same. She's not doing this secretly, this time]

Find someone else to ask him and I'll think about it.

[ And he's still convinced that he can make Jilly not do this. Poor sap has no idea. ]

[blinking. She...wasn't expecting that]

....Why someone else?

Because you're too involved with him as it is. This will just make other things more difficult in the long run.

It's the fact that I'm involved that will make him listen.

What will it make more difficult? [she's not challenging him, this time. She honestly wants to know. If it would jeopardize anyone other than her, she would do her best to find a way to protect them...if not change her mind outright]

Is it just cutting my connection with him? Because it won't be any harder. We've already talked about how difficult that will be.

[of course, this would leave a favor hanging over her head...but that's another matter entirely]

He's a telepath, Jilly, and you doubt your ability to keep him out of your mind. I don't care how it is you contact him, the less of it there is, the better.

And what makes you think he's going to do this just because you ask him to? His so-called peace keeping isn't going to be enough or he would be involved already.

He'll do it because...[a sigh] Because it's a win for him. It means I'm playing his game.

...but it also means we know what he's up to, instead of wondering.

56? Now that's all I can think about.

Bruce

jilly

Bruce

jilly

Bruce

... permafilter i am a lazy butt

/is lazy with you. Also, that icon is terrifying

asdkfj it really kind of is

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