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Going to Whitestone had been their only recourse. Desmond was a witness to the horrors that had happened in Percival’s home town since the violent uprising, but with Uriel Charmed by Lord Briarwood, there would be no reasoning with him – there would be no way that they could convince the man that they had been correct in confronting the Briarwoods. Percy was the last of the de Rolo family and along with Desmond’s account of what was truly happening in Whitestone – it was unlikely that the young man had a resistance to a Truth Spell like they were, simply because they had to resist the magical attacks of their foes… They might be able to convince others of the council who had not been Charmed (although who was under the effects of the Vampire’s spell and who was not they couldn’t figure out) that they were telling the truth…
On the other hand, those who were Charmed might be able to talk the rest into putting them under lock and key until they could convince Lord and Lady Briarwood to come back in order to discuss this – and Percy’s presence to their twisted machinations and the members of Vox Machina worried very much as to what they would do and say in order to counter the truth. They needed to find proof beyond the word of the carriage driver and Percival – physical evidence – that the Briarwoods were as awful and wretched as they had tried to convince Uriel they were, and proof (if it could be found) would be within Whitestone itself.
Keyleth and Vax were on guard in the magically-hidden mouth of the tunnel the Druid had created in the hopes that she would be able to revive the dead Sun Tree. Vex joined the two of them and scowled a little at the fact that the two of them were a bit closer than was proper, as far as either of the other two half-elves could tell. The three of them sat in awkward silence for what felt like several eternities, but was closer to a few minutes before the Ranger’s eyes found the restlessly-sleeping form of Percival.
The trip to Whitestone had been difficult – between the harpies they very nearly had to fight, the probably messenger-crows into what had once been a stone giant fortress… And the Behir that nearly killed Trinket… This was going to be a very difficult task – one that the trio were fairly certain that the eight of them should be able to overcome together. However the closer they got to Percival’s Birthright, the more subdued the human had gotten.
Vex walked over to where Percy (curled up on one side, one hand clutching the butt of The Pepperbox tightly) lay sleeping. The fair haired man was not having a happy man, by the way the other was shifting and grimacing and she wondered if she should wake him from whatever nightmare was getting it’s grips on Percival’s mind and heart, or if she should let him rest. After a bit more internal debate she backed off, sitting with Vax and Keyleth, whispering so that only the other two could hear her, but not so loud as to wake any of the others “He seems… Lost in the darkness. Silence is beginning to surround him and I fear that we might lose him.”
Keyleth had noticed the Gunslinger’s reticence as well, and nodded with a worried frown. It was difficult to try and help the exiled noble if he wouldn’t talk to them. Still, the fact that he had confided in them as much as he had was in and of itself something close to a miracle as Percy did not talk about his past for reasons that made a lot of sense, now that they knew what had happened to him. “Once there was morning – he smiled and laughed and was…He was happy. But since we first heard that the Briarwoods were coming to Emon I think it was when he started to withdraw from us… From everyone. Night has fallen in Percy’s soul and I fear that it may become and endless one if we don’t fix this.”
Vax rubbed his chin as he observed the only full-human of their group, agreeing “If we could reach him…We could teach him how to walk from the darkness and back into the light. Vex and I… We were sent to Syngorn for a while, under the cool watchfulness of our father until we decided that wasn’t something we wanted to deal with anymore. We wandered for a time, finding our way back to where we lived with our mother… And instead of finding the little house that we had lived in as children… We found nothing but ruins and the townspeople told us that a dragon had come and killed many, including our mother. We know what it’s like to lose a loved one in such a traumatic way – not nearly as awful as what Percival went through as we hadn’t been tortured for information and seen the bodies of our family member-” The rogue’s throat tightened as the thought of losing his twin sister forever hit him and his entire body tensed at that awful thought. He shook his head a little, and wondered how much pain and sorrow that their friend had hidden from them because Percival feared being betrayed again?
An unhappy thought occurred to Keyleth. A memory of what Percy had said in reference to talking to Uriel before they had found out that the emperor of Tal’dorei had been Charmed by Lord Briarwood and were thus solidly on the murderous assholes’ side. “His silence is very profound. It took the news of the Briarwoods’ impending arrival to Emon for him to tell us about why he was so concerned about their coming. He told us that it wouldn’t be the first time if something like that had happened to him if Uriel turned out to be on the Briarwoods’ side. Did he fear that we would turn him into them, if we knew that he had wanted revenge on those who had taken so much from them? I hope that he’ll at least try to hear us when we say that we’ll stay close to him… Until that we help him in dealing with the Briarwoods – either by finding the legal proof that they are awful, evil people and need to be arrested and executed for what they’ve done. I worry that the darkness that fell upon Percy’s heart when he lost his family has not yet passed.”
Both the Rogue and the Ranger nodded in morose agreement at the Druid’s insight into their friend’s emotional state. Vex whispered “We’ll find the answers to Uriel’s questions, and the proof of what Percy has told us. We’re not going to desert him in the face of this. We should tell him this – as long as we live we’ll be by his side. Strangely acting gun smoke notwithstanding. We’re not going to let Percy lose himself to the Briarwoods.” Or to his grief and rage over losing his loved ones. The fair haired human had been one of the caretakers of the group, for lack of a better word. He helped to make sure that everyone had what they needed when they needed it, be it an encouraging word after a frustrating sparring session, or a hard knock to the head after recklessly endangering oneself again as her brother was distressingly wont to do.