The Ace of Stones

[Owle Isohos]

Kelsey sat at the back right corner of the diner, a half full water bottle at her elbow and her tarot box open in front of her. Her medical bag was plopped on the bench beside her within easy reach, and a lacrosse stick bag leaned against the wall by the window - something else she'd begun to carry around everywhere. In her hand was a single tarot card, depicting a graven stone.

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The medic stared at the card, forehead wrinkling in concentration as she scrutinized it. After a moment she placed it down on the table with a sigh, scanning over a page in the tarot book as if it would offer her any additional insight. Finally, she looked up, hoping for a distraction of some sort.

[lackey]

Did you find that somewhere?

[Owle Isohos]

"Oh, hey, Ed." Kelsey shook her head. "Nah, it's one of my tarot cards." She gestured at the open Wildwood Tarot box in front of her. "I got curious after seeing Madrigus and Leslie giving readings, and thought I'd get a deck of my own so I could ask questions myself when they weren't available."

She waved the card she was holding. "I tried asking it who kept kidnapping me and chanting over me on a cold earthen slab. I didn't really expect to get, well...any answer, really. But this...it fits in with everything I've learned so far. It's about being able to channel your thoughts and desires to bring about a real world change, being connected to the earth and the power that resides there so that you can channel that power to bring about change. And...as far as I can tell, that's what these people are doing. They're trying to destroy or unlock something - some part of me - to protect the earth, or, protect a guardian of the earth, or..."

The medic shook her head again. "It's confusing, and weird. And while this card is an accurate answer, it's also unhelpful. I guess I shouldn't have expected it to give me a name or something."

[lackey]

Kidnapping you?
Kept kidnapping you? That implies multiple times.

That must have been awful. How long ago? And where were you? And how did you escape?

I would think that it would be hard to feel safe if you were kidnapped just once, but multiple times...

[Owle Isohos]

"The first time was just after we all got out of Quarantine - I don't know if you were there. It feels like you've been around forever, but for the life of me I can't remember if you were cooped up with us that winter or not." Kelsey shook her head. "I'd just stepped out of the quarantine zone and was heading towards the diner to meet up with Nick. It felt like I got struck from all sides, then carried off. I didn't escape, that's the scary thing. Just woke up alone in the woods hours later, and it seemed like all the shadows were reaching towards me.

"I mean, weird stuff happens to me a lot. I looked into it for a while, but as the months went by, I thought maybe it was just a fluke. Then it happened again, this April, about a year after it had happened the first time. Same exact thing, same exact chanting, and I woke up in about the same spot after. This time, though, I managed to remember some of the chant - Leslie and Gabriel helped me translate it, that's the only reason I have an idea of what they're trying to do. Leslie thinks I'm a person of powerful importance to them." She gave a strained sort of laugh, as if to emphasize just how ridiculous it was that she could be a person of powerful importance to anyone.

Kelsey looked around the diner, then, glancing out the windows. "It's hard to feel safe around here, Ed. But I do, here, when I'm with a big enough group of you. While I know we haven't beaten everything that's come to threaten us, I do know we'll all try if anything comes rolling in to take one of our own."

[lackey]

Well, come next April you have a bodyguard. You have patched me up too many times for me to let someone think they can just stroll up and kidnap you. And if you see anyone lurking around before that, just let me know.

I wasn't in quarantine. The Union sent me up here for a foreman gig right after the quarantine was lifted. But I didn't hear of the incident back in April... I must not be paying enough attention to details.

[Owle Isohos]

"Seriously?" Kelsey smiled gratefully. "Thanks. They seem to do a damn good job of finding me when I'm on my own, but...that makes me feel better. I'm hoping to talk to whoever's been doing this; if Leslie and Gabriel are right about what the chanting means, these people are trying to protect something. I want to know more before outright shutting them down.

"I didn't tell too many people about it. Not an hour after I got back, the lights went out in the diner, and...well, you know what happened next. Not a lot of space to think about my personal problems when the whole town's in danger." She shrugged, a touch sheepishly.

"Must've been one hell of a foreman gig so far. What kept you here, after everything went down?"

[lackey]

The job wasn't what I expected, but it is work. Not much lumber work, but managing Ondrev's beer shipments has some fringe benefits. Union needs me here, and the Union is family.

But it is more than that. Lots of people need me here. I have to watch out for those that the doctors can't help. Like Brett, or Alice. Either of them might hurt the doctor who is just trying to save a life, each in a different way. And there are more like either of them. They need someone like me to remember them and not let them be left behind.

Anyway, they look at me funny back at home... They just don't trust things they don't understand. Can't blame them, I don't either. I just understand a lot more these days.

[Owle Isohos]

Kelsey nodded along as Ed spoke, agreeing whole-heartedly with his words. "I'm glad you're here," she said at last. "I can keep people from dying, but...you get them back on their feet. And you've got a good head on your shoulders. Around here, that's worth more than just about anything you could name."

She looked surprised when he mentioned being looked at funny. "Ed, you're one of the most normal people there are around here. You'd think people'd be happy you could stop bullets with your mind." The medic frowned. She kept her voice down when she talked about the more weird aspects of their crew. "Can you stop bullets?"

[lackey]

I can catch bullets. I sort of need to see them coming, and I can only catch so many. I have a bullet proof vest I got from Blackstone to help with some of the ones I miss. Ethan and I have run down more than one machine-gun nest since we have gotten here. Must say I never did that in Millinocket.

Normal, though...

Back when I was working lumber in Millinocket, I was caught in a fire in the warehouse where we kept the cut lumber. When those things go up, they get too hot for water to put them out, you just have to let them burn. I got one of my men out of there alive, and I was unscathed, and no one figured we even had a chance.

After that I could feel them looking at me. I just knew when I turned my back they were staring at me, and I could hear what they were thinking... Not the words, nothing that clear, but the ideas, the distrust. They called me a hero to my face, but... I just had to get out of there.