Keira sat handcuffed to the table with two detectives staring down at her from above. She did look slightly uncomfortable, which was quite understandable, but it didn’t mean that Marshall was going to go any easier on her. Firstly he wanted her to know what had happened in Oceanview, or at least make it so that she can’t pretend to be oblivious if she did. When he put the beige file down on the table all eye were on it, and then Keira picked it up and started to read through it. It seemed to be slightly awkward for her as she was still restrained, but as she read through the block of text that weren’t redacted, a frown formed on her face. One that only deepened as she got to the end of the document. Once she had finished Marshall looked at Maxwell and shared a similar thought. She didn’t know. This didn’t completely excuse her from anything, but it hopefully meant that the interview would go a lot better. Marshall decided to break the silence first.
"We would appreciate it if you told us the truth. It would make things go a lot more smoothly." Keira nodded at his statement so he continued, "what was the thing that you originally made contact with?"
"I don't know. It asked me to call it Palotl and that it could help me out of the... situation that I found myself in." Maxwell decided to take initiative then and kicked off the back wall, walking forward until he could brace both hands on the metal table.
"I'm going to ask you a couple of questions about the nature of Palotl, and if I feel you're being honest I'll tell you what I know about it."
"That sounds like a good deal, what’s the catch?"
"It's not for your own benefit. It's so you understand how dangerous it is and know that it is in your best interest to answer the most important question I have. So, firstly, how did you originally make contact with this Palotl?” Keira hesitated a little before going into the series of events rather shakily. The descriptions and story were disjointed at first, with her going back and adding amendments every now and again, but then she got to her initial meeting with Palotl. The retelling after that point was smooth and stated in a detached tone. By the time she had finished Marshall had a lot to think about, but before he could delve into any questions he may have, Maxwell cut him off.
“That’s… have you ever heard of Mictepeh?” Marshall narrowed his eyes at him.
“The City of the Dead? Yeah, a friend of mine has mentioned it.”
“Good. What he probably hasn’t mentioned is that it’s one of those places of power that Palotl mentioned. As the fabric of reality is thin there, people are attracted to them and the secrets they whisper in the quiet but it also means that strange phenomena can happen. There’s a reason these sites are restricted access, and it’s not just cultural. Before the sites were closed off however, there were drawings and old photos released of the tunnels and while I don’t think the drawings got as intensive as you described, I do think they share similarities. Coupled with what we know of their ancient burial rituals and your situation, I’m guessing that you may have been in what was believed to be the transitionary tunnel between life and death. Though I’m not sure on the full relationship between them.” How did he know that? None of that information was standard knowledge, even within the special cases unit. He must’ve been staring at Maxwell’s face for too long because Keira cleared her throat, gaining his attention, before she asked another question.
“Is there anyone who does know more?”
“Yes and no. There are those out there who are more in tune with the nature of our reality, but who aren’t willing to share that information or don’t care enough to look at cultural similarities. There are others who know more about the cultural links but don’t know more about mystical side of things.”
“If you clear our suspicions, we’d be happy to make some enquiries on your behalf.” Marshall took the reigns of the conversation back. He didn’t want Maxwell to share too much more, even if it was useful to him to. “In the meantime, let’s get your version of events at Oceanview.”
“That’s… something I’m less sure on. Everything was off about that town as soon as I got there, nothing seemed alive until we got there. And then it was like it was trying to look like the perfect ideal town, but it just missed something. Once my friend Iris had fallen ill, I felt this… immense pain, and like I wasn’t me anymore. Then I actually wasn’t. Palotl took over my body and my surroundings, throwing me in whatever direction it wanted until it was ready to channel its power through me.” Keira broke for a slightly insane laugh. “I talked with it afterwards, you know. It could have killed me.”
“Could you give more details? When did your control slip? Was it all at once or were there still sections of lucidity? Can you remember the details of the ritual you did?”
“I’m- It’s too painful to talk about. Can we move on?” While the details of those answers didn’t satisfy him, he looked at Maxwell and a quick nod confirmed that it was the truth. He moved onto the next big question hanging above them.
“Are you at risk of being possessed again?”
“No. I made a deal with someone called Gastele who said that she could put some precautions in when summoning Palotl and she completely exorcised it. I’m now just your regular traumatised teenage girl.”
“So you’re leaving the supernatural business behind then? Cutting all contact?”
“Well-“ Keira paused. “How am I supposed to get a therapist that doesn’t institutionalise me without contacting someone already in the know?”
“What were you originally going to say?” Maxwell cut in. It seemed like he wasn’t going to let her moment of hesitation go like Marshall was.
“I- um. I was originally going to say yes, but I realised that it might be more difficult than that to get out now that I’m in.” He huffed at her answer, eyes still narrowed in suspicion, but he didn’t interrogate her further. Marshall decided to steer the conversation back onto topic.
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“Ah. Very fair, we’ll send someone your way if the interview ends well. Beyond that though.” Keira grimaced and seemed to give it some thought before sighing.
“I won’t unless anything paranormal approaches me.” That would probably be the best he could get out of her, and another look at Maxwell told him that she hadn’t lied yet. Keira did however bring up an interesting name, one that was quite infamous in the general community.
“How did you first meet Gastele?” At Keira’s questioning look he elaborated. “She’s one of the few fey who still get involved in human affairs, as such she is a person of interest. Any information we can get on her will be appreciated.”
“Officially she approached me almost a week after the deal was made. She hasn’t approached me after I handed Palotl over to her. On how much information I have on her… it’s not much. I know that she bears resemblance to the wanderer’s lanterns, but those aren’t supposed to be sentient… or human looking. And when she summoned Palotl, it told her that no matter how much blood a leech drinks, it’ll never become a human. She said that she could leave it with someone more capable of looking after it.” Marshall felt his face flatten. “Do you know who she was talking about?”
“I have a strong suspicion. In any case, you’re right about her hailing from a wanderer’s lantern. Though she’s been very cagey on her history we know that beings that don’t have a physical form can take over other living things and use theirs.” Keira paled at the implication. “Thank you for talking with us today, Keira. We’ll be conducting a separate investigation in order to corroborate what you’ve said, and may bring you back in for clarification on some matters, but for now you’ll be shown back to your cell.” She nodded in agreement and Maxwell stuck his head out of the door to call for a regular officer to come and take her back. Once she had left Marshall turned to the camera and spoke.
“You can come in now.” A giggling echoed through the cell and suddenly Gastele was sitting in Keira’s place.
“Is it my turn now, Vengeance?” Maxwell cringed a little before motioning Marshall to stand up from his seat so he could sit there instead.
"I will give you my true, full name, if you stop calling me that."
"Ha! I would take that if I didn't know that you've got some protection on it. And if I didn't know it anyway. Maxwell Will Weil, bane of the supernatural, hotel goers and people with stutters."
"I forgot how pleasant you were... In any case, I’m sure you weren’t watching for your own entertainment.”
“Whatever makes you say that.” She put her hands on the table, close together as if they were bound. “Maybe I just wanted to watch how this soap opera ended. And to see whether you two were going to get outsmarted by a teenager.”
“Did we?” Gastele burst out laughing and took her hands off of the table to tuck them into the pockets of the dress trousers she was wearing. Then she leaned very far back in the chair to give them both an appraising look.
“You shouldn’t use your marginal goodwill to ask me that Maxwell. Come on, let’s get to the important stuff.”
“Fine. Was Keira telling the truth? Or rather, was there anything she missed out that she knew?”
"Oh? I'm a lie detector now? Now that isn’t something I’m going to do for free, I hope you realise. I want something from you in return.”
“I can ask Lise something for you, as long as it’s a similar calibre of information. We can reach a more specific agreement when the time comes.”
“Hm. Tempting. Very tempting. A good deal for a little sliver of confirmation. I’ll accept that. She was being honest all throughout your interview, you haven’t gotten that shabby in your years away Maxwell. Though I am not omnipotent. I can’t answer that last part.”
“You can’t even give me a little bit of insight?” Gastele hummed thoughtfully before shrugging.
“She told you everything she knew, as far as I’m aware.”
“Good. That’s all I needed to know. You can leave now.” Maxwell made to stand up from the chair, but Gastele hooked a stretched-out foot around the chair leg and pulled him back down.
"Tut, tut Weil. Trying to get rid of me so soon? There are still some things we have to discuss together!"
“Like what?” He responded through gritted teeth. Marshall sighed and pulled the second chair out from under the table and sat down.
“Like the convergence of ley lines.” And for the first time in that meeting, she sounded serious. Maxwell opened his mouth, but she held up a single finger. “I realise that the one in this town is on its way out, however there is one happening a little under a year from now elsewhere. A large one at that.” Weil scoffed.
“Temporary ley line convergences aren’t that big.”
“Usually.” Gastele hummed, “this one is par for the course on that one. No, the real reason this is a risk is because it’s occurring in the Forest of Junein.” Marshall stiffened and he saw Maxwell’s eyes widen sharply.
“That’s… already a convergence point. A permanent one. The chances of that are-“
"Low. I'm well aware of that Marshall. In fact, this will be the first time such an event has happened in almost two thousand years, so you can imagine the types of people who want to take advantage of the sudden surge in power."
"I'm looking at one of them right now."
"I'll concede to that, but you know that I'm not the biggest threat to your way of life. I'd argue that the biggest threat to you would be those who organised the world's largest Pioneer gathering in the right spot, at the right time." Marshall was hit by a wave of comprehension, and he glared at Gastele.
"They're children! Using them as fuel for a ritual would be too far, even for them."
"The children won't know it's even happening. But the consequences will be dire."
"What is the ritual even for?"
"I'm unaware of the specifics at the moment, but I know that it ties into getting a hold of the shards."
"They're still after them?" Maxwell spoke up from the side. He sounded more broken than before, and Marshall could sympathise. It seems that the hope that some things were too far for the Followers was misplaced. Gastele seemed more entertained by his reaction though.
"Of course they are. The replacements for their power are few and far between, not to mention that the majority are lost to time. And the ones that aren't..."
"Yeah. I got it." Maxwell replied, grimacing. "I'd have just thought they would have given up by now and look for another way."
"Another way doesn't exist."
"That you know of. But-"
"Do have any plans to interference?" Marshall cut in. Gastele hesitated a moment before switching tracks.
"Aside from setting you lovely gentlemen on their path? Not much."
"I see. You'll be too busy taking advantage of the situation, I'd wager."
"Amongst other things." Marshall frowned.
"So you'd let them go through with it then?"
"Have a little faith in yourselves. And if your self-esteem is lower than I imagined then take comfort in knowing that you're not going to be the only pawns on the board."
"You-" Maxwell started, before taking a deep breath. Marshall could practically see him count backwards from ten. "That is interesting to hear. It would be more so if I knew which pawns you are referring to."
"Now that would ruin the surprise. As much as I enjoy catching up, I really must get going now."
"We will see you around Gastele." Marshall said and Maxwell echoed the sentiment a little half heartedly. Then in a blink, she was gone.