I talk to myself, but I lose arguments.

[Glenn]

"Fucking planes." Well then. Glenn Burnie was annoyed with the magic user for talking about using magic. And then there was the rumors and hints of what Catch had mentioned, of the last demonic being they had trapped emerging once more. It was never enough, to trap and to bind, never, and he was sick of it. "There's a cost to this, to binding. You're living the cost, every second of every day. Is there a cost to killing too? Sure, but at least you get something permanent out of it. I'm sick of them coming to our Myrken and toying with us as if we're nothing. We are driving a god damn line in the sand here, on this. Is it sentient? Yes. Is it living? Yes. And if it's living we can kill it. We can end it. Renea?"

Because they had voted. This is what Aleksei got for inviting other people. They could disagree with him. If it had just been he and Glenn this would be stalemate. Suddenly however, it was a process of democracy and Glenn (the resident dictator) and Agnie had voted. They had voted for bloody, merciless death. Such good children of Myrken.

Now it was Renea's turn.

[Caile]

"Definitely dead. If tossing it to the bottom of the ocean isn't a valid option than neither is tossing it to the bottom of whatever plane of torment." It was certainly odd for the three of them to agree on much of anything really but on this they could, and did. Permanent solutions were to be preferred over anything temporary and when it came to unrepentent killing machines the best permanent solution was always death. It would have been just as easy to leave her and Agnie out of the process entirely and then tell Renea what they wanted her to do (if Aleksei's option had been chosen), she wasn't entirely certain that the defense committee was anything more than a token to the people of Myrken to allow them to believe Glenn wasn't actually a tyrant but the inclusion of 2/3rds of the group was a nice nod at the very least.

She turned to Aleksei then, not about to let him slip away from the comment he'd made earlier. "If it had to do with the 'nature of my family' then why did you say it was 'thanks to what that boy did' to me? Stop being a slippery bastard and start giving me answers." She didn't like people hiding things from her, especially when they were about her in the first place and that displeasure showed quite clearly in the clenching jaw muscles twitching spasmodically and the brittle glare.

[BetaFlame]

He just looks at all three of them, then sighs and shakes his head. "Oh wonderful! Kill it! Why didn't I think of that!" He waits for a moment. "Because I did. Unless one of you knows how, then we don't have that option." He turns and starts pacing. Kill it indeed. They were suggesting the painfully obvious. "Even if we set it free, break it free from the axe, and manage to kill it in our world it's not dead. It's banished." He doesn't know if they understand this. Killing it just even more temporary than putting in a prison plane. "So if any of you know how to permanently kill it, my solution is far more long term than simply stabbing it. The problem is something that needs addressed soon. The reason I am able to hold out this long is because the demon isn't trying to corrupt me, its trying to corrupt the Angel."

Finally, he looks at Renea, and just looks at her for a moment. "You know what. No. I'm not launching into a two hour discussion with you about this right now. If you want to talk later, fine. I was told to examine you, and report what I found wrong. You have a half dozen unique circumstances colliding in your body and if you want me to spell them all out for you, its going to take longer than a sidebar in the middle of this. We can talk after this if you like, or you can come back later.

[channe]

"Hey," she says, sounding slightly offended. She reaches out and touches his wrist with two fingers, gingerly, where the sleeve provides cover to what happens next. "Don't be like that." She pauses, and then takes a deep breath, looking at Glenn, and then Renea.

"Burn the wood handle. Smelt down the iron blade. Is it -- is it bound to the shape, or the material?" Look at little farm-girl Agnieszka, catching on so quick! "We could do it right now," she says, hurriedly. "I don't want that thing in your head any much longer."

[Glenn]

This was their braintrust. Renea was troubled, compromised, and now, for very good reason, frustrated about inwards issues. Aleksei was doubly compromised, hunted by his own people, and annoyingly dogmatic about the fact they couldn't kill this thing. They were NOT going to introduce new planes to this. That wasn't a solution. It was more of a problem. You don't stop a rat problem by inviting a legion of wolves into town. And Agnie, the ever charming Princess of Myrken Wood, was compromised (by her emotions which was still better than the other two) and frankly completely over her head.

"The demon isn't bound to the shape OR the material, Agnie, unless you consider the material flesh and blood, and the shape vaguely ... Aleksei shaped." Glenn moved his hands around a bit as if to mimic Aleksei's shape but soon gave up on the proposition. They got the idea. "Corrupting the angel, Aleksei. Really? This all powerful entity of purity? An extreme. You want to banish the demon to another dimension, huh? Fine. We'll go with that."

Burnie rose, just like that, rose and head towards the door. He stopped only at the last moment, not looking back, just staring at it. "But one little thing, you banish the angel along with it. You brought soldiers to my door, fucking magic soldiers, and that's well and fine because you're one of us, but you did it because you're possessed. Now you're doubly possessed, and fuck that. Not here, not a friend. You banish the demon, that's your plan? Fine, but you banish the angel with it." He whipped about, leaning back against the door, staring at the three people inside. "You end up free. That's my price in going along with this. All in favor? Renea? Agony?"

[Caile]

"I still don't like it. It doesn't solve the problem and to be perfectly honest I don't trust him." Especially now that she's learned he held back but that will be a problem for later. "I don't suppose we can get a second opinion on this?" The brief thought that killing Aleksei might be worth the attempt crossed her mind but she didn't voice it and it was only tempting for a minute, maybe two. Quickly followed by a brief consideration that maybe it wasn't the men that Agnie fell for but this particular demon, after all it has infested both of her interests now, but that was unkind so she'd save that particular thought for later.

"Look, you're the boss Governor, you tell us what needs done and we'll do it but this solution is far from ideal." The anger and frustration were still there, evident in the clenching of fingers, the short and clipped tone of her voice but she was a professional and she could put it aside for now. She rose as well, not interested in having any conversation past the current one. The moment Burnie decided to walk out the door she'd be right behind him.

[BetaFlame]

He just shakes his head at Glenn. It seems no matter what, Glenn's arrogance that he knew better than all, even the ones he hired to be supposed experts on the subject matter, would be in the way. Again. "Clearly, Glenn, you missed the part of out previous conversation. I don't know that I will survive voluntarily ending the binding that holds the celestial inside me. But fine. If everyone here is comfortable gambling with my life, why not?" He sighs and looks up at the ceiling, squinting through his glasses at some speck. "And the thing, Glenn, it is older than she. Its corruption is more than her purity. So whatever you think of her, she risked everything she is to protect your town, you, and your fiance. So perhaps you should show a little gratitude in the future."

Although, he still had not agreed to anything, not really. "I have a plan. You have a vague notion you can kill something you don't even know the weakness of. And my plan is bad? The fact is, you don't trust me. Would you let a murderer roam the street while you built the gallows? No, you put it in prison. Only we don't have one. Much less one that can hold a demon." He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "So let me sum this up for you. We keep them both inside me, I end up worse than dead. We imprison the creature and look for a.. longer term solution, and free the angel and I possibly end up dead. The third option, the unspoken one, is I give up to Roland and his assassin, go back to Rodel, and let them deal with it. The three of you choose. I am too tired to fight about it anymore." With that he just turns to his seat and pours a glass of water, reaching inside his coat for another one of those odd vials of silvery liquid to add to it. Let Glenn and Renea leave. He couldn't stop them.

Then again. He was not was saying he had to abide by their choice either. The thing about being free, what Glenn wants for him, he gets to choose.

[channe]

Here we go. The place is about to turn from a meeting into a tinderbox. At first Agnie is quiet in her chairl then, she lifts her hand to her mouth and gnaws on her thumbnail for a moment, her mind currently off somewhere else. "I'm not comfortable gambling with your life, but Aleksei --" she pauses, and there's a slightly helpless note in her voice. Of course she's out of her league, Glenn. Nevertheless, she should be here. She heaves a sigh, but does not yet get to her feet.

"You all do whatever the hell you want," she says. "I'll clean it up."

[Glenn]

Burnie stopped at the door, blocking everyone's exit. He was still not looking back. He stared at the wood before him. If there was a smile on his face, no one could make it out. His voice was a terrible indicator of such things these days. Of course, then again, his smile was a terrible indicator of anything meaningful too. Still, every little bit.

"Aleksei, you misunderstand." Did he misunderstand Burnie? His options? The entire situation? "Of the three options on the table, there's only one where you have a chance of being free. All else equal, I will pick the option which gives my friend a chance to be free, even if it has the highest risk to him and even a somewhat higher risk to everything ELSE I care about. We'll do our best for you, Aleksei, but you have to understand, here... in Myrken, THAT is our best."

[Caile]

She had nothing else to add to the conversation, she'd said her piece, she'd stood and was now waiting patiently while Glenn barred the door. It really didn't matter what they decided as long as it got decided. She'd prefer a more permanent solution that didn't rely on magic but really how could you defeat something magical without using magic yourself? She couldn't answer that question and that was why she now was silent, just waiting for Glenn to leave so she could follow him out.

[BetaFlame]

He just looks at Glenn for a long moment. But he doesn't voice his thoughts, this time. It was a moot point. Glenn was going to dig his heels in, no matter what Aleksei said. So he just lifts the vial and downs the too-thick silver liquid, followed by nearly a full glass of water. He doesn't move to stop them from leaving, rather hoping they would at this point. His head is starting to pound through his skull.

Glenn didn't understand, it seems. You can't free someone by taking their choices away. That was just prettier slavery. "Have a good evening, the pair of you."

[channe]

And what is Agnie going to do? Go with her friend and her boss, or stay with -- well, what *is* Aleksei, anyway? She gives the two of them a weak smile and stays in the chair, quiet for now.

[Glenn]

Nothing else had been spoken, not really. There was nothing to stop him. "Good evening, Aleksei. We'll do our best and it'll be enough. That's how it has to be." No choice. Good evening, indeed. Burnie walked out and into the Myrken night.

[BetaFlame]

He pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment after Glenn and Renea leave. He doesn't seem to notice Agnie there for a moment, and nearly jumps out of his skin when he opens his eyes and sees her sitting at the table still. He just smiles and shakes his head, raking his hand back through his hair.

"I thought you left with them, sorry. How was the food..?"

[channe]

"It was fine." The tone is quick, dismissive; she doesn't want to be making small talk. And to prove it, she jumps straight into the next question on the heels of that statement, for a moment twisting her hands in her lap. "This thing we're doing," she says, carefully, "or not doing, or --" a pause. Foot, meet mouth. "The daemon is the same reason he died." You don't need to ask who, do you, Aleksei? "I want it dead. I don't want it to kill you, too."