6928/Crimson Tears

Crimson Tears
Date of Scene:	05 December 2019
Location:	Somewhere on the Road
Synopsis:	August Kohler tries to leave, and runs into one last complication... and obligation.
Cast of Characters:	August Kohler, Empty Tidings

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August Kohler has posed:
It's been a long trek. August Kohler has been driving a truck, dressed in his winter coat and long jeans. He'd look like a trucker if he wasn't clearly pretty young and way too pretty. His parents are currently at a motel, sleeping off the ride and the fact that the world they knew is so, so wrong.

August has had a lot of time to himself, then. A lot of time to consider what Janine and Sanary had said. He can go far. He can have a happy life. Peace is an option for him.

He's currently parked at a gas station near the motel, the only car out in the dark filling up tonight. His red truck has a tarp over the back, restrained tight, and August has been watching it night over night to make sure no one robs them. He's used to sleep deprivation, after all.

As he fills the tank, he hums to himself, briefly. He's not expecting anything to happen. And if it did, he can handle it, right?

Empty Tidings has posed:
The tiny convenience store wedged around a register directly adjacent to the gas pumps is more frequently visited than the pumps themselves. People wandering over, ducking inside and then hastily beating a retreat isn't uncommon, August would have noticed. There might be a thriving drug trade, or maybe just a lot of people who really like gas station burritos in this lonely neck of the woods.

"Hey, old timer."

A girl -- not much younger than August, it looks like, though he certainly carries himself with more hardship than his face reflects -- stands near his pump. She's at the opposite end of the pool of light cast by the dirty overhead lamp, black hair almost gleaming in the dim luminescence that catches it. She's dressed in a battered army surplus coat, torn jeans, and carrying around a backpack that has seen better days. She looks worn out. "Don't suppose you're headed my way?"

August Kohler has posed:
As August finishes with the pump, a girl approaches. One who takes in the light well, but is dressed in a poor state for a girl her age. This isn't a great area to be in, though, so it makes sense. August winces as he sees what she's wearing, and then considers as she asks him for a ride. His only destination would be back to the motel, and while his parents would be worried if he didn't return, /he/ knew he could handle himself. And there's no vehicles nearby, so she'd be waiting or walking for quite a while if he refused.

At the same time, you're not supposed to trust strangers that easily...but he's an Elite. He didn't get this far not doing random acts of kindness. "Sure." August replies, closing the fuel hatch.

Assuming she agrees (and he doesn't /seem/ like he's a horrible person, because he's not in this regard), August unlocks the front for her, before getting into the driver's seat. If she'd rather sit in the back, she can - he has no preference. "Where're you headed? I can't go too far, but I can give it a shot." He sounds older than he looks and really is. Old and weary. Someone's been through a lot.

Empty Tidings has posed:
"Looks like it's my lucky day, then." She grins, adjusting the way her backpack sits and moving around to the other side. Door opens; backpack meets floor; butt meets seat. She's unfolding a battered bit of map when he gets in. It looks reasonably local. "About half an hour west with wheels," she says, showing him. "I'm supposed to be meeting some people. Nobody with a car, though." She wrinkles her nose.

She gives him a sidelong look. "You're not one of those guys who gets off on stabbing hitchhikers, are you? If I ask, you gotta tell me. It's a rule."

August Kohler has posed:
As the girl unfolds her map, August takes a look, and then nods. "I can do that." He shifts the car into gear, and then starts it. He doesn't start moving until she's asked her question, though.

"Nah, I don't want to hurt anyone." He flashes a friendly smile. The 'anymore' is left off because that'd make him look even more creepy than he probably already does. Assuming that's a satisfying answer to her, he starts driving in her direction.

"It's a little late to be hitchhiking, but I can understand it. I didn't start driving regularly until recently. I biked everywhere, or took a warpgate, or had a friend drive me. But you don't have the latter, and a warpgate would be useless in this situation, so..." Being able to mention warpgates, even in an 'Earth' setting, is very satisfying.

"Will I be looking for any landmarks? This town's kind of a pit."

Empty Tidings has posed:
She keeps giving him a long, long look. Eventually, she nods, then faces forward again. As an afterthought, she buckles up. "Alright. Cool. Then we're cool."

The road is straight and empty. At this time of night, nobody else is out. The girl shrugs. "My bike got run over a coupla weeks ago, and I haven't known anybody since two or three gate-hops back. But this is pretty safe territory for us randos, right? People watchin' out for us, even if the assholes with the badges don't. S'why I figured you weren't an asshole," she asides, as if this were a grand secret.

"Oh, yeah. Should be, uh..." She turns the map over. There's a scrawl on the back. "...a closed-down rest stop, with a log cabin-y thing on it. If I got my guess right. Riddles, you know?" She looks out the window, eyes distant. "But if I'm right... it'll be worth the effort."

August Kohler has posed:
As the girl buckles in, August is already buckled in, and starts driving. As she mentions that he's not an asshole and the badges, August just chuckles kind of darkly. "Yeah. I've never been too keen on 'the badges', myself, so I can understand where you're coming from."

"A riddle, huh? Some sort of game?" August asks, as the girl explains the location. Sounds like a thing teenagers would do. After a bit of driving, he offers to turn on the radio and let her control it, if she'd like, though warns there won't be a good signal. Otherwise, he doesn't talk much - August isn't the very social type, especially with strangers.

Eventually, if she's right on the directions, they should be in range of their landmark. He'll point it out when they see it, and when she says to pull over, he'll pull over.

Empty Tidings has posed:
"Fuck the po-lice," the girl all but intones. "Comin' straight from the underground."

She slouches. "Not really. More like a... test. Keep out the wannabes, get the really smart ones. You know how it is with anything cool. Gotta prove you really want it, right?" It sounds half like she's trying to convince herself.

They drive. She fiddles with the radio for ten minutes before finding a Salsa station broadcast primarily in orcish. The rhythm is good, though, and the voices are drowned out by the bad connection. It comes and goes as they move along down the long and lonesome stretch of highway.

Eventually they come to the place. It looks like an old tourist board building, tucked back behind a partly overgrown parking lot. The lot itself is chained shut, though the jersey barrier is easily hoppable on foot. There are trees behind it, where firelight is vaguely visible and August can dimly see the shapes of dancing shadows.

The girl looks out, swallows, then looks at him. She opens the door and hops out. "Thanks, guy. I'll, uh... be seeing you around." She hurries off into the night, towards the fire-signs, shoulders hunched and backpack clutched tight.

A long breath passes.

"So," asks Empty Tidings, a swath of feminine shadow sitting primly in the passenger seat that was, seconds ago, completely empty, "are you going to take care of this, or must I?"

August Kohler has posed:
"Yeah, I get you." August responds, laughing at her 'gangster' talk. Orcish salsa is...interesting. Eventually, they get to the end, and she moves to leave. "See ya." He doesn't expect to, but it's at least polite.

And then there's someone else in his car. August's eyes widen, but he doesn't go on the defensive, because he recognizes the voice before he sees it, and this isn't outside her purview. Shit.

He had forgotten.

"Take care of this? Take care of what? They're just teenagers." August speaks, gritting his teeth. He doesn't pull away, though. "I'm not going to kill them, if that's what you're asking. I know you heard what I said over the radio. I'm done fighting, done killing. I can't do it anymore."

"It's not good for me. I'm trying to be better, be happy."

Empty Tidings has posed:
Tidings becomes more 'real' the longer she sits. Her shadow turns three-dimensional, then bleeds away until it leaves... her. Flowery silks draped over an elegant figure; the scent of blossoms drifting on the night air. All pleasant things. All concealing something far, far worse.

"They are putting themselves in thrall to a demon in exchange for magical power," Tidings explains. She's not looking at him. She's not looking at the fire, either. She's just staring straight out the windshield, into the distance. "Not my sort of demon, mind. A more locally classical, Judeo-Christian sort. Souls for goods. Well... not /initially/, but eventually."

Her lip twitches. It's aiming towards mild disapproval. "I did. I assumed I had been hallucinating. Is this not precisely what you always wanted? To be the hero? To defeat the obvious evil?"

August Kohler has posed:
August's eye twitches as Tidings becomes more solid and reveals that these kids are, in fact, devil worshippers. For what is likely a very real demon. "Shit, that girl just-" August stops himself. He doesn't know her. But she /seemed/ like all she wanted to be was cool and accepted. He thinks things through for a moment, and then replies to Tidings.

"I did. That is what I wanted. But then everything collapsed before my eyes. We lost a Watchtower, and a repugnant man who I thought I wanted to be. It showed me I was going down a pit to Hell. And not the good kind of Hell, either."

August places his hands against the wheel, frowning sharply. "I can't go kill a bunch of stupid teenagers. And I can't go slay the demon, either. I can't get back into that habit. He who fights with monsters..." He allows the sentence to complete itself.

But he's still twitching. He wants to /help/ those kids, not kill them. But the girl and him shared the same sentiment. The police aren't going to do shit. And if he acted, he was just being a vigilante instead of moving for a better life, this time without teh support network. If Tidings acted...she'd make it the worst case possible.

"What the hell do you want from me, Tidings?"

Empty Tidings has posed:
"Eventually becomes one," Tidings finishes sharply. "Or maybe you prefer, 'Die a hero, or live to see yourself become the villain.' There are many, many turns of phrase of similar qualities all over the Multiverse. Pick one you like, I suppose. You have the comfort of choice," she says, voice chilly.

August gets somewhat heated. He wants to jump in and save them, and doesn't like being put in a position like this. Tidings slowly turns her head, the black pits that are her eyes sweeping over August's face. Her left hand lifts, fingers touching his chin, and then turning him to look at her with a gentle tug -- unless, of course, he decides to petulantly resist. It might hurt a little, then.

"I want what's best for you, August." Empty Tidings smiles. The expression does not match the pitiless darkness living in her gaze. "But forcing you to continue fighting, to grind yourself to nothing against this endless whetstone of agonies..." She closes her eyes. "Running away isn't at all like you. Maybe you do need some time to recouperate. There is nothing shameful in nursing your wounds and tending to your growing scars."

She opens her eyes again. She looks human, now. There is very definite sadness there. Disappointment. "You did not even intend to say goodbye, did you?" Tidings releases him. "Running away will not release you from our pact. Distance will not break it."

August Kohler has posed:
August doesn't pick one. As Tidings turns him to look at her, he doesn't resist. He looks into her pitch-black gaze, shaking him a bit, until her eyes close. A reminder she's not as human as he is. That she's something more. "I just want a normal life." He says, under his breath, but her keen ears will be able to pick it up.

But, at last, she mentions the fact he didn't say goodbye, and there's a clear pang of guilt. As she releases him, he sighs. "You're right. It won't. And I'm not going to break it. You're going to call on me again, eventually." He wants out. It's clear. But he's not going to start his career of 'trying to be a better person' by becoming an oathbreaker.

Pity that that means he'll need to be chained to a demon until he can summon the courage to break it. "And until then, I'm going to get a job. Find someone to love. Care for my family. Work hard. Innovate. I'm not going to be a sword slicing through evil. I'm not going to be a terrorist leader." He shifts the gear again, ready to start leaving. He's going to pull away unless she stops him.

"I'm going to be August Kohler."

Empty Tidings has posed:
"Do you even know who that is?"

Tidings is back to looking out the windshield, though without the sort of intensity that came with deliberately ignoring him last time. "August Kohler, the hot-headed student? You left him behind in Alberichstadt, ages ago. August Kohler, the Sword Against The Darkness? He stopped carrying an edge once one possible future passed in front of his face, scaring him off like a frightening Calibration mask waggled in front of a child."

She rests the fingertips of her right hand against her cheek and chin, tilting her head a little. "August Kohler, the terrorist leader? Why, from what I hear on the grapevine, he's been broken by the Concord once and for all, his fires snuffed out." She pinches her fingertips together like she was snuffing a candle flame.

Tidings looks back at him again. The car shifting into gear doesn't dislodge her from the passenger seat. "Tell me this, then, and tell me true, for if I smell a hint of a lie, I swear I will have your deceitful tongue." She points back at the firelight behind the building, the eerie shadows growing in height.

"What would August Kohler do about that, were he here right now?"

August Kohler has posed:
August stops as Tidings speaks once more. Her words sting like acid. Who the hell /is/ August Kohler? He's been so many people. And then, she threatens him. He grimaces, teeth grinding upon each other, but he doesn't say anything. Not until she asks the question.

"He'd try and solve it. Permanently." August says, after a long moment of thought. That's who he was. He'd solve things permanently. But he can't do that. "But then perhaps I don't want to be that August Kohler. Perhaps I want to reclaim the name and change it. Either way...that's that. Whether you see it as quitting or recuperation, I'm done."

August moves to start driving off. He's made his decision, despite his words.

Empty Tidings has posed:
"And what do /you/..." Empty Tidings speaks as he starts to pull away from the curb, voice softened. "...want to see done about it, Newer, Better August Kohler?"

August Kohler has posed:
"I want..." August takes a breath. His voice is still harsh, contrasting Tidings' soft. "To see those kids get some help. Maybe I'll send a tip out. Maybe it'll be worthless. But I can't do nothing. Even if I'm not going to pull that lever myself."

Empty Tidings has posed:
"That's right," she says. "You can't."

Empty Tidings sighs deeply. "The things I do for you, August." She rolls her shoulders. August blinks, inevitably. After, she's dressed in a more modern and mundane way he's seen before: ribbed sweater, long skirt, glasses and an overall 'goth librarian' sort of look. "Consider your tip thusly given. My Watch is not yet over, and a kind citizen has begged, /begged/ that won't someone /please/ think of the children!" She puts the back of her hand to her forehead and feigns distress.

"Here." She drops a shard of what looks like green glass into the center console cup holder. It glints a little weirdly in the artificial light inside the truck cab. "A time will come when we need each other again, August. By our sworn oath, I owe you nothing -- but it would make me feel better if, in this your peaceful interlude, you let me be certain you will be safe, wherever you go."

She opens the passenger side door. Tidings smiles warmly. "Don't look back, August Kohler, One Good Man. See to your family. I'll see to all the rest."

Tidings is gone. The door swings shut. A light on the dash blinks on, complaining to August that the passenger side door is not fully closed. In the rear view mirror, another figure in shadow strides towards the flickering firelight.

August Kohler has posed:
As Tidings starts to act like she's going to actually help, August's eyes widen a bit, and then he just sighs. As she feigns distress, he's still anxious-looking, but less...angry. He glances to the green glass as it's put in the cup holder, and then nods. "Fine. Be safe yourself."

And then, August nods. He watches her leave in the rear view mirror, and then, he continues to drive off. He doesn't look back, though he'll check the news later to see if anything happened.

But Tidings wouldn't lie to him about it, he doesn't think. Another wrong person to put faith in, huh? Well, that's life.