End of all Hope

It had all started with getting the box from Lelouch.

The box had arrived a few days after the whole kidnapping was good and well over, and Jou had to admit Lelouch showed his gratitude in decidedly shiny ways. It had been forever since they had gone on vacation all together, and with all of the supernatural insanity going on at home, they deserved to relax somewhere sane and normal for a while. Sure, Lelouch had asked them to bring Rolo along as well, but that was no problem; Rolo didn't take up much space, was quiet, and he really needed the distraction anyway.

Besides, like he and Hisoka would really argue with having a babysitter along on this trip.

So, they had taken Rolo and the kids, and had boarded the plane with the tickets Lelouch had bought them. Arriving at the airport after a rather uneventful flight they decided, rather than taking a car like Lelouch´s letter had suggested, to just walk. According to the map, the town wasn't that far away and it was a nice day. And really, after being stuck in an air plane for a few hours, they could all use the exercise.

So, they walked. And walked. And then, just to spice things up a bit, they walked some more. And maybe, Jou thought, he should've said that map reading wasn't exactly one of his skills, but nobody had asked anything, and besides, he had Jun to help him. The kiddo had been utterly excited about helping, so it wasn't as if Jou could have said no to him.

Lowering his map for a moment, Jou eyed the small village down in the valley, raised his map again, double checked things, before he handed Jun the map with a flourish, grinning wide. "Okay, we're here."

It was tricky work stripping only part of such an extensive kekkai down without weakening the entire thing. However thanks to the advanced warning he'd gotten, he was able to do a decent job of it in time. So that when the actual gate opened itself in his garden, there was nothing to interfere with its growth and nothing that it would harm in its making.

He waited quietly with the boy beside him until the people had fully exited the glowing portal and it had vanished before he spoke up in greeting. "Welcome to my woods, if you'd like to come on inside with me to my den, I'll see how I can be of help."

Jou glances up when he felt the faint prickle of power when the gate opened up in their back yard, breathing in the new sudden scents of angels, a god and his human, Hisoka and way too much blood to be comforting. Rising slowly, he gently shifted Jun so the dozing boy was leaning against Locke's side rather than his own, smiling reassuringly at his three girls. He knew they could smell the thick scent of blood as good as he could. "They're back. Let me go check, but I'm sure they're all fine."

Unlocking the back door, he slipped outside, wrapping his arms around Hisoka and pulling him back to kiss him fiercely, burying his fingers in his hair for a moment. Once that important matter was taken care off, he glanced at the others. The tall angel looked like he was sleeping upright, leaning heavily on Gabriel. Lelouch didn't look much better, his eyes shut and leaning on Rolo like- woah, that was a lot of blood. And feathers. And that was a liver, wasn't it?

Tightening his arm slightly around Hisoka, he chewed on his bottom lip. "Uhm. Welcome back?"

In his life, Rolo had never really played cards much; it simply had not been part of his daily activities and to tell the truth, he royally sucked at it. Still, the game was simple and fun enough to keep him entertained until Lelouch returned and spending some time in the presence of a normal family was nice for a change. He might even get used to this kind of thing even if they had made him put away all his knives.

Poking out his tongue a bit, he narrowed his eyes at his cards in thought, reaching for one and froze. A deep ache settled in his chest and a split second later a sharp pain shot through him, hoarse screaming that was not his filling his head until his ears rang and then it was suddenly as gone as quickly as it had come. However, the empty, powerless sensation in his chest ceased not. His cards slid from his suddenly numb fingers, his throat thick. "...Lelouch."

It was past time to leave this place, he thought quietly to himself as he watched more of the felines leave the estate. However he doubted that the hosts of this place would just allow him to walk out of the gate by himself, especially considering his abilities and knowledge of the workings of the rings. Thus he would have to wait until either dusk or nightfall before he made any attempt to sneak away from this place.

It was really only a matter of time before he ended up caged again if he remained here, and while the restraints may not be as visible and obvious, that didn't make it any less a cage. And no cage, however comfortable it might be or seem was worth getting caught up in if it could be avoided.

Thus he went about his business as usual for now--which pretty much was to avoid as much attention as was possible without unduly worrying those whom had brought him here in the first place. Once darkness fell however he moved to check out the boundaries of the estate and considered what was the best method open to him for getting past those boundaries and remaining outside them even once his absence was discovered.

OOC: See this for the beginning of this thread.


Best to ease the boy's mind about this impromptu meeting before things went too much further he decided. "I don't mean you any ill-will. That is to say I merely desire to speak with you. Are you agreeable to conversing with me even if it has nothing to do with your friends council?"

While he was almost certain he'd be able to get some answers he was curious about from merely observing the other over time, it would be considerably easier to sate his curiosity if he actually had an informative conversation with him instead.