TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

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Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

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Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

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Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

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Comments

hands over the adoption papers

[magike]

Well, I've never let death stop me from doing anything before.

( usually that thing was living, considering the number of times she'd resurrected herself from her death. not this time, though, and whilst she did miss being alive, even wish for it, she'd accepted her position. hell was hell, it suited her, even if it wasn't life.

but he's mentioning chuck and... considering where she lay the blame for her death she certainly wouldn't put it past god to do something like this. remove one of the most powerful being of the universe and a witch who always knew too much? especially when the boys had looped her in on what had continued happening after her death, and she'd put a few demons on other trails )

But since we are here, we might be able to solve a few problems. These annoying loans being one of them.

( she didn't intend to stay in that situation for long: she'd bee n indebted before, it wasn't happening again. and she wouldn't let jack fall foul of anything from his worldly innocence )

That's if you want to get off this road?

Congrats on your 3 year old Nephilim child

[godjr]

Me either.

[ Jack says with a rare glimpse of humor in his otherwise flat and soft tone. He does not know jokes very well but he's attempted them before and he thinks this works as one. They both have died and come back now. He technically died a third time when he blew up in the Empty, so he is catching up to the number of deaths the rest of the Winchester family (including her) have gotten through. ]

Oh no, I like the motorcycle. I think Dean and Sam would find it cool, don't you? I've only crashed it three times.

[ And he just kept getting up, naturally, which is why he was standing pretty casually while she hit him with her car. It was painful but he's had worse. He was banished by Chuck himself, a hit or two is a finger tap in comparison. He frowns though, looking at her car. ]

Maybe we can tie it to your car until we get to the city?

[ They both have supernatural abilities, it's not as if that's a tall order. He likes the idea of going on a roadtrip with Rowena, he's pretty sure that's what they call it, when they're not on a work mission. Just an every day human roadtrip, where adventures are supposed to happen. ]

let's hope she doesn't break this one

[magike]

( she looks to the bike and looks to the car and... hell, if they'd given her something slightly bigger it would have been an easier job. and if he wasnt so attached to the bike it would have been easier. but they have magic )

Alright.

( she lets him get the bike closer before casting a spell to hold the bike to it, an enchantment on the car as if they were magnetically holding the other, before she casts a second spell, a barrier to go around it, invisible to the eye.

maybe it would hold. she's never done anything like this with a moving object before )

You're driving.

( offering the keys out, not at all thinking about how well he can. but she certainly prefers not to and she knows that dean took him out that time )

[godjr]

[ Jack has faith that her magic will work, she is the most powerful witch in the world after all, and so he takes the keys and determines to be the best driver so she's safe. Luckily it's not as if there are a lot of people and winding roads to worry about, he can probably make it there with minimal fuss. Jack gets into the driver's side and waits for her to get in, putting his seatbelt on. ]

They told me that you're Queen of Hell now. Is that nice?

[ Jack is a slow and steady driver so they're not going to get there in perfect time but he will get them there alive. That's the best he can offer. His eyes are glued to the road. It's one thing for him to risk his life when on the motorcycle doing stupid things, but she's in the car so he has to take this seriously. She's always been kind to him and she matters to the family.

He doesn't think Hell is supposed to be nice, but Rowena could probably make it that way. ]

[magike]

( the slower speed might not be getting them anywhere quickly but it's a relaxed ride, one that's easier than when rowena was driving. it lets her lean back a little more comfortably into the seat (which is a challenge given that it isn't comfortable), looking out of the window to try and see something about the landscape until he speaks )

Being the Queen is certainly better than simply existing in Hell.

( the demons that had held grudges against her from fergus's reign had been the first she'd killed or coerced into falling in line. she wasn't asking any risks about their treatment or revenge against her )

And I've been making some changes. Hell could never be pleasant, and for some it should be Hell, but there are other ways to run things than what any predecessor has done before.

[godjr]

I think Hell might be better than the Empty. It's very lonely.

[ Usually people aren't supposed to be awake and in a form of stasis while there, but Jack was forced back to himself by Billie so they could start working on the plan to kill Chuck. But he was glad, to see someone else there, even if it turned out Billie was using him. Jack's used to it. Pretty much everyone outside of their family (he does think of it as 'their' with Rowena) has tried to do that to him. It seems cruel that Chuck made that place for his dead children. Jack doesn't understand his grandfather. ]

I can see why you would be a good queen. You're very strong and wise. I hope they understand that down there.

[ From the first time Jack met her, he admired her skills. She was kind to forgive him his blood ties. Sam said she was the most powerful witch. What she accomplished during their retreat from the Apocalypse world and being possessed by Michael was impressive, if very tragic in the latter. Jack speeds up only a little bit, probably less than what a speed limit would be. ]

We were trying to kill Chuck finally.

[magike]

( the compliment rowena appreciates even if she doubts that anyone else in hell sees it the same way. she knows the complaints that they have about her methods, removing things from them that they're used to doing (deals, especially) but she's a strategist. rowena knows that something will happen but she's prepared.

the rest of jack's words don't go without notice, though. the empty over heaven, given both parts of his soul (the things she doesn't know). but also the we )

I assume that means you also were helping? ( puzzling that out for a moment. she doubts chuck would have brought him back but she has to ask )

Who did it?

[godjr]

Billie, the Grim Reaper. She had a plan, that we could turn me into a bomb that could kill Chuck and Amara. He's been destroying all the universes he made, leaving ours for last.

[ Jack does wonder a lot about his grandfather. He wonders if he was always like this. He probably couldn't have been, to create something beautiful like all these earths, and the angels, who weren't always bad people, as Castiel assured him. Even his father wasn't born evil, like Jack wasn't, but things changed as time went on, and now Chuck is the ultimate villain. Jack's sad that he never got a chance to know his biological family, that an ending is all he can give them. ]

It didn't work, but it kind of did. Rowena, I'm ... absorbing power around me. I became a vacuum, I guess?

[ Jack wouldn't explain this to anyone else, but Rowena he can trust with everything, and she is far wiser than he is. She'll know what to do about it. This only just began happening and he's a little worried. Jack's overpowered problem has been a lifelong issue, and he's hurt many people along the way, accidentally much of the time. ]

Chuck brought back Lucifer and he and Michael had a fight in front of me, Lucifer died, and I absorbed all his life force, and the power of their fight and ... I was supposed to use it against Chuck but I'm here.

[ Lucifer alone and himself, those wouldn't be enough life forces to take on Chuck, but Sam and Dean were positive that he would kill Michael too, that was the plan. If Jack could absorb it all, he was the bomb that the could use to finish it. But he's not where he is supposed to be. ]

[magike]

( she bit down the irritation. billie wouldn't bring her son back but would bring someone else back, though only because she found use in it. it didn't change the fact that rowena was glad that jack was no longer dead, he'd not experienced enough life to suffer that, but the circumstances still prickle.

particularly the more jack tells her about what had happened.

it shocks her, and her expression is clear in that. oh, she'd made a soul bomb once, had placed it into dean to conceal it, and she assumes that something similar is what billie had done, that she'd taken her idea and changed it for this purpose. inexpertly, if it had gone wrong )

What do you mean you're absorbing power still?

( it's not that she's concerned about losing her magic to him, though she'd be lying if she wasn't concerned about that, but if he's absorbing power still, his own power could grow out of control. that was the purpose billie had made: he needed power to destroy god )

Do you feel it happening?

[godjr]

[ Billie was just another person in a line of people who tried to use Jack for her own reasons. Even his fathers technically did that, for missions, but with them he doesn't mind because he knows it is for the right reasons. But he's so easy to manipulate that Billie was added to the list of foolish reasons he trusted someone. At least the others did too, it wasn't only him looking to the wrong source. ]

Yes, but I think it's triggered by something needing to happen. I didn't absorb Lucifer by being around him, it was when he and Michael fought and he died that it came into me.

[ So Rowena is under no danger right now, her power safely within her. She'd need to use it on him or close to him for him to take any of it in, and he doesn't know yet if it's something he can gift back. He's been able to share his power before so it seems like it's possible. He gave Castiel power from the womb to survive, and he's happy to share, so it's not all in one place. But this is new. He's flooded with it now, but it's not as bad as the bomb itself was. ]

I can feel it though. I did blow up from the bomb against God, but it was in the Empty. And I must have ... cracked open, I guess? So it's coming in.

[ It's the natural state of being for Jack throughout his life that he never knows how to control what's on his fingertips. This is no exception. He has the active power of himself and an archangel now, and Rowena understands how dangerous that could be. But it's because he trusts her so much that Jack is telling her at all. He's not afraid she'd fear him and push him away. She'll know better than him what to do. ]

[magike]

( he'd absorbed archangel grace once before after exorcising michael from her, though rowena knows that was entirely different. she assumes it was different, that jack had chosen to absorb it then. billie hadn't been a factor then )

When we find somewhere to stop, I'll see if I can find something.

( it would mean a spell, the spell she'd cast over him when he'd been dying to examine him, but she has to risk whatever is happening to him, she has to risk that piece of magic. rowena can't let something worse happen to him because she didn't help )

That also means you're staying with me. If something did happen... we'll figure it out first.

[godjr]

[ Jack had, and it would have been fine if he hadn't burned off his soul in order to do it. Now he has some ability to balance the power within him but it's more than he was prepared for. Dean and Sam intended to feed him more of it in a version of Billie's plan that at least was decided on by the family. He'll just have to be very careful until he gets a sense of how dangerous he is. He's always scared about that.

He glances over at her when she says that, startled and then pleased, smiling before turning his attention back to the road. ]

I would like that, thank you.

[ It means he isn't alone and that he also has supervision of someone very powerful who will know if he's unstable. Jack didn't want to force that responsibility onto her though, only his parents are required to deal with him that way. But if Rowena is willing to help without being asked, Jack is going to accept that offer quickly and gratefully. ]

I don't sleep much and I'm very quiet and respectful of other people's space.

[ Jack spent a lot of time in the bunker by himself when he wasn't allowed on missions or powerless. He cleaned it regularly, because he was already there, and did the dishes and laundry frequently. This also means he can protect her, the way that Sam and Dean would want him to. ]

[magike]

I doubt there will be much space, not with the debts we already have, but being here won't be permanent for us either.

( she was too determined for that to happen. whilst they might have to settle with something terrible to begin with, rowena was too much of an opportunist (and charming) not to try and get something better for them.

but she'd also be working on a spell to get them home. and if he did have archangel grace, perhaps the spell would be easier to cast than she thought )

I don't know what this city will be like, though. If it's anything similar to where we woke up, you'll need to be careful.

( she cautions him just because he's new to the world, because he's so trusting. rowena doesn't have that problem but she'd make his problems hers. she'd keep him safe for the boys. and her own growing fondness of him )

But you won't be alone.

[godjr]

I can get a job! [ He smiles. ] That will be fun. Like a real human.

[ Jack likes work and he doesn't shy away from it as others do. He'll be the best customer service representative anyone can find with his cheerful demeanor. He can make money for them and Rowena can help them figure out the numbers around their debt because he doesn't understand cost of living in the slightest. He's always had that sort of thing handled by his family. He's not snobby. ]

I'll be careful, I promise.

[ Of course in Jack's mind, that is more about him controlling his powers and not accidentally hurting anyone while he works through it. He is enormously trusting though so that will eventually come up. He's tried to become better at not believing what he's told, especially because even Sam and Dean have lied to him before, but it doesn't come naturally to him to doubt other people. Only himself. ]

I'm glad, I don't think it would be good if I was alone, Rowena. [ He's so relieved. ] I try my best to be good but when I don't know what to do ....

[ He doesn't trust himself entirely. ]

[magike]

( there's a softer sound from her, light amusement. she'll clarify "rules" with him when they have somewhere, when he's found that job and needs more guidance on what he should do. it certainly won't be her own advice that she'll be giving him )

Being good is a strange idea. The Winchesters are good, they do everything to save the world and help others, but if someone didn't know what they were doing, it would appear very different.

( they killed and hurt those that looked human. those they knew were not )

Samuel's belief in me is what changed my actions. I imagine their guidance is what you know also. They may not be here, but we have their memories, the advice that they have given us.

( and whilst she wouldn't claim that her best friend was like a conscience on her shoulder, it was the simple fact that she had a best friend that guided her. someone trusted and believed in her and had helped her to see that the life she'd always hoped for could actually be hers. that was what guided her hands now )

[godjr]

[ Jack forgot that Rowena wasn't always part of their team. When he met her, he knew that they had history, she had a whole history before. But she helped him anyway, despite the fact Lucifer hurt her so badly. That's what he remembered. But she wasn't always a 'good guy' either. Jack's tried so much to be one, from the moment he was born, until now. He listens to her attentively and it matters, what she's saying. He's been very black and white on this issue and still is hard on himself about it. ]

I'm not like Lucifer. I know that now. I used to be afraid I was, that I had no other choice.

[ It was Sam who argued from the start that Jack could choose, that they could raise him to be good and not go down the same path. The ways in which Jack made mistakes and went down a dark road, none of it was the same as Lucifer. His was always well-meaning. Trying too much, but being too powerful and out of control. It doesn't change that Jack did harm. With Lucifer's power inside of him now, he still knows in his heart, he is not him. ]

But I don't have to be like him to do the wrong thing. Sometimes I just ... do. Now that I have his power and mine, I'm worried.

[ Jack should be worried. Every time he's taken his power in a casual sense, things have gone horribly wrong. He can't be reckless about them. He looks over at her, maintaining eye contact for a moment, but then back to the road so he can make sure he's being safe. ]

Will you help me stay balanced?

[magike]

( she rests a hand lightly on his arm, a comforting gesture, there only for a moment so as not to distract him )

My dear, you could never be like that-- ( bastard ) like him.

( she opts not to swear, to remind him of those true feelings of hers. neither of them may think too fondly of lucifer, but he's still jack's father, as unfortunate as that information is. she's behaving herself, even if she knows he wouldn't begrudge her for the truth )

I will do my best to help you, but remember that whilst power can help us do wonderful things and terrible things, the same can be true of people without power. Decisions need care and information, especially what is important. We don't know this place, it's something to keep in mind when making any impactful decision.

[godjr]

[ It touches Jack that she would comfort him and also reassure him about Lucifer. For so long he was scared that he was supposed to be that way. Dean was convinced he had to be evil like his father, that blood trumped everything else. ]

He fooled me. I'm embarrassed about that. Everyone told me he was evil, but I wanted to believe he could change. I was very wrong, I'm glad he's gone.

[ Lucifer did show his true colors relatively quickly, so Jack didn't get fooled for long, and he did not need to be shown a second time what Lucifer was after that. He regrets it because it meant he wasn't respecting his true fathers, who tried to warn him. He killed Nick (roughly) because the idea of bringing Lucifer back after all he did was too upsetting. He doesn't think anyone told her that for a brief time Jack was played the fool, but it was brief. He can learn.

He listens very closely to her and her wisdom, nodding along. He knows humans can do bad things too. He learned that from the soup kitchen and the girl he thought could be his friend hurting people in the name of religion. They might meet humans like that here. ]

I will protect you from them, Rowena. No one will hurt you when I'm around.

[ She isn't thinking of herself there, but him, and he still wants to say it. She is powerful, yes, but she still died. She's in Hell. He won't let that happen here. She is his family. ]

[magike]

( rowena had been convinced at first, too, too afraid of lucifer to want to see past that, even with samuel's reassurances. then she'd met jack, and his gratitude for her actions and kindness towards her made him look at him, seeing the boy rather than the father. she'd known immediately that he was not lucifer.

kindness that he still shows now, and even if rowena isn't afraid in this place, or tells herself that she isn't because she knows the world, his thought makes her smile anyway )

Finding somewhere to stay will be our first thing to do.

( she was not living out of a car. that was worse than some of the ways she'd lived in her past )

Then learning more about the location we are in. Where things we will need are, people to be aware of, at least until we can get the ingredients to cast a spell to return us home.

[godjr]

They said it's a city, there have to be motels. If they allow more debt until we can make money.

[ Jack is used to them from traveling with his family, they exclusively stay in cheap motels to save on costs and also because they never stay there for long. He already misses the familiarity and comfort of the bunker which will remain true as they go forward, because it was his home for most of his short life. He knows that Rowena is far more classy than they are, so she might not like what they find, but she is a very pragmatic person too. They'll figure it out together. ]

I wonder if they have their own magic users here. Maybe they can help you find ingredients, or the equivalent of them here.

[ It might also cost them but it could work out for them. He doesn't know if the exact same ingredients exist here, that's all. Jack knows only a little bit about magic that Sam has told him, and Sam learned from her. ]

If you suddenly need me somewhere, Sam has been able to pray to me before, and I could find him right away. Like to other angels.

[ Jack doesn't always know where to track people using his powers, although he's pretty sure he should be able to, but that was instant. He could hear Sam's voice and could simply will himself there. It might help her in the future, even if all she wants is to check in with him, since he can fly to other places too. ]

[magike]

--Praying?

( okay, she knows that in theory given samuel and dean and castiel but actually being told that she should pray for someone? oh boy. the pagan witch who'd never put stock in gods now realising she has to figure out how to pray to a nephilim to hear her?

that is an idea that rowena knows she's putting aside for now, entirely uncertain (and unconvinced) about it... and probably wont touch until it's too late and she needs him.

but she looks back out of the window, trying to quickly change the topic from it so it doesn't get awkward )

If the magic users in this universe can even be trusted. And if it doesn't hurt us to ask them.

( debt or trust )

[godjr]

I know it's strange. But I can hear it. I'm just saying.

[ Jack can probably keep track of her more than he knows right now, since they only just reunited, but he has so many abilities trapped inside his body and he's barely scratched the surface of it. If he can hear her voice clearly in his mind, like when the others prayed for him, he'd be able to zero in on her immediately. She might not want to use it now, but eventually, it could be useful. Like when he saved everyone from Michael. If Sam hadn't thought to pray to him, they'd be dead. ]

Maybe they can! [ Optimistic, sometimes. ] I wish I knew how to use my powers better. With Lucifer's strength I should be able to cross dimensions, but ... it's probably too risky without training.

[ Jack's more likely to break a hole in the universe. And he can't do anything that would jeopardize Rowena's safety, not now that they're together and the only family each other has. Maybe he'll just try in very small doses out in the quadrants, where no humans are around.]

They said it's a city, I've never really been in a real city before, at least not for long. It'll definitely be bigger than Kansas.

[magike]

Cities can be useful.

( she's still digesting everything about his powers, that he's absorbing them, that he has lucifer's strength and what that means. it's something she needs more time with, particularly given that he may still be absorbing power here thanks to billie's interferences.

so she switches to the simpler item, the city and their unknown destination )

They have much more within them. It certainly makes shopping for what you need easier.

( spell ingredients, clothing, anything that you could think of. those parts she'd appreciated over the centuries )

Though the more people there are in a city, the greater the risk is. I don't mean your powers or danger, but in being human. And my dove, there is much a boy your physical age should know that you don't.

( there's no blame or judgement in her voice: rowena knows the circumstances, knows that he hasn't lived those years to learn that information, and it certainly hadn't been something that the boys had thought of when they'd taken him out. so she continues )

Crafting you a story will help protect you and give a plausible reason for why you lack certain pieces of knowledge. Something other than explaining that you're a nephilim.

[godjr]

[ Jack doesn't feel blamed or judged, she's just telling the truth. Jack's ignorance has been a problem more than once, and his lack of understanding of 'normal' human behavior makes him stand out from others. Most of the time they've just thought him strange, but it's occasionally suspicious, the way he acts and talks. Non-trusting people, like those from a city, might think twice when he lies very poorly about himself. ]

I didn't really get chances to talk to normal people and learn how to act like one.

[ As Rowena knows, Jack is remarkably sheltered. Every person who knows him well enough to be around him regularly is aware that he's a Nephilim and there's reverence and also some fear that goes with that. For the brief time he tried to be around kids 'his age,' he scared them quickly with his power.

It's not only that he lacked the time that would help him learn, it's that the Winchesters, despite meaning very well on his behalf, never did well at socializing him either. They wanted to keep both him and the world at large safe, and that meant keeping Jack in the bunker and away from possible trouble. But it also meant that his entire world revolved around them and the hunters and never outside of it.

He liked being called 'my dove' though. It was nice. An affectionate nickname.]

I can say that I was from a small town from Kansas and never left and was sheltered. Would that be good enough? Maybe people will just think people from Kansas are strange.

[magike]

That could be believable.

( rowena certainly knew the opinions that were given to those from small towns in america, particularly those who never left those towns. the boys had certainly encountered enough of them, which meant that rowena had as well.

she hums lightly, adding a detail )

Especially if you were also home-schooled. Even in a small town, children who went to school would have had more social interactions. Being homeschooled would have limited that.

( a small town limited the number of people in it, and being homeschooled would further limit the number of people you saw in a day. she figured it could work )

As we walk around the city, I can teach you certain smaller things that you should know, even a boy from a small town.