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[ninetieskid]

Hey, you've reached Jubes.
Sorry I missed you, but leave a message and I'll get back to ya when I feel like it.

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[the_infant_death]

"I would like that," she admits, cautiously. "Though perhaps there may be something in the library that would be helpful."

The library is wonderful. Claudia has been spending a lot of time there, reading and reading and reading. There are so many books! So much to learn, and she is rapacious in her reading.

"How far will we be walking?"

[ninetieskid]

"Yeah, there would be. I can get back to you about the chemicals."

She sips the rest of the bag, cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk a bit as she does, then swallows audibly before walking over and grabbing her coat.

"Not far. Just outside. I've got a vespa. A motorized vehicle. We'll ride most of the way, since it'll be way faster."

[the_infant_death]

Claudia follows along, still sipping at the blood. She reaches up to get her coat with her other hand. "These...vehicles...seem less costly than horses and carriages, at least." No stablehands to pay, no fodder for the beasts. It had taken her a little while to figure out what they were, honestly. There is so much here that is so new.

[ninetieskid]

Jubilee swirls on her coat, a bright yellow thing as noisy and obnoxious as she herself is.

"They are. They run on gasoline, and that's way cheaper than hay, and they're more reliable. Mechanical things."

Ducking into a closet, she comes out with two helmets. Both of them are a Lisa Frank shade of pink, and she hands one to Claudia.

"Put this on. Strap it over your chin. It's for safety."

[the_infant_death]

Claudia takes it, curiously, then looks up at Jubilee curiously. "Safety? You do not heal, after you have been hurt?" Lestat had bragged so about how nothing but sunlight or fire could kill them, how drinking blood could heal them from even the most grievous injuries a mortal would never survive. Of course, they had never been injured, not seriously....until Claudia had stabbed Lestat nearly to death...and yet he had come back even from that, a hideous skeletal wreck, ravening and furious.

If he could survive such a thing....

[ninetieskid]

"Oh I heal. But that doesn't mean I want to heal from busting open my head. I still feel pain, and it'd be damned inconvenient."

She's pretty much indestructible short of sunlight and fire. And given one of her blood sources is Logan, she has some measure of his regeneration as well.

[the_infant_death]

This is a salient point, and Claudia concedes.

Her skirts keep her from straddling the seat, and she perches primly sidesaddle, tiny socked ankles crossed. She has ridden in carriages and horseback, and her balance is of course secure. "Where are we going?"

[ninetieskid]

Jubilee hops on, helmet on, and hits the engine, getting it running.

"We're going to a cave up the road. You'll...see why soon. It's hard for me to explain."

[the_infant_death]

Oh that is loud and Claudia does not like it. But it must be endured, and so she merely grimaces, little fingers clenched tightly on the seat. "I see," she says, dryly, and holds tightly for the duration of the drive, though she is unafraid of falling. The noise is grating to her sensitive hearing.

[ninetieskid]

Jubilee keeps the vespa moving, and thankfully the trip isn't all that far. When she does come to a stop, it's outside the entrance to the Lake Tomie Docks.

"Okay, we have a bit of a hike. But...for us? How fast are you?"

[the_infant_death]

"Fast enough mortals cannot truly see me, when I wish," Claudia answered. She prefers not to, conserving her energy, and she finds amusement in imitating mortality: the dresses, the gestures. Sometimes her true nature shows through, but she is capable of far more than she seems.

She does not mention the cost, however. The earlier blood has helped: as distasteful as she find it to be, cold and clammy, it is still human blood and bolsters her more readily than animal blood.

[ninetieskid]

"Can you do the whole bat or mist thing?"

Jubilee doesn't really mind the hike, but she has an amulet to protect her against the sun. Claudia doesn't.

"Because we've got to walk at least two miles. In the forest. I don't want to risk you getting caught in the sun."

[the_infant_death]

"No. Fanciful nonsense. But two miles is not too far. If it comes to the worst, I can dig a hole to sleep in the earth."

Not an option she likes, really, but she is capable of it. Distasteful to rise covered in dirt, filthy as any corpse. She prefers her clean silk-lined coffin, thank you. She gestures with one tiny hand. "Lead the way, Miss Jubilee."

[ninetieskid]

"I can do those things. They aren't nonsense."

Jubilee turns and starts moving up out onto one of the trails towards the mountain. Not running full speed, but actually running. It's not like either one of them is going to get tired muscles.

"If it comes to it, we can just wait the day out in the cave."

[the_infant_death]

Claudia would, in fact, like to see Jubilee turn into a bat, if only for the pure amusement of such a spectacle. She takes a moment to gather up her cloak and skirts, and she follows Jubilee: she does not run like a mortal would, but instead covers the ground in a series of enormous leaps, like giant strides, hundreds of feet at a time, each descent graceful as flight. She certainly could only barely keep up with Lestat, her legs so much shorter, her body so much smaller, but Jubilee is closer to her size.

Two miles will not be very long at all: it has been a while since she shed the pretense of being merely mortal entirely.

[ninetieskid]

Jubilee doesn't, if only because it'd be harder to track. Her own movements aren't like Claudia's either. She runs, her feet a blur, a quick moving and effortless stride that covers ground at an unearthly speed. She is not Pietro or Jean-Paul or any of the other speedsters from her world, but she is able to hang in that weight-class in this arena.

When they do get through the forest, Jubilee pulls up short near the mouth of a large sinkhole.

"Down we go."

And she heads into the hole, taking her time with the descent this time. The smell of brine and salt fills the air, as well as a low hum.

"Ever been much of one for witchcraft, Claudia?"

[the_infant_death]

"Not myself," Claudia answers, simply. "We lived in New Orleans, however."

Mystics and voodoo practitioners, slaves and free, and Claudia learned enough from watching to understand most of it was nothing but lies and sleight-of-hand and luck. She looks around at the glowing stones with interest, reaching out to touch some of them as she follows Jubilee readily. "What is this place?"

[ninetieskid]

"It's a sinkhole. I think it's a crack in the dreamworld."

Jubilee can't say for certain, but she'll do her best to sound authoritative as they head inside. The glowing stones are strange, odd, and she leads the way to the summoning stones without any hesitation.

The air is calm, peaceful...almost pleasant even with the brine.

"And it's also a ritual site. I don't really deal with magic, much. But I do know a little. Sodder can grant us things, if we ask her. But we have to offer a sacrifice."

[the_infant_death]

"What manner of sacrifice?" Claudia tone is intrigued. Now this is interesting, and she pauses briefly to peer at strange plant, before skipping a few careless steps to catch back up to Jubilee, both childlike and not.

"In New Orleans they would use black chickens, or hearts of pigs, or locks of hair."

[ninetieskid]

"Hair's a good one. I'm fresh out of pig hearts and chicken, but I was actually going to do something simple."

Fishing in her pocket, she pulls out a small incense burner, two strips of paper covered in writing, and a pack of matches.

"A prayer offering with a bit of the hair of my most important friend. In essence, a bit of her."

[the_infant_death]

"Your friend, but not yours? Is that a part of the requirements?"

If she is to do this frequently, she needs to know the particulars. She wants to get it right, that she may have some kind of guarantee of survival. Besides, it's interesting, amusing. The very idea, that something so preposterous as a magic spell might even exist...

[ninetieskid]

"No. It's just got to be tied to something that is important to you. And Laura is important to me. But it could also be like, a chicken or something. This magic is kind of fluid. You just have to make an offering, and I don't like butchering animals."

Not if she can avoid it, anyway.

[the_infant_death]

"I see." Claudia does not. Animals hold no special reverence for her. Perhaps why Jubilee seems to prefer the cold blood, then.

The briny smell is sharp, clean and stinging, and Claudia peers after the water. "Does it ever flood in here?" she wants to know.

[ninetieskid]

"No. The sea-salt smell is coming from the other passage. That way leads down into an underground sea."

Jubilee walks to the center of the stones and kneels down.

"It's safe here. Can't you feel it? That kind of positive resonance?"

[the_infant_death]

Claudia does not, and looks around at the stones, the mist. She presumes it is more of a reflection of her nature than it is of Jubilee's truthfulness. She paces along beside Jubilee, and after a moment, kneels beside her so that she can see what the girl does, neatly tucking her skirt and flicking her cloak around her in nearly the same gesture.