Calendarlogs
Jacks White Oak Seminar The Prices Of Power 240508
In the biodome of Lam's Arcology at White Oak, Jack led a seminar that delved into the nuances of power, particularly within the supernatural realm, intriguing his students with complex questions and provocations. The seminar saw contributions from various students like Elanora, Meridith, and Vincent, exploring fundamentals like the Treat of Venice and the essence of supernatural power. As discussions veered towards the prices of wielding such power, Olivia and Esmeralda contributed their insights, weaving a rich tapestry of supernatural and moral complexity. The seminar climax involved Kiana volunteering to partake in a demonstration by Jack, hinting at the sacrifices and moral ambiguities involved in harnessing true power. The exercise under the stars, laden with metaphors of corruption and sacrifice, left the students pondering the heavy cost of supernatural capabilities.
The demonstration with Kiana, heightened by the ritual of removing her boots and the discourse around the nature of evil, underscored a sinister thesis: the obtainment and exercise of power might inherently demand the suffering of others. Elanora, engaged and yet repulsed by the unfolding scene, participated reluctantly, provoking further discussion on morality, power, and the supernatural. As the seminar concluded around midnight, Jack hinted at future engagements with the tree of woe, leaving students with much to ponder regarding the nature of their own pursuits of power within the supernatural domain. The seminar not only challenged the students' perceptions of power and its costs but also left them with an impending sense of the moral dilemmas they would face in their supernatural studies at White Oak.
(Jack's [White Oak] Seminar: The Prices of Power)
[Tue May 7 2024]
By the Airlock within Lam's Arcology at White Oak
The humid, warm interior of the biodome is a self-contained ecosystem all of its own, bearing minimal resemblance even to the forested growth that bucks up against the edges of campus and the town beyond. A tall, geodesic dome of translucent plexiglass panels, its interior is largely dominated by old trees with vibrant, pale green leaves that ensure any sunlight that makes it through is filtered through a veil of organic green. Down here on the artificial forest's floor, there are no outside materials brought in to enforce paths or otherwise try and tailor the growth to one particular means or another; the ground is nothing more than soft, leaf-strewn dirt that occasionally plays home to fallen branches, new flowers or other plants trying to bloom, outcroppings of mushrooms or other fungal growths, and numerous other signs of life both new and past. The dense growth all around forces those within to take wandering, meandering paths unless they're some of the smaller, sometimes-winged creatures that occasionally flit or jump from branch to branch overhead. Occasional glimpses of an upper level can be seen where coverage is scarcer, metal walkways and platforms suspended high above the forest floor.
The southerly edge of the dome's interior can occasionally be glimpsed through trees here as they're necessarily made a little sparser, particularly when it comes to making room for the large, awkward bulk of the airlock to the east that ensures the climate isn't too terribly disrupted by those coming and going. Crunchy, duff-laden paths wide enough to allow easy passage spread out to the north.
It is about 60F(15C) degrees.
Elanora's lashes blinks over her golden eyes, "The Venetian basics?" She echos softly, glancing over at Vincent, "Uh.... Maybe? It would be good if you could give a refresher Father?"
Meridith says "The Treat of Venice. The nature of the supernatural world."
Meridith informs Elanora dutifully.
Olivia raises her hand toward the assembled and offers a friendly wave and an expression giving more recognition toward Vincent and Meridith. "Hey girlies, Eff-Jay."
"And Miss Myers," Jack tells Olivia, his eyes flickering to her. He looks back at Elanora. "This isn't probably the class to go over that," he says. "Though Miss Walker says you understand some of it?" he says, nodding to Meridith at her statement.
Esmeralda gives a wave in Olivia's direction, "Hola."
Vincent nods his head. "I have heard about it... though not much in detail." He responds back to Jack
Elanora nods agreeably with Vincent, "Yes... A small amount of understanding."
Elanora looks around with slightly widened eyes, "I didn't realize everyone at college is aware..."
Esmeralda says "Not all of them, but quite a few, especially after a few months of being here."
Meridith says "Not everyone but close to. This place is the epicenter of supernatural young adults. It's the true purpose of White Oak."
"No, not everyone," Jack tells Elanora. "But White Oak is about educating students in the supernatural. We can talk more about that soon," he says. "For now -- let's go find our place for class." He looks around, beginning to lead the small group of students off into the depths of the biodome.
Jack says "Miss Swan, keep up!"
"Not quite everyone," Olivia points out to Elanora with a sympathetic tint to her smile at that young woman. "But it shouldn't have gotten on your course offerings if you're not. Might wanna check with eye-tee about that one." She toodles her fingers over at Esmeralda and asks, "How've you been?"
"It's easy to get lost in here," Jack chastizes Elanora. "And there are things in the depths of the biodome you do not want to meet."
Vincent looks over to Olivia giving her a wave in return, before focusing on Meridith. "Is that so..." He mummers to himself at her words as he follows along with the class into the dome of green.
Meridith says "There's a plant in there I'm pretty sure has eaten people."
"I've been well." Esmeralda says to Olivia, "Just busy with studying lately. You?"
Elanora nods agreeably as she follows along, trailing after the last one in line.
Jack agrees with Meridith, "There are -- dangerous things here." It's agreement, as he leads the students along the duff-laden path to a kind of clearing in front of a dead tree. He sets up there, encouraging the students to gather around. "You can find a spot on the ground," he says, the stars winking down through the glass overhead. "This is as good a place as any for our seminar."
Meridith takes a slow breath and studies the tree, her eyes regard it with deep suspicion.
"Work, fun, games--the usual post-finals week stuff I guess," Olivia informs Esmeralda as they walk along behind Jack. "Gabby's bee-day yesterday, and of course the most important part of a beach town summer--the beach, or at least trying to make that work. Anyone else here had any luck with that?"
Elanora's golden eyes study the manacles on the wood and she keeps a respectable distance. She sticks close Meridith and Vincent, the only people she seems familiar with here and slowly takes a seat on the grass that isn't directly under a branch, hugging her knees.
Kiana slips off her coat, and drapes it over an arm to take in some of the sun. Her silvery hair gleams a touch in the evening light bouncing off the dome. Eying the others, she takes in all of the other students.
Esmeralda nods a few times to Olivia and remarks, "Hopefully the weather will start to get better for beach parties." mildly, as she finds a spot on the grass to sit down at.
Meridith sticks her hands in her pocket and studies this room intently, lingering between the students and settling on Jack. She hmms softly. Kiana's scars and tattoos catch her eye too.
Jack explains to the class, "Tonight's seminar is on the price of power." He pauses. "When I say power, I mean real power -- Venetian power," he says. "Though to be honest, the prices we'll discuss are paid as much by presidents and princes as they are among the mighty in the Supernatural world." He pauses. "Who can give an example of someone with power, real power?" he asks the students, looking from Kiana to Olivia to Meridith to Esmeralda to Vincent to Elanora.
Vincent looks around the the area before focusing on the the Tree of Woe with a raised eyebrow. "Look likes someone did not take of that tree well.. what's with the manacles?" He comments and asks aloud before looking around to find a seat before shrugging and seemly deciding the ground is as good as any place as he takes a seat, attempting to scratch out- though before that-
Elanora grabs the back of Vincent's shirt and drags him down next to her.
"Something that is viewed as a god to mortals," Kiana voices in a chirp.
Meridith shrugs some. "I assume it'd be gauche to suggest myself," she takes a seat nearby.
Olivia does more than look; she takes a seat by Kiana and extends her own right forearm, giving the other girl a better look at the broken Narsil inked there along the length of her forearm. "You have covered some ground," she tells Kiana cheerily, not quite getting a chance to introduce herself before she volunteers to Jack, "Ooh, Angelique of Inigo fame."
Elanora hugs her knees to chest as her golden eyes watch Jack, she rests her cheek on her knees but makes no attempt to answer the question.
Vincent hisses as he smacks Elanora hand away form him once seated.
Esmeralda doesn't toss out any answers to Jack's question, instead looking around curiously at the ones who do come up with responses.
nods some. "All of us, every single person in this room with few exceptions, truthfully," Meridith suggests to the room and all present. "Whether we knew it or not."
"Miss Walker," Jack tells Meridith, "I think you're foolish if you think you have power -- real power," he says. A pause. "I'll give a hint: if the Order will take you as a member, at best you pretend at it." He glances at Olivia. "What about Miss Inigo makes you think she possesses real strength?"
Meridith smiles warmly in Jack's direction.
Vincent shrugs lightly on the ground taking a moments pause to think before opening his mouth to speak to answer. "Money, it makes the world go round and can make people do things you want." The blonde answers in his posh sounding accent.
Olivia lowers her hand from her volunteering of the answer and supplies to Jack, "Her money doesn't hurt, the influence she has doesn't hurt, being able to boss around--at one time--the local chapter of the Hand definitely didn't hurt. Knowledge, influence, authority--and the ability to use all three to lead," summarizes the dark-haired girl from her seat.
Kiana bumps forearms with Olivia a touch playfully, nodding to the other as she eyes the conversation going around. How'd she get on the ground? Don't worry about it. She sits with her knees high, but lazily so in her cargoes.
Elanora's golden eyes glance up at the stars before pressing her cheek against her knees some more, her arms hugging her knees as her blood red hair spills down around herself, the tips brushing the grass.
"Those things matter," Jack agrees to Olivia. "Miss Cosovei?" he asks Kiana. "What kinds of things have real power that you know of?" he says, picking now on another student.
"Well, the Gods that the Wildlings worship -- You know. The hunters, the faes, the great demigods that those other eidolons invest with all of those powers. Right?" Kiana begins after taking a very, very large breath. "But all eidolons -- that's what they're really called, you see -- sacrifice a whoooole bunch to get there!" She spreads her hands out wide, an elbow bumping Olivia which she apologizes for quietly. "Those things take blood, life, even sex, all of those things take energy, any kind of energy, so long as it invests power within them, so they can use power themselves."
Meridith nods some to Kiana. Intrigued by what she is sharing.
Elanora also seems interested in the sharing of knowledge about eidolons.
"Oh, right!" Kiana beams out, smiling to Olivia. "Though, those aren't my favorite kinds, sadly, they are necessary to help others, or harm others. It's very mutable."
Olivia cracks a grin when Kiana mentions those particulars aren't her favorites. "I mean, if you had to choose a favorite for sure--it's right there. I do like that you don't have to like, hunt down specific frequencies or whatever of energy for a ritual. You can just use as you get."
Elanora brings a lock of her blood red hair to her lips and plays her hair along her mouth as she listens with curiosity.
Esmeralda quietly listens to the conversation going on, glancing between Olivia and Kiana as they talk.
"Gods are, ultimately, powerful sorcerers," Jack agrees with Kiana. "And that is exactly the sort of power I am talking about -- the power of magic," he says. "Now I mean magic in a broad sense, not just the casual rituals we can perform," he says. "What Miss Walker does is magic." He pauses. "Isn't it, Miss Walker?" he asks Meridith.
Meridith grimaces. "I find all the magic stuff, detestable." She studies Jack and nods. "Yes. I am a magic engine of sorts. Humanity twisted into a shape which uses that same energy, but instead of rituals, it makes me strong, fast, allows me to do incredible things."
Meridith says "But it runs on the same."
"Real self-hate type beat," Olivia offers a Gen-Z flavored commentary, softly spoken and at least nominally sympathetic toward Meridith. "So which do you use to fuel your superheroine abilities? The blood, the torment, or the sex?"
Elanora turns to look at Meridith with her golden eyes as she speaks, her lashes blinking over her eyes as she considers the other woman's words.
Meridith shrugs. "At the moment, I largely empower myself with normal human metabolism. But who knows for how long that will be true. My presence will cause people to become afraid before long, and I will grow stronger on that fear," she explains to Olivia.
Olivia is plucking grass from nearby the path on which she sits as Meridith offers that explanation, apparently not finding as much entertaining in the answer as the dark-haired girl's expression belied in expectation. "Very dementorcore. In exchange, what are you doing with your magic gifts?"
Meridith shrugs at Olivia. "Taking over the world?" she smiles winningly.
Elanora grins at Meridith's remarks, flashing canines that are just slightlyyy suspiciously long.
"Now then," Jack tells the class. "Miss Walker, don't demur. You are a fighter," he says. "You are faster and stronger than any human being -- isn't that true?" he asks Meridith.
Meridith shakes her head. "I am human myself, all things are born from that base," she explains to Jack. "So, not any human being, but any natural, certainly."
Olivia makes a gesture with her hand indicating that Meridith may indeed slay, queen.
Jack tells the class, "Natural is an interesting distinction." He pauses. "But it's a fair one." He pauses. "What is the source of supernatural power?" he asks the assembled students.
Kiana restlessly taps her knees.
Meridith nods and gestures to Jack.
Elanora nibbles on a lock of her blood red hair as she'
Elanora nibbles on a lock of her blood red hair as she's content to simply just listen
"Miss Swann," Jack says, calling on Elanora. "What do you think the source of supernatural power is?"
Elanora reminds everyone it's Swan! Not Swann the historical family!
"Not like the fuel, but the source?" Olivia wonders, brought away from her distraction of Kiana's restless tapping. "I have no idea. The--" She cuts herself off as Jack goes to pick on the long-ish toothed girl.
Elanora blinks up at Jack, "I have no idea. Curses? Some god that got bored and decided to inject some venom into the first vampire? The first werewolf who cheated on a witch and got cursed to turn into a wolf on the fullmoon when he got cheated on?" She guesses.
Meridith giggles some.
Elanora says "I read that angels made vampires because they have a poison in their body they have to expel every few millenia? "
Elanora squints at Jack, "Do they ever get it right in fantasy?"
Jack tells Elanora, "All interesting thoughts, but the answer is more fundamental." He scans the room. "Miss Myers? You know."
Kiana blinks up and over to Vincent curiously, she mouths over an invitation; patting the ground with a subtle ta-tap.
"I mean... The unknowable Source that wages a war for our continued existence that, out of convenience and upbringing's sake--and for lack of a better word--you call God?" Olivia fishes in pure-guess mien to Jack.
"Miss Myers." Jack's eyes are low on Olivia. "That kind of answer is going to get you volunteered," he says. "Power comes from corruption," he says. "What do you think I mean by corruption?" he asks, stepping back; behind him, the tree looms, with the manacles embedded in the dead, bone-white trunk.
Olivia offers a winsome smile back at Jack as though that and her answer might undig her hole. "Hurting others for your own benefit. Like to fuel your rituals or make yourself younger or what have you. Spreading misery for your gain. Corruption."
Olivia offers a winsome smile back at Jack as though that and her answer might undig her hole. "Hurting others for your own benefit. Like to fuel your rituals or make yourself younger or what have you. Spreading misery for your gain. Corruption." (re for Jack)
Meridith hmm's curiously at Jack then to Olivia some. She humms softly.
"Do you believe me, Mr. Greyson?" Jack asks Vincent. "Miss Swan?" he asks. "Using power takes something out of you," he says. "So in an immediate way, it takes some kind of energy. The swiftest path to that power is the suffering of others," he says. "But there is something larger at work, too..." A pause. "I need a volunteer."
"Volunteer for what? We should know before we raise a hand," Olivia points out to Jack
Elanora brings a fingernail that looks like a blood red talon to her lips, tugging on her lower lip as she nods towards Jack,
Elanora isn't done
"Oh, he wants a volunteer for how power can be used!" Kiana declares helpfully, smiling to lean over and whisper quickly in Vincent's ear.
Jack tells Olivia, "No backtalk, Miss Myers."
Elanora brings a fingernail that looks like a blood red talon to her lips, tugging on her lower lip as she nods towards Jack, "I believe those things can definately exist from what I've seen here... There's been some awfully strange things.. And I guess... Vampires feed on people... Their body and their suffering.." She doesn't particularly look like she wants to volunteer though.
Meridith texts briefly and slips the phone away, nodding in Jack's direction.
Jack's eyes flicker to his phone, and then to Meridith. He looks back at Elanora. "In a sense, everyone and everything with power is a kind of vampire."
Vincent shrugs slightly before speaking. "I have no clue what to believe.. everything is new." He responds back to before glancing at Elanora before leaning in to listen what Kiana is whispering about before whispering himself before paying back attention to the class.
Elanora says "I suppose if everyone needs to suck energy from those around them...."
Meridith nods along with Jack. "A little more tangible than how others use the term, but...the concept of psychic vampire springs to mind."
Kiana smiles to Vincent, her lips dimpling as she nods to him. Then, "Well, if no one is going to volunteer, I suppose I will," she says, rising fluidly from her place between Olivia and Vincent. She looks to Jack, smiling bravely. "I am willing to demonstrate, if it helps."
"Miss Cosovei," Jack tells Kiana. "Come up here." It's a beckoning gesture. "It's more complicated than that," he explains to Elanora as he calls Kiana up. "Miss Walker insisted she's human, but that's how you know she doesn't have a great deal of power, not really," he explains. "The more you learn -- the more you master -- the father you fall from the natural world. What we think as morality seems distant," he says. "That's what White Oak is really here for."
Kiana steps over to Jack, slipping her hands in her cargo pants pockets. Though she gives a cheery wave to those that are now the audience, as well as students. She looks encouragingly at them, even.
Olivia answers the wave with a cheery waggle of her fingers in return to Kiana's cavalier march up to the front. She herself settles back down to her seat.
Elanora's golden eyes watch Kiana as she bravely volunteers and her eyes study Jack and Kiana as well as the manacles tree behind them.
Meridith holds back any argument she might have. And watches Kiana and Jack warily.
Reaching out rather gently, Jack takes a hold of Kiana's wrist as he tells the class, "We are here to help you avoid the temptation of corruption." It's a pause. "You will always want more -- Miss Walker wants more right now, after all. She wishes she had the strength to right every wrong, don't you, Miss Walker?"
Esmeralda continues to quietly listen as Jack speaks, frowning slightly as Kiana volunteers, and watching to see what the priest plans to do.
Meridith nods. "I would take every ounce of power offered and more. And use it to cut clean every wicked thing that walks about exploiting the people of this world," she admits freely at Jack's prompting.
"I think all of us want to do something to change the world, or our world," Kiana remarks insightfully, she smiles to Meridith with a gentle look. She allows the vicar to do as he pleases, and it becomes a strange sort of dance.
Vincent watches as he Kiana bravely marches forward towards Jack and the Tree of Woe as he raises an eyebrow as he focus on the tree and the manacles that are upon it, as he glances over at Olivia leaning slightly to cover the space as he whispers before leaning back into his spot.
Elanora nods, "I think everyone tries to do their part to help in the world.. No matter how small, just on the off chance it may make a difference..."
Elanora nods, "I think everyone tries to do their part to help in the world.. No matter how small, just on the off chance it may make a difference..." (repost)
Meridith says "Not everyone."
Elanora says "Everyone good"
Meridith gazes at Elanora with some seriousness. With the caveat she can nod some. "Everyone righteous believes in a different path."
Olivia perks up her ear and tilts her head to better receive that whisper, afterward leaning up on an arm to return the whisper to Vincent.
With a firm grip on Kiana's hand, Jack begins to affix her to the tree. A manacle is snapped shut. "But here's the difficulty," he tells Elanora. "The world is awful." He pauses. "It is full of awful people doing awful things -- and to fight them, you need awful power." He shakes his head. "If you need the Devil's tools to fight the Devil, how do you stop becoming the devil yourself?"
Meridith gazes seriously at Jack, she doesn't speak up here much, simply observing the demonstration.
Elanora blinks as Jack binds Kiana to the tree, her cherry blossom lips parting as she just watches for a moment, "Can't you just make the devil fall in love with a innocent lamb and temper him that way? Someone sweet?"
Laughter from Jack as he continues to manacle Kiana. "There's a name for those sorts of lambs, Miss Swan. Can you guess what it is?" he asks Elanora.
Meridith smiles some at Elanora. "Cute," she offers, with some sincerity.
Elanora shakes her head, "I believe people try to show their best self to those who they love. Including the devil."
Vincent tilts his head slightly as he watches someone getting cuffed to the tree before looking over to Elanora as he opens his mouth to respond. "I have the feeling the devil would eat them up and spit any little lamb out." He comments as he looks over at Olivia shrugging slightly, as the blonde leans and whispers something short before paying attention back to the class.
Vincent tilts his head slightly as he watches Kiana getting cuffed to the tree before looking over to Elanora as he opens his mouth to respond. "I have the feeling the devil would eat them up and spit any little lamb out." He comments as he looks over at Olivia shrugging slightly, as the blonde leans and whispers something short before paying attention back to the class.
Olivia snickers at Meridith and Elanora's endeavors to humanize the Devil, but she doesn't seem too inclined to agree with anyone but Vincent as he speculates on the future of said lamb. She hears out his next whisper and nods her head as she surmises, "I'm sure he's going to reign in the torment. It's... more a theory class, right?"
Elanora says "You just gotta find the things that attract the Devil... It might be innocence... Or it might be .. lack thereof..."
Elanora shrugs a shoulder
"Would that be more theology?" Kiana chirps out, her eyes flitting over to Jack and then the rest of the class as she settles in those manacles.
Elanora crawls over to where Vincent and the others are sitting and sits behind them, trying to get in on the whispering action.
Meridith's arms are folded, levity, whatever she shows, is fleeting. She keeps her eyes trained on whatever is going on at that tree.
Elanora would like everyone to ignore that
Vincent looks over towards Elanora patting on the ground, before leaning in to whisper to her.
The priest's hand goes from Kiana's wrists to her belly, resting there. "Miss Walker is glad that she's not on the tree tonight," Jack shares with the class. "The problem, Miss Swan, is that power comes hand in hand with evil." He pauses. "To get power you must do awful things. To sustain power you must continue to do awful things," he says. "And if you do not do awful things, you will be diminished." He pauses. "Miss Swan, what do you think the Devil would do to Miss Cosovei?"
Meridith gazes toward the tree, then to Jack. "Does it every worry you how many of the answers of what evil might do, mirrors your own behavior father?" Her question seems utterly sincere, even if it carries an obvious edge.
Kiana looks over to Elanora curiously.
Elanora's watches the priest put his hands on Kiana's stomach from over Vincent's shoulder, her eyebrow raising just a hair. "Um.... I don't know... Depends on what the devil is actually after? I mean... Is the devil actually evil? Isn't he a fallen angel? Maybe he just wants to be entertained.... Maybe he wants to experience a pure soul... " She shrugs, "If I were the Devil... I would tickle Kiana." She nods innocently.
"Not the tickling!" Kiana declares.
"I know that I've sacrificed my humanity to protect the flock," Jack tells Meridith. "I grapple with it every night, Miss Walker: I wonder what happens when you are confronted with that." He turns to look at Elanora, his hand still on Kiana. "The devil you dream of is kind," he says after a while. "I envy that." There's a pause, stepping back from the girl bound to the tree, but still leaving her bound there. "What do you think evil is?" he asks.
Olivia cackles at Elanora's answer and shakes her head--it may not ring with an ounce of truth for the dark-haired girl, but at least it was entertaining. Kiana playing into the terror only extends her enjoyment of the scene. She asks Kiana, "Stomach, underarms, or feet--which is the worst?"
Vincent watches the happenings with Kiana cuffed to the tree and Jack resting his hands on her with a look of wary as he mummers under his breath just enough for Elanora to hear him, before looking back seemly the humor of Olivia seemly lightening up Vincent mood as he leans slightly back with a amused smile on his lips.
The slight breeze in the planitarium blows back a lock of blood red hair from the sides of Elanora's face. "Evil?" She says softly, pulling on her lower lip with her nail, "Evil is .... Evil is doing things that infringe on the rights... or freedoms... of others. It doesn't matter the cause." Her chin tilts up slightly, "You could have the best cause in the world and if you're raping, pillaging, killing defenceless other people and it would still be evil. Wether it be in the name of God. Or the devil."
Meridith nods some, taking no major issues with Elanora's answer.
"Likely my feet is the worst," Kiana relays to Olivia, smiling with no resistance in her shackles, though she does point with her fingers down to her boots.
"The rights, the freedoms -- the comfort, too," Jack tells Elanora. "Miss Swan," he says. "Please remove Miss Cosovei's boots."
Elanora says "Um... I'm good over here thanks Father.. I don't like touching things that have touched people's feet..."
Elanora gives a small shudder
Meridith raises a brow in Elanora's direction
There's a long, low smile at Elanora, and it isn't pleasant. "Miss Swan, do you like passing your classes?" Jack asks her.
Elanora gives a long suffering sigh and slowly gets to her feet. Her golden eyes stare at Jack as her brow knits and she ever so slowly makes her way to the front of the class.
Elanora stares at Kiana, giving the woman an apologetic look as she bends down and grabs the zipper of Kiana's boots and slowly tugs it down only making contact with the tip of her nails
"They're really easy laces, I promise," Kiana reassures Elanora tentatively. "And I just took a shower!" She looks over to Vincent, Meridith, and Olivia, "Not really what was I expecting for today, but...Everything here is unusual in earth, right?" She glances to Jack.
Elanora is going to continue to pretend Kiana's boots have zipppers....as the same for the other boot and then uses one foot to nudge at the boots until they fall off of Kiana's feet.
Elanora is going to continue to pretend Kiana's boots have zipppers....as she does the same for the other boot and then uses one foot to nudge at the boots until they fall off of Kiana's feet.
"If you had to remove a pair of shoes while allergic," Olivia points out to Elanora from the ease of her spectator's seat, or at least the place where she starts to rise to depart, "You can't beat clean and interesting. Arr-eye-pee, Cool Pants. May you survive the Devil," she wishes unto Kiana before starting to slink off.
"Just watch me!" Kiana chimes to Olivia.
"The suffering here is Miss Swan more than Miss Cosovei," Jack says. "But it's all power. I feel the rush of it," he says. "Perhaps Miss Walker does, too, if she's already started to trip that precipice -- but the essence of power is the suffering of others."
Kiana shifts a bit in the manacles, wiggling her toes as she begins to sway a bit restlessly in place. "It is getting rather boring without some sort of result, but my feet are getting cold," she points out, as if that small suffering could counter-act any discomfort that Elanora feels.
Elanora flees from the tree and watches the other girl leave, "Yup you're the devil father. How come gets to leave class early?"
Elanora flees from the tree and watches the other girl leave, "Yup you're the devil father. How come she* gets to leave class early?"
"It's midnight," Jack tells Elanora. He pauses. "Besides," he says. "We'll wind down -- for now," he tells the class. Glancing at Meridith, "You can cut Miss Cosovei down," he tells her, indicating Kiana. "I'm sure we will explore the tree of woe more in future classes. For now, any questions?" he says. "Otherwise, I'll assign homework."
The demonstration with Kiana, heightened by the ritual of removing her boots and the discourse around the nature of evil, underscored a sinister thesis: the obtainment and exercise of power might inherently demand the suffering of others. Elanora, engaged and yet repulsed by the unfolding scene, participated reluctantly, provoking further discussion on morality, power, and the supernatural. As the seminar concluded around midnight, Jack hinted at future engagements with the tree of woe, leaving students with much to ponder regarding the nature of their own pursuits of power within the supernatural domain. The seminar not only challenged the students' perceptions of power and its costs but also left them with an impending sense of the moral dilemmas they would face in their supernatural studies at White Oak.
(Jack's [White Oak] Seminar: The Prices of Power)
[Tue May 7 2024]
By the Airlock within Lam's Arcology at White Oak
The humid, warm interior of the biodome is a self-contained ecosystem all of its own, bearing minimal resemblance even to the forested growth that bucks up against the edges of campus and the town beyond. A tall, geodesic dome of translucent plexiglass panels, its interior is largely dominated by old trees with vibrant, pale green leaves that ensure any sunlight that makes it through is filtered through a veil of organic green. Down here on the artificial forest's floor, there are no outside materials brought in to enforce paths or otherwise try and tailor the growth to one particular means or another; the ground is nothing more than soft, leaf-strewn dirt that occasionally plays home to fallen branches, new flowers or other plants trying to bloom, outcroppings of mushrooms or other fungal growths, and numerous other signs of life both new and past. The dense growth all around forces those within to take wandering, meandering paths unless they're some of the smaller, sometimes-winged creatures that occasionally flit or jump from branch to branch overhead. Occasional glimpses of an upper level can be seen where coverage is scarcer, metal walkways and platforms suspended high above the forest floor.
The southerly edge of the dome's interior can occasionally be glimpsed through trees here as they're necessarily made a little sparser, particularly when it comes to making room for the large, awkward bulk of the airlock to the east that ensures the climate isn't too terribly disrupted by those coming and going. Crunchy, duff-laden paths wide enough to allow easy passage spread out to the north.
It is about 60F(15C) degrees.
Elanora's lashes blinks over her golden eyes, "The Venetian basics?" She echos softly, glancing over at Vincent, "Uh.... Maybe? It would be good if you could give a refresher Father?"
Meridith says "The Treat of Venice. The nature of the supernatural world."
Meridith informs Elanora dutifully.
Olivia raises her hand toward the assembled and offers a friendly wave and an expression giving more recognition toward Vincent and Meridith. "Hey girlies, Eff-Jay."
"And Miss Myers," Jack tells Olivia, his eyes flickering to her. He looks back at Elanora. "This isn't probably the class to go over that," he says. "Though Miss Walker says you understand some of it?" he says, nodding to Meridith at her statement.
Esmeralda gives a wave in Olivia's direction, "Hola."
Vincent nods his head. "I have heard about it... though not much in detail." He responds back to Jack
Elanora nods agreeably with Vincent, "Yes... A small amount of understanding."
Elanora looks around with slightly widened eyes, "I didn't realize everyone at college is aware..."
Esmeralda says "Not all of them, but quite a few, especially after a few months of being here."
Meridith says "Not everyone but close to. This place is the epicenter of supernatural young adults. It's the true purpose of White Oak."
"No, not everyone," Jack tells Elanora. "But White Oak is about educating students in the supernatural. We can talk more about that soon," he says. "For now -- let's go find our place for class." He looks around, beginning to lead the small group of students off into the depths of the biodome.
Jack says "Miss Swan, keep up!"
"Not quite everyone," Olivia points out to Elanora with a sympathetic tint to her smile at that young woman. "But it shouldn't have gotten on your course offerings if you're not. Might wanna check with eye-tee about that one." She toodles her fingers over at Esmeralda and asks, "How've you been?"
"It's easy to get lost in here," Jack chastizes Elanora. "And there are things in the depths of the biodome you do not want to meet."
Vincent looks over to Olivia giving her a wave in return, before focusing on Meridith. "Is that so..." He mummers to himself at her words as he follows along with the class into the dome of green.
Meridith says "There's a plant in there I'm pretty sure has eaten people."
"I've been well." Esmeralda says to Olivia, "Just busy with studying lately. You?"
Elanora nods agreeably as she follows along, trailing after the last one in line.
Jack agrees with Meridith, "There are -- dangerous things here." It's agreement, as he leads the students along the duff-laden path to a kind of clearing in front of a dead tree. He sets up there, encouraging the students to gather around. "You can find a spot on the ground," he says, the stars winking down through the glass overhead. "This is as good a place as any for our seminar."
Meridith takes a slow breath and studies the tree, her eyes regard it with deep suspicion.
"Work, fun, games--the usual post-finals week stuff I guess," Olivia informs Esmeralda as they walk along behind Jack. "Gabby's bee-day yesterday, and of course the most important part of a beach town summer--the beach, or at least trying to make that work. Anyone else here had any luck with that?"
Elanora's golden eyes study the manacles on the wood and she keeps a respectable distance. She sticks close Meridith and Vincent, the only people she seems familiar with here and slowly takes a seat on the grass that isn't directly under a branch, hugging her knees.
Kiana slips off her coat, and drapes it over an arm to take in some of the sun. Her silvery hair gleams a touch in the evening light bouncing off the dome. Eying the others, she takes in all of the other students.
Esmeralda nods a few times to Olivia and remarks, "Hopefully the weather will start to get better for beach parties." mildly, as she finds a spot on the grass to sit down at.
Meridith sticks her hands in her pocket and studies this room intently, lingering between the students and settling on Jack. She hmms softly. Kiana's scars and tattoos catch her eye too.
Jack explains to the class, "Tonight's seminar is on the price of power." He pauses. "When I say power, I mean real power -- Venetian power," he says. "Though to be honest, the prices we'll discuss are paid as much by presidents and princes as they are among the mighty in the Supernatural world." He pauses. "Who can give an example of someone with power, real power?" he asks the students, looking from Kiana to Olivia to Meridith to Esmeralda to Vincent to Elanora.
Vincent looks around the the area before focusing on the the Tree of Woe with a raised eyebrow. "Look likes someone did not take of that tree well.. what's with the manacles?" He comments and asks aloud before looking around to find a seat before shrugging and seemly deciding the ground is as good as any place as he takes a seat, attempting to scratch out- though before that-
Elanora grabs the back of Vincent's shirt and drags him down next to her.
"Something that is viewed as a god to mortals," Kiana voices in a chirp.
Meridith shrugs some. "I assume it'd be gauche to suggest myself," she takes a seat nearby.
Olivia does more than look; she takes a seat by Kiana and extends her own right forearm, giving the other girl a better look at the broken Narsil inked there along the length of her forearm. "You have covered some ground," she tells Kiana cheerily, not quite getting a chance to introduce herself before she volunteers to Jack, "Ooh, Angelique of Inigo fame."
Elanora hugs her knees to chest as her golden eyes watch Jack, she rests her cheek on her knees but makes no attempt to answer the question.
Vincent hisses as he smacks Elanora hand away form him once seated.
Esmeralda doesn't toss out any answers to Jack's question, instead looking around curiously at the ones who do come up with responses.
nods some. "All of us, every single person in this room with few exceptions, truthfully," Meridith suggests to the room and all present. "Whether we knew it or not."
"Miss Walker," Jack tells Meridith, "I think you're foolish if you think you have power -- real power," he says. A pause. "I'll give a hint: if the Order will take you as a member, at best you pretend at it." He glances at Olivia. "What about Miss Inigo makes you think she possesses real strength?"
Meridith smiles warmly in Jack's direction.
Vincent shrugs lightly on the ground taking a moments pause to think before opening his mouth to speak to answer. "Money, it makes the world go round and can make people do things you want." The blonde answers in his posh sounding accent.
Olivia lowers her hand from her volunteering of the answer and supplies to Jack, "Her money doesn't hurt, the influence she has doesn't hurt, being able to boss around--at one time--the local chapter of the Hand definitely didn't hurt. Knowledge, influence, authority--and the ability to use all three to lead," summarizes the dark-haired girl from her seat.
Kiana bumps forearms with Olivia a touch playfully, nodding to the other as she eyes the conversation going around. How'd she get on the ground? Don't worry about it. She sits with her knees high, but lazily so in her cargoes.
Elanora's golden eyes glance up at the stars before pressing her cheek against her knees some more, her arms hugging her knees as her blood red hair spills down around herself, the tips brushing the grass.
"Those things matter," Jack agrees to Olivia. "Miss Cosovei?" he asks Kiana. "What kinds of things have real power that you know of?" he says, picking now on another student.
"Well, the Gods that the Wildlings worship -- You know. The hunters, the faes, the great demigods that those other eidolons invest with all of those powers. Right?" Kiana begins after taking a very, very large breath. "But all eidolons -- that's what they're really called, you see -- sacrifice a whoooole bunch to get there!" She spreads her hands out wide, an elbow bumping Olivia which she apologizes for quietly. "Those things take blood, life, even sex, all of those things take energy, any kind of energy, so long as it invests power within them, so they can use power themselves."
Meridith nods some to Kiana. Intrigued by what she is sharing.
Elanora also seems interested in the sharing of knowledge about eidolons.
"Oh, right!" Kiana beams out, smiling to Olivia. "Though, those aren't my favorite kinds, sadly, they are necessary to help others, or harm others. It's very mutable."
Olivia cracks a grin when Kiana mentions those particulars aren't her favorites. "I mean, if you had to choose a favorite for sure--it's right there. I do like that you don't have to like, hunt down specific frequencies or whatever of energy for a ritual. You can just use as you get."
Elanora brings a lock of her blood red hair to her lips and plays her hair along her mouth as she listens with curiosity.
Esmeralda quietly listens to the conversation going on, glancing between Olivia and Kiana as they talk.
"Gods are, ultimately, powerful sorcerers," Jack agrees with Kiana. "And that is exactly the sort of power I am talking about -- the power of magic," he says. "Now I mean magic in a broad sense, not just the casual rituals we can perform," he says. "What Miss Walker does is magic." He pauses. "Isn't it, Miss Walker?" he asks Meridith.
Meridith grimaces. "I find all the magic stuff, detestable." She studies Jack and nods. "Yes. I am a magic engine of sorts. Humanity twisted into a shape which uses that same energy, but instead of rituals, it makes me strong, fast, allows me to do incredible things."
Meridith says "But it runs on the same."
"Real self-hate type beat," Olivia offers a Gen-Z flavored commentary, softly spoken and at least nominally sympathetic toward Meridith. "So which do you use to fuel your superheroine abilities? The blood, the torment, or the sex?"
Elanora turns to look at Meridith with her golden eyes as she speaks, her lashes blinking over her eyes as she considers the other woman's words.
Meridith shrugs. "At the moment, I largely empower myself with normal human metabolism. But who knows for how long that will be true. My presence will cause people to become afraid before long, and I will grow stronger on that fear," she explains to Olivia.
Olivia is plucking grass from nearby the path on which she sits as Meridith offers that explanation, apparently not finding as much entertaining in the answer as the dark-haired girl's expression belied in expectation. "Very dementorcore. In exchange, what are you doing with your magic gifts?"
Meridith shrugs at Olivia. "Taking over the world?" she smiles winningly.
Elanora grins at Meridith's remarks, flashing canines that are just slightlyyy suspiciously long.
"Now then," Jack tells the class. "Miss Walker, don't demur. You are a fighter," he says. "You are faster and stronger than any human being -- isn't that true?" he asks Meridith.
Meridith shakes her head. "I am human myself, all things are born from that base," she explains to Jack. "So, not any human being, but any natural, certainly."
Olivia makes a gesture with her hand indicating that Meridith may indeed slay, queen.
Jack tells the class, "Natural is an interesting distinction." He pauses. "But it's a fair one." He pauses. "What is the source of supernatural power?" he asks the assembled students.
Kiana restlessly taps her knees.
Meridith nods and gestures to Jack.
Elanora nibbles on a lock of her blood red hair as she'
Elanora nibbles on a lock of her blood red hair as she's content to simply just listen
"Miss Swann," Jack says, calling on Elanora. "What do you think the source of supernatural power is?"
Elanora reminds everyone it's Swan! Not Swann the historical family!
"Not like the fuel, but the source?" Olivia wonders, brought away from her distraction of Kiana's restless tapping. "I have no idea. The--" She cuts herself off as Jack goes to pick on the long-ish toothed girl.
Elanora blinks up at Jack, "I have no idea. Curses? Some god that got bored and decided to inject some venom into the first vampire? The first werewolf who cheated on a witch and got cursed to turn into a wolf on the fullmoon when he got cheated on?" She guesses.
Meridith giggles some.
Elanora says "I read that angels made vampires because they have a poison in their body they have to expel every few millenia? "
Elanora squints at Jack, "Do they ever get it right in fantasy?"
Jack tells Elanora, "All interesting thoughts, but the answer is more fundamental." He scans the room. "Miss Myers? You know."
Kiana blinks up and over to Vincent curiously, she mouths over an invitation; patting the ground with a subtle ta-tap.
"I mean... The unknowable Source that wages a war for our continued existence that, out of convenience and upbringing's sake--and for lack of a better word--you call God?" Olivia fishes in pure-guess mien to Jack.
"Miss Myers." Jack's eyes are low on Olivia. "That kind of answer is going to get you volunteered," he says. "Power comes from corruption," he says. "What do you think I mean by corruption?" he asks, stepping back; behind him, the tree looms, with the manacles embedded in the dead, bone-white trunk.
Olivia offers a winsome smile back at Jack as though that and her answer might undig her hole. "Hurting others for your own benefit. Like to fuel your rituals or make yourself younger or what have you. Spreading misery for your gain. Corruption."
Olivia offers a winsome smile back at Jack as though that and her answer might undig her hole. "Hurting others for your own benefit. Like to fuel your rituals or make yourself younger or what have you. Spreading misery for your gain. Corruption." (re for Jack)
Meridith hmm's curiously at Jack then to Olivia some. She humms softly.
"Do you believe me, Mr. Greyson?" Jack asks Vincent. "Miss Swan?" he asks. "Using power takes something out of you," he says. "So in an immediate way, it takes some kind of energy. The swiftest path to that power is the suffering of others," he says. "But there is something larger at work, too..." A pause. "I need a volunteer."
"Volunteer for what? We should know before we raise a hand," Olivia points out to Jack
Elanora brings a fingernail that looks like a blood red talon to her lips, tugging on her lower lip as she nods towards Jack,
Elanora isn't done
"Oh, he wants a volunteer for how power can be used!" Kiana declares helpfully, smiling to lean over and whisper quickly in Vincent's ear.
Jack tells Olivia, "No backtalk, Miss Myers."
Elanora brings a fingernail that looks like a blood red talon to her lips, tugging on her lower lip as she nods towards Jack, "I believe those things can definately exist from what I've seen here... There's been some awfully strange things.. And I guess... Vampires feed on people... Their body and their suffering.." She doesn't particularly look like she wants to volunteer though.
Meridith texts briefly and slips the phone away, nodding in Jack's direction.
Jack's eyes flicker to his phone, and then to Meridith. He looks back at Elanora. "In a sense, everyone and everything with power is a kind of vampire."
Vincent shrugs slightly before speaking. "I have no clue what to believe.. everything is new." He responds back to before glancing at Elanora before leaning in to listen what Kiana is whispering about before whispering himself before paying back attention to the class.
Elanora says "I suppose if everyone needs to suck energy from those around them...."
Meridith nods along with Jack. "A little more tangible than how others use the term, but...the concept of psychic vampire springs to mind."
Kiana smiles to Vincent, her lips dimpling as she nods to him. Then, "Well, if no one is going to volunteer, I suppose I will," she says, rising fluidly from her place between Olivia and Vincent. She looks to Jack, smiling bravely. "I am willing to demonstrate, if it helps."
"Miss Cosovei," Jack tells Kiana. "Come up here." It's a beckoning gesture. "It's more complicated than that," he explains to Elanora as he calls Kiana up. "Miss Walker insisted she's human, but that's how you know she doesn't have a great deal of power, not really," he explains. "The more you learn -- the more you master -- the father you fall from the natural world. What we think as morality seems distant," he says. "That's what White Oak is really here for."
Kiana steps over to Jack, slipping her hands in her cargo pants pockets. Though she gives a cheery wave to those that are now the audience, as well as students. She looks encouragingly at them, even.
Olivia answers the wave with a cheery waggle of her fingers in return to Kiana's cavalier march up to the front. She herself settles back down to her seat.
Elanora's golden eyes watch Kiana as she bravely volunteers and her eyes study Jack and Kiana as well as the manacles tree behind them.
Meridith holds back any argument she might have. And watches Kiana and Jack warily.
Reaching out rather gently, Jack takes a hold of Kiana's wrist as he tells the class, "We are here to help you avoid the temptation of corruption." It's a pause. "You will always want more -- Miss Walker wants more right now, after all. She wishes she had the strength to right every wrong, don't you, Miss Walker?"
Esmeralda continues to quietly listen as Jack speaks, frowning slightly as Kiana volunteers, and watching to see what the priest plans to do.
Meridith nods. "I would take every ounce of power offered and more. And use it to cut clean every wicked thing that walks about exploiting the people of this world," she admits freely at Jack's prompting.
"I think all of us want to do something to change the world, or our world," Kiana remarks insightfully, she smiles to Meridith with a gentle look. She allows the vicar to do as he pleases, and it becomes a strange sort of dance.
Vincent watches as he Kiana bravely marches forward towards Jack and the Tree of Woe as he raises an eyebrow as he focus on the tree and the manacles that are upon it, as he glances over at Olivia leaning slightly to cover the space as he whispers before leaning back into his spot.
Elanora nods, "I think everyone tries to do their part to help in the world.. No matter how small, just on the off chance it may make a difference..."
Elanora nods, "I think everyone tries to do their part to help in the world.. No matter how small, just on the off chance it may make a difference..." (repost)
Meridith says "Not everyone."
Elanora says "Everyone good"
Meridith gazes at Elanora with some seriousness. With the caveat she can nod some. "Everyone righteous believes in a different path."
Olivia perks up her ear and tilts her head to better receive that whisper, afterward leaning up on an arm to return the whisper to Vincent.
With a firm grip on Kiana's hand, Jack begins to affix her to the tree. A manacle is snapped shut. "But here's the difficulty," he tells Elanora. "The world is awful." He pauses. "It is full of awful people doing awful things -- and to fight them, you need awful power." He shakes his head. "If you need the Devil's tools to fight the Devil, how do you stop becoming the devil yourself?"
Meridith gazes seriously at Jack, she doesn't speak up here much, simply observing the demonstration.
Elanora blinks as Jack binds Kiana to the tree, her cherry blossom lips parting as she just watches for a moment, "Can't you just make the devil fall in love with a innocent lamb and temper him that way? Someone sweet?"
Laughter from Jack as he continues to manacle Kiana. "There's a name for those sorts of lambs, Miss Swan. Can you guess what it is?" he asks Elanora.
Meridith smiles some at Elanora. "Cute," she offers, with some sincerity.
Elanora shakes her head, "I believe people try to show their best self to those who they love. Including the devil."
Vincent tilts his head slightly as he watches someone getting cuffed to the tree before looking over to Elanora as he opens his mouth to respond. "I have the feeling the devil would eat them up and spit any little lamb out." He comments as he looks over at Olivia shrugging slightly, as the blonde leans and whispers something short before paying attention back to the class.
Vincent tilts his head slightly as he watches Kiana getting cuffed to the tree before looking over to Elanora as he opens his mouth to respond. "I have the feeling the devil would eat them up and spit any little lamb out." He comments as he looks over at Olivia shrugging slightly, as the blonde leans and whispers something short before paying attention back to the class.
Olivia snickers at Meridith and Elanora's endeavors to humanize the Devil, but she doesn't seem too inclined to agree with anyone but Vincent as he speculates on the future of said lamb. She hears out his next whisper and nods her head as she surmises, "I'm sure he's going to reign in the torment. It's... more a theory class, right?"
Elanora says "You just gotta find the things that attract the Devil... It might be innocence... Or it might be .. lack thereof..."
Elanora shrugs a shoulder
"Would that be more theology?" Kiana chirps out, her eyes flitting over to Jack and then the rest of the class as she settles in those manacles.
Elanora crawls over to where Vincent and the others are sitting and sits behind them, trying to get in on the whispering action.
Meridith's arms are folded, levity, whatever she shows, is fleeting. She keeps her eyes trained on whatever is going on at that tree.
Elanora would like everyone to ignore that
Vincent looks over towards Elanora patting on the ground, before leaning in to whisper to her.
The priest's hand goes from Kiana's wrists to her belly, resting there. "Miss Walker is glad that she's not on the tree tonight," Jack shares with the class. "The problem, Miss Swan, is that power comes hand in hand with evil." He pauses. "To get power you must do awful things. To sustain power you must continue to do awful things," he says. "And if you do not do awful things, you will be diminished." He pauses. "Miss Swan, what do you think the Devil would do to Miss Cosovei?"
Meridith gazes toward the tree, then to Jack. "Does it every worry you how many of the answers of what evil might do, mirrors your own behavior father?" Her question seems utterly sincere, even if it carries an obvious edge.
Kiana looks over to Elanora curiously.
Elanora's watches the priest put his hands on Kiana's stomach from over Vincent's shoulder, her eyebrow raising just a hair. "Um.... I don't know... Depends on what the devil is actually after? I mean... Is the devil actually evil? Isn't he a fallen angel? Maybe he just wants to be entertained.... Maybe he wants to experience a pure soul... " She shrugs, "If I were the Devil... I would tickle Kiana." She nods innocently.
"Not the tickling!" Kiana declares.
"I know that I've sacrificed my humanity to protect the flock," Jack tells Meridith. "I grapple with it every night, Miss Walker: I wonder what happens when you are confronted with that." He turns to look at Elanora, his hand still on Kiana. "The devil you dream of is kind," he says after a while. "I envy that." There's a pause, stepping back from the girl bound to the tree, but still leaving her bound there. "What do you think evil is?" he asks.
Olivia cackles at Elanora's answer and shakes her head--it may not ring with an ounce of truth for the dark-haired girl, but at least it was entertaining. Kiana playing into the terror only extends her enjoyment of the scene. She asks Kiana, "Stomach, underarms, or feet--which is the worst?"
Vincent watches the happenings with Kiana cuffed to the tree and Jack resting his hands on her with a look of wary as he mummers under his breath just enough for Elanora to hear him, before looking back seemly the humor of Olivia seemly lightening up Vincent mood as he leans slightly back with a amused smile on his lips.
The slight breeze in the planitarium blows back a lock of blood red hair from the sides of Elanora's face. "Evil?" She says softly, pulling on her lower lip with her nail, "Evil is .... Evil is doing things that infringe on the rights... or freedoms... of others. It doesn't matter the cause." Her chin tilts up slightly, "You could have the best cause in the world and if you're raping, pillaging, killing defenceless other people and it would still be evil. Wether it be in the name of God. Or the devil."
Meridith nods some, taking no major issues with Elanora's answer.
"Likely my feet is the worst," Kiana relays to Olivia, smiling with no resistance in her shackles, though she does point with her fingers down to her boots.
"The rights, the freedoms -- the comfort, too," Jack tells Elanora. "Miss Swan," he says. "Please remove Miss Cosovei's boots."
Elanora says "Um... I'm good over here thanks Father.. I don't like touching things that have touched people's feet..."
Elanora gives a small shudder
Meridith raises a brow in Elanora's direction
There's a long, low smile at Elanora, and it isn't pleasant. "Miss Swan, do you like passing your classes?" Jack asks her.
Elanora gives a long suffering sigh and slowly gets to her feet. Her golden eyes stare at Jack as her brow knits and she ever so slowly makes her way to the front of the class.
Elanora stares at Kiana, giving the woman an apologetic look as she bends down and grabs the zipper of Kiana's boots and slowly tugs it down only making contact with the tip of her nails
"They're really easy laces, I promise," Kiana reassures Elanora tentatively. "And I just took a shower!" She looks over to Vincent, Meridith, and Olivia, "Not really what was I expecting for today, but...Everything here is unusual in earth, right?" She glances to Jack.
Elanora is going to continue to pretend Kiana's boots have zipppers....as the same for the other boot and then uses one foot to nudge at the boots until they fall off of Kiana's feet.
Elanora is going to continue to pretend Kiana's boots have zipppers....as she does the same for the other boot and then uses one foot to nudge at the boots until they fall off of Kiana's feet.
"If you had to remove a pair of shoes while allergic," Olivia points out to Elanora from the ease of her spectator's seat, or at least the place where she starts to rise to depart, "You can't beat clean and interesting. Arr-eye-pee, Cool Pants. May you survive the Devil," she wishes unto Kiana before starting to slink off.
"Just watch me!" Kiana chimes to Olivia.
"The suffering here is Miss Swan more than Miss Cosovei," Jack says. "But it's all power. I feel the rush of it," he says. "Perhaps Miss Walker does, too, if she's already started to trip that precipice -- but the essence of power is the suffering of others."
Kiana shifts a bit in the manacles, wiggling her toes as she begins to sway a bit restlessly in place. "It is getting rather boring without some sort of result, but my feet are getting cold," she points out, as if that small suffering could counter-act any discomfort that Elanora feels.
Elanora flees from the tree and watches the other girl leave, "Yup you're the devil father. How come gets to leave class early?"
Elanora flees from the tree and watches the other girl leave, "Yup you're the devil father. How come she* gets to leave class early?"
"It's midnight," Jack tells Elanora. He pauses. "Besides," he says. "We'll wind down -- for now," he tells the class. Glancing at Meridith, "You can cut Miss Cosovei down," he tells her, indicating Kiana. "I'm sure we will explore the tree of woe more in future classes. For now, any questions?" he says. "Otherwise, I'll assign homework."