#daad

We know that they were used for communication with the old gods and some sort of messed up rituals, and on that topic yeah, they were probably just straight up tortured and then patched up using healing whispers 🤷‍♀️ Kids from the 9th circle were powerful, the kind of power that could either be contained with physical and magic barriers, or psychological ones. Probably, a combination of both, with a focus on the latter. How do you even contain someone who can, for example, use teleportation? The only real option that I can see is psychological manipulation, lies, gaslighting, and abuse. And as we know, Samarie occasionally escaped the 9th circle, and I wouldn't be surprised if the higher ups knew about that, but recognized that she's too socially inept to be a whistleblower or to escape. Similar to many cults, there was probably a hierarchy, with the most loyal members being afforded more privileges, and maybe that's how Samarie was able to do stuff like sneak outside and get non standard clothing (I'm certain there's a dress code to prevent the members a sense of personal identity, that's a big thing in cults), one way or another she was smart, just the right kind of smart that had it's own goals that didn't go against the church's goals. I guess they didn't really expect her to actually talk with Marina? Or for Marina to care? It's kind of spooky to think that she was probably on the 9th circle's radar as someone who was, unknowingly, very closely connected to someone in the 9th circle. Assuming they knew.

On the topic of what they knew and what they didn't. A headcanon I have is that one type of emotional manipulation/torture that they used is telling the kids that all the priests could read minds. It was a lie, most priests were lucky to be half as powerful as many of the members, and mind reading is a big deal for even the most dedicated and talented priests, but fear is easy to install with the kind of dynamic that they have, and combined with bribery where the kids could tell on each other out of (a bitter grudge/favors/blackmail) priests did have all the dirt on everyone to make the members believe that they really are capable of mind reading. A proof of that that I have is the fact Samarie straight up shuts you off if you attempt to read her mind. Like, she has a whole routine where she can read your face to see if you've read her mind. That's… one hell of a specific social skill to have for someone who has none.

“Sounds like you met Hentrietta Kelling.” Arthur nodded knowingly, looking down at his shoes. His feet seemed to glide along the concrete, as if he walked on ice. “She probably thought you were me, taking a long walk at night. I, ah...used to do that a lot, a while back.” He admitted with a somewhat nervous shrug. Penn didn’t know what he had to be nervous about. “I’ll have to think up something to tell her when we-...uh...when this is...all over.”

Silence fell between them again, and Penn wondered if it was his imagination that made it feel just a little bit lighter. They were approaching the edge of the downtown area, now, and the desert stretched out before them. In the distance, he could see the blocky shape of home-....of Kingsmen Mechanics. That weighty feeling returned, and Penn dug his hands further into his pockets.

Kingsmen Mechanics was not his home, and Lance was not his family. He didn’t have a home; he didn’t have a family. The thought seemed to worsen the tightness in his chest. Did he have a home, somewhere? Had it been that creepy factory he’d woken up outside of? Gosh, he hoped not...that place had been cold, and draughty, and frightening.

“Hey...” Something warm was suddenly laid across his shoulders, and Penn froze up in shock as Arthur pulled him to a stop with his ghostfire arm. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” The spirit said. “But I’ve seen that face in the mirror way too many times to not know you’re thinking something sad. What’s on your mind?”

“Um.” Penn’s brain stopped working for a second. “Don’t you mean your mind?” Arthur made a sound through his teeth, and laughed.

“The brain might be mine, but not the thoughts in it.” He pulled back slightly, and turned Penn to face him more fully. Penn immediately turned his eyes down to somewhere near Arthur’s shoulder. “But I was serious. What’s on your mind?”

“Why do you want to know?” Penn asked sullenly, staring at the pins attached to Arthur’s vest. There was a simple blue circle, a large, golden star, and a skull-shape outlined in purple, and split between black and white. He wondered what they meant.

“Because Vivi doesn’t trust you,” Penn winced, and Arthur softened his tone. “But Mystery doesn’t want to hurt you, and Lewis seems to like you.” He leveled Penn with an unreadable look. ”I want to form my own opinion of you, and I figured that being up front and talking to you would be the easiest way to do that.”

Penn said nothing as Arthur nudged his shoulder, and they resumed walking. A car drove past on the other side of the guardrail, and its tailwind kicked up a small cloud of dust around their feet.

“....I was thinking of home,” Penn admitted after a few moments of silence. “And how I don’t seem to have one. That place,” He nodded ahead, to Kingsmen Mechanics in the near distance. “Felt like home, before I found out I wasn’t who I thought I was. “The only other place I know is that factory…” Penn shook his head. “And I don’t want that to be home. It feels too...too...” He trailed off, not sure how to best describe the place.

“Too...creepy?” Arthur supplied. “Yeah. That place was certified haunted. That’s why we were there. We-...uh.” He suddenly stopped, and coughed into his hand. Penn wondered if ghosts needed to cough. “My friends and I investigate stuff like that.” He explained. “As a hobby.”

“Interesting hobby.” Penn couldn’t quite make his smile reach his voice. Arthur seemed to appreciate the gesture anyway, and they walked in silence for the rest of the trek. When they reached Kingsmen Mechanics, Arthur floated up the steps, unburdened by gravity, and Penn paused at the bottom. He frowned at the worn, wooden steps before hesitantly beginning to climb them.

That was twice now he’d had to climb these damn things while in pain…

Arthur was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, holding a key he’d retrieved from some hidden location, and he waved Penn across the threshold ahead of him. Unlike the last time Penn had walked into this building, he did not feel relieved….the interior lighting now felt harsh, and the cluttered walls too close. He followed silently as Arthur ‘walked’ to his bedroom, and stopped at the door, hands shoved in his pockets.

“Yoooooouuuuu didn’t happen to move any keys while you were digging through my closet, did you?” Arthur asked over his shoulder as he dug through a woven basket in the corner, throwing out dirty and oil stained clothes as he went.

“No?” Penn shook his head, even though Arthur couldn’t see. “I didn’t ‘dig through’ anything,” He hadn’t wanted to touch anything, once he knew it wasn’t his. “I only touched the first clothes I found in the closet.” Arthur popped out of the basket with a frown on his face, and quickly shoved all the dirty clothes back into it.

“Lance must’ve done some laundry.” He muttered to himself as he moved to searching the clothes thrown on the floor. “Remind me to thank him. I haven’t seen that Hamtaro shirt in weeks-ah!” Arthur made a sudden, triumphant noise that made Penn jump, and held up a vehicle key on a metal ring with some colorful attachment. “Here they are!” He dropped the pants, and tossed the keys up in the air before catching them with a smile. 

“Now we can send Lewis back to pick up the van.” Arthur ‘walked’ back to the door, and Penn backed up into the hallway to let him through. “I appreciate that you didn’t try to drive it, by the way…” Penn decided not to mention that he didn’t know how, and simply followed Arthur as he moved further down the hallway.

“Let’s get that hand cleaned up, now.” Arthur held the bathroom door open for Penn - or, at least, he tried to. Part of his fiery left arm seemed to sink right through the wood to the other side. Penn stared at it in quiet shock as he shuffled past, and Arthur made a point of not looking at it.