... (itendsinfire) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-03-29 11:42:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | #december 2017, caius, caius x reagan, reagan |
Who: Reagan and Caius
When: Late afternoon, Monday, December 11th
Where: Cooperdale Tunnel
Status: Complete
A nearly week-long get away from Point Pleasant was exactly what Reagan and Caius had needed to recharge and refocus. Ideally they would have been away for much longer, but Reagan knew their jobs couldn’t be placed on hold forever, and the longer they were gone, the nosier their parents would become. Even so, the beach and sunshine had been a nice distraction from everything else, as had having Caius’s memories of her back intact. Occasionally Reagan had felt herself sinking into an internal pit of despair when she instinctively tried to use her magic to no avail, but Caius had been good at keeping her from completely losing her mind over it.
Fittingly it was gray and rainy when they got home, making Reagan yearn for another week at the beach. But she was ready to get on with her life and make a home with Caius without Baron’s curse hanging over their heads anymore. By Sunday evening Reagan had heard about what happened in Seaview from her mother. Aaron Lucas had ended up in the hospital after his girlfriend attacked him. It wasn’t shocking, given what Reagan and Caius knew about the situation, but Reagan still felt slivers of guilt that they hadn’t been able to do more. Anthony clearly hadn’t helped, or hadn’t had enough time to help, but it wasn’t like an evil being was going to hang around until the hero brigade came through. Sometimes evil won.
Even so. When she woke up that morning it was still raining, and she found herself distracted by thoughts of whatever was roaming the woods behind Seaview. It had unnerved Caius, who was generally unflappable. Aaron Lucas survived his attack, but Mila Moretti was gone and Reagan knew some of her lingering interest in the entire thing had to do with the money she had taken from Gavin and Caden to help them get rid of Mila’s pregnancy. That was likely why the guilt was festering. It was an odd feeling, because Reagan rarely felt guilty for the things she did. But now she had something important taken away from her and she felt incomplete and frankly, a little lost. Would she be vulnerable to something dark and malignant as well?
It was after lunchtime that the rain began to taper off, leaving a gray, dreary mess. But it didn’t deter Reagan. She found Caius downstairs in the living room with his books. “I want to go back to Seaview,” she announced, placing her hands on her hips in a familiar ‘I’ve made up my mind’ gesture. “More specifically, to Cooperdale. I want to know if that thing is still lingering.”
The trip had been a balm for Caius’s soul, especially since the weather and white sand beaches had been reminiscent of their wedding trip to Anguilla. They hadn’t done hardly anything touristy, preferring to dig in and just spend time with one another. That was the whole point, after all. While Caius reveled in his renewed memories, he was also hyper aware of Reagan’s mental and emotional state. Whenever he sensed her starting to fall down the rabbit hole of thinking too much about her situation, he tried to steer her in a different direction. It wasn’t a long-term solution by any means, but he managed to keep her from going off the deep end.
Coming back to Point Pleasant in the early winter was going to make that more difficult, Caius knew. As soon as they’d gotten home, he dove into research. There had to be some witch in the documented past who’d lost their magic and then gotten it back, it was too great a sacrifice to go un-noted. He just had to find it. Between that and work, Caius had been spending a lot of time distracted, a lot of energy spent on this problem. It seemed like that would never end, he would always be trying to fix something major, but it was what had to be done.
When his wife arrived and spoke, Caius looked up from where he sat cross-legged on the floor, brows lifting as his brain tried to shift from the manuscript he’d been reading back into the current world. He studied her for a moment, then tucked a piece of paper into the book in his lap and closed it. “Right now?” he asked. Caius knew better than to argue with her when she took that tone and stance, though the idea of letting her anywhere near that thing made his stomach churn. She’d never been more vulnerable.
"Yes." She knew it wasn't an ideal time. Caius was researching and the weather was pretty terrible but Reagan wasn't sure she would be able to relax until she did this. She considered telling Caius he didn't have to go with her, but Reagan knew he wouldn't allow her to go on her own, so it seemed pointless to try and convince him that she could. Besides, she needed him there, now that her magic was gone. He would be the only one able to pick up on any magic, or true darkness. "My mother told me the police were searching near the tunnel over the weekend and that seems to be where it originated from, according to the Lucases. If Mila Moretti, or... that thing... is still in there, you'll know. Or your obscurities will. They can probably go further into the tunnel than the cops could, right?" There was likely nothing to find, but it never hurt to try. Reagan felt like maybe it was the least she could do at this point, since she hadn't been able to do much else, and she was certainly fairly helpless now.
“They absolutely could,” Caius confirmed, feeling a bit of stirring inside of him already. The obscurities were bound to him magically, but he’d only really set them loose once, and that had been a matter of a couple dozen feet away from him. Sending them out into Cooperdale to scout would be a different matter. Especially if the thing inside was still around, and didn’t want its territory invaded. Or maybe there would be nothing to find at all. Caius set his book aside and stood in a smooth movement. He walked over to Reagan and gently put his hands on her arms, looking her in the eye. “You’re not looking to make a deal, right?” he asked in a murmur. “You just want to see?” They’d agreed that wouldn’t happen -- and it couldn’t -- but he just wanted to make sure this wasn’t coming from a place of desperation on Reagan’s part.
It took Reagan a moment to understand what he meant. It hadn't crossed her mind to potentially ask that thing, whatever it was, to help her regain her magic. Reagan might be morally gray where her magic was concerned, but she knew better than to try and negotiate with an entity that dark. She didn't think that amount of power was worth the sacrifice it would require. She couldn't even imagine what that sacrifice would be, and she didn’t want to. "I would never bind myself to that kind of entity," Reagan assured him gently. "Not even to regain my magic. I just want to see if it's there. And maybe she's in there where they can't find her. I know it's not our responsibility to find her, but if we could do anything to help I think we should." Reagan knew Caius might disagree, but it didn't matter. She felt like they were both strong enough to resist whatever had control over that part of their town, and she wasn't afraid.
For a moment -- and not for the first time, as of late -- Caius was grateful that his wife was stronger than he was. He would’ve been a complete and utter mess without his magic, absolutely desperate to get it back, and he’d already been tempted by the dark entity. It was a relief that Reagan wasn’t. Granted, she hadn’t been talking to it directly, but still. As for what they should or shouldn’t do for the Lucas problem ... well, he harbored a bit of guilt himself for just running off on them. He and Reagan had their reasons, of course, but the situation had ended in violence, and if they could rectify that a little bit, Caius was willing to try. He nodded slightly and kissed Reagan’s forehead. “Let’s go then,” he said. “And see what we can see.”
Reagan wanted her magic back, of course, but she had been willing to make that sacrifice to have Caius back. And she knew if there was a way to regain what she had lost, she would absolutely do it... to an extent. Making deals with entities she couldn't possibly understand is where she drew the line. If there were other options, she and Caius would find them. But right now she had other things on her mind, and within minutes she and Caius were headed to Seaview. It was still dreary outside, but Reagan supposed she ought to be thankful it wasn't snow. She had always hated the winter and she didn't think that was going to change, even without her fire magic.
The hike back to the tunnel was unpleasant, simply because of the crappy weather conditions. But Reagan had dressed properly for the walk and she was a bit relieved when they came upon the tracks leading to the tunnel. There was yellow crime scene tape that was spread across the mouth of the tunnel, like that would somehow deter people from going inside. It was ominous looking. Dark and decrepit. Water had pooled up along the sides of the tracks from the rain and she could hear it dripping inside the tunnel as well. Reagan walked up to the crime scene tape and peered inside. She couldn't see much beyond the first few feet. "Do you feel anything?" she asked Caius.
Caius didn’t make a habit of tromping around in the woods, but he at least had some good boots for it. Sometimes it was necessary, like now. They didn’t talk much as they walked, both focused on getting through all the mud and leaves. As they got close to Cooperdale Tunnel, Caius could feel an uptick in the energy in the air. It kind of gave him a crackly, static feeling just under the surface of his skin. He’d been to the tunnel once or twice before as a teenager, but never for long ... and that had been before his senses were as honed as they were now. The feeling got stronger when they were standing at the tunnel entrance, and Caius’s shoulders were tense as he looked into all that darkness. “Yeah,” he murmured slowly. The back of his neck prickled, the fine hairs standing on end. It wasn’t just powerful, there was something dark about it too. Caius couldn’t really describe how he knew that, he just did. “It’s a powerful place. Or the home of something powerful.” Caius tore his eyes away to glance over at Reagan. “How do you feel?”
"A little unnerved, but..." Reagan couldn't exactly feel any magical energy, not the way Caius probably could. "I don't know. It's that feeling that we're being watched even though we can't see anything, or anyone." She shivered a little and zipped her coat up a bit farther toward her chin. Reagan glanced at Caius. "We should go in." Probably not too far, but it might feel different inside the tunnel than where they were. And frankly, Reagan was curious as to whether or not she would experience anything unnatural herself. As far as she knew, Mila Moretti had been a vanilla human and that thing had latched onto her. Mila hadn't been the only one either, given the tunnel's history.
Going further in gave Caius mixed feelings. On one hand he had a surge of fierce pride that he’d married such a brave, strong woman. On the other hand ... she was much more vulnerable than she used to be. Supposedly the police had already thoroughly checked this tunnel -- as far as they dared, anyway -- and hadn’t found Mila, or Mila’s corpse, so that wasn’t what Caius was concerned with. Putting Reagan in the path of what had felt like a primal being of evil went against his protective instincts. But he didn’t want to leave her alone either, so Caius gave a nod after a moment’s thought. “I feel watched to. So stay close to me, and tell me if you start to feel any worse,” he said, reaching out to take Reagan’s hand. His expression was grave. “And if I say run, don’t argue. Okay?”
She clutched his hand with her own and nodded. "Of course." Reagan trusted Caius, and she knew he was powerful enough that if he felt like they were in danger, then they were absolutely in danger. Reaching out with her free hand, she moved the crime scene tape out of the way to duck under it. Reagan wasn't expecting to find anyone in the tunnel, certainly not a body. But if there was something here they could find to bring back to Aaron Lucas that the cops wouldn't be able to see or hear, that was something, wasn't it? Of course life would be easier if she could just shut down her empathy all together. Reagan generally didn't care about the consequences of her magic, once she explained what those consequences were, but this particular situation felt different somehow. She stayed close to Caius, glancing at him on occasion in the dark, just to see if he was feeling something she couldn't. All Reagan could hear was dripping of rain ahead. And it was getting significantly colder the further they went.
The light from the mouth of the tunnel didn’t reach very far. Granted, it was a dreary day out, but the shadows seemed to crowd in unnaturally close anyway. A yard or so inside, Caius mentally prodded the obscurities awake and blinked his eyes black. The tunnel jumped into bright focus, a more colorful and vivid night vision than any machine could ever give him, everything shimmering slightly with the power from inside. There was more to see than just the base reality of the train tunnel, however ... there were dark tendrils of shadow, snaking along the walls and floors and ceilings, reaching out from the distant center where his vision couldn’t reach yet. They waved just slightly in a breeze that wasn’t there, and they felt dark. Unnatural. But vaguely familiar. He kept his grip on Reagan’s hand firm and his focus intense. Several more yards inside, Caius thought he heard something, like a sigh that could’ve just been a rush of air if it hadn’t sounded like indistinct words. “Did you hear that?” he asked Reagan in a whisper.
Reagan shook her head then realized Caius probably couldn't see her very well in the dark. "No," she murmured. "I hear the wind outside and the rain dripping from the cracks in the tunnel, but... nothing else." She might have been a little relieved that she couldn't hear anything, but she didn't like that Caius could. It made her nervous even if it might be significant. She knew Caius had spoken to Mila when the woman had been possessed by that thing, but she didn't see anyone now, and she wasn't sure if whatever was in this tunnel was the same kind of entity. Reagan hated feeling useless, like she couldn't help or even defend herself. Since they hadn't thought to bring a flashlight, Reagan reached into her pocket to pull out her phone and flip on the light so she could look ahead. "What did you hear?" Reagan asked. She couldn't see very far, but the tunnel appeared empty.
There was a whisper along the walls of the tunnel, but not one Reagan could hear. It was solely for Caius's ears, beckoning him further into the tunnel, where there was a charge in the air, intensifying his senses, and his magic. A promise of something more. Why did you come here. It was an unfamiliar voice now, but human nonetheless. Simple and unassuming.
Caius could see her perfectly well, but his focus was further down the tunnel. The phone’s flashlight didn’t look overly bright to him when she turned it on, which he vaguely appreciated. He’d been about to answer her when the feeling in the air changed for him. A wave of a tingly something ran down his spine, and Caius’s body stiffened a bit. And then there were words. Not the same voice as the one the thing had spoken with back in Seaview, but it had been inside of a body then. Who knew what it really was now. “It’s here,” he said softly to Reagan, staring into the inscrutable darkness ahead of them. “And it’s aware of us.” There was something enticing in that whisper, and Caius took another few steps forward before stopping again. “It wants to know why we’re here.” He didn’t answer it directly, not yet, but Caius started internally getting the obscurities ready to be set loose.
Reagan couldn't see anything, but Caius clearly felt something. There was a chill in her own body, but Reagan couldn't be sure if it was the weather, or something sinister. She didn't move when Caius did and her hand tightened around his to hold him back in case he tried to keep walking forward. It felt like this was as far as they needed to go. The obscurities could do the rest if they needed to. "We're looking for the girl," Reagan said, not really anywhere in particular since she had no idea where or what that thing was. "We just want to know if she's alive." Reagan didn't think Mila was in there with them, but this was clearly more than just a normal tunnel. If this was the thing that had possessed Mila, would it tell them the truth?
"Is that why you're here?” It asked Caius, the voice fading in and out, seemingly closer to Caius and Reagan now than before. "To find a girl you care nothing about?"
Caius still couldn’t see anything but tunnel, but he felt the presence move closer. The power that came off of it was stronger here than it had been at Mila’s trailer. It made his skin tingle under his clothes and put a buzzy, restless feeling in his legs. He was aware of Reagan’s grip on him though, and how he absolutely could not abandon her, even if the soft darkness ahead was rather enticing. To be enveloped in ancient primordial power, to be allowed to tap into even a fraction of it, to meld with it and become something more ...
Caius blinked rapidly and pulled his focus back, his cold fingers tightening on Reagan’s hand. He had to stay grounded and purposeful. “Yes,” he answered the entity out loud. “We’re both here to find her. My caring is irrelevant, she has people who love her and need our help.” With a bit of caution, Caius released the obscurities a bit, a denser shadow coalescing around him. He kept hold on the mental leash, but gave them some slack to explore the space ahead of them.
"I already told you it was too late. She may be here, but you won't find her." The unseen entity engulfed the obscurities as they moved farther into the tunnel, intensifying their power for Caius to see more. The tunnel shifted and changed around him. He was still standing in Cooperdale, but it was clearly of another world. The concrete and train tracks were covered in thick membrane and dark, pulsing tendrils. There was gray mist, making it difficult to see much, but there was also a different kind of power radiating from the world itself. There were whispers of voices, some of which sounded distraught. But there was also laughter and the dark outline of people ahead, one of which might have been Mila, but her face was obscured by the mist and it was impossible to tell. Still, from the edge of the tunnel they watched Caius and Reagan, who remained oblivious to what was happening in front of her.
The unseen darkness quickly embraced Caius, heightening his own senses and magic the way it had his obscurities. It whispered a promise of a different kind of power, the ability to reach into another reality and absorb its magic. And then it faded, returning Caius to the real world where Reagan was still clinging to his hand. The entity was still felt, though it had faded, as if moving away from the both of them, deeper into the tunnel.
"Is she here?" Reagan asked, not entirely enjoying the silence.
The vision -- if that was what it was ... for all Caius knew he’d actually been transported -- washed over him like dipping into the ocean on a particularly hot day. It was cold enough to be uncomfortable, but still refreshing, rejuvenating. His black eyes glittered as he looked around, taking in what he could see and feel. It was electrifying, being so close to something like this, and when the entity wrapped itself around him, with all that humming power? It was almost orgasmic. He got fast flashes of all the things he could do with that kind of power, all the things he could be. Utter freedom, utter control, magic beyond even his father’s wildest dreams.
And then it was gone, retreating, and Caius hungered to follow for a few scary seconds. The obscurities did follow for several yards before Caius caught them. He didn’t know what would happen if they went too far, if they could be trapped or drag him in or what. His body gave a shudder, feeling overheated and shivery at the same time. “No,” he said to Reagan, his voice suddenly ragged and hoarse. “Not where we can reach her. We have to leave now.” Caius knew if he spent another damn minute there, he was going to make a huge mistake. He turned stiffly and started walking back the way they’d come, tugging on Reagan’s hand, a little out of breath. “I think she’s alive,” he added. He needed to keep talking, stay grounded. “But she’s not on this plane anymore.”
Reagan didn't protest when Caius began to walk quickly from the tunnel. She hadn't wanted to spend much more time in there either. But he had clearly seen or heard something she hadn't. He was gripping her hand tight and eager to leave, just as he had been when he talked to Mila in Seaview. It unnerved her now just as it had then. "What do you mean, not on this plane?" Reagan was careful not to trip over anything on the tracks as they made their way to the mouth of the tunnel. "What did you see?"
It took a lot of willpower not to look over his shoulder, but Caius managed. It helped that he couldn’t feel the thing pursuing them ... though Caius was fairly sure it could mask itself from him if it wanted to. Maybe he was giving it too much credit, but he’d gotten a small taste of all that power ... He tried to make his steps quick and efficient while still being careful for Reagan’s sake, since he could currently see much better than she could. “I saw the tunnel, but it was different,” he said in the meantime, his voice barely above a whisper. “It felt ... it didn’t feel like anywhere I’ve ever been before. There was something ... growing along the walls, something organic, flesh ... but there was this fog everywhere, and people in the fog, just standing there along the walls. One kind of looked like her.” Caius realized that finding Mila had been the point of the trip, and Reagan might be frustrated that he didn’t confirm it had been her, but he’d had bigger things to worry about. “I think they’re alive, they’re just ... somewhere else.”
Nothing had changed in Reagan's view, and she had to imagine whatever entity it was that had Mila had perhaps shifted reality for Caius. It didn't sound appealing in the least, though she felt a little irritated that she was missing her own magic. Would she have seen what Caius saw if she had still been a witch? There was a painful pang in her chest but she ignored it for the time being. The idea of some other plane of existence was one that was difficult to comprehend, even more so that there could potentially be a gateway here in Point Pleasant, of all places. Reagan waited until they were slipping underneath the crime scene tape before she spoke again, taking a quick moment to breathe in the fresher air. "Do you think there could be a way to extract her? Them?" Other people had gone missing in Point Pleasant over the years and she wondered how many had wandered into that tunnel never to come back out again. "Was it the obscurities that showed you?"
Caius couldn’t even imagine the frustration of not being able to sense things like what had just happened. Even if the entity had only meant that for his eyes, Reagan’s magical senses would’ve been pinging like crazy. His breathing was a bit quick when they finally got clear of the tunnel, and Caius took a greedy gulp of fresh air, letting go of Reagan’s hand finally to run both sets of fingers through his hair. He felt a little queasy with it all, and also like the real world out here was thin somehow. Lacking depth and color. He put his hands on his hips, gazing back into the tunnel with a set jaw for a moment. Nothing was coming after them, and Caius’s head was starting to hurt, so he pulled the obscurities back down into dormancy again, his dark eyes shifting back to normal. “I saw it through them,” he murmured after a moment to gather his words, looking at Reagan again. “I think. But the thing, the entity ... it had to allow me to see. Everything felt sort of ...” Caius made a vague twirling gesture, “... enhanced. Me, the obscurities, reality, everything. I don’t know if it would be accessible again without permission.” And Caius got the impression that the entity wasn’t going to let go of its captives willingly. Not without a trade.
It sounded complex and complicated. Reagan slipped her hands into the pockets of her coat, her gaze shifting back towards the mouth of the tunnel. She hated this empty feeling, well aware that she was incomplete on some level and there was the possibility that she may never be her full self again. It was a sacrifice she had made willingly, but that didn't mean it had to be easy to live with. If she had seen and felt what Caius had, what would she have done, or said? Her eyes found his face again and she studied him for a moment. "Did it try to bargain with you?" Reagan asked, well aware of how tempted he had been back in Seaview, but they had both agreed that making a deal with that thing, whatever it was, was not an option for them. And Reagan was not willing to give up any part of Caius to save someone else. She didn't care how selfish that made her.
It had been a disorienting experience, and Caius was mostly guessing at the nature of the place, just going by what his instincts told him. Maybe it had all been a trick, an induced hallucination meant to lure him in further, he didn’t know. Proceeding with caution seemed like the best course of action. If there was even a way to proceed at all. At least the entity had been focused on him and not Reagan, that was a small mercy. “It wasn’t bargaining,” he answered her question grimly, gazing back at his wife. “It was more like tempting. Giving me a taste of what I could have. What it wants me to think I could have, anyway.” Caius shot a wary glance back toward the tunnel. “It wasn’t just Mila in there, though ... gods only know how many, or if they can be rescued, but ... there were a lot of them.”
Temptation felt worse somehow than bargaining. Especially if that thing knew what to tempt Caius with. "Maybe it did that with Mila, and look what happened." Reagan shook her head and turned away, wanting to put some distance between them and the tunnel now. Or rather, Caius and the tunnel. Reagan wasn't worried about herself. "We should try to figure out exactly what could be in there, or what any of this means. Preferably without coming back. I don't feel comfortable knowing that thing can mess with your mind that way. There's a reason those people are in there, and I don't want you to be next."
Caius’s pride wanted him to believe that he could never end up like that, whatever those shadows of people had been, caught and ... what? Feeding the entity with their constant fear and suffering? Who the hell knew how it worked. It wasn’t a place he wanted to be though, so he knew caution would be prudent. He definitely didn’t want to go in there again, especially not alone with no one to keep him tethered to his life. Caius walked with Reagan away from the tunnel, catching her hand when he could reach it. “I’ll talk to my father again,” he said, trying to think of any way they could do something without being foolish about it. “He didn’t seem completely surprised by any of this. Maybe he knows more than he’s letting on, or has some ideas.” Caius paused, glancing at his wife’s profile. “Should we tell the family? That she may be alive, however technically?”
"No," Reagan said simply, glancing at Caius. "We don't know for sure that she's even alive. That could have been her... soul, or essence. And if we don't know a way to get her out, what would it do to them, knowing she might be in there on some other plane of existence suffering and there's nothing they could do about it. That's if they even believe us." She exhaled, her breath white and puffy from her lips from the chill in the air. "If we told anyone, it would be Aaron, but he seems... I don't know, like the type who would try to come here and find her himself, and that's a bad idea. I think the best thing to do would be to try and find out more about what you saw and if it's possible to reach it without depending on that thing, whatever it is. If we can find some real answers, we'll talk to the family, but I think it's in everyone's best interests to keep this between us for now."
Caius grimly thought Aaron might be more inclined to come to the tunnel to join Mila rather than save her, being just an idiot mortal human, but maybe he wasn’t that suicidal. He knew he would be trying to move heaven and earth to free Reagan from that sort of prison. The difference was, he might actually be able to get it done. He gave her hand a firm squeeze and nodded. As always, she was the wiser of the two of them when it came to dealing with people. “You’re right,” he murmured. “Best not to get their hopes up.” He wasn’t sure how possible it would be to get into that realm or whatever it had been, but it was worth looking into. Especially considering all the power he felt humming off of that place. Humming and dangled in front of his face like a carrot. Caius walked in silence for a moment, then gave a little sigh and muttered, “I wanna be on the beach again.”
Reagan couldn't help but release a humorless laugh. "Yeah, me too," she said. It was cold in Point Pleasant and she could feel the snow coming. Soon it was going to be a miserable place to be, weather wise. A part of her felt like it would be worse this year, given she couldn't heat herself up naturally. "It's kind of crazy, what might be living in this town that we don't know about. I've always known about the Noble mausoleum, but Cooperdale just felt like a place with a violent history that merely affected people who came near it. Who knows what else is out there right now." Reagan arched a brow and looked over at Caius. "How much do you think your father knows? Do you think he'll tell you the truth if you ask?"
Not for the first time, Caius was tempted to just pack them up and move them somewhere tropical. He’d read that a lot of people retired to the nicer places in South America, that the cost of living there was cheap, and surely they could find ways to support themselves ... but he knew in his heart that was something of a pipe dream. Maybe if things got too bad, but that bar was constantly pushed lower, wasn’t it? He nodded a bit at what Reagan said about not knowing what was really out there -- they could probably fill a library with the shit they didn’t know, and for once that prospect was more worrisome than exciting. “Who can know for sure,” he answered quietly. “I don’t think he would lie about something like this. But we’ll see.” Caius paused again, then tightened his grip on Reagan’s hand. “I want to talk to him about our other problem, too. If you’re willing.”
Ideally they could move somewhere warm where they didn't have to deal with a lot of people like they did here. But Reagan had a feeling their problems would only follow them, and she didn't know many other places that fed her magic like Point Pleasant. This town had a way of keeping people here, or drawing them back if they managed to escape. Reagan was fairly certain she and Caius would be no exception. She felt his hand tighten around hers and Reagan sighed softly. She wasn't fond of Anthony, especially these days, but she supposed if anyone could potentially help, it would be him. Or her mother, but Reagan hadn't told Veronica what had happened yet. She was putting that off as long as possible. "I suppose," she said finally. "But if he wasn't willing to help you regain your memories, I don't know that he'll do much to help me regain my magic, especially if there's nothing in it for him."
Caius was somewhat relieved to hear that. It wasn’t a guarantee that he and Anthony could actually do something for her, but considering all of the dead ends he’d been running into so far, having his father on their side could be the key to finding whatever needed to be found. Caius knew that Anthony hadn’t been helpful about his memories, but he also suspected his father had his own motives there. Whatever his designs had been, Reagan had foiled them, so it was also possible that Anthony wouldn’t help. Caius hoped to convince him. He had to try everything he could, for Reagan. Just as she’d done for him. “It’s worth finding out, either way,” he said, looking over at her again. Caius released her hand to step in closer and hook his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her enough to kiss her temple, their steps swaying just a bit before he let her go again. “We’ll find something,” he said with quiet confidence. “We’re a full team again.”
If Anthony could, and would, help them then Reagan wasn't going to say no. She did have her limits, but she could swallow her pride and dislike of Caius's father if it meant getting her magic back. Despite her feelings, Reagan's lips curved when Caius pulled her close and kissed her temple. "Well, we're eighty percent," she corrected. "I don't think we'll be a full team again until I figure out a way to retrieve my magic. But we've come this far and overcome enough that I think we'll be able to fix this too." She had to maintain some sense of optimism because Reagan knew how quickly she would spiral if she truly believed her magic was gone for good. She slipped her hand back into Caius's and squeezed. "I know you're stronger than she was, but please don't come out here again, especially alone. Even the strong willed can be tempted."
As worried as he was that the loss of Reagan’s magic would be permanent, Caius was trying to stay optimistic too. There was a huge world of possibilities out there, hadn’t they just seen even more of that first-hand? He had to think there would be a solution that wouldn’t involve making deals with proverbial devils. Or literal ones. “I won’t, I promise,” Caius told his wife, squeezing her fingers back. He knew she was too smart to do so herself, so he didn’t turn it around on her. Caius had always been the more power-hungry of the two of them. He tossed a quick glance at Cooperdale behind them, looking as innocuous now as an abandoned railway tunnel could. “I still want to discuss possibilities for it though ... there were a lot of people trapped in there,” he added.
"We'll try to do what we can, but we need boundaries," Reagan said, feeling no desire to look back at Cooperdale. She didn't frighten easily, but there was something there that gave her an ominous feeling. Maybe because it seemed to know how to read Caius. She had just gotten him back, and she wasn't going to let another supernatural entity tear him away from her again. "If there's something we can do that doesn't place ourselves at risk, we'll do it. But I won't lose you again." She was firm in that. It made her selfish, and she knew it, but she didn't care.
Caius was not one to throw himself on swords for people. Reagan had always been more generous with her magic than he was. Really, he often thought that she was a big part of the moral compass he did have, always steering him in the right direction. He’d gone into some dark mental spots without her solid presence in his mind and memories. He smiled softly at her and lifted their hands to kiss her knuckles. “You won’t, I’ll make sure of it,” Caius said. He did want to help, but he agreed that anything that might split them apart again wouldn’t be worth it. They’d fought so hard to stay together through everything, he wasn’t going to just martyr that away. Or allow himself to be tempted away. Caius fell quiet again, just listening to their footsteps crunching through the leaves.
She knew he would try, and that things didn't always work out the way they wanted them to. There were forces out there much stronger than she and Caius put together, and it worried her. Even with Baron's curse broken, it still felt like the universe kept conspiring to make things difficult for them. Reagan wasn't going to give up, but there were definite moments of exhaustion. Why couldn't they just have a normal life? "I should probably talk to my mother," she murmured after a few minutes of walking in silence. "It's possible she may know how to help too. After lecturing me for a couple of hours, of course. Maybe I'll talk to Nate first and get his thoughts on all of this." She didn't think Nate was as powerful a witch as Caius, or even their mother, but he tended to think outside the box and it had helped them in the past.
Caius knew better than to suggest that Reagan talk to her mother about problems, but he was somewhat relieved she was willing to give it a go. Between the five of them, they ought to come up with something, right? And Veronica was a powerful, capable witch. “That sounds like a good idea,” he said, squeezing his wife’s hand again. “You never know what they might just have lying around, or have heard about at some point. I mean, look at Zania and her boxes of old spells.” They were boxes he would’ve loved to get his hands on, too. Caius wasn’t going to go as far as pulling the Castells into this, certainly not yet, but gods knew what was in their possession they didn’t even know about. “I’ll go with you, if you want. Maybe she’ll limit the lecture to one hour if I’m there,” he offered with a faint smile.
Despite the fact that her resentment towards Zania had cooled, Reagan still felt an instinctual bristle whenever Caius said her name. Sometimes Reagan wondered if that would ever go away. "Well, I certainly don't want to ask her for help," Reagan muttered. Ideally Zania would never know Reagan lost her magic at all. Brushing her hair back from her face with her free hand, she glanced at Caius with a small smile. "I think it's probably best that I talk to her alone. She'll probably blame you for what happened and I would rather not deal with that. I can handle my mother. I'm not sure she'll be able to deal with having a non-magical daughter so I know she'll do whatever it takes to help us."
Caius didn’t bother saying that he didn’t plan on asking Zania for anything ... it would just create more friction where there didn’t need to be any. The red-headed fire witch seemed to have decided she hated him anyway, so why bother. He hadn’t even told her he was back to normal yet ... he probably owed her an apology of some kind, but Caius didn’t feel that he’d earned the attitude she’d given him. But it didn’t matter. Reagan mattered, that was all. “Understood,” Caius said with a nod. “Shitty motivation, but help is help. Or will be help, if she wants to give it.” He couldn’t imagine Veronica not wanting to give it, but they would all see, wouldn’t they? After a moment’s thought, Caius let out a bitter little laugh. “Now that I’m thinking about it ... Anthony wouldn’t help recover my memories, but I’m pretty damn sure he would move heaven and earth to recover my magic.”
Caius was probably right about that, as sad as it was. "Your magic is more important than I am," Reagan pointed out. "He can control you easier without me in your life. But if you lost your magic..." She trailed off, since it felt harsh to say that Caius would be useless to Anthony without the power given to him over the years. Reagan knew as well as Caius did that Anthony assumed Caius would take over the company eventually, and maybe even eclipse Anthony where it came to magic. Sera wasn't a witch, so certainly it had to be Caius. "Our parents want us to succeed, but they don't consider our relationship to be a factor in that. I think they've always felt that way."
Caius was fairly certain that his magic was more important to Anthony than he was as a person. Even though she was doted on monetarily, Sera didn’t get nearly as much attention as he did, and Caius had always known that was because she wasn’t a witch. All the magic had concentrated in his blood, so of course he was the heir to everything. The D’Onofrio legacy was to be carried on through him and any children he ended up having. “Well, we broke the curse, so their main reason to try and keep us apart is gone now,” he said. “They need to adjust their thinking. We’re much stronger together. Even now,” he added, squeezing her hand again. They were getting closer to where they’d parked, and Caius was more than ready to just take Reagan home and have a low key evening.
Having children was something else Reagan had been thinking about lately. She and Caius hadn't spoken specifically about when, but her gut told her now was not the time. If they could get her magic back, she certainly didn't want to become pregnant until then and risk potentially having a child who wasn't a witch. Magic wasn't everything, but it was enough. "I agree, if that was the real reason they were trying to keep us apart," Reagan said. "I can't even pretend to know their motivations anymore. But this is our life and I think we've proven to them that we're going to be together. They can either get on board with it or fuck off." Reagan exhaled slowly to calm herself before she got too agitated. "Maybe we should just go home and start to look into some of the history of that tunnel. Who knows, maybe there's something in our family journals that talk about it." She had been so focused on finding a solution to Caius's memory problem that she had only skimmed over irrelevant pages. Who knows what was in there that could be useful now.
Caius couldn’t help but smile at Reagan’s defiant words. He loved that strength she had, the self-possessed stubborn streak. It drove him insane sometimes, of course, but it was on the list of reasons why he’d fallen in love with her in the first place. Breaking the curse hadn’t diminished that, he was relieved to feel. It was still surreal to think that he’d been stuck without any memory of her for what felt like an eternity. Caius was selfishly glad that part was over, he just wished that it hadn’t taken another gut punch to do it. “Sounds like a good idea,” he said. “Who knows what-all’s in there.” Caius doubted there would be anything useful to their personal situation, but they’d never know if they didn’t look. He paused, then added, “After dinner, maybe. We need some time to just ... be.”
Reagan nearly pointed out that their beach vacation had been to just be, but she also realized they needed to cling to that a bit more now that they were home. They had jobs and obligations, and research, always more research, but they also had each other and it felt like they had yet to be able to enjoy being newlyweds without a dark cloud hanging over them. When this was all done and things were back to normal, Reagan thought about suggesting having a real wedding, just to start fresh. It was something to think about anyway. "After dinner then," Reagan said, giving a small nod. "Or maybe after dinner and a bath with some wine. And a few hours of love making." Her lips twitched as she looked over at him. "Or maybe we can just take the night off from all of this and start fresh tomorrow."
Caius smirked. Maybe it was sociopathic to be able to put all of these issues -- except for Reagan’s magic, at least -- out of his mind to thoroughly enjoy an evening with his wife, but he considered it a useful skill. The bigger problems in this town weren’t going anywhere, and it wasn’t like they would be able to solve them in one night. Life had to have balance to it, and he wanted to keep reminding Reagan of what they had to fight for. She was more important than anything else. Besides, after what he’d seen and felt in the tunnel, Caius felt like his brain needed a break. It had a lot to process, he just wanted it pushed into the background. “That sounds perfect,” he told her, eyes crinkling a bit as he looked back at her. “All of the above.” They reached the car, and before they parted to climb in, Caius kissed Reagan on the lips again.
Reagan knew they should help, and they would. But they couldn't take on every problem in Point Pleasant alone. And she wouldn't risk her life, or Caius's for any of them. She didn't care what that made her. Selfish? Apathetic? No, she would do what she could, but Reagan knew she was useless if she didn't have her head on straight and right now she felt a bit like she was floundering. Stuck in limbo and unable to do much of anything, for anyone. If it weren't for Caius, Reagan wasn't sure what she would do. At the car Reagan returned his kiss, slipping her arms around his shoulders to cling to him for a moment before finally pulling away. If they couldn't run off to another tropical destination, they could at least shut themselves in for the night and ignore the outside world for a few hours. All of their problems would still be waiting for them in the morning.