steepwithdead | Folkmore

We did, and broke the cycle our family was stuck in. [He's going to eat a bit more noodles, don't mind him. It gives him a chance to think back on that. He was just a kid then. Younger than Casey is now.] We found out that the demon armor was our a distant great great greaaat grandfather who made a deal with a demon to protect his family. He became corrupted because of the armor. His daughter made another clan, fought him, then- well, sacrificed herself to keep him contained to minimize what he could do. Foot Clan were a part of our family at one point too, but chose the demonic armor.

I wasn't even fifteen when we had to handle all of that, so, I could be mixing up a few things in my mind.

That is a while back.

[Not ancient or anything, but Caduceus has lived through enough decades to know that memories fade over time, finer details fall to the wayside. The moments and emotions are what stick, mostly.]

I'm glad that you were able to break that cycle. It must have been a great relief for your father, after running for so long.

The teens could probably give you a better idea of what happened than I can at this point. [He jokes absently back.]

I think it was, he seemed... a lot lighter. [He twirls his fork in the noodles absently.] It didn't fix his other problems, but, it made things much better.

I won't pry unnecessarily. It sounds like a painful memory.

[He doesn't require the nitpicky details. Broad strokes need less exploration than the emotions attached.]

There's no such a thing as a cure-all. Those who claim otherwise are swindling. Better is good. Better can always happen, it's a gradient.

If we had a cure-all, it wouldn't have been pops. [He works on his bun, opting to soak it again.] I was happy for that gradient. Before the war, we got to at least have some real time with him.

Was funny to see him make up with Draxum and Big Mama.

As much as you can with a guy who experimented on you and a woman who held you hostage for a few years. [Sorry Caduceus, Leonardo's family situation is bizarre. He will take a sip of his tea though.]

[Caduceus quirks a brow at that. One of those is familiar to him, the other...]

I know Draxum. He and I were friends, I think. While he was here. [Did he know about the experimentation of their father? He knew a little of how the turtles themselves were made, but that feels new.] Who is Big Mama? Why did she hold him hostage?

Somehow, I'm not surprised. Draxum, for his bluster, is a decent enough guy. He took me ribbing him for tossing me off a roof as a kid pretty well for a long time. [Aliens invading the planet and destroying it, that tends to change your priorities a little.]

That is- a whole other story. Oy. [He tries to make it as compact as possible.] Short summary, pops and Big Mama were in a relationship, she turned out to be a giant spider who just wanted to kidnap him for her underground fighting ring.

I did hear a little of that story. [He recalls that Draxum was working on making amends, or at least reaching some better level of understanding with the younger Leo. He's curious of how things would have gone with the older Leonardo here.

As for Big Mama... good grief. See, this is why relationships are so messy. Better to observe and not be involved!] That seems like a lot of effort just to abduct someone.

Draxum's perspective on it must have been interesting to hear. [He does genuinely mean that. He knows what he was feeling at that time]

You're telling me, like... why? A straight-up kidnapping would have been less of a damn mess. [He shakes his head.] I didn't ask a lot of questions, I had to be the first to learn they dated while she was trying to kill us.

It was, though we both know he was often cagey with his emotions.

[Not that Caduceus is one to share what those feelings were, but Leonardo is being vague and not prying, so it's all good. He'll leave it at that.]

Must have been strange to find out about your father's love life, after growing up so isolated.

Pretty sure he'd love to pretend he never had an emotion once. [he WILL joke about that readily.]

Ooh, yeah. It was weird. I was used to Pops being depressed and living on the couch while we managed ourselves, not- having a life.

Our whole lives got shaken up in a year or two? Hell, we found a city of yokai we could've lived in instead of a sewer. It was a beautiful city built underground. You would've liked all the magic there.

Edited 2025-10-11 06:23 (UTC)

[Caduceus chuckles and nods. Yes, that sounds like Draxum.]

What was the city like? The magic?

[He's not technically the magic guy - that's more Caleb's forte, arcane and science and study versus the religious-based magic Caduceus knows - but he likes listening to stories about other worlds.]

The whole place ran on magic. Different kinds of magic, as far as I could tell. Buildings were made in the side of the dirt they had dug into under New York. They had an active port town... [Leonardo describes what he remembers of the city; with this much time and distance, some things aren't perfect, but he is still fond of it.]

Honestly, I think you would've liked the giant mushroom forest there. These things were towering taller than most of the buildings in Epiphany. Everything glowed in there when you walked through. [He made his own trip there at least once before the war properly kicked off.]

[Caduceus listens as he eats, looking thoughtful and intrigued.]

It sounds real impressive. I'd love to see something like that. Giant glowing mushrooms are right up my alley, for sure.

The place was a mess in some ways, but, walking through the mushroom forest was calming in its own way. There were definitely dangerous things there too, but the quiet gave me a little time to think.

I wish I had taken at least a few more trips down there before everything went sour.

Maybe you'll see it again one day.

[One way or another. This world has ways of offering glimpses of the past, familiar places. Or maybe Casey will drag him back to the past New York he's heard handfuls of snippets about. There's potential, regardless.]

Maybe. I'll keep it as a possibility until then. [Look at him, trying for being positive. Even if he's not entirely sure if he should go back with Casey. That is something he still needs to think about.]

It'd be nice to not see New York just corrupted by the Krang. Meaty pink tendrils everywhere was not something I liked.

[Caduceus is glad to see him positive, and thinking about it. He supports people pursuing what makes them happy, and gives them the best chance at life. He won't push for any decisions, though. It's a lot to ask or hope for.]

It doesn't sound like it would be appealing, no. Though I may be biased, I haven't had the best time with tentacles, either.

Dare I ask what you dealt with, or is that not polite meal conversation? [He is trying to give Cad a bit of an out here.] Wouldn't want to ruin the noodles we're demolishing here.

Ahhh, nothing that weird or troublesome, really. Lots of monsters. An eldritch demigod stalking a dear friend of mine. I almost got eaten myself, a few times. You'd be amazed, the number of things in one world that have tentacles.

[No hesitation in eating some more noodles, though. Clearly he wasn't eaten, so, he can eat.]

[The casualness at least confirms its nothing that serious. He polishes off his first bun completely now.] Glad it wasn't too troublesome. Just a bit annoying.

Hopefully your other friends haven't or weren't stocked by any demigods or anything close to that. Sounds like a pain.

[Well, it's still pretty serious, but they're working on it, and it's better he not get too deep into Fjord's problems still. So this'll do for now.]

I'll call it less than ideal. Still, it's nothing that can't be resolved with some work we're already putting in.

[Leonardo, whilst curious, at least has learned not to pry with age. If someone wants to tell him something, they will.]

If your whole group is as badass as you, I think you got it. [There is easy enough belief there.] Not sure if demigods are worse to wrangle with than aliens. Probably a lot worse in their own specific way.

If we're doing comparisons, I think you'd find the others significantly more so than me. I'm not much of a fighter.

[He can hold his own, reasonably. Mostly. But if he went toe to toe with any of them, they'd knock him on his butt in no time.]

I couldn't say what's worse, I've never fought an alien before. Or, I suppose, a demigod either yet? We did fight an aberration that was pretending to be a god, though.

You're still badass. You just embody it in a different way than what it is expected. Makes you more dangerous when you want to be. [He's dipping his second bun into the bowl, letting it soak into the broth.]

We can call it even, at least. I'm feeling like an aberration pretending to be god is pretty damn tough. I dunno how I'd handle that even remotely. [His eyes narrow a little in thought. Without more information he couldn't craft much of a defense against that.] The Krang liked assimilating things, people, buildings, vehicles.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject