Elijah Remington

"Thanks, Elijah..." The witch had come to take on a pseudo-paternal role with Caleb recently and those words meant a lot to him in the moment.

Good, it seemed like Caleb didn't notice anything amiss. "I'll get out of your way." He stood and gave Celeb a loose hug before taking a step towards the door. In his mind, he started mapping out a somewhat roundabout route back to the tower from Caleb's house so he would have some time to himself to think. "Good luck with the pack meeting. Hopefully it goes smoothly."

“Okay.” Eiji answered simply. He just wanted to collapse in bed and give in to sleep for what was hopefully the next twelve hours. The door clicked behind him and he curled up in bed. Thankfully the alcohol was merciful and he fell asleep quickly.

Elijah nodded with a self deprecating huff. "I should have expected that answer. I'm making eggs and toast. Apparently avocado is good for concussions so I have some of that too." The kettle finished and he set a mug with a tea bag down in front of Eiji and poured the water into it. "This is a painkiller from the healers that should help. Just try to drink it slowly." From the tightness around his eyes it looked like Eiji could use it.

“Healing potions? What do we need a potion for that we can’t heal on our own?” Carmen asked. It wasn’t arrogance, it was genuine curiosity. Her sire had held very little interest in her once she had been turned, already on the lookout for a new human companion that would play to his ego, rather than spending his time educating Carmen. “Is it because of these attacks? The ones on the vampires?” Her voice dropped to a whisper then.

"Healing potions for the people vampires feed on. You all will be fine, we just want to make sure everyone else is too." Her question did make him wonder though, he'd heard so far all of the vampires who had been attacked were able to heal without magical intervention, but that might change. He furrowed his brow when she said she didn't see other vampires. The way she phrased it sounded like someone else was preventing her from talking to them rather than a choice she was making for herself. "I'm sure they would be happy to talk to you. I could ask Isabelle to come here if somewhere in Klin doesn't work." He imagined being somewhat on her own as a vampire couldn't be easy on Carmen.

Jo took the offered seat without hesitation, though she didn’t relax into it. Her posture stayed upright, one leg crossing over the other as her gaze moved briefly across the cluttered desk before returning to Elijah. The mess registered somewhere in the back of her mind—ordinary problems, ordinary frustrations. It almost felt strange in the context of the conversation they were about to have.

Elijah sighed and put on a self deprecating smile. "I should have been more exact in my wording: there's been no contact, we haven't spoken since his escape. I've sent him a few open messages but he hasn't responded." And Elijah had no intention of giving Jo any sort of access to where he'd left those messages. "Yes, Eiji is involved with artemis, denying it at this point won't help anyone."

It was probably for the best that his father had decided on the more discreet way of entering the building. Eiji didn’t have the energy to think about what that meant, he just knew he probably didn’t have the patience tonight to face anymore unwanted stares.

He had followed Eiji through the apartment, planning to head to bed as well. It was the wrong time to get into an argument with Eiji about what or who was important so Elijah just shrugged. "I was just getting some sleep. If you need anything you know where I am." He took a step back towards his own room and stopped, tilting his head. "I'll see you in the morning? Breakfast?" The question came out hopeful, though he was half expecting Eiji to turn him down.

"I wouldn't take that to heart. If I was on the run and it was my dad, I'd think it was a trap," she admitted. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine that Eiji felt the same. If Eiji wanted to be found, he would have made himself known. Atlas didn't know the siblings well enough, but if they were as close as she and her brother were, they were in contact. "When I was younger, I always believed that deities gave us siblings so we would never be lonely," she said, absently popping another piece of sushi in her mouth and chewing. "They probably text daily."

It was comforting to think that Eiji and Rei were talking and weren't completely cutoff from each other. "I like your way of thinking about it. I bet if you asked Elio he would neither confirm or deny." Atlas's old idea about siblings seemed like something the deity would appreciate.

This fragile peace was sightly frightening to Howell. As a human in lived in the world of laws and rules and rarely did it fluctuate to extremes in his lifetime. That was another privilege he had been born into by shear fact of where his family had decided to live. Still he’d come to know about supernaturals over twenty years ago. In the beginning he thought they must be ruled archaically through some sort of high powered monarchy but as time past he saw it was much less organized than that. By the time Artemis had come around he already had been informed of the council and was weary of exactly what the did and did not impose upon their own society. “A break down, well we wouldn’t want that.” The thought alone was terrifying, and he wondered if it had ever happened before or where they all just creatures of comfort these days. Could that be what’s keeping them all at bay from jus destroying each other and the city? “So what you’re saying is this alliance is fragile and only viable while the majority agrees on things….”

"Couldn't you say the same about most forms of governance?' He asked with a slight smile and finally took a sip of his own drink. He couldn't help being a little bit satisfied to see Howell so clearly rattled. It was nice to have someone from artemis on the back foot for once. Still, Howell needed to be able to function and not think he needed to bring security guards to the council or worse something that could affect their magic.

Eiji would probably regret his choice in the morning, but for now he was tired of feeling hurt all the time and he wanted to believe things could get better for a little while.

The ride back was mostly silent, though Elijah kept an eye on his son without flat out staring just to make sure he was alright. He paid the driver and got out of the cab first to help Eiji. As they approached the tower he looked up and tried to see it the way Eiji did, not as somewhere that was safe but as a giant microscope. Trying to imagine that every time he spoke with someone it felt like they were staring at him reproachfully.

A part of him was questioning his sanity when he was willingly hanging out with his father. It was important to keep that connection open if he was ever going to get into the coven enough to find the weak point he needed. It was a means to an end. Thankfully, he had enough buried resentment that he did not feel guilty when he saw how happy his father was to see him, either unaware or ignoring the possible ulterior motives Rei clearly had. "I'm good. I was looking at the list too, I might visit the docks venue later but we can check out the main stage and light stage if you want?"

"Sounds good to me." He used his head to gesture towards the doors. It was a nice enough day so being in the park would be pleasant, and he couldn't help wondering if the elves had a hand in that. "I think the easiest way to get there would be to take public transport or teleport to one of the supernatural areas of the park so we don't become a part of the traffic mess." There was also the fact that he wanted to get through at least a little while with Rei before the two of them started arguing, and that would be easier to accomplish if they weren't stuck in a car together. "I leave the choice up to you though."

Caleb nodded in understanding and tried his best not to give away too much in his carefully schooled neutral expression. Elijah had been put in a tough situation and Caleb had a feeling that he might know which way the witch would lean.

He reached out and rested a hand over Caleb's. Part of it was a genuine thank you, the other reason though was so he could quietly slide into Caleb's mind to fuzz some of the details of their conversation. He should remember most of their conversation and the fact that Elijah was - for lack of a better word - compromised when it came to making decisions regarding Eiji, but he shouldn't remember Elijah's outburst telling him what sort of magic could locate his sons.

With a heavy sigh Howell leaned back, licking his lips while deep in thought. Elijah was almost truthful with him, but that wasn’t enough to cut him off. Again he though, the witch in front of him seemed like a decent man, intent on making sure his own people not just survived but thrived. To survive they need not get on the bad side of Artemis, or at the most desperate measures eliminate the group. The newer council member did not want to see either outcome happen. He wanted an ally, needed one for that matter. “Well that sounds…. a little bit unfair in the grand scheme of things does it not?” Taking another sip he placed the glass down, fingers playing with the edge of the rim. “I am use to the power that comes with money and status yes…..but this.. this goes beyond that.” How on earth did they have any semblance of balance between powers? Just by a hand shake? He couldn’t imagine a being so powerful they could change reality just agreeing to something unless it benefited them. “So what do you do then…when policing doesn’t work?”

"Most of the time, on civic issues, deities and demons tend to fall on opposite sides, so they balance each other out. It's mostly a matter of keeping that balance, and making sure the elders know what's happening with their communities." Elijah took a breath, thinking back to the paintings in the ruins that Caia had shown him. A massive war between deities and demons, the sort of thing where he'd been surprised the planet had survived. He needed to get back to her about that. "If things broke down entirely, I don't know what would happen but I don't imagine it would be pretty."

It was difficult not to want to believe his father when he told him he’d be around more. But should he really have needed to spell it out? Should it have taken so many months worth of spiralling for him to even notice? Shouldn’t it have been obvious that he might have needed his parents?

Elijah couldn't help a relieved sigh when Eiji agreed, letting one of his hands fall while the other lingered on Eiji's shoulder still. Eiji's friend could probably look after him fine, god knows they had probably been doing it for the past while, but it would be good to have him home and safe for a night. "Thank you."

“Really, in what way?” Carmen asked curiously. She knew the main focus areas of each of the covens, but she had a feeling her knowledge was being largely limited to what her family wanted her to know. Anything she might have known before she was turned was foggy at best. “Are you responsible for the way the sun rings work?” She asked.

"A witch in my coven, Daphne, has worked with one of the Rosu leaders on healing potions. I think the sun rings would be more in the Dumisanis' wheelhouse since they deal with more elemental magic." Which made Elijah realize that even though he knew a few people who sold sun rings, he hadn't paid much attention to how they were made. "Have you had a chance to meet any of the clan leaders?"

Atlas had to really think about the other witch before the image of the tall handsome man popped in her head. Eiji shew knew, she knew Rei as well. They might have been much older than them both but they still hung around in the same circles, went to the same clubs. "Ah yes, that sounds exhausting," they said, frowning. It was scary to know that they had access to another thing that was meant to be protecting the supernatural community from Artemis. They were somehow always a step ahead of the community and its leaders.

"He hasn't. I've left messages for him where he can find them, digitally and physically, but he doesn't seem to be interested in replying." Elijah could use magic to track Eiji down but knew his son wouldn't be happy to be found, so he'd settled for trying to send messages for now. "I hope he and Rei are talking though." A twinge of guilt hit him as he remembered what Eiji had said about Rei having to do too much to keep their family together.