Case File 2017.07.21
They'd been on the road for about half a day, ending up in Dodge City and taking a break from the long drive. Alex and Delilah took advantage to freshen up at the Knights Inn showers while Rhea and Liam finished with lunch at a picnic table outside. Without a general direction, going full speed ahead would get them quickly to nowhere...they currently didn't know where to find Gwen since the info Ramierz provided had dried up on them. Liam had barely picked through his meal, but it was more than concern for leaving Alex unsupervised that weighed on his mind.
Rhea had quietly observed him while working on her own meal by eating light, not wanting to stuff herself before needing to be trapped on that RV again for hours on end. The only pit-stop that was guarenteed was when they'd need to find a place to secure Liam behind a threshold for the night. After a time she broke that silence and commented on his obvious physical state and asked if he was going to be stubborn and keep his thoughts to himself or ask for help. Liam gave a nod of agreement that he wasn't doing well and stated that he had asked for help which was why she was there. Though the immediate and more visible issues regarding his loss of power and chasing after Gwen weren't what was entirely eating at him.
Liam had been bothered about the choices he'd made and the actions he'd taken recently. The act of vengeance on Wren for the chain of events surrounding Cassie's betrayal and eventual death. The destruction of a place of immeasurable power, a force that had done some good. In turn those actions handing over weapons of power to a master manipulator while damning himself in the process. There had been no peace for Liam. In truth, Cassie's killer was still out there...because Liam was still alive-- he'd lost hope and in that brief moment made the choice to let her die and now she wasn't coming back. The one left to blame was Liam himself.
She could see there was more unspoken on Liam's face than he was stating. She'd seen it enough herself when looking into the mirror, guilt. In her case it was difficult to ignore that look...it still lingered with her even now. Rhea called him out on it after a moment of silence, noting that the shadowed look he had was a guilt he hadn't talked about yet. She stated that they all make mistakes-- just at times the price is higher than one would like to pay. At times she felt she still paid for them even now, but all she could do was push forward...somehow.
His first instinct was to freeze her out...an apprentice didn't get to call him out and she couldn't have a clue about what he was going through-- Only...she did, and from her own mistakes that he'd either seen or heard about over time. She also wasn't his apprentice anymore, that formality had ended when she'd walked out the door to join with Rafe and follow that vigilante path for a time. However, she'd managed to learn from her mistakes and pushed herself to make up for the lapse in magical training with self study. In the end Liam admited he didn't know how to put what he felt into words. He was his own worst enemy and without a clue to overcome that yet.
Rhea half expected him to shut her down and just walk away from the conversation completely. Her words hadn't been one of 'just another associate' from the magical world. They were from a concerned friend...even if she'd botched that relationship to hell and back with her prior stupidty and stunts. Rhea had never stopped thinking of him as a friend along with Elena and the others that had left their mark on her in this life. She prodded with a touch of humor that if he ever found the words to explain the conflicted feeling he was having to let her know since Rhea still hadn't found them herself.
Even while the source of discomfort between Liam and Rhea's lingering guilt may differ, it was something not easily set to words without rambling on forever. She made the side comment that even after all this time she still feels like the screw-up and envies Alex has the chance to have Liam as a teacher. Even her father had a difficult time in attempting to teach patience...and that lesson hadn't stuck well since she'd dropped out of Liam's Magical Academy of sorts after he'd taken her in years ago. She'd wanted to be more involved and Rafe had offered the more direct hands-on experience at doing something in the magical world for others. Her intent may have been in the right place but not the method at which she'd approached the situation. She admits aloud perhaps more for herself than for Liam that she had to start taking responsiblity for her mistakes but that she hadn't been able to do so alone. Rhea couldn't begin to imagine where she'd be now if not for Liam and Elena and others that worked to keep her on the right path.
Liam notes that she'd managed to get through it and that she was doing good. Also...that it was probably unreasonable to expect her to take on an apprentice, especially one such as Alex who didn't fit a more standard mold. Alex was the last of 'her' blood...Liam didn't state who's name the 'her' reffered to but it was due to who that individual was-- it wouldn't be good to vocalize it and potentially condemn someone to death just by association in such a manner. Because of this particular individual, Liam had gotten directly involved with Alex's life. There was only one 'her' that he could be reffering to with the tone in his voice - Cassie. That would make Alex the last living descendant of Kemmler, one of the most feared Necromancers in history. Of which the man's entire work had become a living symbiote carved into the bones of Liam's right hand, arm, ribs and shoulder. Even in saying little he said a lot and had just trusted Rhea with a secret that could get Alex and possible the others killed if it were known. He stated that he'd tell Alex when the time was right.
She didn't fully agree with Liam's statement of 'getting through it' since her constant misteps had been more a trial by fire she wouldn't wish on anyone. Lives were lost in those mistakes she'd made, a price she paid and had to carry with her here on out as long as she lives. It's perhaps why she and Alex mixed together about as well as oil and vinegar at first. She could see him making a lot of the same mistakes as herself and had difficulties without admitting the past in trying to help instruct him as a mentor. She states as much that she should have known better...having lived through those mistakes-- the mess with the accursed wolf trinket, partnering up with Rafe... It took a lot to rein her back from a more dangrous path and she wondered how much worse it would be half the time if allowed to go that much further down the rabbit hole. Rhea nodded in the more obscure reference surrounding Alex, knowing that he was a lot more than he appeared on the surface and that even he didn't know it all yet. She cautions Liam not to wait too long before talking to Alex about it...she knew first hand he didn't well with secrets.
After a long moment she prods Liam about the other thoughts in his mind. Liam was still in thought about the half Demon and half Kemmler, Alex. If it would have been better to let him fail and snuff him out-- not that The Council would have found it unjustified or remembered it long past that point. But Liam couldn't let that happen, he needed Alex to survive and to give him a chance...to prove them wrong. He eventually states that knowledge is power and that Alex doesn't have the wistom yet to utilize that power responsibly. He felt guilty for keeping the information from him, perhaps more so after Alex had managed to save them all from eternity as stone. The fact of how Alex acted though...it helped to convince him that he was right in the end for putting himself out there for the young man, he was worth saving.
She nods, though cautioning again not to let others be the one to reveal that information to Alex-- he had a difficult time in accepting information confirmed indirectly by alternate parties. She didn't expect that to happen, but still felt it needed to be mentioned...and not like she'd ever been in a position to give cautionary advice to anyone with her own past but it felt needed. Rhea stated that even with being the magic school drop-out, Liam had made an impression on her. In fact, she was a touch jealous that Alex was now his apprentice. She was a work in progress that got better and she couldn't have done it alone. Regardless of whether it needed saying again, it felt right to state her thanks to Liam once more.
Liam felt the need to mention that less than a handful of people knew what he'd just stated about Alex. It wasn't difficult to understand why or the reasoning for withholding the information...it wasn't to use a leverage, but widespread knowledge would give the boy more trouble than it was worth before he would have the means to protect himself. Plus he wasn't ready to have that talk yet, the chaos of recent events had bought some time before that conversation would eventually have to take place. Right now, Ramirez' info had gone as far as it could and with no direction...it'd be difficult to catch up with Gwen. Plus the old ghost Corvus in her service now would likely kill them all if they drew too close. After a moment, Liam states that he'd help her get better if they survive this. He'd already started to give her the means to teach herself...it wouldn't be the same but her learning experience was unconventional in the first place. Rhea had learned what she'd needed to...how to teach herself and to continued to learn. The basic all lead to the more advanced stuff...and even someone like The Merlin continued to study daily.
Rhea acknowledges the reason and position Liam was in regarding Alex's heritage but at the same time could see how this caution might be misunderstood by the young man. She'd do her best to help prevent that from escalating badly, but now wasn't the time for that conversation for her former apprentice. Regarding the other matter of survival, she corrected Liam as to 'when' they survived...not wanting to entertain the idea that they wouldn't once all was said and done. She admits after what she's seen on the road trip so far, Rhea might not want to leave Chicago for quite some time-- though she'd left Savannah...who knows... She still couldn't imagine how her father could have managed to keep his own Warden duties from discovery while she grew up in their old family home.
Liam confirms that once your eyes are open the world is dangerous and terrifying. At least now she was more aware of what was out there and what the rest of the world was dealing with...regardless of if they were in the know or not. After a moment, he'd started to become aware of something that had somehow left a link with Liam after he'd been turned to stone. He didn't have the details but understood that Gwen had made a promise to the witch Ms. Lynn to lead Liam and company to White Lake and into the path of that creature. Not unlike the run-in with The Maenad in Tijuana. Gwen was paying off debts and manipulating them in the process.
He'd wanted to be mad about that realization. They'd almost been killed in the last town but as it turned out...with the creature now dead the town was free once more. There was something more he was going to say when he felt the equivalent of a light switch turning on within him...his Power...he could feel and and it was calling out to him and providing a lead. He didn't provide much explanation but urged Rhea to collect Alex and Delilah from the inn so they could get themselves and the RV back on the road. Liam took the wheel, even as exhausted as he was, but having a sense of his Power and a direction was a little rejuvenating for him.
Rhea had quietly agreed about the inability to un-see things experienced first hand. Armed with that knowledge had allowed her to balance the scales a bit and this trip in itself had opened her eyes more to the world outside and the other issues in different areas that people faced. Not just those with talent but the normal, everyday mundane individual person. Those that walked the path within the spooky-natural world had shorter lifespans regardless of if one was a Warden or not. As Liam's posture changed a bit, her thoughts shifted to focus on what had caught his attention. When he started to urge her in collecting Alex and Delilah, she knew something had come to mind giving them a new direction. She collected the others and settled into the RV, mentioning she could take a turn at driving so he could rest. At the moment he didn't want to give up the wheel, so she settled in to rest for a bit and conserve strength for later.
