‘ and even after it all started, i helped. i killed him, too. ’ for Jacob from Credence (referencing Shaw primarily, but the whole New York Debacle as well)

Jacob was real quiet, unsure how to approach this delicately – or even if he ought to be delicate about it. His gaze flicked a moment to where Newt was standing, elbow deep in some creature’s – well, it probably needed help with something, and he’d just missed that part of the conversation cause he’d been focused on Credence.

Shaking his head and thinking it wasn’t so much different from a farmer’s job sometimes, he turned back to the younger man and chose to be frank. “Well you’re not the only man here with blood on his hands. Sure I stained mine in a war but – s’far as I can see it, you’ve been fighting your own kind of war for a long time. It ain’t gonna leave you though – what you did, it’s gonna stick with you, and you’re not gonna like it. But the minute you start thinkin’ things like they deserved it – or feelin’ like there ain’t no reason to be guilty – tread careful, pal. Cause that’s a damn slippery slope to climb – some say it’s healthy to let go and others, well they let go too much, convince themselves they’re in the right, and that’s how we end up with monsters. You got a power to ya kid, a whole lot of it – but there’s not a man alive these days that doesn’t have a devil in him now, be he a man who fought or a man who was too cowardly to try, or too sick to get in, or too old to be allowed in the fight. There’s a monster sleeping in everyone – you’re not alone on that score. Whether or not you let what happened get the best of you, and wake that thing up – well that ain’t anybody’s call but yours.”

@carrionson

“everything is so confusing. i don’t know.” Credence for Theseus

{ Seven Word Starters }

“I understand that this must be very difficult for you,” This was not how things had been meant to pan out, on any score. Had Newton simply swallowed some of his pride and come visit, this entire debacle might well have been avoided. Had he gone to his brother, that would have been noted far more than if the other had come to him – but he supposed now, the court of fault was weighed equally between them.

What mattered now was altering the course of matters – despite every failure up until this point. There was no point in lamenting the mistakes of the past when the future remained so tenuous and unclear. If Credence was to have any hope of surviving all of this, he would need Newton’s help – and the only way to achieve that would be for Theseus to go against his orders, deliberately disobey his commanders, and commit an act of treason against the Ministry in order to harbor this dangerous obscurial in the thin hope that his wayward sibling might get his act together in time to be of use to all of them.

“And I wish it could be different – “ He had no desire to see another needless corpse on the ground, not if he could help it – but of course it was easier to acknowledge the more pressing fact that his brother would never forgive him if he harmed this young man. “But I am afraid there is no alternative that does not end in another horrible circumstance like New York. I have it from credible sources that you are not a cruel man, Mister Barebone – I beg of you, do take this opportunity to prove it,” If he was caught at this it would be the end of him, “Preferably before the others get here.” He held out his hand – knowing, as he did, that he was sealing their fates together on no greater authority than the bleeding heart of his brother, and the endless staring eyes inside his own mind.

@carrionson

Sympathy Of Soldiers

@carrionson continued from [x]

Kid looked stunned silly, like he’d never had anybody worried about him before – which, considering what Miss Goldstein had mentioned, made a sad amount of sense. The alarmed explanations were met with a warm hand on the small of the other’s back – as much to keep him close while they headed back to join the others, as to offer a sense of stability and comfort in the wake of the sudden surprise of being confronted with aggressive concern.

“I hear ya – this time of year is nuts, you’d think people would learn to get their shopping done in a more orderly fashion, but its like this every year. Folks come from all over just to spend crazy amounts on all kinds of things they don’t need. Kind of wild when you think about it – whoop, this way,” He added, drawing Credence along with him toward what looked very much like a solid wall.

“Let’s hope this works – I mean, you’re with me, so it should,” In all honesty Jacob hadn’t figured out the difference between obscurial and wizard, beyond the fact an obscurial was a really powerful kind of wounded wizard. From what Newt had explained those wounds created a creature – a parasite or something – that eventually killed the kid, but Credence was an adult so as far as Jacob could figure it, he was more like a soldier with magic. Wounded, but figuring out how to live anyway.

It seemed the wall agreed, or didn’t really care Jacob didn’t have magic, if he knew where the wall was. Jacob didn’t mind either way, “We’re supposed to meet the others by a dirigi-something plum tree. I don’t have a clue what those are, but I imagine together we can figure it out, yeah?”

To Rebuild A Bridge

@carrionson continued from [x]

Credence was visibly on edge, something Gellert could hardly fault him for considering their last interaction being what it was. However he had hope that as surely as the boy had survived, their companionship could also rise against the test and trial of adversity and become something glorious.

His approach was careful – not afraid or even wary, so much as respectfully cautious. He could not afford to set Credence running when MACUSA was beside itself looking for them both, after all. Thankfully they were so focused on catching Grindelwald and concealing the act they’d had him acting as their Head of Magical Security for quite some time, they weren’t thinking to call out a search for Percival Graves just yet, which certainly extended this old mask’s usefulness.

The question – when it came – was innocuous enough, though it made Gellert wonder briefly just how much work this would take, if the boy thought from one misstep that all matters between them were somehow nullified. “You found peace back here before – with so much changed, does it not make sense you would seek out the places that eased you when the world was smaller than it is now?”

He would have gone closer, but he sensed that Credence was not yet ready to have him so near, and stopped at a respectable distance. “I haven’t forgotten who you are, my boy. Simply because you are the obscurial does not mean you are no longer Credence.”