Out of the Frying Pan (CLOSED)

[divinerighttorule]

"Scotland Yard continues to search for Ellis Harvey, the seventeen-year-old wanted for questioning regarding the three fires in the Havering borough. The young man was last seen on August 4th, according to his mother. He is likely driving a 2005 blue Audi RS4. He is believed to be armed and dangerous."

"The Night Council seeks to bring Ellis Harvey, a suspected metahuman, to justice for the arson of three buildings in the Havering borough. Citizens are advised to contact Guardians if Ellis is spotted. He is rumoured to have powers connected to fire, which include being able to summon it at will, hot enough to burn blue."

Two reports, ultimately very similar. If Harvey was found by Scotland Yard, there could be no doubt that it would be officers who were also involved with the Night Council. They had their ways, after all.

Comments

The Search

[divinerighttorule]

There are questions to ask, leads to follow, and worries to calm if anyone wants to find Ellis Harvey.

And the authorities might not be the only ones looking for him. A few leads might mention a young woman asking about him, too. 'A foreigner.'

Re: The Search, for Ekko

[goroesi]

The news worries Maera. If Ellis is only a suspected metahuman... well, that implies he might not know about the Underground, that he's alone and scared as he confronts the truth of his supernatural abilities. He might not even have control over himself.

She has to find him first. She has to find him, and ask him what his story is, and maybe she'll be able to vouch for him in front of the Night Council. With that thought driving her, Maera goes about her daily routine as usual - but she keeps an ear out for any new news reports.

That's where Ekko finds her - standing in front of a TV broadcasting the news in a shop window, her lips twisted into a look of uncertainty that doesn't quite go away when she sees who's approached her. "Hey, Ekko. Heard about this?" she asks, tilting her head towards the screen questioningly.

[chronobreak]

Ekko looks concerned, fussing with the edge of his gloves and scowling at the TV. He knows metahumans and he also knows how hard it can be to actually keep in check of powers, especially when they're new. This kid looks about as old as him and he's never seen him anywhere else before-- and nobody else has either.

Which means he probably has no clue about the Underground. He clenches his teeth and balls his hands into fists. "We have to find him. He probably doesn't have a clue what he's doing."

[goroesi]

"That's what I thought too," she says quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. The frown on her face gets more pronounced as she watches the end of the news report before turning to Ekko. "I've got no clue where he could be, though. There are too many places to hide in this city."

[chronobreak]

He scowls, she's right of course. And his power doesn't let him find people any easier, so that's out. But they need to do something. They can't just let this guy stay lost and confused forever.

"We won't find him if we don't at least start." Starting somewhere is better than not starting at all. And maybe, if they're lucky, the guy is close by. "At least we know what his car looks like."

[goroesi]

She nods immediately. "You're right. I'll ask around and see if anyone I know has any clue where he is. It's not much, but it'll give us something to start on."

As she speaks, she pulls out her cellphone, thumbing at the icons before holding it out to him. "Give me your number, and I'll text you what I find?"

[chronobreak]

He types in his nickname and his number before handing it back. "I'll see if my friends have seen him anywhere." Even if he's got a family, the fact he's running means he might be on the streets. When it comes to that, Ekko's got a network of connections.

The Finding

[divinerighttorule]

Ellis is finally found, holed up in an abandoned warehouse and thoroughly traumatized. Surely he can be talked down and reasoned with to turn himself in to the Night Council and beg for mercy. Or else convinced to leave the country if those who find him are of that frame of mind.

The Finding; Clara and Open

[warmheartedly]

If Clara had to describe the situation, the first word that comes to mind is yikes.

It had been bit of a shock for both that Ellis Harvey had seen her when he was hiding in an alleyway and she had just phased through the wall as a way of a shortcut. It had been bit of a scare for her that he lashed out in fright, fire surging forward at her direction. There are times she's glad she isn't alive as the fire does her no harm, noting morbidly that fire was brilliant blue in colour.

After talking him down and learning of his problems, there's not much Clara can do besides send him off to a warehouse that was located in Richmond while she looks for help here in Hounslow. Hopefully a Redbright Outreach member is nearby or maybe Dr. Morgan is around the corner. She just needs to find someone else to tell this. Anyone will do right about now.

[goroesi]

Maera's been all over London lately - sometimes in more dangerous locations than others. Hounslow is one of the safer boroughs she's been searching through, in hopes of finding the boy, or his car, or even someone who had seen either of the two former.

She's so focused on her search, frowning at her phone as she waits for any news from Ekko, that she nearly walks through Clara, coming to a sudden stop just centimeters from her ghostly form. "Clara! Oh- goodness, I'm so sorry. I'm just-- I'm all over the place." Maera waves her hands wildly before shaking her head. "Have you heard about the metahuman?"

[warmheartedly]

Maera!

The pensive expression on Clara's face clears up at the sight of a familiar and friendly face, almost phasing through ignored. Then the concern and furrowed brow comes back, full force, at the question because oh dear. Looks like Ellis' exploits are well known. (Burning three buildings in one location can be a bit memorable.)

"Does he happen to have the ability to use fire?"

[goroesi]

"Yes, Clara, that one. I have to find him. If the wrong people turn him in, you know he's going to get an unfair sentence. He's just a kid - he probably doesn't even know what he's doing." Her words come out quickly, practically tripping over each other in her impassioned haste to speak. "Have you heard anything about where he might be?"

[warmheartedly]

"I can vouch that he has no idea what he's doing," she said in worry, recalling the panicked expression and breaking voice. He probably didn't mean to burn down the buildings. Something triggered his powers or he got into a fight or a whole slew of things that can wait.

Right now they had to focus on getting him somewhere safe. "I ran across him earlier by accident earlier. Spent most of my time with him assuring him that he wasn't going to burn to death or something among those lines.

"Right now he's hiding in Richmond at the moment." Redbright territory if she remembers it correctly. A safe zone where people could not be hurt. He should be fine there. "A closed down warehouse. Poor thing was shaking when we had to part ways so I don't think he'll be wandering off anytime soon."

[goroesi]

Maera does something like a sigh of relief, though it's more of a full-body motion than just an exhale. "Clara, once I find you a ghost coat or something, remind me that I owe you a huge hug. He's alright, then? I mean- scared and everything, but not physically hurt? Where's the warehouse? Can you show me?" Maera finally pauses for a moment to take a breath. "Oh, dear lord, I hope he won't be badly affected by this mess."

[divinerighttorule]

Mortals were never nearly as good at hiding as they thought. Not from someone with thousands of years of experience looking for things and people. Hounslow was her recent stop. The boy had a cousin here who owned some kind of shop he might be hiding out in. That had turned out to be empty -- it was so easy to get permission to enter a place during the day then return and search it at night. Everything suggested, though, that he had been there.

The scorch marks on the wall told her of a confrontation. The bricks were still warm to the touch. Which meant he was capable of as high heat of flames as the news claimed. And not far from them--

A familiar sight. A familiar ghost.

"Hello there."

[warmheartedly]

"Oh. It's you." Well that isn't the nicest thing to say but Clara is rather frazzled at the moment, expression annoyed and almost fearful while she fidgets where she stands. "Hello."

Short in both words and temperament today? Strange.

Usually she's always up for a pleasant chat with anyone, anyone, but the fearful expression on Ellis' face is fresh on her mind. The sooner she finds a Redbright member, the sooner they can get the boy to somewhere safe so they can explain the situation to the Night Council in hopes of getting him some leniency.

[divinerighttorule]

"Don't you look rattled," Azula murmured. It was interesting, certainly. After all, ghosts had little to fear. Exorcists, yes. Some fae, certainly, but. It was still an odd thing to see.

"What's happened?"

She didn't want to hope that it was related to the information she wanted. That wasn't very likely. But, well, she could hope, certainly.

[warmheartedly]

"--I'm looking for someone," is all she says, not wanting to divulge too much but, at the same time, she can't exactly lie. Clara knew she had the world's worst poker face. There's no way she can say 'nothing' or make a story up and keep her fear face in check.

The best she can do at the moment is just be honest without speaking too much about it. "Redbright matters is all. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in any of that."

[divinerighttorule]

Looking for someone. Redbright.

A metahuman?

"Ellis Harvey?" she suggests, one brow arching. If this woman is looking for him... Well. That will make her life much easier Because there are ancient compulsions. Magic even she is bound by. Promises made to and by a fae... They last.

The Fight

[divinerighttorule]

But things never go that smoothly, do they?

Ellis might have been found, but not just by the concerned citizens. No, instead, the young woman others reported has found him, too, and she's a fae who isn't in the mood to share her signature blue flames.

The Fight, for Azula/Ekko?

[goroesi]

Maera's a little out of breath when she gets to the warehouse, and she presses a hand to her rapidly breathing heart as she carefully steps inside. Thanking all the deities she knows that it doesn't count as a dwelling, she takes in the empty floor, looking for any evidence of the boy being here.

"Ellis?" she calls out hesitantly, her voice echoing as she passes by a few shelves with empty boxes on them. "Ellis, it's okay. I'm here to help you." As of right now, she's pretty sure she's the only person here. Hopefully, she's not wrong.

[chronobreak]

Ekko's there as quickly as he can be once he got the text. This is a metahuman, and probably a confused kid of one too. There's no way he's just going to let Maera deal with him alone.

"We're here to help."

[divinerighttorule]

"No you're not!" The sound bounces around the warehouse. Fear is obvious in his voice. "You're going to take me somewhere and experiment on me! Skylar told me so!"

[goroesi]

"There's no way we'll let that happen, Ellis," Maera promises aloud after a quick, worried glance at Ekko. "We're here to take to you to a school where you can nurture your powers and be safe, alright?"

[chronobreak]

"Listen, I'm a lot like you. There's no way I'm going to let anybody do that to you."

The question that runs through his head is who the hell Skylar is, but that's something to worry about later. Now they need to calm Ellis down.