makingthisupasigo | And the Road not Taken

And the Road not Taken - for Jacob Stone

Ezekiel Jones is a loyal member of the Serpent Brotherhood but sometimes he wonders if there is supposed to be more to life than this.

Bringing magic back to the world had felt less satisfying than everybody always made it out to be; seriously, with the amount of ecstatic victory speeches that were going around these days you'd think they found an eternal well of pizza. Then again, Ezekiel had never been particularly interested in the whole "bringing magic back" aspect. Reawakened or not, his task is still to retrieve artifacts and get the others into fortified places; that is his purpose, not to be questioned and nothing really changes for him.

Still, he's annoyed. Ezekiel prefers to act from the shadows, so the whole decision to make a grand dramatic entrance and reveal the Brotherhood to the Library seemed so petty and unnecessary. Besides, there was this one thing he always really, really wanted, and that was breaking into the Library – the most secure place in the world, the ultimate challenge. He hopes he still gets a chance of doing that but now that the Library knows the Brotherhood is active again it kind of takes some of the surprise factor and fun out of it.

He had made a cautious remark if it wouldn't be better to reveal themselves to the Library after they brought Magic back but that had ended... rather painfully. After all, what did he know? He's just the thief. The tool. The asset. Know your place.

So much for magic improving everybody's life.

Today's mission is almost mind-numbingly boring. He traverses the ancient temple, sometimes doesn't even bother to deactivate the traps but dance through them instead so he at least has some kind of challenge and approaches the altar with a yawn.

Sometimes he wonders if there's supposed to be more to life than this.

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"You and me both, mate. Alright on my mark... now."

While Jacob holds down the tile he moves to circumvent the last lock, nimbly slipping his fingers into the small interstices. There is a soft, gravely click and then the altar's doors swing open, uncovering the relic behind. "That's more like it!"

Okay, so the guy is good, he'll give him that. Jacob's intently focused on what's happening, fascinated by the mechanics and trying to piece together exactly how it was made, who made it--was it the priests, or--

--and there it was.

"You did it! We did it!"

There's a smile, a genuine one, because that was a surprising amount of teamwork that actually, well, worked.

And Jake takes a swing at the guy's face with as much power as he can muster in his punch, hoping to knock him out and take the artifact for himself.

There's not a lot of teamwork going around in the Brotherhood; especially not for Ezekiel because there's hardly anyone who can keep up. There's also not a lot of praise happening so when it comes he doesn't know what to do with it. The guy sounds so enthusiastic and happy about it and despite himself Ezekiel can feel the corner of his mouth lift, too. It's... nice and the Librarian is right, they actually did a pretty good--

It comes at him with the speed of an activating laser and Ezekiel doesn't even think, just lets himself fall back to avoid the blow. What a cheap shot. He's impressed!

There's also a pang of almost disappointment there when play time is over and it's him against the world again. It was nice to pretend for a while.

He manages to evade the worst of it but the punch still knocks the back of his head into the altar and stars explode behind his eyes.

"Seriously?! I thought you're supposed to be the reputable one!"

"The reputable one who's going to keep this artifact safe from the likes of the Serpent Brotherhood!"

He launches forward to try and swing at Ezekiel again, he needs to knock him out completely before grabbing the artifact, not knowing if he has any kind of ranged weaponry or not. Really wouldn't do to get shot in the back while running away.

"You know what, you'd fit right in! Letting someone else do all the work and then scoop in."

He ducks again, evading sideways but the room is swaying and swimming in and out of vision. Ezekiel shakes his head, trying to clear it but this doesn't bode well. Dammit, he can't lose that artifact! They're gonna be very... unhappy with him if he does.

"You wouldn't even have been able to open it!"

"Hey! Don't you compare me to--to you guys! And look, it was real nice of ya to get that thing open, saved me a little time and trouble, so it is appreciated!" Jake's getting worried, it's taking too long to subdue this guy and he could have reinforcements.

He lashes out with a fist again, coming in much closer this time, hoping he's wearing him down. "Uh, yeah, I would have. I'm the Librarian."

Edited 2018-05-26 13:32 (UTC)

"Well, I already did, so there!"

He's jumping back, trying to get more space between them but he's stumbling. The next punch hits its mark and then he's going down, hitting his head a second time on the stone floor. Wow, talk about a lucky day. Ezekiel tries to come back up but the pain explodes behind his temple and it's no use; instead he curls up, dazed and groaning.

"Doesn't mean I couldn't have done it!"

Jake's pleased that he knocks the guy down, and wastes no time in carefully gathering up the artifact and placing it into a special cloth, and into his bag hanging at his side. Now to just not...jostle it too much, or else--

He glances over at the guy curled up on the ground. God, he looked so pitiful, even if he was a Serpent Brotherhood dude. He actually feels pretty sorry for him, all things considered. And the guy was skilled enough that he was able to get to the artifact, he wasn't just some brainless thug or amateur treasure hunter.

Nah, what does he care? He turns to leave, but stops several steps in.

"Dammit," he hisses under his breath as he turns around and goes over to the guy. He reaches down to shake his shoulder.

"Hey. You okay?"

Ezekiel groans again, his hand coming up to swat at the arm shaking him.

"Don't wanna go with them, mum..." he mutters, still dazed and slipping in and out of it. There's a faint trail of blood where he hit the back of his head but it doesn't look like a bad injury; just unlucky.

He comes to, a little, his eyes fluttering open eventually. "What...?"

"Your mom ain't here." He feels kinda sorta really bad about drawing blood, though.

"Come on, let me help you up."

He offers a hand, half-expecting to get attacked. Look, he won fair and square, it's the very least he could do, y'know?

Edited 2018-05-27 10:41 (UTC)

Ezekiel mutters something about small wonders, then blinks again, the memories of the past fifteen minutes slowly coming back to him. Along with the headache.

The artifact. The lock, the Librarian. Letting his guard down for once, just for a second, that will teach him. The only thing he can't quite seem to figure out is what the guy wants from him. Information? Ransom money?

"Man, you hit like a truck." Swaying, he briefly clings to the arm to steady himself, again shaking his head. "You're wasting your time, they're not gonna pay for me."

"I know." That gets a grin. He's fairly proud of his physical prowess.

Once Ezekiel is up, he frowns, left shoulder shrugging. "I'm not...I'm not gonna hold you for ransom, man, I was just--"

A beat.

"Wait? They wouldn't pay anything for you at all? That's...wrong. You're part of their team!"

Edited 2018-05-27 12:39 (UTC)

That gets Jacob a strange look in return, like Ezekiel can't quite decide whether to be amused or confused by the suggestion. "I'm not part of anything. I work for them."

The thief, the tool, the asset. That's that. And there's no room for failure with the Brotherhood.

He brings up his hand to rub at his forehead. "If you don't want any ransom money, what else do you want? I'm not gonna tell you anything."

"But I mean...well, you're just a hired gun, then? You don't buy into their whole..." he makes a waving motion with his hands. "Evil overlord deal?"

Jake shakes his head. "I don't want anything, I was just helping you. I mean, after I punched your lights out, it's only the right thing to do, y'know?" There's a pause. Clearly the guy has a tough life, but this is just...sad?

"What's your name, man? I'm Jacob Stone."

"I'm not a hired gun. I work for them." There's a difference; hired guns chose their work. There's not much choice in what they send him out to do. He'd love to be a hired gun, he thinks. "Always have."

It's weird; everything about this is weird. The guy helping him is just as weird as Ezekiel being disappointed about the surprise attack. He'd have done exactly the same in the Librarian's shoes. Actually, he should have done it first. Why didn't he?

Should he give his name?

Going back into the jungle with a head injury is pretty much suicide. But calling in for backup when he doesn't even have the artifact – honestly, he'd rather take his chances with the jungle and maybe secure a different artifact before he goes back, to placate them somewhat.

"... Ezekiel Jones."

"...well, why do you work for them? I mean, do they have a great benefits package? Good dental?" He's just plain curious about it. Why would someone who had the skills and the know-how to get to this artifact what to work for them if they didn't buy into the whole mission and vision?

"Wish circumstances could be a little better than this, but...good to meet you all the same. I mean, I could still have gotten the artifact without you, but..." It's a big smile. "You ain't so half-bad at this work, yourself."

Edited 2018-05-28 07:02 (UTC)

"That's what I'm supposed to do. It's my purpose."

He's keeping his tone carefully neutral but his head hurts and a shadow crosses his face. Sometimes he wonders if there's supposed to be more to life than this but of course that's a stupid notion, impossible. They own him. End of story.

There's something disarming in that smile and he finds himself smiling back. Or maybe he's just concussed.

"Uh, thanks. ... It's not often someone gets the drop on me, so, likewise I guess."

"Your purpose." That gets a frown. "Seriously, your purpose? I thought you didn't buy into their whole...thing. Is the pay just really that good?"

A careless shrug, but the smile doesn't leave his face. "I'll take that as a compliment. I mean, if you're as good as you think you are, that is."

"I don't. And yeah, my purpose, you know. Be a good minion, don't ask any questions, know your place."

That turns the smile into a smug but not unfriendly grin. "Mate, I'm even better. It's hard work keeping up with knowing how good I am. I mean, that's why they took me."

He frowns. "I think. It's been a while, kinda hard to remember sometimes."

"No offense or anything, but that sounds like a really raw deal." Jacob's voice is sympathetic.

The bravado and confidence is...oddly endearing, it doesn't seem like he's talking to someone who should be his enemy. In fact, he feels really sorry for him...if he wasn't part of the Serpent Brotherhood, maybe they even could have been friends.

"...why'd they take you, man?"

"It can be. They're really not gonna like that you beat me to the artifact."

He leans against the wall, his head still spinning slightly. God, if he was in better shape he could just steal the artifact back and be done with it but like this it feels stupid to risk it. He doesn't want to meet that fist again and he has an inkling that the Librarian won't be so considerate a second time.

"I stole something from them. Don't even remember what it was, I was like... seven? But I guess they were impressed, they followed me home."

Why does he feel guilty about that? He shouldn't feel guilty. He almost wants to give the artifact back to the guy, to protect him from something that's probably going to be horrible--that might even get him killed--but his duty is to the Library. He can't give up the artifact, no matter how sorry he feels for him.

"...you mean they stole you from your home when you were seven!?" Yeah, horrific. And if that was the case, then he would have grown up with their philosophy, their ideals.

But seven!?

Poor guy. Could he possibly save him? Would it be too late to save him from their way of thinking if he'd been in it at that young age?

Ezekiel laughs. "Steal me? They couldn't steal if their life depended on it. That's why they need me. No, no, my mom gave me to them."

There's a weird disconnect there. He doesn't sound too happy about it because yeah, he is still angry about that. At the same time it's said with the air of something that is completely normal. Like this is just how the world works.

And it is. Magic or no magic won't make a difference there. "How did you become the Librarian?"

This story is getting worse and worse? "Your mother gave you to them!?" His voice raises, his eyes wide with horror. Can you not just say that so casually, Jones?

"The Librarian? The old Librarian died, I got a letter, did an interview, passed the interview, and, well, there you have it." So simple on the surface. But it was so much more than that. "I was lookin' for a way out of my old job. Old life, really." It's funny, he could have easily just...stayed where he was. But he decided to take a chance this time.

"Yeah, I think they gave her money? Or jewels, I don't really remember. Pretty bad deal in the long run if you ask me, I mean, I could have stolen her ten times as much?"

The most casual.

"... That sounds pretty cool." Just getting out of an old life like that. It seems unfathomable to him, like something out of a storybook. Something that doesn't just happen.

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