Silver and Glory Collect Erectus

Characters in this scene: Silver, Condor, Justin, Glory

Immediately follows: Silver Appeals to Lord Grey II

The both of them walked out of the van, and made their way through Central Park. It wasn't too long until Glory found a Warrens hole, and they prepared to make their way down.

Silver glanced around, suspicious. Was that Glamour? Who was watching?

There was little point to paranoia. Of course they were being watched.

Silver followed her partner in.

They both dove right in. Glory knew what Glamour looked like from Silver, but was surprised to find how much of it was permeating within the Warrens. It was also bizarrely quiet down there. Apparently, Erectus expunged all the goblins from there, and even took over a couple of them. It was bound now, but not forever. They continued making their way down.

Silver ran her hands along the corrupted Glamour, tugging; even now, broken from Faerie as far as could be done, she still had this most basic technique. She gathered it up, wrapping it around them both - finally, a Glamour that didn't hate Glory, that was willing to hang around her as Autumn had enfolded Silver, once.

"Can you use this kind of Glamour in the Warrens?"  Glory asks.

"I can use any kind of Glamour in the Warrens. Whether this will survive better?" Silver shrugs. "I'd assume it would decay slower, if at all. Probably just as prone to shattering under disbelief, but less weak to just... disgustingness."

"Well, that would be handy to have around," she says. She then stops at the end of the tunnel. Silver looks over her shoulder and sees: they were here.

You're confronted with three goblins - they introduce themselves as Hooptie, Fartcan, and Six-Banger. They seem to be expecting you. Six-Banger runs off into a tunnel, and a few minutes later, emerges with Ink and Octane. Ink is leaning heavily on Octane and looks very tired.

"Uh, hey," Octane says, "How's...." they grimace a little bit, perhaps already regretting the question, "...everything?"

Ink gives a little wave with his elbow and wrist.

Silver chokes on a laugh, at that, leaning on Glory for a moment. She shivers for a second, then straightens; Glamour weaves around her, corrupted and sick, hiding away the stress, how close she was to tears. "You don't need to worry about that right now," Silver tells them, stepping forward. "How's the two of you?" She glanced between them. "Where's the tree?"

"It's in my artifact. Give me a... few minutes." He points out a few spots to Octane - much closer together than last time, about five feet apart. "Could you put the statues there... and there?" He pulls out a stack of sticky notes, hands them to Octane, and continues to direct them on where to place each one. With a last look-over, he very carefully opens a small cut with shaking hands. The pillar appears, surrounded by chained, sleeping children and one very large, very burned drooping tree wrapped in chains.

Glory stepped up and looked at the tree with a solemn look on her face. "Hey Erectus. You remember me?"

Silver steps closer, circling. She cocks her head. "I see we all had some troubles lately, huh?"

Ink sits, uncharacteristically artlessly, against the pillar. "You need to unchain him first."

Octane looks concerned. "Wait, just how... sentient, is this tree?"

Glory shrugs. "Sentient enough to crawl out of my Demesne while I wasn't watching it, and enough to attack a police station on our behalf while we were being hunted by the cops."

"Ah." Octane lays a hand on Erectus. "Uh, sorry for cutting your roots off with a goblin chainsaw, buddy. Is it safe to unchain him, Ink?"

"He'll still be bound, so it should be safe. But since BrokenLock isn't here, you might want to be ready to re-do it?" Ink lifts a hand to grasp the base of the chain wrapped around Erectus and uses the other to wave off his Guardians, who are starting to loom threateningly over the strange forms of Silver and Glory. "Let me know when."

"Go ahead, please," Silver murmurs. "Time to check on the kid."

"Uh, what about the kids here?" Glory says, pointing and looking down at the sleeping children at the Erectus's base.

"They'll hopefully be fine. I'd like to drop them off at the police station or something once Erectus is out."

Glory nods. "Alright then. Let's finally meet our kid."

He pulls on the chain, which unravels from around Erectus almost as if each link is disappearing. As soon as the last link leaves, the tree straightens out. Ink takes a deep breath.

At first, Erectus simply stood there, not moving anymore than straightening himself up. Then, Silver began to feel the Glamour around them be pulled and maneuvered around Erectus. A crudely-shape made wood hand reached up to Glory and Silver, floating in the air.

"Hey there kiddo," Silver murmurs. "Want some help there?" Silver steps forward, careful. "I can help fix you up if you'll come home with us."

The Glamoured wood hand reached out, but was already crumbling into splinters. Its creation was fragile, inexperienced, crude.

Silver reaches back, touching it; she reaches both hands, smoothing it out, strengthening it. "See? Got you. Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you, but we're here now, right?"

"You've really grown-up, haven't you?" Glory takes few steps closer as well. "You really helped out Shatbraggart and the rest with attacking the police station. You did it for them, and for us, didn't you?" Erectus's hand clasped tightly around Silver's, and a small red bird flew out of he's leaves and landed on Glory's shoulder. She laughed as it pecked at her cheek, and then quickly fell apart.

Octane whispers a soft "what the actual fuck is going on here," but is only half paying attention to the touching reunion, more concerned with whether Ink is doing better now that Erectus isn't bound

Ink has stood up, now easily moving under his own power, and is trying to walk quietly over to where Octane stands, near one of his statues. "...Did you know about this?" he whispers.

"I don't think I knew any more than you did. This is... new."

Silver steps closer to the tree, corrupted Glamour weaving around her and over her hands, and she gently touches the injuries. "Hush there," she murmurs, and where she touches the injuries fade out, ease. "That better, huh? You want to come home, right? You were feeling lonely, weren't you, that's why you did this isn't it? We've got you."

The roots of Erectus suddenly began to rise above the ground. All around them, the group could feel the Warrens they were in beginning to tremble.

Octane glances around nervously, one hand already reaching inside their bag.

Ink, close to tipping over the statue, pulls his hand back. "Musashi- Gawain-" His Guardians rush to his side.

"Easy there, kiddo," Silver murmurs. "Take it easy." She's tense and nervous, but doesn't move away.

"His roots are set into almost all of the Warrens," Glory says, looking all around them. "Do any of you got anything that can cut him out of here?"

Octane looks a bit sheepish. "We, uh, actually already did, in order to bind him. His roots only go as far down as he was able to sink them in the last minute."

"Scared kiddo." Silver hums. "Hey, there, kiddo; shake my hand - gently please! - just once if you give me permission to change you a bit. Just shrink you down, help you pull yourself up a bit, that's it, alright?"

The chirping of a couple of bird could be heard from the tops of Erectus's branches. His roots seemed to relax down a bit.

Silver hums. "Well... if I do something you don't like, just try and tell me gently, 'kay?" Silver crouches down to touch the roots; she reaches down, clearly focusing hard, and tugs, gently. It's a slow, painstaking process; halfway through she reaches into her bag, and Glory recognises it as the labelless bottle that smelled of love. She tips a few drops into her hands, then gets back to work tugging Erectus into himself, letting him shrink down, condensing him.

Soon, Erectus had been shrunken down to be only a bit taller than Glory. It's roots now rested above the ground, and it pulled to itself toward to lean against Silver and Glory. "Hey, hey, it's alright, we're here now. You can come with us above. We got a spot just for you, back up in the van."

Once that was done, Silver gently gave the kid a hug, then turned away. She looks at Ink, then Octane; "I do believe you asked several favours of me, no? I think it'd be best if we get to work on that now."

"Yes," Octane says, "But what about the other children?"

"Wait, yeah - are they going to go through withdrawals?"

Silver pauses. "Um. Didn't you say you wanted to take them to the station?" Silver glances over the kids, and her expression is hard to read. "It's... not going to be good for them, no. But I can..." Silver walks over crouching by one kid; she reaches to them, then into them, and starts unwinding something resembling a rope of squished apple. "Best to get it out of them now. I don't think they're going to have much fun with this."

"What is that stuff? And... can I have it?"

Silver shrugs, moving onto the next kid. "Sure. Not sure how useful it'll be to you. It's some of the Glamour in them. Can't get all the drugs out of their system, unfortunately, and I don't have any Glamour which can be safely used on them to make them think they're not drugged. So... yeah. The kids are going to have a lot of issues. I don't think this is enough to Glamour drown them, thankfully, and even if it were there's too much goblin in them for most Faerie to be interested, I expect."

"Then, are we ready to go?" Erectus was standing next to Glory, waiting to follow them.

The entire pile of apple squishes in Silver's hands, condensing, and she passed it to Ink. She looks at Octane. "Do you want my training now?" There's something under there. Entirely unreadable. But the question matters.

Octane senses this, but doesn't sense what it is, so settles for a nervous laugh, and "I do want your training now, yes."

"Alright." Silver rubs her face. "How to use this Glamour to become an... Andean Condor." Silver shifts the Glamour in her hands - so much Glamour! - and makes a miniature version. "This bird, no?" She steps over to Octane, approaching them.

Octane watches, fascinated. "Yeah, wow, that one."

Ink pulls a smaller plastic bag out of his shoulder bag and carefully attempts to scoop up the strange squished-apple rope into it without touching it. The process takes a while, especially as he keeps glancing over to Octane and Silver.

Silver studies Octane, thoughtfully. "Ah, I see. You've already been one. I suppose, despite the temptation, I shouldn't really force a pattern of you being changed into one by another." She sounds amused. "Absolutely sure, despite the risks I outlined?"

Octane swallows, thinking for a few seconds, then nods. "I'm sure. I think this will- I mean, yes. I'm sure."

"It's simple enough." Silver gathers up the Glamour in her hands, unmaking the little bird, and then runs it down her left arm; feathers sprout, a wing forming out of her arm, the dark brown wing of a condor. "As with almost all Glamour, it comes down to the belief and the shaping. You'll have an easier time, having already been one - remember the sensation, remember it so deeply that it's true, and then press the Glamour down. Starting from the bottom up while sitting is probably most wise, for the record, I'm just being dramatic." She studies Octane. "I can impress that feeling on you, if you need the help. First, though - try. Start with your feet. Hold the Glamour, believe in the Glamour, and then press in a condor."

Octane takes a deep breath and gathers up some of the sawdust-like Glamour in their bag (mixed with actual sawdust, it seems), then follows Silver's instructions. It's an agonizingly slow process to watch for someone experienced with Glamour, but eventually they get their legs, and at some point some critical mass is hit and the transformation accelerates.

A bird much like the one Silver made is standing before them, looking from face to face. It's a proper bird, but it looks like it's been through a lot. Its beak is scratched and chipped; clumps of feathers are missing; there's an ugly scar on its back between its wings.

The bird stretches its wings, wider than anyone present could stretch their arms, and takes off. Or at least, it tries. About a foot in the air, the Glamour unravels and Octane tumbles to the ground in a spray of feathers.

"...oof." They start gathering up the Glamour again. "That was, uh, exciting. Thank you, Silver."

Silver peels her own wing off. "It'll take some practice, to believe in it that firmly. And, again, this isn't normal Glamour; I don't know its limitations for sure, but as long as you remember the associations with goblins and drugs, you shouldn't be surprised. And - hmm." Silver steps up, and without asking she lifts their arm and drags the Glamour along it, bringing the wing back. She absently fixes up a few scraggly feathers. "There's a difference between Glamour being broken and Glamour unravelling. Broken Glamour is gone, pretty much, at least when it comes to being able to use it. Glamour unravelling?" Silver taps the wing, and steps back. "Just believe in it coming undone and reach through."

Condor's eyes widen and they look vaguely uncomfortable at the transformation, but nods. "Ah. Um. Okay."

They run their hands through the feathers and the illusion starts to spread a little. They pause. Deep breath. They try again, and this time the feathers turn back to sawdust.

"That's wild," they say, "Geez."

They look at the floor where they fell after turning back into a human. "I think that Glamour was broken, not unraveled. I think this stuff just... turns to normal sawdust if you break it."

"Be careful not to use it up. If you pay attention to your collection, it will regenerate - I doubt it's lost that property of Glamour. But if you use it all, then it's all gone." Silver frowns. "Ah, yes. A warning. Be careful how good you get at turning into the bird. If you fall too deep into the role of an Andean Condor, then you will be one. Not that it'll be too hard to break - crash once, get shot, I expect you'll be back to yourself. But it can be awkward, if you're not well-accustomed at balancing two mental states at once." Silver grins. "A fun trick." Silver considers Octane, with a half-smile. "Want to try one more time?"

Octane laughs a bit. "Can't say I don't. This is pretty fun, despite the scary stuff. Should I just... go?"

"Oh yes. Just smooth down the Glamour. The more you do it, the easier it gets." Again, something in the air; Glory can probably catch the very Fae mischief.

Octane nods, concentrating once more, and applies the Glamour again. It's faster this time, and the resulting bird is less... scraggly. The scar on the back seems to be stubbornly persisting, but there aren't any other patches of missing feathers. The bird cocks its head inquisitively at Silver.

"Good work. Can you get yourself out?"

The bird closes its eyes. A few seconds pass with no discernible change. Then, with a rustling of feathers, Octane is crouching on the Warrens-floor again, arms tucked in like their wings were. They promptly fall over into a pool of unraveled Glamour.

"...nailed it."

Ink, about to comment appreciatively on the state of Condor's second try, shut his mouth and nodded before turning to Silver. "How fast does it regenerate?"

Casually, as if it’s nothing, Silver reaches down and under Octane’s feet, her other hand acting as support, and she lifts up the large condor. She turns and offers them to Ink, as if it’s meaningless.

“Varies. I get about a handful a day innately,” Silver remarks, as if she didn’t just absently override Octane’s bodily autonomy. “Want them?” She lifts the bird higher, clearly offering.

The condor reacts like it's a condor. A trained one, perhaps. Wary, squawking slightly and shifting, but staying on the gloves.

Ink looks a little surprised, but reaches out a hand. "Um, sure. Yeah. How heavy are they like this?"

“Pretty heavy.” Silver reaches out; it's a pretty simple process, passing a bird to another person. You lower their chest over the hand, and they automatically step on. “So I’m giving them to you, am I?” Silver asks, very light, partway through the process.

The bird may be heavy, but Ink is pretty strong; holding Octane is easy, even if the claws aren't particularly comfortable. "If you're offering, then sure," he says with a smile as he admires the long, draping feathers at the tip of Octane's wings.

Silver can't help but giggle, shaking her head. "Now, isn't that something." Silver grins. "Bird's yours then. And they're also a bird. What're you going to do about that?"

The bird's eyes widen as they look at Inkstainer. It struggles for a second, scratching Ink's hand, and then suddenly Octane is there once more, knocking Ink to the ground with the force of the unexpected transformation and falling down on top of them.

They continue to scramble like the bird did for a few seconds, winding up on their back, looking up at Silver and Glory. They force their breath to slow, staring at Silver with a mix of emotions. "W- what was that?"

Ink winces at Octane's claws on his arm, but keeps it outstretched long enough for it to help cushion their fall. "Not a bird anymore," he says weakly from underneath Octane.

Silver shrugs. "That? Was a lesson. A kinder one than I ever got on this subject - though that says little enough." She regards Octane steadily. "I rather like having the two of you think well of me, but I think it's rather more important for you both that I make the point. About Glamour, and about Connections. Ink. Do you understand what I just did?"

Octane stands shakily, brushing themself off.

"Well, you just turned them into a bird without asking, and then you offered to-" he makes quotes with his fingers, "-give them to me." He sits up, wincing as he does so. "Which is to say that it was easy for you to transform them, and then you went unchallenged claiming them. And... giving them to me."

"Quite." Silver rolls her shoulders. "I'm part Faerie. Metaphors matter. I lay no claim over the one known as Octane, whether bird or person. You now do." Silver shrugs. "It's an easily broken thing. I had no claim in the first place to give; if either of you make the right statements, that change to your Connection won't stay. Of course, you could play into it if you want.

"There's also the matter of Octane being a bird. That is what it looks and feels like when you are just the bird." Silver looks between them. "So. How's the lesson? Think I've fulfilled the terms of the favour?"

Octane nods again. "I rather do, yes. I certainly feel educated. Although, if this is a kinder lesson than you ever got..." several different emotions wash across their face very quickly. "Stay safe, guys."

Silver curtsies floridly. "We're going to try. Please take care of yourselves." She looks at Glory. "I think we're done here then?"

Ink stands up as Octane speaks, brushing himself off and looking relieved to have partially fallen on his circle's grass rather than the Warrens mud. "That was definitely a lesson. And, well, thanks for coming to pick up the tree. I'll let you know when I need a favor."

Glory nods. "Let's go back up." And so, the whole group, along with Erectus and the children, made their way back up to the surface. About half an hour later, they all popped up back onto up. They were back in Central Park, and the sun was starting to set. "So, I guess we'll be seeing you guys later then?"

"I hope so." Octane is starting to sound as tired as Ink was when he first appeared. "Good luck with everything."

"Until later." Silver nods to Ink and Octane, then shifts closer to Glory. "At least one more stop for us, then." Silver pulls out her phone. "After that..." Silver shows Glory Stirge's offer of Sanctuary.

Silver didn't notice the Spring Glamour in the air, with Erectus' hanging around. It subsumed easily into hers, a bit of intoxication, a bit of insanity. Small, but... not very good for her.

Ink and Octane turn back towards the Warrens. If either Silver or Glory has exceptionally good hearing, they might hear Octane say "They just look so young..." before the pair disappears from view.

Immediately followed by: Glory and Silver find sanctuary at Sanctuary