welcome to the hellmouth

[trenchcoatbrigade]

The locating spell pulls at his hip uncomfortably. The sensation was really grating at his nerves. He'd been following it for nearly two hours and his hangover wasn't making things easier.

The neighborhood around him was... nice. A bit too domestic for his tastes, really, but some people went for that sort of thing, he guessed.

Finally, finally, the magical pulling sensation grows to near painful levels, telling him that he was really bloody close. John pulls the taxi to the side of the road and gets out.

He was in Sunnydale. Great. Home of the bloody Hellmouth. Just a well that he would find the Slayer here. Just. His. Luck.

He walks over to the closest house and is rewarded with a sharp stab to his hip. Yup. Slayer was here.

John throws his smoke down on the perfectly manicured lawn and walks up to the door.

He knocks.

Comments

[abodyinmotion]

Arya gives Ezra a concerned look when John confirms mind control, it is quick.

"There are ways to defend against those things? Also, is there a book on how to train your dragon?"

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"Suppose if you had a strong enough will, an' some well-placed magicks, you could build yourself a reasonable defence against mind control.

"Don' know about any books, off hand. Might be, some people are crazy enough to try."

[abodyinmotion]

"That was mostly a joke, the dragon thing, it is a movie."

[superego_medico]

"How old are you?"

[trenchcoatbrigade]

John makes a face. "Old enough. How old are you?"

[superego_medico]

Ezra eyes narrow.

"So... you are over thirty, maybe over forty?"

[abodyinmotion]

"We are going to be sixteen in a month or so."

[trenchcoatbrigade]

He ignores Ezra and looks around the house. "An' you live here with your parents?"

[abodyinmotion]

"Yup, our mom and step-dad," Arya says "he got a new job. How about you?"

[superego_medico]

"I doubt mom will be okay with this..."

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"Homes in Liverpool, but I suppose I'll be sticking 'round here. Get a swank new place courtesy of the Watchers Council.

"Don't really know why'd you'd tell her 'bout it. Does she really need to know?"

[superego_medico]

"I generally tell her things that would cause her to report weird trench coat wearing forty year olds to the police. There is no way any of this is legal."

[trenchcoatbrigade]

John shifts uncomfortably. "Well. Make somethin' up. Normally the Slayer is alone, save her Watcher. We'll have to make an exception on account of you havin' the dreams. But normal people, like your mum, it just doesn't end well for them. They get hurt."

[abodyinmotion]

That makes Arya visible uncomfortable as well.

[superego_medico]

Before Arya can say anything.

"What do you mean? And why alone? Actually why only one Slayer?"

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"Don't rightly know. Just always been that way. The Chosen One. When one Slayer dies, another is called.

"Well, normal people, they're not strong enough to protect themselves, and they would distract the Slayer from her job. It's right mess, don't recommend it."

[superego_medico]

Ezra's narrow eyes develops a small tick on his left one, which John might not appreciate as being the same as his mom.

"Why a Chosen One? Why not a Chosen Multiple? A Chosen Army. Or a Voluntary Army? Who decided all that stuff?"

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"Mysterious higher beings who do not like to tell us mere mortals their reasonings."

[superego_medico]

"This kind of thing only makes me more inclined to tell my mom, or go to the police and tell them myself... wait, do they know? How that entire mess is kept hidden? Why is kept hidden?"

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"Doubt telling the cops will help much. Places like this, places steeped in dark magic, tend to have a strange effect on people like them. They like their ignorance an' go a long way to keep it. It also won't help your sister, she has a job to do an' people getting in her way, trying to help, they make her job harder in the end."

[superego_medico]

Ezra looks at John, like he grew a second head. He turns to Arya, some kind of quiet communication happens and then storms out.

[abodyinmotion]

Arya watches him go with a pained expression.

"Sorry about him," Arya says "he isn't the glass half-empty type... more like. The glass should be full and there is no excuse not trying filling it... Do you need to talk anything more. Ezra will keep it a secret, but I need to talk to him at some point."

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"He mentioned he was having dreams. I'll need to know about them eventually, they might have important information. For now, I'll need you to report to me every day, here's my mobile number." He hands her a card.

"We'll need to start your combat training, in preparation for a nightly patrol of the town. What time you free in the afternoons?"

[abodyinmotion]

"He totally wrote them down. Even before believing them," Arya accepts the card and then writes one of her own "Here is my number. School is usually out around 2:30. I was going to start some kind of martial art but haven't got around to signing up for anything. I suppose your training fits that."

[trenchcoatbrigade]

"It does at that. Suppose I have to phone up the Watchers Council an' tell them the good news." John looks pained. "Give me a couple days to settle in, an' I'll give you a call when I have a place for you to train."

He takes out a cigarette and puts it in his mouth. "Right then, unless there's anythin' else?"