The holy water tears through the Fallen's defenses, splashing it with holy fire. The room fills with the smell of baking apples and the shadow explodes. You raise an arm or close your eyes or otherwise react to the explosion, and then realize that the room is filled with blossoms.
Aaron's inner eyelids snap shut, protecting him from the worst of the blast.
He rubs the spots out of his eyes and sniffs the air.
"...Apples? So, what, Fallen smell of original sin or something? Anything about that in the holy texts Father?"
"I have never encountered one of the Fallen of the first or second degree, but I don't know of any who smell like apples. Usually garbage, or body odor. Sewage, sulphur. What you would expect. A side effect of their interaction with corruption, or the way our mind interprets what we detect of their corruption. This, on the other hand, almost seems like a vanity plate."
"I'm beginning to think maybe it wasn't an actual Fallen. Perhaps some other kind of spirit masquerading as one. Unless we're a lot more awesome than I think we are, I would have expected one to put up more of a fight."
"True, though it was without physical form or permission, and possibly violating our friend's Threshold. The Fallen require the permission of their host to affect the physical world. That this one could appear somewhat physically, and transform these sticks in a parody of a Mosaic miracle... I've never heard of such a thing."
"The concept of the Apple as the Forbidden Fruit is usually considered apocryphal, by both secular and religious scholars. It doesn't seem to have existed before becoming a convention in art during the later medieval period. The identity of the fruit is never actually mentioned in any of the associated religions texts; the Torah, the New Testament, or the Koran. Isn't that right Father? Imam?"
"Gentlemen, I am sorry for having placed you in danger, but at the same time I am pleased to see I was not wasting your time."
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Jarrod slowly stood up straight and walked over to the others. "Right. Well. That'll certainly get your blood pumping in the morning," he said, looking over where the shadow thing had been just a few seconds earlier. "Works better than any coffee or energy drink I've ever tried. So now what's the plan?"
"No, of course there is no reason to believe that the Forbidden Fruit is an apple. In the wide ranging religious texts and commentaries, everything from apples, figs, pomegranate, grapes have been proposed as possible fruits. Others have proposed sexuality or genitalia. The Church doesn't support the notion of literal interpretation of the creation stories, regardless. But belief has power. The thing mentioned Adam and Sawes, so whatever the Truth, it may believe that its abilities have something to do with creation.
Apples, are, of course, present in many religious and mythical traditions, and the word is often used generically for unusual fruits, but this odor seems to be specifically apples.
In any case, it seems that the threat is not within the boy but outside of him."
Balmung has ceased its flirtation with blue-white fire.
drops Shield, picks up Fallen blossom, tastes blossom cautiously
"...Are you sure it's a good idea to eat something that exploded out of a supernatural entity that may or may not be composed entirely of pure concentrated evil and malice?"
Wisp watches carefully, ready to act if John seems to start acting weird.
looks up confused
"What? You're breathing the smell he left behind. The only difference is, my tasting this lets me understand what it's made of."
"I've always thought pomegranates were a good candidate. Archaeologically, they are an extremely common element of early Jewish iconography, and yet no written record mentions why this might be the case. Scepters, lintels, columns, and even the Temple of God itself are all described as bearing pomegranates, Andre same can be observed from recovered relics. There must be some reason the fruit is so present in the archeological record of the time. Of course, it might be something unrelated to the Forbidden Fruit altogether. The apple doesn't even grow in the Near East, or at least it didn't until until modern variants were bred for the purpose. Though, again, that only matters if you believe in a literal Eden, and that it was not somewhere else in the world."
Observing Odd John eating the flower and his explanation, she chooses to refrain from comment.
John seems a bit... odd. I'd ask him, as I don't think he's entirely human, but such a question is probably best left for another time when there are not so many people about. No need to embarrass him, or put him on the defensive.
She looks over at te boy, still within the circle.
"Father Jim, in light of all this, what do you make of our guest here? The Shadow said he was a decendant, but that may just further muddy the waters... Everything that comes out of a demon's mouth is automatically suspect. Is it the truth? A Half-truth just close enough to reality for us to accept it, a bald-faced lie? The boy could still be possessed with that speech merely intended to make us more confident in accepting him, and what he bears. Damn it, in reality,it will probably just cause us to second guess ourselves long enough to stay out of the way of whatever plans it and its ilk have in mind... It's frustrating."
Jim says,
"It might be best to ignore what the Shadow said. Whether true, false, or a mixture, it seems bound to be only what he wished us to hear. As for fruit, I think I will prefer to think that that is all a distraction."
Kishan keeps her sword in hand, but lowers the glare of the light it is producing to a softer glow, and switches it to her left hand, held by the blade, as if sheathed. Thusly, hopefully appearing a touch less aggressive, she makes her way to the edge of the circle. She makes eye contact with Aaron in order to alert him that she wishes him to translate. When she speaks, she takes care to make her voice soft and non-threatening; not patronizing, as to a small child, but calm, as though there is nothing unusual going on at the moment.
"Set. Are you alright? There was an entity here that attempted to make its way through us, but we were able to dissuade it. It seemed to take offense at our desire to help you. There are some men here; a priest and an Imam. They have offered to help you, and to try and take you somewhere safe. Would you be willing to talk with them? To hear what they have to offer and perhaps go with them?"
"Set? Can I ask, where did you learn your magic? Was it something you were taught, or is it more an aspect of this 'Blood of the Dragon' you posses?"
Set to Kishan, "I am fine, Warden Kishan. I would like some water if that is possible. We all learned our magic at home. There is a cave where we are sent when we are young. Our Father's are there, in an ossuary, and they speak to us. They test us and determine our strengths. We are the Blood of the Dragon, and this gives us strength, but strength must be leveraged, Warden Kishan. In the cave we learn to use a lever.
I have gone with your men, so I will go with your men, Warden Kishan, though they are shadows to me. I do not think that there will be any danger to them. There was a moment when you, Aaron, were thrown through the circle and the 'entity' possessed me, and used your power, and the Warden struck me down. That moment has passed now. Aaron has used his own power to defend me, but this is what was desired. The sword is awake."
Jim to Jarrod, "Of course, the immediate danger seems to have passed. What is troubling you?"
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Jarrod sighed as he led the priest to a nearby table. Sitting down, he clasped his hands in front of his face and said, "I'm sorry if I'm keeping you up, Father, but I needed someone to talk to." He suddenly got a sheepish look on his face and added, "I would like it if this was kept as a private matter. Anyway, it's been a little over five years since I've spoken with anybody from the Church, not since my wife and daughter were killed. I...had a hard time of it, and I did some things I'm not proud of. And now, with this happening, I'm feeling lost."
"I find that with age I need less sleep, so don't let that trouble you. As for how long you have been away from the church, time is significant only to those of us here in the mortal realm, and there is no deadline for reconciliation. It is obvious from the way that you handle that weapon that you have some experience with matters of this nature. Most men would have soiled themselves and fled tonight, but you stood against unknown Evil in the defense of child you only me a few hours ago. There is a difference between being lost and being a seeker of one's proper path. You were needed tonight, and you were right where you were needed.
Are you sure that you were lost, or is it possible that you hear a call that you are reluctant to answer?"
"Your Fathers? Do you mean that literally, or are there dragons in the cave that teach you? Does everyone in your home have power?"
"We place the bones of our...ancestors in the cave, and we tend them, in time sorting the bones. Not all of the bones are of a strictly human shape, but there are no writhing serpents there, if that is what you ask. All of the sons of the dragon have power, though for most it is small. And before you ask, yes, sons is literal. In all of the stories of our people that I have heard, never have our marriages produced a female offspring. The cave is closed now. It collapsed recently in an attack of war planes. There are those among us who can hear the counsel of our Fathers even outside of the cave, and they said to seek men who would bring us to a safer place, and that is how we came to be here."
"If this is safer, I hate to think how bad it was back at your home."
listens carefully to Aaron's translations while carefully gathering the apple blossoms
"The people in the cargo container with you, the ones the Fomor where trying to contain; were they all from your people, or was it just you and your two companions that originated there, with those others being from somewhere else?"
Kishan listens to the answer, considering for a moment before turning to face towards the others in the room.
"Well, what do you think? There are numerous leads and concerns that have presented tonight. I do not know what stake each of you bears in the supernatural community around Boston, but you have each proven yourselves more than capable of acting against those influences. It seems well beyond the bounds of chance that we each stumbled on to each other and happenings such as these, all at the same time on a random autumn evening. So, are you interested in continuing to resist the Fomor? To help protect those who live here against these threats? I have a duty to do so; it is my role here to protect those practitioners here from threats against them, and from members of our community that might misuse their knowledge. However, I would feel inadequate restricting my actions to only fulfilling those duties. Regardless of what I may be, and what duties I have have, I am also a human being, and I cannot merely stand aside while creatures like the Fomor kidnap, harass, and use their power to gain control over mortal affairs. What say you? Interested in helping me make their lives difficult? Perhaps we can take out any of the other uglies out there hiding in the dark while we're at it! There are organizations whose job it is supposed to be to deal with threats to the public, but I think you'll agree when I say that thus far, I am not impressed with the job they are doing here in Boston."
"All of those in the container were of the community of the Sons. As I said, only the men among us are Sons of the Dragon. We must marry women from outside the community, so the women among us were wives of those older than I."
"I'm game. Whatever the Fomor are up to, it doesn't bode well. And if there's even a CHANCE the Fallen are involved...well I just can't sit on the sidelines."
Addressing Set, "Do you know how many of your brethren were in that container? How many exactly? If we are to free them from the influence of your captors, it would help us to know how many we need to find and account for, to insure that they are all safe. If you need pen and paper, or some time to think of all the folk that were in there, we can get them for you."
No Warden Kishan, I can just see them. There were seventy two of us who entered the container. Two died in the container, and two more tonight, so there are sixty-eight of us who live. Sixty-eight remain of a legacy millenia old. Well, sixty eight men. There are those who are not men, but we do not call them our brethren.
"Two more were killed? After the accident? You can feel this? Through your connection? Do you know when it happened, or where?"
No, Warden Kishan, two died in the accident, and two in our transit across the ocean.
"Ah. No less tragic, to be sure, but I had feared that harm might have come to them tonight, after we saw them last. Do you have any idea where they might go? On their own, here in America?"
turns to face Set
"When you say 'those who are not men', do you mean women or those who can't pass for human?"
"Yes, John, women."
"Alright then, we have some 80 people, 68 of whom can work magic, either on the loose in Boston without knowing much at all about the culture or mores of the place they have happened to land. Regardless of whether they are in possession of the sword or not, it is becoming more and more common knowledge that the Fomor are interested in capturing minor practitioners, though what they are doing with them is still anyone's guess. IS everyone here familiar with the Fomor? Father, Imam? Have you heard of them?"
"Seems like there is a lot of things that can be done. What do you think should be done first? Opinions? Options?"
Jamil pipes in as Jim is talking to Jarrod:
"We are aware of the Fomor in principle, if you mean the human-like things that dwell in lakes and oceans and resemble Lovecraft's Deep Ones. But you have made a few comments about their activities focused in Boston. We have not seen any signs of them working in Boston. In fact, since the, shall we say, Red Court Incident, the city has been relatively quiet in a supernatural sense. Jim and I do not have the resources to mount a man hunt for these refugees. As he said, our energies are more focused on shelter and defense. In dire circumstances, we can sometimes call on the more aggressive arms of our faiths, but they are few and must deal with issues across the globe. When we finish here, we can take the boy to safety, and we can accommodate his kin if we can locate them and they are in need of protection."
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"Reluctanct? Perhaps," Jarrod said with a wry grin. "Like I said, I all but turned my back on the Church when my family were killed. Why would she accept me back when I abandoned her?" With a shake of his head, he went on. "Anyway, Father, I shouldn't keep you up any longer, and we should rejoin the others before we miss anything important. But, would it be fine if I stop by the Church some time and talk? I do feel better."
"The church is always here, Jarrod. No matter how long or how far you are away. You can find me at St. Stephen's downtown, but you're always close to a church here in Boston."
As he moves back among the group, he sends some text messages.
"I've made arrangements to take the boy to a secure location here in the city, and we will put out discrete feelers looking for any new faces at the local shelters and relief services. This may help us to track down some of Set's kin if they show up."
"Father, do you feel comfortable moving him? If you were to be attacked again, either by this Shadow, or by another creature, or if something within the boy were to prove hostile, would you have the means to protect yourself? I ask because while it would immensely helpful to my efforts to be able to move freely without being concerned for the boy's safety, whereabouts, or containment, I would not want to place you at risk beyond your capacity to handle, nor leave the boy without protection, should it be revealed that he truly is just an innocent victim in this."
"I don't think we have very many leads on the Fomor, but maybe we can get some information by looking into this alias he was using?" he taps the driver's license from the wallet.
"Set, these men offer you a place of safety.
If you go with them I will do everything I can to find and protect your Brothers as well as the women with them.
I'm not taking back my off of hospitality, this is up to you.
But that shadow found you here and you may be safer with them.
And you will be welcome to return once we have made it safer for you."
Father Jim says, "Jarrod, I think it might be best if you do not know exactly where we are taking the boy just yet. But you can ride, err, shotgun if you will, to the church. The fewer who know the exact location, the safer it is."
Set says, "Yes, John. I will go willingly with them. And I thank you for your honorable behavior."
"There may be a little bit of a *complication*. The boy has used magic and someone died as a result. He's in my custody until he is cleared of charges, or taken in for a trial. I will either need to go with him, or I will need your word that you will turn him back over to me when this is concluded."