Mahonri blinks and looks at the fellow, not saying much at first, wondering if the man even realizes he's there.

At this point the man smiles and nods his head to Mahonri, a small gesture of greeting. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt," he says looking from Mahonri to Irene, "but I really would like to talk to you, 'Rene, when it's convenient. It's quite important." He pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to her. "Put through a call there as soon as you can, okay? It's where I'm staying." He looks at her intently, her eyes held with his, and she holds the paper loosely. "Okay?" "I... yes, of course..." she says weakly.

"Don't let me being here stop you from talking to my dream-sister, Chorister." Ri suddenly says. "I need to leave at the moment anyway... some Nephandi are trying to break into the Den again... I shall be back in a few minutes, so you can converse." He then disappears from his seat.

Ri's voice breaks the 'spell' and Irene shoots a desperate look at his empty seat before turning back to Teague. "Have a seat then..." she says calmly, while jumping up and down and screaming inside. ~Mind magick! I should have known from the last time.~ He takes a seat and then seems to think a minute before looking at her frowningly.
"Look, I didn't really want to do this here." She shrugs. "But we're both here now, and who knows when we'll get the chance again? What is this all about, Teague? I want to know!" She goes on the attack to try and get him to 'fess up. He smiles a little, still looking perfectly harmless and totally unaffected. "The locket," he says, and she clasps her hands together in her lap.
"What about it?" she says defensively, and he leans forward quickly. She covers the silver heart with one hand in an automatic gesture that raises his eyebrows. "Look," he says persuasively, taking a different tack, "haven't you noticed anything odd since you got it back?" Her eyes narrow and she doesn't answer. She wonders what he wants with it and what
he's going to try before Mahonri gets back.
Teague looks into her face for a moment and sighs. "What did I do? Why do you have to make this so hard?" She quirks an eyebrow and continues to look at him, eyes the pale color of displeasure. He frowns, then shrugs slightly, giving up on the diplomacy. "Look, I know you Euthanatos know about Wraiths-" "And?" she interrupts. He looks annoyed. "You've got one, 'Rene." A stony look is her only response.
After her silence stretches into the minutes range, he gives her a dark look. "I know you didn't just misunderstand me..."
"No, on the contrary. But why should I believe you?"
"Look, I tracked the locket since it appeared at a pawn shop in SanFran... The owner of the shop turned it over to one of our representatives in the area, claiming that it was possessed and that he had been experiencing poltergeist activity since the thing came into his shop. I happened to see it and knew whose it was, but there was a robbery... I don't know how it got to you, but I've gone to a lot of trouble. That locket is a Fetter, and I think you know whose." She doesn't relent at all, staring silently.
Finally he makes a sharp sound. "Fine. The hard way. I'm sorry, Irene. I promise I won't hurt you." She feels the cold from the silver heart intensify as Teague's Mind magick roars into her. The strength amazes her. ((He has 4 dots in Mind *L*)) She fights it, winning for a few moments by sheer stubbornness, but eventually her will wavers like a candle flame and is blown out. She relaxes back into the booth, looking him calmly in the face, waiting like a puppet. He doesn't look happy, just grim. <Now stand up> They both rise from the booth. He reaches back to her <Give me your hand> and she places her hand into his. The locket is so cold it burns her through her shirt, pulsing like a frozen heart, but even the pain can't break his hold when she has no countermagick and he's overcome her will. Led by the hand like a small child, she follows him out of the room.

As they go out, all time stops and everything around them freezes. Then Mahonri appears before Teague, his red marks glowing intently (they double as 'mood' indicators too *g*) and his face is stone. "Where are you taking her, Chorister?"

Teague stops at a distance, face still calm. Without any obvious gesture on his part, Irene stops just a step behind him at his shoulder, looking right through Mahonri. Her expressionis normal, except that her eyes are totally vacant. "Why do you want to make it your business?" Teague says. "I'm trying to help her." Irene does nothing, only shivering slightly in a reaction of the autonomous nervous system to the locket's touch. The skin beneath the heart pendant is red and raw from cold, but the locket has warmed now, only faintly chill as if knowing the damage it was doing, pulsing fretfully as if unhappy for her.

"'Why do I want to make it my business?' Because she's my sister, adopted at any rate, but a sister nonetheless. So I'm sure you can appreciate my curiousity at your actions, Chorister," he says, the marks pulsing. "I know this has something to do with that locket, right?"

He sighs. "Correct. But if you truly call her sister, then you will let me do what has to be done, for her and for the soul trapped in that locket. She doesn't understand, but she's being haunted. I believe my friend's soul is bound to the locket and to her, which is why I need both to free him." ((Note: if Ri can sense when someone is speaking truth, then he
senses truth now. Which means only, of course, that Teague believes what he's saying, not that he's right.))

"I see," he nods, but still does not move out of the way, and time stays still. "So someone bound a soul to the locket and gave it to her. Who's the soul locked inside?"

"The soul was not deliberately bound to the locket. It happened upon his death, which was violent." He sounds tired. "Because of the manner of death, his soul didn't go wherever it was supposed to as most do. He stayed behind, clinging to the locket and Irene as remnants of his old life." Teague seems reluctant to mention who he means, as if unsure how much the boy before him knows and should be told.

"You mean Gavin, correct?" he says. "Yes, I know about the events surrounding Irene's awakening."

"Right," he says, looking both suspicious and relieved. "So you must realize why this is important. I have to break the bonds that hold him here."

"Will there be any negative effects to Irene if you do this?"

"She won't be physically harmed. I have to destroy the locket, and convince Gavin to give her up. She will be very angry with me, but in the end, I think it would be best. He needs to move on, and she... well, you know her. How good for her to you think it is to be haunted by more than just memories?"

"Not good indeed," he nods, "but still, shouldn't she have a conscious choice in the matter?" He pauses. "You need not destroy the locket.. I could 'drag' the soul out so perhaps you could talk to Gavin then.. But.. Why not let Irene make that choice? With Gavin's soul out, maybe they could finally say goodbye."

"I'm concerned that maybe she'll want to keep him any way she can, and although I would not hurt her, he is my true priority."

"Perhaps, but I would feel better about asking her myself," he says, and walks past Teague and to Irene. He places a hand upon her forehead, and pushes back the Mind magick enough to communicate with her mind-to-mind. ~Irene, the chorister has taken over your mind and intends to destroy the locket in order to release the soul bound therein...~ he says, and makes sure that any attempt by Teague to read his thoughts are met with a mental shove to the floor.

She clutches frantically at the contact, nearly bowling him over mentally. ~Make him let me go. I can hear everything you're saying to each other. I have to make him listen to me!~

~Very well,~ he says, after having to step back from the force of her call. He looks at the chorister now. "Your hold over Irene is now severed. She wants to speak, so I will let her," he tells the man, and indeed, the hold has been cut, and Ri has made sure it can not be re-established for the time being.

She turns, moves so she's facing Teague. Neither of them has ever seen her quite so angry, face white, eyes almost colorless and dilated with rage. She curls hands into fists at her sides, slowly, as her eyes narrow. For a moment, it seems she will strike him, but she doesn't even curse, and her voice comes out frightening because it is so perfectly reasonable. "I think I know as much about the Restless as you do, and if you destroy the locket you'll be consigning his soul to Oblivion. Lost to the Wheel. For all time." Folding her arms, she takes a deep breath and simmers down. The air around them has dropped a few degrees in temperature. Teague, considering this, finally shakes his head. "Not if we do it right. It took me long enough to realize what had happened, because Stockton stole the locket. It was away from you so long that Gavin's started to lose it. He's not strong enough to master his Shadow, and if he doesn't continue to hold it at bay, he'll be just as lost as if Oblivion had claimed him. We have to do something soon, or I wouldn't have been desperate enough to do what I've done." Irene is silent, thinking, recalling the dreams, the strange Jekyll and Hyde dreams...

Ri hears all of this, then when it's quiet, he speaks. "If you want Gavin's soul released to the Wheel,  Irene, why not do it then?"

She looks at him, shaking her head before she begins to speak. "It's not that simple. He's lost his chance to continue in the normal way. He's trapped, for eternity or until he falls to Oblivion or his Shadow. Some of the wraith lore says that a few have been able to transcend and reach whatever was supposed to wait for them in the normal course of things, but in all the stories, they give it the status of a legend, something heard of but never seen."

"If that is so, do you intend on carrying his soul with you for the rest of your life?"

"No!" she says, frustrated. "But I don't intend on blithely destroying the one thing that keeps him from Oblivion either. Teague is going to have to give me a better plan." The man in question shrugs. "Why don't you ask Gavin then? it's his eternity. He's come into your dreams, hasn't he?" She nods, uncertain. "He couldn't talk to me, though."

"Irene," he says, looking right at her, "I can channel Gavin's soul from the locket into my mind, he could use me as a mouth piece. All I need is touch the locket, broken contact sends his soul back into the locket."

"Look," Teague interrupts, "that might be a good idea. But we shouldn't be doing it here in the hall."

Ri looks at Teague. "You forget, Chorister. Time here has frozen. Not even one of your time masters could set it right unless I let him." He turns back to Irene now. "Irene, I have given you an offer, will you accept it?"

Irene sighs. "I don't know... Look, I was offered the chance once before to try and speak with him, by Phi's mentor and the leader of my cabal. As tempted as I was, I knew it wasn't a good idea." She shakes her head, the longing to say yes fierce on her face. "But I don't know how else to get through to him. Someone with Spirit would have to go speak with him."

"I see," he nods. "I could do it. What you call Spirit magick within the range of my Dreamer abilities."

"Right.... well...." she looks at Teague, who rolls his eyes and shrugs. He looks annoyed, but knows he's going to have to settle for this. "Just, tell him everything we've said, and ask him what he wants us to do, if he can tell you." She stops, looks like she might say something else, and shakes her head to herself again. "I guess that's all."

"Ok..." he says and takes a breath, and then reaches out and touches the locket hanging around Irene's neck. In an instant, his eyes go black as he enters the realm that keeps the spirit locked inside. To him, it appears as a dark plain, cold and empty. "Um... Hello? Gavin Burke?"

"Who's asking? You're not a Centurion, are you?" says a voice, cautiously it sounds. Ri can't quite tell, but it seems to be behind him. "Oh, you're one of the Quick... What do you want?" The voice still doesn't seem unfriendly, just nervous, as the... person... it belongs to comes into focus to Ri's left. A young man, tall and on the skinny side, brown-eyed, with very curly light brown hair that looks like it wants cutting. He wears jeans and a UCLA sweatshirt with dark stains on it. It might be blood, but you don't want to look too closely...

"Quick?" he wonders, then shrugs it off. "I am a friend of your wife, Gavin. I have come here to ask you a question of her behalf." He looks right at the young man now. "Do you wish to stay here, locked in this locket, or to be released?"

Gavin laughs, raising his hands. "What does this look like to you? I'm not trapped in the locket. These are the Deadlands."

"Well, your soul is stuck in the locket nonetheless, Burke. And Irene has it with her. She says it's too late to release your soul to the Wheel. Is it?"

He nods. "Yes, as far as I know. As far as anyone trapped here knows. If the locket is destroyed or I lose my link to it, I have nothing to anchor me here. It's what all of us fear. With no fetters, we are quickly taken by Oblivion." His features are utterly serious. "Of course, Irene-" his face softens when he says her name- "is my other anchor. As long as she lives, two things tie me to this plane. I have gained strength here since the locket was returned to her."

"What? Growing strong off of your wife?" he blinks.

"Her presence makes me strong... The need to keep her safe." Gavin looks irritated for the first time, as if Ri had suggested something improper.

"That may be true. But what if you had a chance to ascend? To leave this place and continue on to the Wheel, or whatever lies after this limbo? Would you take it? Or forever stay with Irene in this state? You know she hasn't moved on since your murder, because she's too busy hanging on to the memories and you and your daughter."

"I know," he says heavily. "Believe me, I know. I hate to see her do that to herself. I tried to tell her, she's unusually receptive in dreams... but my Shadow... was strong that day. It always tries to take over when I'm trying to tell her!" He is frustrated. "I've been afraid to try since the last time, but I could still watch her. I can't believe Teague..." he stops. "I wasn't answering your question, was I? I can't move on. I've missed the boat, don't you understand? It won't come back for me or anyone here. No one knows what happens to those who disappear from here. If it weren't that I feared Oblivion, I'd agree. You have no idea what it's like here. And I don't want Irene to come here in her turn. Despite her new beliefs, I think it's a possiblity. I'd like us to be together again, but not like this..." he shudders.

"I see," he nods again. "You can tell Irene yourself, in person.. sort of. I can allow you to enter my body and use me as a mouth piece, so to speak. You need not fear your 'Shadow' falling because I will not allow an alien entity to enter my mind unless invited." He pauses now.. "I don't know about getting you back on -that- particular boat.. but I do have the capability to send you on."

He looks as though he doesn't know which thing to respond to first. Thinking, he scowls fiercely at the ground, shoving his hands in his back pockets. It makes him look very young, although he was twenty-five when he died. Finally he looks up. His face is, to excuse the pun, haunted. A lot like Irene's, sometimes. He smiles faintly, an attempt at humor. "I don't think I should see her. I wouldn't want to embarass us both in a borrowed body. But maybe... give her a message for me? If you promise me that, and that you'll look out for her... then I'll accept your offer to try and send me on."

"I will promise this. What is the message?"

"Just..." he sighs. "I don't know what to say that will get through to her, you know?" He smiles slightly again. "I've watched her turn on herself, and it just-" he pauses, continues with a little laugh, "just kills me to see it. You should have met her before." Rubbing the back of his neck, he looks embarassed. "Tell her, it wasn't her fault. I know she won't believe it, or she'll think she does, think she knows, but she doesn't. She blames herself. Tell her to remember when I broke one of her mother's vases, what she told me... And tell her that no matter what she does, I love her, doesn't matter where I am, I always will. And that I just wish, one last time... No." He shrugs. "I guess... I guess that's it. God..." he says the last word softly to himself, oath, curse, or prayer.

He nods. "I'll tell her, Gavin." Then, suddenly, Ri is back in his body, his black eyes return to normal, and he looks at Irene. He removes his hand from the locket, but with it too comes a shining spark which he holds gently in his hand. "Irene, Gavin, told me to give you this message.. Its not your fault. And to remember what you told him when he broke one of your mother's vases... and too, that he loves you. And no matter where he is, or what state, he always will." He pauses now, looking at the spark in his hand. "He agreed to let me take his soul to a place where it will ascend... I have his soul in my hand."

Irene wraps her arms around herself as if hugging the words to her, eyes too bright. "You can put him back on the Wheel, Mahonri?" She sounds so hopeful it hurts. Teague shifts behind her, saying nothing.

"I can," he nods solemnly. "Or rather, deliver him to the ones who can."

"Then you've done us both a service I can never repay, or even tell you what it means to me..." she shakes her head.

He nods, and then the corridor lights up as a woman appears. She looks to be in her middle forties, but is in good shape and rather attractive despite her age. She is dressed in a white gown that glows as she does. "You called, Mahonri?" he turn and nods. "Yes, Cel. I have a soul to release to the Wheel. The woman nods and then Mahonri releases the spark, and it takes the form of Gavin. Celestine smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to a new journey, Gavin Burke," she says, and then she and Gavin disappear and time returns to normal for everyone on the station.

Irene nods, taking a deep breath and smiling at Mahonri. Then she turns to Teague. "Happy?" Her tone implies that he better be. He nods to her, more of a formal bow of the head, and looks at Ri. "I must thank you as well." He is all sincerity.

"You're welcome," he says with a nod to the both of them.

"Mahonri..." starts Irene, as someone comes past them out of the bar, looking annoyed. She moves to one side, drawing them with her. "I think I'm going to go be alone for a while. I'm sorry."

Ri smiles. "No problem, sis," he says, then puts a jade amulet in her hand. "Use it to contact me if you need anything. Ok?"

"Right," she replies, putting it in her pocket. "Thanks." Then, with a look on her face as if she'd better do it quick before changing her mind, she gives him a hug, and quickly walks away. It's obvious she has nothing to say to Teague, who turns the other direction and leaves without another word spoken.

"Ok... what to do now?" he says to himself as both parties leave him behind in the corridor. He shrugs and walks into the bar and gets an ale like always, and just sit there for awhile.