#anywhere

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Adam and Symon arrive in Rome, NY and Adam wakes Symon to give directions to the location he wants.

"Dude? Symon?" Adam speaks in a normal tone of voice.

"Mmmph. Pancakes." A mutter, before reaching up to rub at his throat. A flicker of glamour. "Where are we?" whispered.

"Rome. Ish. I need directions from here."

"Oh... We're going a bit further." A hand digs into a pocket and pulls out a scrap of paper with notes doodled onto it. "Keep on nigh-26 - oh, NY-26... " Correcting pronunciation of the road. "North about another hour, and we'll get to Carthage."

"I thought we were going to Rome?" He pulls out on the highway again.

"All roads lead to Rome."

"Her name is Sparrow, or Ladybird. She has the most lovely hair that cascades down over her wings..." He whispers, describing the sidhe lady as promised.

Adam might see a troll on the road looking like he's picking up litter... but actually on patrol.

"But 26 leads to Carthage."

A muffled snicker. "Yep."

"Who's that guy?" Regarding the troll. He is distracted, though. "Sparrow? And she has wings? What color hair? What does she look like?"

The troll 's voile shows a symbol of a ring of light around a dark gate

"Soft waves of auburn, the greenest eyes... and feathers like a little brown bird, the ones that stick around in the winter, but when the sun shines, they... kinda shimmer? I'd like to see her fly."

A glance out the window. "Rome has trolls." A shrug, dismissive.

"Man.... where is she from? I mean.... is she new? I thought Nadeen was the only, uh, Sidhe in Rivervale?"

"She's visiting from Earthrunes. For the secret council of ninjas." And he pauses. "But we're not supposed to talk about the Mission."

"Except for that Carawyn guy I guess.... Dude, what is this Mission??"

"What do you know about unseelie sidhe?" He asks.

"Uh. Unseelie isnt, like, bad. Not -evil-. My folks say they went Unseelie and they just left us alone, right. It was kinda cool, I just had to watch out for Lily."

"You like sidhe, don't you?" His voice soft. "They're... scary, but pretty, but they make me feel..." A shrug. "Like I'm around something special. A sunrise... or when the moon is visible during the day..."

"Yeah." Wistful brotherhood. "They don't scare me, though."

"Sluagh aren't afraid of anything either. We're spooky. Like Lily."

"- You- can be spooky. L ily's just a kid."

"Look, tell me more about Sparrow. Or the Mission."

"She's smarter than you think, and she's my friend." An insistent whisper, but then he obliges. "She does this really cool art with spray paint..." Spending a while longer describing the sidhe and what he knows of her, which isn't much, but sounds fairly enthralling.

"Look, she's my sister, -before- she was sluagh. Nevermind. So Sparrow' s an artist? That is so cool..."

Adam's phone rings. Not text.. but RINGS

"Shouldn't answer that. Top secret." Comes a hurried whisper.

If he checks the number it appears to be the Lodge's phone

"Shit." He pulls over to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey! It's Gerd. We got an emergency"

Fidgeting in the back seat.

"Gerd." He explains to Symon "What emergency?"

He tugs down the hoodie over his face and makes himself small.

"Don't mention I'm here. Top. Secret."

As they have approached Carthage, they've seen that the area has become much more deserted, more rural looking.

It's historic, quaint looking even.

"Connor has gone missing. I was worried he ran away. After lots of panic and trying to trace him, I had uncle Vali tattle tale him. Adam? He's in your car"

"Uh.... what?" He puts the phone on speaker and starts driving again.

"I said you're driving CONNOR ... you need to come back"

"Connor??" It sounds like he is clarifying but he starts through the rear view into the backseat.

A car has pulled up behind them... Adam can see them through the rearview. Looks like a police cruiser.... and a single flash of the lights, indicating for them to pull over.

"YES! CONNOR!" Gerd says "Hes' in the car, he's using you.. wait am I on speaker?"

"I'm on a mission...." He says, quietly, peering out at Adam.... a weird fuzzy look... like eyes that can't quite focus, as the cantrip drains off and the boy gives Adam a worried, but stubborn, look.

"Connor, if you can hear me, this is not safe, and it's not nice to go around people's back like this.."

"It's IMPORTANT." He says, his voice tearful. "No one would listen. No one UNDERSTANDS."
If the car has continued, the siren gives a warning blip, and the large, blue-grey skinned figure behind the wheel jerks a hand towards the right, indicating for him to pull over.

"Was that a siren? Oh god. Okay. Adam, where ARE you? exactly? Mile marker... Quick!"

"If you flash me home I will never forgive you!" He shouts at the phone. Is that pooka talk? Hard to say. "I'm not doing anything wrong! You can't just scruff me into the lake! I need to do this!"

(Pause for Shady?)

"Oh -Fuck-." Adam says with feeling. "Troll in a cop car behind me, I gotta pull over? Connor, you... -Nimrod-!!"