[ Holo | Location: Sanctuary ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

He was sure something with the ritual had gone wrong. Not that there was much that could go right, he corrected himself, the sick, heavy feeling that had settled in his stomach so many hours beforehand still refusing to let up. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting and scenery; he had gone from a dark warehouse with the windows boarded up and rusted meathooks hanging from the ceiling to… this. He couldn’t think of how to describe it. It was so different from anything he’d seen before, even since coming to Los Angeles – bright, metallic and utterly foreign.

“Cordy? Can you hear me?” He cringed as the sound of his voice echoed back. He hadn’t been expecting that.

Connor looked up, attempting to process his surroundings. What was that up there? He shook his head, causing his already mussed hair to fall in front of his eyes as he moved forward, almost tripping down the first step before taking the rest down to the floor without incident. He had to find some way out; things were happening back at that warehouse and Angel was due to arrive any minute, he would have to fight him to keep him from interfering – or keep him from getting hurt, he wasn’t sure which now. Maybe he was here because of the ritual, maybe Cordelia had sent him away... except that didn’t make sense. Not after everything she had done to make sure he stayed close.

It must have backfired somehow. … hmph. That was the price of relying so heavily on magic.

“I guess weirder things than this happened,” he muttered to himself, his eyes finally accustomed to the brightness. Another look around revealed there was no exit that he could see. There was, however, a pedestal a few steps ahead of him with some device on it. He frowned as he examined it as best he could from where he was standing.

Usually, it didn’t pay to touch something if you didn’t know what it was. Especially not if magic was involved. It wasn’t quite as foreign as the rest of the room, however, and he took a few steps closer to get a better look at it.

“… kind of looks like a video game,” he thought aloud. The more he talked aloud, the more that heavy feeling in his stomach abated. Maybe it was best not to think about what had happened at the – no. No way. He couldn’t just cut and run like that. “… nevermind. Can’t waste time here. I have to get back.”

It was a great plan, except for the part where there was no door. He scowled and cupped his hands against either side of his mouth to help his voice project, turning his face upwards as he shouted. “Can anyone hear me? Get me out of here!”

If nobody answered, that meant it was just time to start punching walls. He’d punched his way through the barrier of a hell dimension. He could definitely punch his way through a regular wall. … eventually.

Comments

[ visual ]

[undoing.livejournal.com]

"Calm down."

The command came out harsher than he intended it to be, but Angel hadn't yet mastered command over his tone where his son was concerned. The anger that edged his voice wasn't directed at the boy, but rather the hamsters - the aliens - who were responsible for bringing him here. As good as it was to see his son again, Angel didn't want him here. Connor belonged back home, living a life free of the things that happened in this place.

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

The all-too-familiar tone of Angel's voice was enough to set Connor completely rigid, falling into his usual battle-ready hunch without a second thought. His upper lip curled as he looked over his shoulder for the source of the voice, unable to swallow down the rage that had begun to swell up into his chest. "Don't tell me what to do!" he snapped before he could stop himself, out of habit more than anything.

He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to calm. His own voice was still sharp, irate, but he managed to sound slightly less venomous as he continued. "Where are you?"

[ visual ] /so late.

[undoing.livejournal.com]

Angel frowned at the sight on the tablet screen. This wasn't good. If not for the amount of time he'd spent her and being all too familiar with the misalignment of time, he would've assumed that Connor had once again been brought into Taxon from a similar point in time to him. That didn't appear to be the case, as the Connor that had endured a year in hell with him and the rest of Los Angeles would not have tensed like that, dropped into that stance like he was ready to strike. Nor would he have snapped at him. Maybe commented sarcastically about being bossed around, but not something that sounded like a desperate order.

No, this was an earlier version of Connor. He was going to rip those hamsters limb from limb. Slowly.

"In another part of the city," he answered, already moving through the house - Sookie's, all bright, white walls and yellow curtains; such a contrast to the usual places one found the vampire - towards the door. "Stay there, I'm coming to get you."

[ holo ] pffft I got time. XD

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Connor bit back the urge to shout something defiant and was met with success. He was grateful, honestly, that Angel was here and willing to assist him at all. Old habits were hard to break, but if he wanted to get out of here, he was going to have to push them aside and try to keep a lid on his temper. At least for the time being.

"... alright. I'll be here."

He hated the thought of just waiting. It was dangerously close to feeling helpless, as he waited for someone else to show up and solve his problems.

[ holo ] excuse the default icon spam. tagging via e-mail = no picking icons. :c

[undoing.livejournal.com]

"You need to pick the tablet up - that, uh, cell phone looking thing that you're talking to me on - before the room will show you the door," Angel tells him as he climbs into his car. It's the viper, the one that had come with the Wolfram & Hart building when Fred had been here. To say Angel was attached to this car would be an understatement, for his and this car had been through so much and it was, ironically, the only thing that had survived hell and come out unscathed. He'd lost practically everyone before he'd tricked the Senior Partners into reversing time, but this car had remained intact.

[ voice ]

[stacked]

[ pause. pause. paaaaaaaaaaaause. ]

Holy shit, look who's back. Took you long enough, kid.

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

He frowned, confused as he again searched for the source of the voice. This one was familiar, too, though it took a moment longer to place. It wasn't as recognizable as Angel's had been. His eyebrows knit together as he made an educated guess.

"Faith?"

[ voice ]

[stacked]

What, you expecting somebody else?

[ the level of familiarity is high, because faith isn't putting together the context clues yet. ]

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

What kind of question was that? Yes, he'd been expecting somebody else. Just about anybody else, actually. Hadn't she run off to Sunnydale to help out with whatever was happening there?

... anyway.

"I-- yeah. I didn't think I'd hear from you again," he said with some degree of uncertainty. Not so soon, anyway.

[voice]

[slayersidekick]

And look at who the hamsters dragged back in. Not sure if it's possible to say "Welcome Back, it's nice to see you," but hey, you aren't alone here.

[ pause. ]

And there's no way back. Tried that already.

[ willow ]

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Yet more confusion. Connor wasn't sure how he felt about all of these disembodied voices -- having yet to connect them with the device on the pedestal behind him. Aside from having built himself a vigorous Pokemon regiment with the GameBoy Gunn had passed down to him, technology was a bit beyond him.

Disembodied voices probably meant magic. Figured.

"... what's a hamster?"

[ visual ]

[slayersidekick]

Oh fantastic. Willow just sighs and switches hers to visual so he can at least see her. "Look, Connor-"

Wait a minute.

"How can you not know what a hamster is?"

Because clearly that is the most important thing.

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

He inclined his head towards the pedestal bearing the odd device. It was coming from there, then?

"Kind of happens a lot. Do you eat it?" he asked tersely, sweeping his gaze across the room as he made another pass for an exit. Still nothing.

[visual]

[givesahoot.livejournal.com]

Always one who did his best to remain helpful, when Dan saw the arrival of a newcomer on his tablet he set about to sending a transmission of his own.

"Yes," he says calmly, "I can hear you, and I can help you get out of that room if you'll let me."

[ holo ]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Well. This disembodied voice was helpful. Connor swiveled himself back towards the center of the room to face the source. ... there. Were all the voices coming from that game-thing? What was that, anyway?

"Who are you?" he asked, despite being grateful for the offer of help. Never a good idea to trust someone you didn't know. Or couldn't see. He'd learned that much since his return for Quor'toth, at least. Sometimes, even the friendly people were out to get you. People were rarely what they seemed. That lesson was finally starting to take root, too.

[visual]

[givesahoot.livejournal.com]

"My name is Dan," he replied, ready to answer any questions this person had as honestly as he could. "If you follow the sound of my voice you'll find a device called a tablet. It should be sending some kind of visual message from me to you."

[holo]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

After another moment of hesitation, Connor made his way towards the strange device on the pedestal, gingerly reaching out to touch the screen with his index finger. The voice had been right; there was a clear picture of a man in glasses on the screen. Kind of like a tiny TV?

"Okay. ... what now?" he asked, ever the conversationalist.

[visual]

[stepintoshadows.livejournal.com]

Terse, gravelly words greet the newcomer, distinctly absent anything resembling concern or an attempt to be friendly. Rorschach dislikes the Tablet's tendency to turn on, and can't help but extend his annoyance at it to whatever it decides to show him.

"Can't get back."

It's not an even remotely useful or encouraging response, but it's at least truth. Rorschach doesn't concern himself with being comforting or encouraging, it only inspires false hope, and he's nothing if not a cynic.

[holo]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

On his better days, Connor appreciated it when people were blunt. Direct was good. Too many excuses and reasons made things confusing, usually needlessly. He narrowed his eyes at the imagine on the screen; this man was like no human or vampire he'd seen before. What was wrong with his face? ... he must have been a demon.

"... can't get back," he repeated with a frown. If this guy was a demon, maybe he just wanted Connor to believe that. Hard to take anything demons said at face value. Still, Angel himself had said that there wasn't a way out, at least not that anyone had found just yet. "Yeah. That's what I hear."

[visual]

[stepintoshadows.livejournal.com]

"General knowledge," he admitted, but it sounded like it was aimed at himself as much as at the sallow boy on the other side of the screen. "Can escape holding cell, but city's no better. Just bigger."

He shifted in his seat, temporarily moving closer to the screen before he settled again, and while it gave no better picture of him it at least revealed the lazily swirling pools of black-on-white to be little more than fabric, covering what could easily be assumed to be human features.

[holo]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Connor tilted his head to better examine the image. Strange. He guess he'd seen stranger. Really, considering everything he'd seen in Quor'toth, this guy was nothing at all. Just kind of weird -- and even that was pretty relative.

"The city's a prison?" he asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

[Visual]

[a-pretty-fire.livejournal.com]

"Oh!"

Drusilla, smiling as if someone had just brought her a sweet faced little girl for supper, clapped her hands together excitedly. She knew that face. It was a face from her dreams. A face from one of the many futures that might have been and could have been and, in her own world, would never actually be. Wasn't he lovely? A little bit of grandmother and a little bit of the Angel Beast, mixed together with wickedness and dust to create something entirely new.

"They've brought my little brother back to me."

[holo]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Something about the tone of her voice set him on edge, and he was wary as he examined the face that had appeared on the tablet's screen. She was unfamiliar, and yet... something about her pricked at the back of his mind, like he should know who she was.

"Little brother?" he echoed, his eyebrows knitting together as his forehead creased. "... I don't know you."

[Visual]

[a-pretty-fire.livejournal.com]

"You will," she promised, in a voice that dripped with honey and held promises of delicious wickedness. "I shouldn't spoil the surprise. The waiting makes it sweeter. The Angel Beast should have told you that."

He'd told her, after all. Or shown her, stringing out her death until she'd snapped, driven mad by the weight of it all.

[holo]

[prophecy-boy.livejournal.com]

Something about her tone unsettled him, the lilting way she spoke set his teeth on edge and was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something to ask Angel about. He decided that he didn't much care for this business of unfamiliar people remembering him. He didn't like being left out of the loop. Never had, and he doubted that was something that was bound to change.

"... Angel. Don't think he ever did."