Silent Prayer - The Jesuit (( Open to any who went along ))

[Etienne Mbane]

"Faith?" The Jesuit asked. "Faith is a powerful weapon, indeed, my son. But very few have the faith necessary to wield it as more than a shield."

He stood, returning his book to the proper place on the shelf before returning. "I can see why would would come to that conclusion, talking to a priest. But, no. God willing, faith will be your shield, in this and all matters. The most potent weapon a man can wield, however, is and always has been knowledge."

[Bronka Hajjar]

"Knowledge is what we're trying to arm ourselves with, Father Micheal." Bronka nodded in agreement with his last statement. "I feel like a number of pieces are coming together, but there are still holes in the picture.

"I've heard enough to draw a reasonable conclusion that we're dealing with the Loa known as Shortened Breath. The violent murders in our neighbourhood support that." Bronka nodded towards Jessie before continuing. "We've also had at least one incident in the school were one student attacked another because of what they saw, and the way Ar is going, it won't be long before we have another.

"You said the Loa 'make conditions favourable for themselves'. Could Shortened Breath be attempting to incite murderous feelings in our students?"

[Etienne Mbane]

The Jesuit went to the cast iron kettle hanging over the fire. "That is possible. However, if there have been murders in your neighborhood, that should be sufficient. Tea anyone?"

With a worn towel, he took the kettle off of the hook and poured steaming water into a large teapot. He measured out several spoons of loose tea leaves, and set it on the hearth to steep, then returned to his seat.

"Of course, I couldn't say that for sure. Just don't rule out alternate possibilities until you are certain. And I mean all of your conclusions will always merit re-inspection from time to time. The question I would pose in response, however, is -has- there been genuine murderous intent on behalf of the students? Short tempers? Burning jealousies? Emotional detachment?"

[Kai Eriksen]

Kai was an actor, but this wasn't a stage. It was real life, and it was really goddamned scary, and all the inner peace and composure he'd cultivated in himself was winnowing itself away to a brittle nub. He couldn't stop himself from grimacing at Bronka's statement. He wasn't sure Ar had it in him to hurt anybody seriously, but sometimes he though otherwise, and lately... he let the thought go unfinished.

"He's been doing a pretty good job of that. It. Whatever." He gave Roach a significant glance; it wasn't that long ago he'd seriously considered bouncing him through a wall on a lark, consequences be damned. Kai didn't think of himself as a violent person. He thought of himself as placid by nature, but seeing two people he felt like he loved and others he cared about slowly disintegrating had been challenging that assumption, and Kai felt overwhelmed in his effort to control himself.

"Look, I mean, this is great, and it makes total sense, but I don't think we can peace and love ourselves out of this mess, right?"

[Bronka Hajjar]

"There's hundreds of people in the school, so there's no way I can guarantee that no one's felt real murderous intent. There hasn't been an actual murder in over a year though."

[Elijah Elliot]

"I'm one of the affected students, Father." Eli stepped forward a bit. He'd been standing quietly towards the back of the group, figuring that Bronka would probably lead this conversation, but this seemed a relevant spot for him to speak up. "I haven't been feeling murderous. I might be a bit shorter tempered, but that's probably just stress. Maybe it would help if we explained in more detail what sorts of things some of us have been experiencing?

"For me, it started with a smell. I kept smelling something that was sweet but very sickly, kinda gross. I didn't realize what I was smelling for almost a week: a corpse, or a zombie, or some sort of decaying body. And then over the last several days, I've started getting physically nauseous when it happens, and my hands and wrists and ankles ache some.

"Other people have other experiences. Lorne keeps hearing a girl crying, and seeing something that's definitely not a girl out of the corner of his eye. Diego keeps hearing a dripping sound, and keeps seeing blood on his hands. Alice looked in a mirror and saw herself as a mannequin. Ar has been finding a dead rat on his person; whenever he gets rid of it or destroys it, the same dead rat mysteriously reappears. Thomas freaked out and thought the nurse was going to skin him alive. And a whole bunch of people briefly saw someone hanging from the ceiling in the cafeteria.

"I should also mention that I can sense a presence off this thing, with my meta abilities. It feels human, but... well, it's way more human than a human should be, but it feels like it's somehow only part of a person. It's really hard to describe, but it really reminds me a lot of how Etienne describes the Loa. Like some super-concentrated aspect of humanity or something."

[Etienne Mbane]

The Jesuit nodded, listening carefully to Eli's litany of experiences. "No, my son, it sounds as if you are under siege. I doubt a few choruses of Koombaya will satisfy your assailant."

He poured himself a cup of tea, again offering a cup for his guests. After passing out the refreshment, he settle back into his chair and smiled. "Hearing you all, I am glad I recommended Westbrook for Etienne to learn about life outside his village. It sounds like you have found yourself a bird that sounds like a cuckoo, and nest like a cuckoo. If it is a Loa, then the only way for it to manifest in a manner that can be directly dealt with is to give it what it wants, for what that is worth."

[Bronka Hajjar]

"What does it want?" Bronka asked. "I'm certainly not going to murder someone to oblige this thing. There must be another way to kill it."

[Elijah Elliot]

"No, I think he means it wants a mule." Eli made a point to not look at Cady, knowing she wouldn't be fond of the statement. "In other words, we should have it ride Etienne. That's what the Loa all want most, I think Etienne said at some point. Right, Father?"

[Cadence Calloway]

Cadence felt a hard pit form in her stomach. The heat around her rose just slightly...and had she been at full strength, it would've been fluctuated wildly.

"No. No, there has to be something else we can do," she forcefully. She looked over at the Jesuit, hoping that there had to be a different answer.