Before Travel

[Ashley McGowen]
Get out of the house, Wharil said. One can't debate the fact that she needs to. Ashley has been inside for a week and a half now and has hardly found occasion to leave her apartment, except to go to the chantry the other night and to go out and get groceries when she needed to.

She hasn't called Enid. She hasn't protected Enid at all from Dylan, who is still out and around. And while she feels some guilt over that, she isn't sure whether she -should- have tried to protect her. Her mentor wouldn't have, and proper conduct dictates that Enid should be able to look after herself and that it will teach her to be more resourceful.

But it's while she's out that she texts Enid. I'm on a walk if you want to come meet me. And assuming the reply is an affirmative, she gives the street.

Ashley has Zane with her, on his leash as always. But there the similarities between her appearance a few weeks ago and now end. Her skin looks a bit paler, she looks as though she's lost weight. Her face has a wan sort of appearance: exhausted and more than just melancholy, it might be verging on depression. There's a palpable sense of wrongness, of taint, about her.

[Enid Geraint]
Of course it was yes. Amidst the packing for a trip, the constant reminders from her dad about passport, clean underwear, enough books, and so forth, Enid's quietly panicking. It's so close, and she hasn't heard from Ashley other than the text conversation a few days ago that ended with Enid telling the older girl to call or text if the younger was wanted or needed. That hadn't happened, of course, but Enid hadn't put a time limit on it, or attached any other strings. The offer was what it was - open ended and free.

So now, she's heading towards Ashley and Zane, and taking up a spot on Ashley's good side as if she's known this is the way it should be forever. Zane gets petted, loved as any dog would, though it's only a mediocre masking of Enid's fairly obvious concern.

"You . . . look like crap. I would have walked Zane for you, if you're sick." It's honest, matter of fact, and though she hasn't been protected, Enid doesn't look any worse for the wear - just a bit frazzled, flustered.

[Ashley McGowen]
"I'm not sick," Ashley says, settling into step with Enid on her good side. As though they've always walked this way. She's been out for a while, judging by the redness of her nose and ears, but almost seems to enjoy the wind. Or, at the very least, she seems to be trying to take joy in it. They aren't quite the same thing.

There's a silence as she looks sidelong at Enid, letting Zane tug his way down the sidewalk. She always lets him lead from the left, almost like a walking stick; if he moves, she knows that there's something over on that side.

Enid looks frazzled, tired, excited. It's different than she looked the last time Ashley saw her, when they were in a restaurant and she'd just made the acquaintance of her mother and all of her little mirrorshade friends. She notes that she should ask Enid about it. But she does owe her an explanation first. And a few warnings.

"We found Dylan and I tried to help him, and something went wrong. That's part of why I wanted to see you. There's a Marauder and a potential Nephandus running around the city, and I wanted to tell you what those are and make sure you stay safe."

[Enid Geraint]
".....what's a Marauder? And a Nephandus?" Though she can guess at both - she knows what the not capitalized versions of the words mean, after all, and from there can apply them to this new world full of Awakened and Enlightened and goodness knows what other oddity with reasonable accuracy. So, maybe it's expected when she adds, "Are they what they sound like? And which one is Dylan?"

There's quiet for a moment, but before Ashley has a chance to answer, she continues, just briefly. "I ran into him, in the park. I was out for a late run, bumped into Jarod," who she names in roughly the tones most teenagers through twenty-somethings reserve for 'douchebag' and 'asshole', "and saw this Dylan guy. He was hot." It's obvious that she means literally so, not figuratively.

[Ashley McGowen]
"Dylan's the Marauder. You ran into him in the park?" There it is, that sinking feeling. Guilt. Something she rarely feels or acknowledges.

No, in all likelihood her own mentor would not have protected Enid. But she's done a lot of things her mentor wouldn't have done, and Ashley recognizes how pointless it is to let the girl tackle challenges she isn't ready for. She supposes that it's just as important to teach an apprentice moderation and restraint as anything else.

It's part of being a responsible mentor. So she draws in a quick breath. "I'm sorry, Enid. I should have tried to warn you and educate you about them before this, as soon as I knew what he was."

[Enid Geraint]
"Yeah. Nothing happened - I mean, Jarod was all about stopping him and I tried to help," she says with a shrug, "but no one got hurt or anything. That Dylan guy actually looked better off, after - he was a mess when it started. Kage said something about him losing his name, and not being . . . oh, I don't remember how she put it. She makes me think of the old fairy tales about people who can only speak in riddles, sometimes. Anyway, something about the name being important."

Only when that's said, in a way that makes her wondering over the importance of a name clear, she shakes her head and shoots Ashley a look; it bugs her inordinately, seeing the older Hermetic so . . . off. "Hey, don't apologize. Stuff happens, and I'm fine. Everyone is, in fact."

[Ashley McGowen]
"Yes, but you might not have been. I did a disservice to you as a mentor." This last is stated firmly, in a manner that suggests that she doesn't want Enid to argue with her about it. "Regardless, I'm glad you're not hurt."

There's a pause then, while she stops for a few seconds so that Zane can sniff at a tree before giving him a gentle tug to encourage him along. "When a person loses his Name, he loses himself. Every person has a True Name - it might be their given name or it might not, though it's generally more complex. Dylan lost that when he lost his mind. There's nothing of him left."

"A Marauder has essentially lost touch with reality to the extent that reality...rejects them. Paradox doesn't really work. They're just totally outside it. He might not have hurt you, but he's very dangerous."

[Enid Geraint]
".....okay." And so Enid doesn't argue - the first bit is done. I'm glad you're not hurt gets a smile, and a very brief embrace in the form of Enid's arm snaking out around Ashley's shoulder. "Thanks. I'm glad I'm not too."

Then there's the rest, and contemplation of it; her brow furrows, and she speaks slowly, testing her words, but not stopping the speaking of them. "So . . . if reality rejects them and paradox doesn't work . . . it has to go somewhere, doesn't it? And if that somewhere can't be Dylan . . . oh." This doesn't appear to instill any fear, but maybe (maybe) it will instill a bit more caution, should she run into the man again. "Everyone says he's dangerous. Kage and Wharil say to turn around and go the other way as quickly as possible if I see him again. How do you get a Name? Is it something you're born with, or something you earn, or something completely different?"

[Ashley McGowen]
Enid squeezes an arm around Ashley's shoulders, and her shoulder gets a return pat from the older Hermetic. It's a step in the right direction, talking to this girl, as far as dealing with the death taint goes. Ashley will never have children of her own - this is almost a certainty - and this mentorship with Enid is probably the closest she will ever come to a parental relationship. Responsibility and affection are powerful anchors.

And she's sliding into lecture mode. "Exactly," she says dryly, as Enid puts two and two together and realizes where all of that Paradox goes. "He's dangerous because, for one thing, we can't predict him. We don't know when he's going to choose to be violent. Besides that, the Technocracy usually blames us for Marauders, and he's going to attract their attention."

"As for your Name, you have a given name, and after your formal induction you'll choose a Craft name. Something around which to form your new identity. Those and your accomplishments go together to make up your True Name, in part. It's a name that forms around the Word of power that encompasses you as a person. It describes you, and it -is- you, even if you don't know what it is in its entirety yet."

[Enid Geraint]
"I guess that explains Mom, then," she says wryly. It had all happened before her mother was gone, after all, and goodness only knows how much arguing there'd been over that little gem - but Enid won in the end, or so it seems. For now, anyway. But the rest is more interesting in this precise moment, and Enid ponders for a long moment, before saying, idly, "I wonder what my Word is."

Then, though, her brow furrows again and she remembers the other new word mentioned. "Nephandus. Who, and what?" It's short, to the point. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.

[Ashley McGowen]
"You'll figure out what your Word is," Ashley promises. "Before you leave for China, hopefully." She's never done this before, assisted another Hermetic in this part of self-discovery. Enid's Word and her True Name are, in the end, intensely personal things, things that Ashley is not going to attempt to discern beyond assisting Enid, but it's also unlikely that they'll just come to her on her own.

Enid asks about Nephandi then, and Ashley's pace slows a little. "They're magi that have sworn themselves over to destructive forces," she says, trying to think about how to explain them and their wrongness. "Like demons. Their Avatars have been permanently twisted. They're very dangerous. Much moreso than Marauders, I would say."

[Enid Geraint]
Enid slows as well, automatically keeps pace with her [friend] mentor, and nods as if what she'd already guessed has been confirmed - because it has, more or less. ".....why would someone want to do that? It doesn't make any sense." And then, even more curious, "There are demons? But . . . that means there are angels too, yeah?"

When they'd first met, or not long after, they'd talked a bit about religion; Enid had said her parents were atheistic, but that she thought there must be something out there even if she was unsure what. And so, this interests her in many ways, this whole Nephandi and demons thing.

"So there's one of these Nephandi guys in town, and I need to avoid him too," she says, more for confirmation's sake than anything else.

[Ashley McGowen]
"They do it for a lot of reasons. Nephandi are good at making it sound appealing, it's one of the reasons they're dangerous to us." Ashley has practically been indoctrinated in the dangers of Nephandic seduction. Johann Faust left a permanent black mark on her House hundreds of years ago. "They prey on weak-willed people. Or people that are willing to do anything to get something done."

She looks sidelong at Enid. "But yes, you need to avoid them. Though you might not know one when you see them, and that's why you should be cautious of people you don't know right now. If they seem strange to you or tainted in some way, you should come to one of the people you know."

She shifts Zane's leash to her other arm, looping it around her wrist so that she can tuck her (now very cold) hand into her pocket. "You'll learn ways of figuring out who they are soon."

[Enid Geraint]
"Okay," the younger girl says agreeably - so long as she's learning something, she doesn't mind how long it takes. She's got patience, and likes the road to a new bit of knowledge or what have you almost as much as she likes the new thing itself. Maybe more than, in some cases.

And, to the other bits, "I . . . don't really get it. I mean, I've read the Faust stories and know all the lyrics to Devil Went Down to Georgia, but . . . I don't know. I'm careless about a lot of stuff, but I don't think I would be about that. Would you?" A pause, and then, "Alright. I can't promise I'll turn around and go the other way quickly any more than I really can with Dylan, but I'll keep it in mind. And I'll be careful. And I'll be in China soon, so it may be a moot point - but I don't think I'm going to stay anywhere near as long as my mom thinks I will, even with Austin there. I think we're just going to be tourists and come back."

[Ashley McGowen]
Would she? Ashley has to consider this. The reaction of most people would be to say no, that they wouldn't care and no matter what they were promised they would not walk through a Caul. "I think I could resist temptation if something were offered to me, because I know that becoming a Nephandus is irreversible," Ashley says. Which, of course, doesn't mean that she wouldn't be tempted.

That's a dark train of thought, though, something she's been instructed to avoid because it's so easy to get wrapped up in right now, so she diverts. "Do you want to swear into the Order before or after you get back? It'll be an involved process, and there are things I want to teach you once it's done."

[Enid Geraint]
"I think . . . if there's stuff to be taught immediately following and it's an involved process, it may be better to wait until I get back. But if the process can be split up a bit, I think I'd like to make it formal."

Enid goes with the flow on this; Ashley knows what she needs, and Enid's content to follow her lead. A smile splits her face, pleased, and lights up her brown eyes - it's a look Ashley hasn't quite seen yet, and it fits better than most of the half-smiles and smirks she's seen instead.

"I'm pretty excited about it, actually."

[Ashley McGowen]
"I'd like to begin your instruction in the Code of Hermes," Ashley says, "which, I doubt, is going to take you very long. The rules are very straightforward and they aren't to be breached. If you're going to claim to be a member of the Order it's good that you know them before you run off without my supervision."

She looks sidelong at the girl, who is smiling that pleased smile that she saw when she made fire appear in her hands, or when she gave her the wand at Christmas. A corner of Ashley's mouth quirks. "Well, don't get too excited yet. I have a lot of reading material for you to take with you, on the history of the Traditions and the Order."

[Enid Geraint]
Hasn't seen often, then - regardless, yes, it's a pleased look. "Alright, then. And I'm hardly one to shy away from reading and research." This is amused - and goodness knows it's true. The first several times they'd met, there'd been research involved, or some sort of study. "So, what do we do? Before I gather the reading materials to pack, I mean."

There's that avid curiosity - not the sort that's likely to get Enid in much trouble, really, but the sort that drives her to look further into the things she doesn't understand than the average seventeen year old girl would. This is new and interesting - it's something she's never done before and doesn't know much about. Of course she has questions.

[Ashley McGowen]
"We study a lot, and I find out whether you have questions, and you memorize as much as you can as quickly as you can," Ashley says, amused. "There'll be other sorts of tests later, after you've become an Initiate, but for right now it's mainly education. And a lot of memorization and writing essays for me."

"I want you at my apartment daily from now on, except for when you're in China. Not for the entire day, but enough so that I can follow your progress. We'll also begin a more in-depth look at the Spheres." There was a point when young Hermetics were sent to one of three colleges, but that practice has more or less fallen by the wayside. It's simply too difficult these days to remove them.

Practices evolve, sometimes for the better. As they pass into a more crowded section of the Mile, Ashley adds, "It's getting late to start this now, but I'll expect you tomorrow."

[Enid Geraint]
"I'll be there, of course." Likely with cookies, or bread, or maybe yummy caffeinated beverages - or all of the above, depending on how much she does other than checking things off of her various lists in between now and when she's supposed to be at Ashley's. "See you then. And drink some hot tea and get some rest or something, won't you? Orange and clove, I think, is supposed to be good for depression and funk."

There's affectionate petting for Zane, during which Enid crouches down and allows him to lick her, and then she's rising again. "See you tomorrow, then."

[Ashley McGowen]
Ashley could probably use the bread and cookies, by the looks of it. She seems like she's visibly lost weight since Enid saw her last. The Hermetic reaches down to pat Zane's back, glances up at Enid, and just nods. "Give your new name some thought. It's going to be how you introduce yourself to others like us, so make sure it's one you like."

And, saying nothing about tea, depression or funks, "I'll see you tomorrow, Enid. Be careful on your way home."

[Enid Geraint]
"I will." No promise, though - Enid only makes those when she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she can keep them. And thus, the two Hermetics part ways for the night.