The Mountain and Mohammed

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr pulled into one of the Parlour\'s parking spaces and quickly exited so that he could open the passenger door for Jack, recalling how he\'d also opened it for him to enter the vehicle, back at the Capital Building.  When he\'d arrived to pick him up,  Ben\'s car had been in the park beside his, which had drawn his curious stare for a few moments.  He\'d contemplated the meaning behind its presence as he rode the lift upward, expecting to see the infamous Hannah at last - considering she was the only one who drove the car.

When the lift softly chimed to alert him that it had reached his destination, he\'d straightened up off the rail along the back wall (that he\'d been leaning on) and fixed his jacket, ready for the meeting.  He was dressed casually tonight - well, more casually than when he\'d seen Sabrina two nights before, certainly - wearing dark blue jeans, black boots, a white button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone and a black suit jacket.  The pants had been ripped getting out of a carriage once many years before (the wheel spoke had been especially sharp) and he\'d never got around to getting them fixed.  He\'d kept the jacket and begun wearing it when fashion dictated it was alright to do so, in the late nineteen nineties.

When he\'d knocked on the door, however, he\'d been greeted immediately by Jack and had had to acknowledge that he was somewhat disappointed by not getting at least a glimpse of the woman who now lived in what he still considered his home.  Or... one of them, anyway.  He\'d checked Jack had the necklace and they\'d ridden back down the lift silently; in fact, the whole ride across town had been spent in much the same way.  Thankfully, it hadn\'t been an especially long drive and what traffic there had been was a welcome distraction.

Kerr felt tense and his expression showed it as he watched Jack exit the car.  He locked it and led his fledgling towards the lobby entrance of the building with a quiet, "This way."  He\'d rung Sabrina at the start of the night to let her know he was coming and bringing Jack and the necklace with him, giving her a brief run down over the phone about what had transpired the night before, warning her he hadn\'t told Jack he\'d spoken to her already, so she was to act slightly surprised when they rocked up.  Her laughter had both reassured and baffled him, reminding him of how much she confused him.

At the old hotel\'s entrance, Kerr again opened the door for Jack (it was automatic to him, which also rather annoyed him, for he didn\'t like to feed Jack\'s \'life\'s too short to do things for yourself\' ego any more than he had to, but it was habit for him to precede Ben and open doors for him and such) and offered him a reserved smile when their eyes met.  He followed his fledgling into the lobby then, gaze going to the reception desk beyond Jack, expecting Sabrina to be there as she had been upon previous visits.

[Trillian]

Jack had ordered Hannah to remain out of sight should anyone arrive at the door.  She\'d acknowledged his order though her gaze was openly curious.  He didn\'t answer her with much information when she had the courage to ask questions and they stopped entirely when he pointed at her upon Kerr\'s knock.  Be quiet, his pointing finger had said, and she\'d pressed her lips together firmly, though he could see in her gaze more than a hint of frustration.

He left her and met Kerr, showing the necklace in his pants pocket upon his insistence.  He was dressed his own way this night, with heavy black boots, black leather pants, a loose fitting light blue cotton shirt that had a couple of buttons undone at the top and a silver chain about his neck.  The jewellery had attracted his attention the night before whilst on a walk, and he\'d purchased a thick chain with the credit card, led through the sale by a friendly female sales assistant who\'d flirted with him heavily despite being obviously older than Ben\'s apparent age.  He\'d encouraged it, though the woman (perhaps in her early to mid thirties) was not a threat to Hannah.

He wasn\'t too eager about sharing the necklace around so had been silent during the car trip with Kerr, watchful of the city as it blurred past and then intrigued by the inner suburbs until they stopped.  The dilapidated, graffitied building they pulled up in front of was both intriguing and appalling to Jack, who sensed an age and unnatural aura from it.  He wanted to ask questions about the owner of this place even as he exited the car and followed Kerr to the door, but held his tongue.  Tonight was not his night, it was Kerr\'s.  He would do what the vampire wished, for reasons benefitting both of them.

[Harlequin]

Sabrina was, in fact, to be found at her desk – this time, however, the lobby was not empty; a few eclectic-looking (and smelling, for that matter; Human and otherwise) people lounged in the battered couches laid out around the large space – but they were conversing amongst themselves, and no one had a glance to spare for the pair that came in now.

Not even Sabrina – though she\'d heard and felt them enter – who was poring over a spread of cards that nearly covered the marble countertop in front of her. These were no playing cards, however; only one of them showed a queen, and she was turned on her head.

When they approached, however, she looked, and smiled warmly, "Kerr," she said, with the tone of someone who was pleasantly surprised – pulling the trick off flawlessly. Her gaze, also, naturally travelled to the youth beside him, dressed in such a wildly different manner (not that she was impeccable herself, in her black vinyl corset). Her oddly colorless eyes – ringed in cat\'s eye makeup – regarded Jack with the air of someone who wasn\'t sure if he was who she thought he was, and if she entirely approved of him, based on what she\'d heard from another, either way, but was being polite about it. Her smile lost none of it\'s warmth, but her gaze was returned to Kerr relatively quickly, one brow quirked questioningly, as if to say "is this the rollercoaster incarnate, who\'s been causing you all this trouble?" – which was more or less the opinion she\'d had of Ben, based on the emotional states Kerr had come to her in, before.

[Existentially Odd]

"Sabrina," he countered, with equal warmth and respect, stepping up beside Jack and instinctively placing an arm around his waist as they got to the counter and within the giantess\' sphere of influence.

"I\'d like to introduce you to... Jakra," he said, pausing just before he said the name in an effort to somewhat mimic the way it had been said to him, "or Jack, for short.  I brought him here to visit you because... well, we have something of a favour to ask you, if you could spare us a few moments?" he enquired.

He looked pointedly at the people around them in the lobby before raising his eyebrows at Sabrina, content to let Jack respond but wanting to give the witch the hint that they\'d both prefer to be alone with her and out of all earshot of others, if it were entirely possible.  he also knew that Jack wasn\'t going to be willing to whip the necklace out in front of an audience - if he consented to do it at all.

[Trillian]

"Just Jack," he insisted, throwing Kerr a dark look, not liking the way the other vampire swiftly took the lead on throwing his full name over to a witch.  Was this a trick?  His hand stole into his tight pants pocket where there was a small bulge of a necklace within it, and as his fingers touched the item he began to wonder about Kerr\'s sincerity when they\'d spoken at the beach-house the other night.

His pale gaze found Sabrina and stared at her with open suspicion and caution.  There was something familiar about her smell and as his nostrils flared to take more of her scent in, he pondered on the meaning behind such a thing.  What did it mean, when he was reminded of his dormant time when he could smell her?  Was she one of the Descendants?

[Harlequin]

So Kerr had learned his true name. How delightful! Too bad she didn\'t recognize it; though she did recognize this Jack\'s annoyance at Kerr having shared it with her. The brow returned to it\'s rightful place, and she turned her smile – her face now genuinely placid – on Jack, "It\'s a pleasure to meet you," she said, and thoroughly meant it.
 
In one motion she stood  and scooped the tarot cards off the counter, gathering them in her hands. After tapping them on the counter to align their edges she placed them in a locked box under the desk, "Let\'s find something a bit more private, yes?" she suggested, so Kerr didn\'t have to - verbally, anyway.
 
Ths time, however, she lead them to the basement – opening an almost invisible door in the west wall of the lobby with a touch, and leading the pair down a set of narrow cement stairs into the workroom – which Kerr would recognize – clean and bright, with it\'s old dentists chair and neat, gleaming rows of equipment on an aluminum table next to the door. From that room, though, she lead them on – through another door opened with a touch of her black-nailed fingers – and into a handsome library, warmly lit, and outfitted with several comfy looking armchairs – including one that was obviously Sabrina-sized. There was no desk, however; she had always felt that desks put an unecesarry distance between her and the people she was talking to.
 
"Now," she said, taking her seat, and gesturing for her guests to do the same, "What can I do for you fine gentlemen?"

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr settled in the only two-seater that was in the eclectic seat circle, expecting that Jack would sit beside him.  Although he had the urge to cross his legs and sit back, relaxing his arm upon the sofa\'s high armrest, he realised that he was going to have to give a very slight performance now, so that Jack would learn everything he\'d already told Sabrina.  That way, he figured he couldn\'t be caught out if one of them said something untoward.  Of course, he was also digging himself in deeper, should Jack find out he\'d gone to sabrina before he invited Jack over to talk, but he would do his best to keep that tidbit hidden for eternity, at this stage.

Sitting forward in the seat, Kerr cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together and glancing down at the floor as he gathered his thoughts - in much the same way he had when first approaching Sabrina - before he clasped both hands together and looked up at the woman, who was almost opposite him.

"Okay.  Now, as you\'ve known for a while now, Ben is my partner.  We broke up when his behaviour became strange and shocking but I\'ve recently found out why.  This," he gestured briefly towards Jack, "is Ben\'s body, but it\'s not Ben who\'s talking to us.  It\'s Jack.  I tried a whole lot of different places and doctors to get Ben better - I thought he was experiencing multiple personality disorder, because of the way he described not feeling himself when he did horrible things to other people - but we only had some luck when we went to the supernatural clinic in town?"

Kerr looked at Sabrina questioningly, silently asking if she\'d heard of it, and continued when he received a reaction that told him she hadn\'t.  "Well anyway, the doctor listened to Ben\'s story and gave Ben a necklace to put on.  Long story short; the necklace has helped repress Ben\'s personality and has allowed Jack\'s to dominate.  We don\'t know what\'s happened with Ben but Jack has a way out of this; a ritual, to be performed on a lunar eclipse.  There\'s a riddle that goes with it - I might get you to help us with the clues for it, in fact, because they\'re pretty confusing - and it\'s a whole, complicated process.  The thing is," Kerr shuffled around on the seat a little, glancing at Jack before he turned back to watch Sabrina again, expression intent and elbows resting on his thighs as he clasped his hands once btween his legs, making a point with the action that declared this was the main reason they were there.

"The ritual... well, not only do we have to wait until February for the next eclipse, but when it\'s complete, there will be two Bens in existence once it\'s completed; one with Jack in it and one with Ben in it.  That\'s got awkward implications for me, so I was talking with Jack last night and wondered if there might be another way out of that eventuality.  Like - and I know it sounds horrible, but maybe like we find out more about the necklace so that we can switch Jack and Ben\'s personality around.  Ben could then pass Jack\'s mark onto another male so that he could assume his identity, rather than Ben\'s, and then it won\'t be quite as complicated for me in the end.  Problem is, Jonah didn\'t know too much about the necklace\'s powers to begin with, so it\'s hard to predict if that\'s a viable option or not.  I... uh... I told Jack that if the necklace isn\'t, we would just go ahead with the ritual as planned.  I figured you were the only one who\'d be able to help me figure that out, though."

With a shrug, Kerr cleared his throat and sat up straighter, unclasping his hands and now looking at Jack.  "We brought the necklace for you to have a look at, to see if... well, if you could tell us anything about it for a start, and if we could use it to avoid the ritual\'s outcome, if possible."  He continued looking at Jack, giving the silent cue for his fledgling to produce the object now.

[Trillian]

Jack followed Sabrina into the strange room with the strange things and the strange smell.  It masked her scent while at the same time enhanced it, transforming it into something that was no longer eating into his memory banks.  He still couldn\'t place the scent, it was an odour that he knew he should know but wasn\'t able to draw it out into his consciousness.  Maybe he was feeding off Ben\'s memory banks again?  Even while thinking this question within himself, he knew it was untrue.  It was a smell he knew, so what was it?

He sat down where Kerr expected him to, leaning back against the two seater instead of forward like the vampire at his side, folding his arms across his chest even as his gaze darted about the room, landing on Sabrina several times until the explanation reached a point where he had to produce the necklace.

Against his better judgment and after an obvious hesitation, Jack thrust his hips upward to better reach into his pocket with and pulled out the necklace by one of the beads.  He fingered it now, feeling uncertain and at a loss as to which path he should take.  He\'d already traversed this one so far, it would be difficult to go back now.  With a couple of slow blinks, he leant forward and handed the necklace out, the item dangling off a couple of his fingers, easy for Sabrina to reach forward and take.

[Harlequin]

She listened to Kerr like it as the first time she\'d heard any of this information, and reacted similarly – telling him the same thing she\'d said the first time she\'d heard it, "I\'ll certainly do anything I can."

Sabrina was actually quite surprised at the lack of scent she was getting from Jack. Yes, there was the magic – big magic, bad magic. Binding, crushing magic. Not exactly one of the kinds she used, and nothing she could put a name to – but it was similar enough to make her uncomfortable.

Not uncomfortable enough to not reach out and take the necklace from his hand; though she was careful not to touch his skin – just to be safe. Magic like theirs could have very tricky interactions, at times.

The moment she touched it, however, she knew the thing was dead. Whatever had been there that let Jack come to the surface was long gone. She cursed inwardly. Another door shut. She shook her head, and told them as much, "Nothing," she said, "Might have been a one-time use kind of thing, Herne knows what it was meant for though. I doubt it was this, exactly," another shake of her head, "Lady, but it\'s an ugly thing, isn\'t it?" she commented, letting the beads roll across her fingers.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr found the verdict very difficult to accept, especially when it was issued so quickly.  He\'d just begun reclining in an effort to appear as casual as possible, but now he sat up straight again, frowning.  "What?" he queried rudely, blinking as if that might process what he was hearing faster.  "What do you mean \'nothing\'?  How could it be \'nothing\'?  It worked just a few nights ago, I don\'t understand," he trailed off, turning to look at Jack.

"Could... it have been something we did?  Where it was stored or something?" he asked, his words meant for Sabrina, despite the fact that he was looking at his lover.  "Can it be fixed?"  He looked back at the female in the room, willing there to be a way to fix this; despite promising he wouldn\'t care if it didn\'t work out, he\'d pinned all his hopes on it working and there not being two Bens in his future life.  It wasn\'t so easy to let go of that vision.

[Trillian]

Jack relaxed visibly at this news, though it was a bittersweet announcement.  Kerr beside him was sitting very erect indeed, obviously displeased with the information.  He looked at the back of Kerr\'s head, for he was sitting at an angle that all that was visible was the man\'s hair and a quarter of his profile.  There was very little to read there so he turned his stare to Sabrina instead.

She\'d been looking at him with the kind of expression that he believed he could feel on his face.  Right now he watched her fingering the necklace and shook his head at her words.

"It is beautiful," he couldn\'t stop himself from saying.  After all, it had given him an early peek at life in a way he couldn\'t recreate himself.

[Harlequin]

"I\'m sorry," she told Kerr, and meaning it, as was plain in the pained expression written on her face; she was the one who\'d suggested it in the first place, and to have to tell him there was nothing – she felt awful, "I don\'t think so. I can tell that there was something there – but I can also tell that it\'s long gone. All I\'m holding is an–" she caught herself, holding the necklace (which she\'d been about to call ugly again) out toward Jack –since he was obviously attached to it – leaning forward much as he had – though her reach was considerably longer, "–a necklace."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr watched the object he\'d held so much hope for be handed back to the handsome man beside him (who really did look a treat in his outfit, despite it being atypical clothing), a deflated expression on his face.  "Oh well.  There\'s nothing you can do, I guess.  Thank you for trying."

He fell silent then, needing a moment to accept his fate and resign himself to the reality of the upcoming ritual.  His stare was held by the necklace and Jack\'s hands, his mind was temporarily stalled.  "Perhaps you should tell Sabrina the riddle," he suggested to Jack, his voice a hollow monotone.  "She might be able to help us decipher it."

It only occurred to him then that they\'d never got around to discussing this the night before.

[Trillian]

Jack nodded even as he thrust his hips up one more time to stuff the necklace back into his pocket.  He fiddled with it from the outside once he sat himself back down properly, adjusting it so that the beads didn\'t bite into the seam of his leg.

"At each of the arrows there must sit; a locked stone, a coiled embrace, an ancient lizard, opposing forces, a perfect sphere and a mechanical measure."  He was watching Sabrina as he said these things, wondering if she would have more luck than Kerr with them.  Not only did Jack have a lot of time to think about what they were, he\'d also seen the items used on the rituals beforehand, and that they varied.  As long as the items suited the description, they seemed to work.  "When the earth shadows the moon from the sun, on a tablet of red sand, the sayer of his name will release his soul and the stain removed from his jailor."

He grinned at Sabrina quite suddenly before casting it to Kerr, where the smile faded almost as quickly, because the other vampire was still mourning the loss of the necklace.

[Harlequin]

Sabrina – while she was deeply interested in the riddle (which she had made significant progress on; though Jack wouldn\'t know it was progress) – her attention was caught by the way Jack\'s expression shifted when his gaze moved from her back to Kerr; almost as if he cared that this was causing him pain. As if he cared for the man. Why such a thing would be, she couldn\'t fathom, so she said nothing.

She could give Kerr good news on the riddle, so she focused on that, instead. First, she told him about the clues they\'d already solved, "Well, the coiled embrace – to me, it sounds like a snake; a constrictor, to be precise. The ancient lizard might just be referring to a fossil of some kind," She\'d thought that this might be a more viable option than the one she\'d discussed with Kerr, simply on the principle that a fossil couldn\'t dart away when you weren\'t looking, "Opposing forces – magnet, would be my first though. Perfect sphere – exactly how it sounds, mechanical measure – clock; a classic," she smiled, shrugged, "As for the setting – the first thing that comes to mind is Ayer\'s Rock, in Australia, simply because it mentions a specific \'tablet\' shape. As for the arrows – may I see the mark, please?" Kerr had omitted a drawing from the report he\'d given her, but she figured it would be significant.