persontrophyone who stands before the cherubim: part 201/07/2007 "Karina, I'll be late. Hope you're doing well." During Joel's commute from work, when the bus went into Corey's neighborhood due to the car crash, he saw something strange. He saw a weird blue glow and heard screaming inside. He got off on the bus stop two houses from Corey's and knocked on the door. "Corey, are you OK? I heard screaming from your house." Corey opened the door slowly, looking like he had food poisoning. He greeted him at the door and acted like his usual cheerful self, but something felt off. "You good? You look like you haven't slept in days. Sleep on the couch for a bit, it's fine. I just wanted to know what was going on." Corey said, "Nothing bad. So...there was this giant...cockroach in my home office that landed on me and shot it's goop on my leg. The weird lights aren't from my house, I think the neighbors are partying again. I made something for you in the kitchen!" Joel walked into the kitchen, and everything looked alright, until he went to a trash can to throw some garbage out. There was strange black goop with blue areas, and it kept pulsating. Corey prepared him some homemade smashburgers and french fries made of sweet potatoes. Joel, while grateful for his offer, was confused. Corey was not the type to enjoy fast food, let alone prepare them. Maybe Corey was just making something new. Joel then saw the weird glow from upstairs, proving Corey wrong. While the lights from before weren't very obvious if they were coming from Corey's house or somewhere behind, he was certain something weird happened. Joel felt that it was impolite to sneak into Corey's room without his permission, so he tried to bring up the light from upstairs for permission. He then heard screaming from said room that sounded a lot like Corey himself. Joel entered the room and his jaw dropped. A corpse resembling Corey was laying on the cieling, surrounded with black and blue goop and screaming like a banshee, vomiting said goop. The corpse sprout wings and started to attack him. "YOU HURT ME. YOU LEFT ME FOR DEAD. I WILL REMEMBER YOU." Joel didn't remember doing anything that hurt Corey much, and was confused and didn't know if the corpse was Corey himself and the Corey he talked to was an impostor, or the corpse was an impostor. The corpse managed to grab onto Joel's jacket, and attempted to choke him, until Joel managed to grab a very sharp glass shard and said, "I'm sorry...I needed to protect myself. Please forgive me." Joel thrust the shard on the corpse's heart, and it's goop dissapeared suddenly. The corpse looked normal, and Joel heard something from the corpse. "Please...I'm sorry...The guy over there....egregore....The Watchers...." Joel stared at the corpse, and then saw a bunch of pamphlets and weird items. He suddenly got flashbacks of his childhood. He then saw a familiar symbol on Corey's leg. 6 eyes. A vine that resembled barb wire. A weird circular sun with an eye and rays. The Order of the Watchers got him. Joel walked home and held Corey to the backyard. He gave Corey a peaceful burial in his garden, where he spent much of his days. "I'm sorry they found you and hurt you. I and Karina will get vengeance."HarvestThe Harvest Festival was in full swing, and the Fincher siblings were treated to some of the best crops this season had to offer. The pickings for this year in have been blessed with good bounty, as crops as far as the eye can see were brought out on full display. And the best part of all this for Jac was that every single one of these fresh produce were fit for a giant, so it became sort of a playground for her to explore. Fortunately her big brother was keeping a close watch. "This one looks to be a good size!" Jac hopped onto the tallest pumpkin in the patch, a gargantuan monstrosity that looked heavy enough to give even Bo some trouble. That coupled with the just as horrendous price tag caused the Bunyan giant to stop dead on his tracks. "We can't take this home! It won't even fit in our wagon." He exclaimed, as he reached out to grab the rambunctious little woman before she could leave any shoe prints behind. When he sat her off near the squashes, Bo managed to catch someone familiar off the corner of his eye. With the press tailing his every move, Rod was unable to safely meet up with his boyfriend at this time, but they would acknowledge each other's presence with quick side glances at every chance they got. Bo had to withhold waving hello on impulse, and while it was frustrating to not be able to make visual cues to his love, just being near him was more than enough to make weathering the rest of the day worth it. "I found a really nice one!" Jac said, as she managed to get some distance between herself and the Bunyan giant in a short span. Bo rushed over to meet his adopted sister, who was at this time on top of a fairly cute pumpkin that glistened slightly against the warm autumn sunshine. It wasn't too big and it was a fairly decent enough height, but the main thing that caught Jac's attention was how perfectly round, yet meaty it was. With a few light knocks, Bo nodded his head in agreement. "It's perfect!" He said with a smile. Just then, one of Rod's escorts walked up to the two, the elf shooing Jac off the fruit while he turned to the giant with a glare that could be felt even through his dark shades. "I'm sorry, but this pumpkin has already been reserved for Prince Roderick." "There's hundreds of others here he can choose fr--" Jac almost retorted, before Bo quickly yet gently placed a hand over her mouth. "I understand," Bo said with slight nervousness in his voice, "we'll be on our way then." "There will be no need for that." At that very moment, Rod walked in as if in a procession, with his hands behind his back and accompanied with escorts who followed every step he took almost precisely. The way he approached with a proper, almost gentlemanly gait was far from what the siblings were used to seeing from the high elf. Jac had to slap a hand to her mouth as air began to fill her cheeks; the young diplomat raised an eyebrow at the woman but made no further reaction towards her predictable response. Instead, Rod turned his head up to Bo, who was breaking out in a pool of sweat. The high elf hated to see his beloved in this way, but he understood the reason why. The pressure to remain proper and formal towards him in public was certainly getting to the Bunyan giant. "I was actually planning on buying this pumpkin for a very close friend of mine," Rod finally spoke. Bo gulped. "But, I'm sure I'll find another. Since this place has some of the best crops in the entire province, there are plenty more options to choose from. Besides..." Rod would then give a quick wink. "You folks look like you'd be needing it more than I do." The service elf with the shades approached the young dignitary with a series of nervous 'buts', but Rod quickly silenced him with a swift glare. The escort got the message and proceeded to scan for the other offerings without further question. Jac and Bo were not surprised upon seeing their friend throw his high magician status around, doing so with just about as much ease as breathing air, but it was still relatively jarring to witness at least for the smaller sister. They watched as the escorts began to take turns, the ones being relieved from their duties would shrink down to their normal five-inch-tall height who were then carefully carried away by other staff. Rod himself however stayed in human height all throughout the day. His seemingly limitless magic makes him a highly respected figure among elf kind, and his royal lineage on top of this only added to his reverence. Since he couldn't say anything aloud so long as Rod was close by, Bo sent Jac a text message that read. "They're just doing their job. Don't sweat it." Jac shook her head and moved on, her attention shifted deftly towards the bright plump tomatoes on the opposite end of where they stood. But just before Bo was able to follow, he received a notification on his phone. Much to his surprise, it was a message from a contact named 'Sparkle Bangs'. "You saved me the trouble of gift wrapping and shipping costs." Bo looked for Rod, who had walked some distance away at this point. The giant gave out a quaint smile and typed back. "Thanks. I'll show you pictures of the Jack o' Lantern soon!"