un: ut malum pluvia | audio

[somebadnews]

[ Five is walking out of the lighthouse as he addresses the network, since it's generally quieter where ghosts aren't constantly interrupting his thoughts. The beauty of this form of communication is it's not entirely unlike talking to himself, which is really his preference. ]

Okay, listen up. Since we're all sharing, let's see if we can't come up with an actual plan, before we experience the next shift and you all inconveniently forget who you are again.

[ To say nothing of a haunting that has already sent him into a panic attack or how he nearly drowned just to see for himself what he'd already heard second-hand. Nothing but success for Five Hargreeves. ]

Two orders of business. One, Miang-Si is obviously a catalyst, if not the cause of what's happening here. I searched her room one of the nights she was out galavanting with her lake friends. There was correspondence that suggested she was enamored with someone, who I now assume was the Huntress. I also found evidence that the woman in white, and another in red, visited her there. The witches she's involved with also may have dragged in women doing laundry nearby into their lake at some point, judging by what was found with the skeletons at the bottom.

Secondly, these hauntings aren't just some curse. If they are spirits, we need to figure out a way to trap them. There's a woman in white, a man in black, a lumberjack, and another woman in red. Who else has been seen and how often? If we can capture one of them, maybe we can get some answers before whatever triggered this starts again.

[ He has no doubt it'll happen at the worst possible moment.

Just as he's about to continue with his all-important conspiracy theories, he's approached by a young girl with a silver coin in hand. Distantly she can be heard saying she's worried about her family, and asks him to take a donation for Kathoo'lul's blessing. Dumbfounded, he takes it and promptly loses his train of thought as she scurries away. ]

...Amazing how easy it is to start a cult around here.

Comments

[matermali]

[ Indeed, for all the Doctor's concern, he had been the one to willingly allow himself to be possessed, only to question her agency. She has forgiven him but she has not forgotten.

Five's swift acceptance settles her nerves once more, and it's only her appreciation that keeps her from immediately shutting down his next question. ]

It ought not to be any longer, were this realm not so capable at diminishing my strength. I mastered the great beast who dared intrude on my life and person since birth. Whatever commands the darkness here should not be stronger than him, but I have been proven wrong already.

Nothing is more concerning than loss of self. It is as if one ceases to exist. Death is kind by comparison.

[somebadnews]

[ 'The great beast.' He can't help but be curious who that is, especially when it seems to be the reason she asked for his help. There are only a few especially powerful people who have mentioned this place limiting some of their abilities. ]

Death has a bit of a different meaning here. [ The undead, ghosts, and now time travel has been thrown into the mix. ] Luckily I know the precautions. Is there something I get in return?

[matermali]

So it does.

[ Even more reason to be certain that she has a clean death if the time should ever come. Vanessa never expects it to; she has her goals. But this world has proven she should still always prepare for the worst.

Yet he hopes to be compensated for killing her? Callous and cheeky. And rather difficult to promise given she would be dead. There's nothing to compensate him for before he does it. The time may never come. Does he think to swindle her? A rather lot of nerve.

That tends to be why she favors him for the more difficult tasks, though. ]

What would you wish for?

[somebadnews]

[ He's thinking of something beforehand. There aren't exactly a lot of options for getting favors from ghosts. ]

You know a lot more about me than I know about you. [ Not by choice. She has unfortunate timing. ] You know that I'm willing and more than capable, if that time comes, but I'd like to know more about what I'm keeping from being released into the world.

In case it's ever a question. You've never shown me what you can do.

[matermali]

And let us hope that I never have to.

[ Those powers are bad, that's the whole reason she's requesting this! Certainly not parlor tricks. If he wants her to explain the details, that is exactly what she has been avoiding... ]

Shall I read your cards? [ This is sarcasm, of course she knows he doesn't want that, and those aren't the powers he means. ] This curse, this gift, it is not something to be summoned for anything less than the most brutal of causes. It is the source of evil, of torment and hatred. I was born with it and will never be free of it. For all I can do is to keep it hidden from the claws of other evils. That is all you are required to know.

[ And it's more than almost anyone else knows. ]

[somebadnews]

[ If that was supposed to satisfy his curiosity, she should have really thought more about her choice of words. He can't tell how much she's exaggerating, but it can't be much after what she's asking.

He knows a little something about being born with a gift that ruined his life, but it doesn't sound like what she's describing. He'll have to ask Wrath. ]

How fortunate you're on our side then.

[matermali]

[ It wasn't! But it's as much as she suspects Wrath figured out by now, so it's the most she's willing to share. Leave them wanting more, Miss Ives.

Remarkably, this is one of the times she wasn't being overly poetic. It's all disturbingly accurate, sorry there friend. ]

As blessed as we are to have you in turn, Mr. Hargreeves.