World Refugees Final Mix

Ray took a deep breath and used the bracelet to get to Ren's doorstep. She swayed dizzily as she arrived; she didn't expect she'd get used to this while blind, or maybe at all. And she really hoped this was the right place - it was kind of hard to tell.

She felt around for the door and knocked on it, calling, "Ren? Please tell me I'm at the right place."

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"Sorry, you've reached Buckingham Palace," Ren called out teasingly as she hovered over to the door. "Come on in, Ray. Door's open, or at least it better be."

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"Awesome. I'm totally raiding the Queen's room." She fumbled for the doorknob and turned it, almost falling in as the door opened. She caught herself swiftly and proceeded to close the door behind her. With one hand she pushed her new sunglasses - that was the thing about being blind, you could wear some spiffy sunglasses to hide the fact and look cool in the process - back up to the bridge of her nose.

"So, uh. Think you could guide me to a chair? I don't want to inadvertently trip and break something, and standing for a stretch of time while blind when you have horrible balance is just asking for trouble..."

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"Whoa!" Ren scooted out of the way as Ray stumbled in. "You okay?" she asked, dipping down a little toward Ray's eye level. (It was the thought that counted, okay?)

"Yeah, sure." Ren floated to within arm's length and tried to stay relatively level there. "I'm right in front of you. Just put your hand on me and I'll guide you." She paused for a moment before groaning. "This is so fricking surreal..." she muttered, wishing she could face palm, or even shake her head right now.

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"I bet it is. I can't even begin to imagine what being a book's like," she said, reaching out. "Oh, there you are..."

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"I miss my body, for one," Ren whined as she slowly turned and started hovering back to the sofa in the living room. "I'll probably be famished when I get back to normal," she added thoughtfully. "The worst part is, I don't even come with a good story or anything useful at all. Just my stream of consciousness babbling."

With that rant out of the way, Ren guided Ray the rest of the way to the sofa. "Okay, it's one step ahead. You're on the right side, by the way."

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"That's not something you see everyday," Chase said as she followed into the apartment only a few moments after Ray had been led in. It was a bad attempt at a joke, and she knew it, but she was too tired and too worried to think of something remarkably clever.

As she entered into the room, the strong smell of coffee came with her - in her hand, she was holding a tray with three drinks. "I know Song likes her tea and I didn't know what to get for you Ray so I stuck with a hot chocolate. You can have my coffee if you want..." She trailed off, a bit embarassed. "Ren, I owe you." That being said, she put the drinks on the coffee table and collapsed onto the couch, rubbing her eyes wearily.

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Song caught up with Chase at the door and slipped in behind her, moving lightly on bare feet. As inconvenient as it was, she had to admit her curse suited her rather well. She'd always been the 'quiet one'.

Tucked under her arm was a small journal with a pencil tied to it - her current means of communication - but she didn't bother with it just yet. She simply nodded at the others and gave a slight wave before slinking over to sit on the floor with her back against the arm of the couch.

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Ren made her rough equivalent of a shrug, flipping her pages from one cover to the other. "Don't worry about it, Chase. It's no big deal." Seeing how exhausted Chase looked made her miss her body even more--the urge to hug had hit her full force once again.

Unable to do much about that, she settled herself on one end of the coffee table, standing upright. "I'm glad you guys could all make it. I know things are really stressful right now, but any discussion at this point has got to be helpful, right?"

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Ray flopped down and said, "Nah, hot chocolate's fine with me. Thanks." She left it to sit on the table for now, though, and rested her head on the back of the couch.

"Right, discussion is good. So, email, then. Obviously Josiah's still in there somewhere, albeit hidden pretty damn well. But besides that, what do you guys think of it?"

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"I think," Chase started slowly, mulling over her thoughts after she took a long gulp of coffee, "that maybe Calum needs to keep Jo alive for some reason. I mean, seriously - why not just lie to us and do what I get the feeling he's wanted to do since this whole mess started?"

She put her coffee down and shook her head with a small, almost defeated sigh. "Can we separate them? Is that even a probable option?"

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A small part of Song's mind was immensely satisfied with the fact that she could "talk" without interrupting the nervous habit of chewing on her lower lip. After Chase's questions, and a moment of hesitation, she carefully wrote down a sentence in handwriting that had an oddly childish look to it, then held up her little notebook for those who could see to read.

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Ren winced, tilting back on her cover by a few degrees, and read Song's message aloud for Ray's sake. She had said as much in her last voice post, but it still stung a little to have someone else think the same thing.

After letting it sink in for a few moments, she seemed to perk up a little as a thought struck her. "Hey, has anyone ever gotten Riku's thoughts on all of this?" she asked. "This is just like what happened with him and Xehanort's Heartless, isn't it?" If that were the case, then maybe there still was hope. Then again, how long had Riku been possessed?

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Ray shook her head in response to Chase. "I've been looking into separating them since this whole thing started. It would be difficult no matter what method we tried, could irreparably damage them both, and Calum would have to be willing, or it would just blow up in our faces."

She sighed. "But he's hanging in there, at least. I think he's trying to protect us, so I doubt he'll give up soon, and that'll help someone last longer than anything. And asking Riku would probably be a good idea, though. He does have experience in fighting Darkness and all... Can't believe I didn't think of him before," she said with a chuckle.

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Chase wrinkled her nose at Ray's comment about Calum having to be willing to go through with the process, and an idea struck her on why Calum wouldn't give up Josiah so easily. Song had mentioned it before, months ago, but she hadn't really thought much about it until the white-haired girl made mention of the pirate's stubborness.

She took another sip of her coffee, carefully thinking out what she wanted to say. "I kept wondering why Calum was being such a jerk about not giving up Josiah's body for one of his own. I mean, we have Yen Sid and Merlin on our side, so I know it's possible." She paused, wondering if she was leaping to the wrong conclusion before plunging ahead, "But Calum gets two things from that possession - immunity from us because he knows come hell or high water we're not going to kill a friend and...he gets Josiah's lifespan."

She couldn't say "immortality" because she still wasn't sure about that one. But if the years spent in Narnia meant anything at all...

She snorted a bit at Ren and Ray's conclusion. "Riku, huh? It's always the easiest answer that comes last, ain't it?"

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Song's eyes narrowed sharply and she nodded when Chase spoke of the near-immortality granted by Josi's link with Lilith. She'd been thinking about that again, when the suggestion for this meeting was made... but she had no response that she deemed worthy of writing down. The obvious answer was to give Calum his own immortal body. And if immortality itself wasn't the only thing... well, it wasn't far of a jump to think that he desired that specific bond with a demon. And who better than the one he'd once loved?

But she'd let the others come to that conclusion on their own. There wasn't enough evidence to press the issue... yet.

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"All right, so we'll get in touch with Riku as soon as we're done here, if not sooner," Ren noted, also mentally kicking herself for not thinking of this before.

She mulled over what Chase said and mimicked a sigh. "Yeah, and knowing him, he'd suspect us of rigging the new body to die within twenty-four hours or something.

"Do you think we could try suppressing Calum for a little while, to buy us some time?" she asked thoughtfully. "I know Lilith cast that sleep spell on him, but Josiah was still in the same situation, and we all know how easily she undid that one..." she added bitterly.

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"We'd have to get Yen Sid or Merlin to help, if we were try that, especially since it'd most likely be a long-distance spell. There are probably some magic items we can get that would do the job, too, but we'd have to find them, figure out how to use them, and, if necessary, plant them on him, all of which could and most likely would be pretty difficult to do, not to mention dangerous."

Ray ran a hand through her hair. "Hey, that sleep spell helped at the time; Brandon might have been killed if she hadn't done it. I'm willing to bet she's just keeping Calum in line, maybe buying us some time to figure out what to do about the situation. And there's definitely other factors in the equation than just that," she added dryly.

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She nodded a little bit. "Sounds like we have a plan. I bet, though, we could write a new Worst Case Scenario book and make millions off of it." She looked down at her reflection in the cup of coffee. "I hope that whatever we do doesn't hurt Jo more. Or that we get him back...different."

She blinked at the mention of Lilith - honestly, she hadn't heard too much about the whole rescue in Neverland, just bits and pieces over the past weeks. "I don't exactly trust Lilith, but she hasn't ever done anything to actually hurt us, I don't think." She paused, glancing at Ray for a second. "'Other factors'?"

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Song sighed impatiently, and wrote down a single word.

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"Yeah, I guess," Ren said guiltily after hearing Ray's comment. "Sorry, I'm just biased, I guess." She could go with the general consensus that Lilith could at least be trusted not to outright attack them, fair enough.

"Talisman..." Ren read aloud, sounding puzzled. "Josiah mentioned that in his message. I have to admit, I don't know all the details behind it. Derp, me," she added, "rolling her eyes" in self-disgust... which pretty much looked identical to her shrug. "What do you think he wanted us to do about it?"

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"Well, there's bound to be 'other factors' if he's perfectly willing to accept someone who's tried to kill him but not anyone who's offered to help..."

Ray was quiet for a moment, listening to her magic hearing aid replay Josiah's message. "He said we have to get talisman."

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"But the question is why," Chase fretted aloud, tucking her fist under her chin as she leaned forward and propped her elbow on her knee. There was nothing Chase loved more than an Agatha Christie-esque mystery, but this was ridiculous. "Why all of this claim for hating Calum, saying she can't stand the sight of him and then going and joining forces with him with barely a peep? There's got to be something else there than her trying to give us a chance to defeat him - I don't think she really cares what happens to anyone other than herself."

And then there was that whole issue with the talisman, a small and insignificant piece of jewelry that may be the key to the whole thing. But how? Chase took another sip of coffee that was quickly growing cold. Damn all these questions with no answers.

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Song wrote.

She paused, her pencil hovering over the page for a moment, then skipped a line and added,

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Ren read Song's message aloud again before making a pensive little noise. "She did give Amy that warning, remember," she pointed out. "She didn't have to do that. And I don't know, maybe she figures that by being close to him, she can get him when he's vulnerable..." she said thoughtfully. "Or maybe it's just the hedgehog's dilemma, where Lilith needs to be close but can't stand it when she is... I'm just saying whatever comes into my head, feel free to call me an idiot," she added, sounding embarrassed.

"But anyway, the talisman... could it be like destroying a genie's lamp?" Ren sighed, leaning back on her cover again. "But we don't know what that might do to Josiah."

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"I've been wondering, actually, if the talisman might be what really allows Calum to possess him," Ray said thoughtfully. "I know it's a little far-fetched, but looking at some of the things they had at Star Market, it wouldn't surprise me. And if that's it and we get the talisman away from him, than Calum might not be such a threat anymore."

She smiled. "Whatever the case, Josiah did say we need to get it, so doing that must help somehow. You can leave that to me, once this curse is over."

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Chase wasn't so sure about that - but then again, she wasn't optimistic by nature. She considered herself a realist just because she learned a long time ago never to get her hopes up only for them to come crashing down. She shook her head at Song. "I don't know...maybe you have more faith in her than I do."

She paused, thinking about the talisman again. "Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all...but what exactly is the talisman? I think it's made out of copper...and something green. Does it have any carvings or anything?" She was rambling and took a breath, collecting her thoughts. "I just want to know what its magical properties are. It could be nothing, but maybe if we found something that could work against it..."

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Song let the subject of Lilith's loyalties drop. She barely understood the succubus herself, but... she still trusted her. And she believed that by trusting her, she encouraged Lilith to prove trustworthy. An almost paradoxical loop.

Her writing was getting sloppier in her haste. The inconvenience of this curse was starting to annoy her.

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"Fair enough," Ren said after reading Song's message again. She was used to reading messy handwriting--her grandfather's was atrocious, and how many times had her teachers and parents gotten on her case about her own penmanship?

"So how do we... wait..." She turned toward Ray, regarding her curiously. "What do you have in mind?" she asked warily.

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"That's right, we don't have time." The smile widened and she chuckled softly. "Don't worry about me, Ren. Remember who you're talking to, yeah? I'm just crazy enough to pull this off. You just have to trust me."

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Chase just nodded, too tired to argue. She had her reservations, of course, but if Song wanted to trust the demon...well, that was what she wanted to do.

"Getting the talisman...yeah, that should be fun," she mused aloud. "Maybe we should distract him with MST 3000. That distracts everyone."

More lame jokes. God, she was tired.

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Song brooded over her notebook, but wrote nothing more. If Ray was going to handle the talisman, than she could do it however she saw fit. There didn't seem much need for any more suggestions. At least they were on the right track...

Song was just tired of being nearly powerless against their enemy, and it was something she didn't know how to change.

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Right, that was so very reassuring. Still, it wasn't like Ray couldn't take care of herself, and she did have her own magic on her side. "Just come back in one piece, all right?" Ren asked, deciding to go ahead and trust her.
"Okay, so we'll figure out our next step after we get the talisman. In the meantime, we'll talk to Riku and find out what he has to say about this," she noted.

A quick glance at the sofa told her that Chase was looking pretty drained, and Song seemed satisfied with where they stood now. "I have one last question, and then we'll wrap up?" Ren asked the others. "What should we do if something goes wrong? Say Calum attacks again, or getting the talisman fails? ...No offense, Ray."

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Ray nodded. "None taken. If something goes wrong - and I expect something will, it always does - we'll probably just have to figure it out as we go. I mean, if Calum attacks again, we can deal with him. If getting the talisman fails..." she paused, not wanting to say what that implied. "Well, if at first you don't succeed..."

She sat up, finally reaching for the hot chocolate. "Seriously, though? I think that would depend on who he attacks. Some of us are capable of taking him on our own, like Brandon did. But if he were to attack, say, you, Ren, you wouldn't really stand a chance, no offense. Only thing I can think of to do about that is either you learn some magic, get some more training in, or stick with someone who can handle it." She shook her head. "I don't know what to say, other than that."

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Chase chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about Ray's words. Yes, Murphy's Law should just be renamed Refugee's Law - anything that could go wrong would go wrong. And with Calum- wait.

"Ray, didn't you say that if Lilith hadn't interferred in Neverland, Brandon would have been killed?" she asked quietly, not liking the implications of the probable answer. "You don't think that maybe Calum's been holding back all of this time, have you? We're going to need some uber tag team effort to get that talisman."

She paused and added with a grimace, "I'd suggest asking Rak since he seems to be a pro at stealing things, but that almost might be a borderline suicide mission."

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A soft click issued from the direction of Song, her failed attempt at a the "tch" noise that she liked to use as a sort of tisk or scoff.

She snapped her book shut, apparently done with the conversation.

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"Hah... Believe me, Ray, none taken," Ren muttered. Both of her meetings with Calum had proven that well enough, though she did still wonder what would have happened if she had thrown that mug at his head. Now that she thought of it, though... "I saw him at the Star Market," she told the others. "The creep went and pulled the old fear and guilt trip, saying that 'if I valued the life of a friend, I wouldn't tell anyone about our meeting.' Well, the Market's over now, and how's he going to know unless we tell him?" It was like learning in elementary school about how to deal with abusers all over again. "At least he's suffering the same indignity as the rest of us."

She sighed and rocked back again. "I fully support the tag-team idea. Of course, this won't be like an RPG where he'll wait politely for all of us to have a turn before attacking, but strength in numbers, right? Besides, if some of us keep him distracted, the rest can go in for the talisman."

She read Song's message aloud one more time, mentally wincing as she snapped the book shut. That probably would have hurt a little had it been her...

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She shook her head. "I said he might have been killed, but we don't know that for sure. He was holding up pretty well, considering."

She looked down out of habit, as if she were trying to avoid their eyes. "Guys, normally I'm all for this tag-team shit, but I don't think that's the best idea this time. Calum's threatened to kill if someone interferes, so just trust me, okay?" She sighed.

"You remember Luxord. Cheryle, Clover, that whole mess. I can be a snake sometimes. I'm not proud of it, but hey. If I can use it to gain an advantage, then pride be damned, I will. You'd be surprised what I can do with that when I want to... And hey, if it comes to a fight and he kicks my ass, I'll haul tail out of there and to somewhere safe, to a healer if I have to. But I don't see that happening."

Ray hesitated. She didn't want to tell them about her most recent conversation with Calum just yet. She doubted they'd react well to that. "Trust me, guys. I can keep secrets. I can be sneaky. At the very least I can get information. I'll manage. If it comes down to me needing help, I'll ask, but just let me handle it for the time being, alright?"

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