[wasteland city academy - Celso, Half, Xeqa, Aunrei, Miyuki, Miyuki's shadow]
Aunrei wasn't expecting this Miyuki to be that young. Kids don't like seeing people who are hurt. His own kids would cry or freak out the couple times they saw him without a shirt, even past her age. Their little juvenile Rivari instincts just couldn't handle the fact that humans are not in fact all good people who only want to do great things, they can do horrible things, too. It was a step up from assuming their father was a delinquent, he had to admit. So he stayed a good distance away from the girl while Xeqa and Celso did the work, taking a seat on the side of the fountain while he waited.
If the older woman noticed him over the other two, he'd point to the water with his red-bloodstained hand, asking permission. Yeah, he could tell it was supposed to be a giant birdbath, but he didn't want to just go ahead and start getting old blood and whatever grime he picked up outside in this nice, clean water. Like those stupid finger bowls at fancy parties. Yeah, you're supposed to dip your fingers in the bowl and pass it to the next person, but nobody actually wants you to clean crap off your hands in a finger bowl. This place was so damn clean he couldn't imagine this fountain was any different in practice from a finger bowl.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Park -> Wasteland City Academy (Phoebe, Ashleigh)
Right when Ludwig and Zippy returned to the park with Amy, they were just in time to see Fawn go heading off into the forest, Nick and Micheal vanish altogether, and the Dragon's Daughters run off somewhere as well, leaving a very confused Phoebe and Ashleigh and Peggy behind.
"Huh?" Phoebe asked. "Where did everybody go? Those guys just abandoned us!"
"It's a shame really," Ashleigh remarked, searching around for Nick especially. "This place was just starting to get interesting. Anyway, it appears there is not much more for us to do here, so I suppose we should move on like everyone else."
"Aw maaaaaan," Zippy moped, flapping her furiously-beating hummingbird wings a bit lower. "I was just beginning to like the Dragon's Daughters."
"And zere is no place for moi to conduct mon symphony," Ludwig lamented, his ghostly form hovering in the air next to Zippy.
"Well Peggy?" Phoebe asked her flying unicorn still sitting on the ground recuperating. "Are you ready to go or what?"
"Whenever you are," she remarked in a peaceful voice, standing up and stretching her wings before folding them back up again. "You can both ride on me if you like."
And with that, Phoebe mounted Peggy, Ashligh doing the same behind her and holding onto her carousel pole. Both of them returned their other Mystripets to their Scanners, and they were off, this time heading away from the forest and up the hill where the T-Bots came from.
Here, the fog grew thicker, and the outlines of some forest trees could be seen nearby... and within a few moments, the scenery brightened. They emerged in a beautiful and tranquil garden, filled with warm air and sunlight and the sound of birds chirping in the distance. An ornately decorated domed building stood nearby, the source of the birds chirping, and there were several bushes and benches around as well.
Moreover, there was a group of people near the benches. As Peggy walked over to these benches, the two Keepers noticed the unusualness of the group. On one of the benches was a young schoolgirl with a strange shadowy figure behind her, crying on the shoulder of an older woman who looked like she belonged in the military. Also comforting her were a fierce yet somber-looking warrior woman and an older man in a fancy white shirt who they remembered seeing before in the orange tree garden. Nearby was a rather gruesome-looking man, covered in horrible scars bearing congealed bluish blood... and some reddish blood on one of his hands. And then there was a shadowy being that also looked familiar... Ashleigh immediately dismounted and ran over to him.
"Half, is that you?" she called to the shadowy being. "I thought you were headed to Misery Manor. Did you change your mind?"
Phoebe, meanwhile, directed Peggy over to the bench and then dismounted. She decided to stay away from the bloody guy for now, as he looked kind of creepy to her, and she didn't much like the sight of blood and scar tissue. Nor did she have a good first impression of the warrior queen (judging by the crown) or the shadow lurking behind the schoolgirl. So instead she went with the familiar.
"Heeey, I remember you!" she called to Celso, adjusting her pink cowgirl hat as she walked over to him. "You were at the orange tree earlier! Is this the same garden or what? And who are all these people with you? And why does that girl have a shadowy thing following her? And why is that guy covered in blood? And why does that warrior lady give off such a creepy vibe? Is that woman in the military? And how did..."
"Phoebe, one question at a time please," Peggy advised with a giggle. "But you're right. Something seems... off about you." She had her bright blue eyes fixed squarely upon the dying empress. "Like you are bound by a curse of some sort, or possessed by a dark spirit perhaps. Does it trouble you at all?"
Peggy technically could count as a magical creature, even though she's from a virtual world, so she should be able to see Xeqa's "pet".
Misery Manor (Gon, Yamiko, Sinistrina, Gabe, Dragon's Daughters)
As Gabe went over to help Gon, a trap door opened up below the Dragon's Daughters, dropping them into a basement of some sort. As Sinistrina peered down, she could hear the squeaking of rats, which she regarded with disdain.
"Drat," she muttered under her breath, keeping a close eye on the rats hidden in the darkness. "I nearly forgot that basement even existed. It is true the manor has many secret passageways... like the elevator in the kitchen cabinet. I wonder if I should tell Gabe about the latter... nah, they'll probably figure it out for themselves."
Just in case, she lifted up her free hand and conjured a floating purple flame, which hovered down into the basement, providing a little bit of light. To her surprise, there were rats down there, and their brains were exposed and they smelled dead. But the girls down there looked like they were preparing for battle or something, so she didn't want to interfere just yet.
<<Gon and the Fake Father>>
While Gon was curled up on the floor in tears, he heard a voice near him. A very calm and hauntingly familiar voice. The voice of... his father. "You... you've returned to us?" he was asking.
Slowly, Gon opened his eyes, and there was no denying the sight of the familiar middle-aged Japanese man right in front of him, in the kitchen of his parents' house. His mother was washing dishes nearby. "I won't ask what this place made you face," his father continued. "But if you're with us, it's over."
Looking up, Gon sniffled, wiped off a tear, and smiled. Then he got up, though he still felt kind of dizzy and light-headed. He took a few steps toward his father and gave him a hug, oblivious to the fact that he was actually hugging Gabe in Misery Manor.
"Wow, I guess I must've... been pretty scared there," Gon was saying to him, sounding a bit more relieved. "I think I'm fine though. Oh. Yeah." He looked up at his dad's face. "Where's Mariko?"
His father did not reply.
"...Dad?" Gon asked, confused for a bit. "Hello?"
<<Yamiko and the Not-So-Great Grandmother>>
Alice giggled. "No, silly. That's my mother. Tomoe Nishida. After she and Kenji move to America, they're gonna get married and have me!"
Yamiko gazed once again at the woman reading the letter in front of the house. When she was done, she got up and smiled, then entered the house. And the scene faded away, leaving behind the same dark upstairs hall that they were in earlier. Yamiko was once again following Alice, passing by a framed diploma on the wall, honoring Kenji Murakage's doctorate degree at the University of California at San Francisco in fungal microbiology. They also passed by a picture of a slightly younger Alice in the arms of her mother.
"So..." Yamiko began as she glanced at these two objects, "...Alice, of what relation are you to a Mai Murakage?"
Alice stopped, and she turned around and smiled. There was an oddly creepy look in her deep blue eyes. "In about twenty years, I will be her mother." Her smile abruptly faded, and she redirected her gaze to the floor. "I never really liked that kid, to be honest. It showed too. She ran off on me to be with some stage magician."
Yamiko's eyes widened in surprise. That's my father! So Mai's my mother, and Alice is her mother, which would make her my grandmother. So then... wait... that doesn't make sense. That would make Tomoe my great-grandmother. Unless Celia is a different great-grandmother, like on my mom's dad's side or something.
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Wasteland city-outside academy
When Half saw Miyuki through the gates he simply stopped and looked back, watching Celso and Xeqa go to her. What interested him most about the scene was how indistinct Miyuki's shadow companion had become.
Aunrei had stayed back as well, and seemed more interested in the water. "If you aren't displeased with the interruption, do you know where we are," Half asked, "just in general?"
was writing this when Lady Tanuki posted. Will edit soon.
EDIT: just moments later he saw Peggy appear and Ashleigh run toward him to ask him about Misery Manor. A...feeling of some kind of relief flashed within him for a moment causing Half to almost forget to answer, "...I ran into a desert and lost the trail. Then I got into a conversation with Celso-" he gestured toward him, "while he was following the small human and ended up here."
Phoebe's words to Celso made a memory came to him: Celso, Miyuki and her shadow, Phoebe and Ashley, an orange tree. Half's larval form was there with them. Half wanted to ask her about Caleb, but if she found out how his predecessors birthed him and how he would birth his successor...wait, why would it matter if she cared? The peoples might see his actions poorly at the time, but ultimately they were for their benefit; of course they were.
Caleb's mind was having too much influence on him, Half could see that now. What was he doing small talking with those he was supposed to remake; it was true that his most recent predecessors could only do that with skylings, but still. The right thing to do was leave and try to correct the problem, yet he stayed anyway.
edited 9th Apr '16 10:36:58 PM by Novis
You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.
Drummer Boy
[Farm (inside barn)]
What the hell do you know about our family?
They were on the verge of filling the barn with a raging blizzard, but they remembered their teacup and took a few sips. Much better. "I can't say for sure, but I think Seilaan would feel very insulted if you confronted her about this directly. Enough of this vagueness. What is your quarrel with the Ren family? Did her parents give out orders that you disagreed with?"
As Ren Yangchao filled their teacup, something occurred to them. "Now, I'm assuming you're speaking purely of political issues, since you saw fit to bring up Renesian people as a whole. If you've had any encounters with Taiyin Ren, their parents finally uncovered their erratic, impulsive behavior and they have not been allowed to leave the palace unsupervised for quite some time. In fact, as someone convicted of treason, they can hardly be considered part of the family at all anymore, in a political sense, and are not allowed to participate in Renesian politics. Most importantly, I personally apologize for any inconvenience they caused you. As for anything unrelated to politics, I will not broach that subject without Seilaan's consent, which I highly doubt she will give. But of course, as you mentioned, this is a political family. I will take the liberty of deciding where to draw the line."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Farm - Exterior (Mazra, Min, Varris, Caleb, Seilaan)]
Mazra shrugged at Min. "Don't feel bad," she said. "I'm not exactly an expert in it myself. I just know what I do from my tutors." The same went for politics, which is why it was a little unfortunate that they were having this argument. She didn't actually like this kind of debate; she'd just wanted to do her bit for the Empire.
She turned back to Seilaan. "I do get what you're saying. But it's kind of what I'm saying too. People have to, like, buy into their system of government. That doesn't always mean it's fair, but the lower classes aren't stupid. If the nobility is robbing them blind, they're going to make their feelings known."
She stepped to one side, without really thinking, and paused: the ground felt a little... squishier. Was that normal in the woods? And what did it mean that it had changed? If it meant anything. Lucid dreams were one thing, figuring them out was another.
Still, trying to figure it out beat trying to figure out what Seilaan was talking about now. Witch forms? She'd read a few old fantasy adventure stories, but those were really just about defeating evil vampires and such. Not detailed magic. Which... I guess maybe makes it more likely that this is kind of real.
She tried to pay attention to what Seilaan was telling Min. The younger girl's voice dropped, but Mazra had heard a few things that she put together with what Seilaan had been saying earlier about her appearance changing - which she had just thought was part of the dream.
"Um, where do you think we actually are? I thought this was just a dream, but now you're going on about soul forms and stuff..."
the cutest lizard
[Farm – Exterior (Min, Varris, Mazra, Caleb, Seilaan)]
Min tried her best to follow Seilaan's explanation about her sword, but as it mostly seemed to revolve around terms that only existed in Seilaan's universe, this proved to be rather difficult. Min thought she got the gist of it, though. Seilaan's “Witch form” – Min guessed that was what the armor was for – apparently made her immune to bullets, and that's how she got the sword, which was supposedly a 'manifestation' of her 'soul'. Which was apparently icy.
“So, the icy part is 'magic'?” asked Min, slightly transfixed by the smoke curling around inside of the ice. “That's a pretty outdated term where I come from. It's what people used to call the Current before they figured out how it really worked. But... I guess if your sword really attuned to your soul and it's not using technology or anything, magic must be something completely different in your world.”
Seilaan really did look like she was ready to fight someone, all decked out in armor like that. Min almost wished there was a reason for Seilaan to put that sword to use. And there was something about the way Seilaan's voice lowered – and the implication of what she wanted to say – that made Min's heart race.
You'd look better covered in blood, too, thought Min, but she stopped herself from saying it out loud; that was the type of thing that would really weird people out. She wasn't even sure why she had thought about it in the first place.
Min glanced down at the handle of her dagger, firmly secured in its sheath, and frowned. It seemed so inadequate compared to Seilaan's weapon, even if it was slightly more ornate. “You know... I actually have a few swords in my collection back at home. Some of which are attuned to the Current, sorta like how yours is magical. They're not linked to my soul or anything cool like that, but still, maybe you'd like to see them sometime?” Min was trying to avoid sounding too eager, but she couldn't fully hide the excitement from her voice, or the unbidden bouncing of her leg.
Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...
[Clinic/Henry]
Iveya looked at Henry curiously. "Perhaps," she said, "you haven't been listening in to the right shadowy voices." She leaned back in her chair, a bit further than was wise given the whiskey. "No, no," she said, waving her glass around, "this, this was not a nation negotiating. The Americans were, from what I gather... maybe government, but of the sort officially denied, maybe guild. Always talking in code. Letters within letters, as it were." She shrugged. "The name I heard was 'Isaac Rose'. Ring a bell?"
Then she turned to answer Friedrich's question while letting Henry search his memory. "Were I feeling a wiseass, I might quip an Uelane is always home. But in truth... you are not of my land. What else do I call you?" Then, with an apologetic chuckle, she answered her question. "Ah, I suppose 'Friedrich' would be a good start."
[Wasteland City]
Xeqa responded to Phoebe's rambling with a nasty Death Glare that suggested her idea of childrearing involved responding to over-eager children with backhanded slaps. Still, Phoebe was Celso's problem, not hers. She turned to Peggy and said, "trouble me? No, my pet knows exactly what I do to those idiotic enough to trouble me." She let the implicit threat hang in the air for a moment before finishing. "I command. It obeys. As it should." She then studied Peggy, trying to decide what she was. Some sort of insanely colorful, winged, mutant camel that somebody had apparently attempted to impale, though this didn't seem to slow the creature down any.
Celso was quite a bit friendlier, of course, and grimaced when he caught Xeqa's glare. She's almost as bad as my ex-wife. To Phoebe, he said, "we are very far from the garden; I believe it belongs to that woman," he nodded at the one Miyuki was with. "I haven't gotten a chance to ask her about anything here yet, however." He inhaled, taking the rest of her questions one at a time. "The wounded man is Aunrei, who we've just met. Hopefully he'll get a chance to clean off — he seems to be better than he looks, at least, though I do not envy him. The shadow following the girl, Miyuki, is a... guardian, I suppose you could say. And as for Emperor Xeqa..." he glanced over at her, then back to Phoebe. His voice low, he said, "I intend to stay away from that woman." His voice implied he felt Phoebe should do likewise.
edited 10th Apr '16 9:35:31 PM by KillerClowns
[wasteland city academy - Aunrei, Xeqa, Celso, Half, Miyuki, Phoebe, Ashleigh]
Wait... why was this guy asking him what this place was? What made him look like he knew a damned thing about this place?
Aunrei half-turned to Half, brow furrowed, but was cut off by the sudden arrival of some blonde lady asking about a place called Misery Manor. Why the hell would anyone go to a place like that?
He half-listened to the conversation, resting his elbow on his knee, and his chin in his... eugh! How could anyone forget that their hand was covered in filth? Was he really getting that used to these dreams? Glancing back up at the woman on the bench, he found that she had been joined by a girl even younger than the one Celso was pursuing, and her weird horse. Which... had a pole halfway through it. And wings. What the fuck?
This was going nowhere fast, and he couldn't fathom dealing with that man's blood all over his hand for much longer. His wounds could wait; they weren't closing up for some reason, getting them wet would just produce watery blood that would flow down him even faster, and most importantly, they weren't leaking filth.
Letting his blood-stiffened shirt flop onto the grass at his feet, he exhaled and held his left hand loosely over the water's surface, focusing without so much as blinking. Shaking ever so slightly, he raised his hand up, and a foot-wide sphere of water rose up from the fountain's surface, hovering below his hand. After safely moving it away from the fountain and the other two people with him, he gently released his hand and pulled it away, once again staring very hard at it in the hopes that the water-ball wouldn't just fall apart. Finally, he plunged his human blood-covered right hand into the water and started to rub it vigorously, the still-open wound on his upper right arm dripping blood down his elbow into the pristine grass.
...Why wasn't this coming off? Seriously, how long had he been rubbing? His left hand was pretty clean now, but it kept sticking to the red blood on his other hand, as though there was no water in the first place. He rubbed it hard with a finger, finding that the stains didn't so much as smear, then scratched at a spot that was particularly dark with red blood using his nail. Even attempting to pick the flesh out from under his nails... did nothing. He could feel the bits of congealed nastiness on his cleaning hand, but nothing collected on it, and his right hand was absolutely no different now aside from the fact that it was wet with water.
Still working on the farm, should have that up soonish
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Attitude is prohibited
[Wasteland City] (Academy)
The woman laughed. "My, but aren't you a strange bunch?" she said. "And a such a diversity of manners, as well..." she chuckled, and shook her head.
First, to Celso, she said, "Indeed I do know the young lady. She is my daughter, in a sense," she shrugged.
Then, to Half, "If what you're looking for is a name, then it's written in gold on the front of the building," she said, motioning to the front door of the academy, which still read Hakoda Imperial Academy. "This is Hakoda; the city, the country and the academy. Well, this is a version of Hakoda, at least."
Then, noticing Aunrei, she called out; "There's plenty of water in the fountain," she said. "But as cold as it is, I think you'll find that it can't provide the kind of relief you're looking for."
Finally, she turned back to Celso, a peculiar, knowing smile on her lips. "A little birdie," she said, motioning to some of the many colourful bird flying overhead. "Told me that you were looking for answers. Those are in rather short supply, at the moment, but I'd be willing to share some hypotheses, if you're still interested. And please, call me Hana. Or 'Commander Matoi,' if you're feeling formal."
Not entirely dead.
[Wasteland City Academy]
"A moment," Celso said to Phoebe. There didn't seem to be many people around who he would trust with children, but hopefully, that quaint carousel horse creature would prove a capable guardian. Aunrei had caught Celso's interest, and he headed over to him. "'Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?' The Commander is most certainly right; water won't wash that off." He studied Aunrei's right hand thoughtfully. Then he turned to Hana and said, "and yes, I have questions. Of Miyuki and her shadow... who is the dreamer, and who is the dream? If, of course, that is even the right question to ask..."
edited 10th Apr '16 9:46:34 PM by KillerClowns
[farm, inside barn - Vince, Ren Yangchao, two wyverns]
Vince stood again. Within the second he had spent on this action, the fine, matte black fabric of one of his best Western-style business suits seemed to flow down his body, replacing the rumpled work clothes he had been wearing so far. His simple blue work shirt turned to the pure white of a crisp linen dress shirt, covered by a waistcoat and necktie that matched his jacket and trousers. Every piece was exquisitely tailored, only highlighting his odd shape.
Even his work boots were replaced with polished, understated dress shoes- protected from dirt with clear plastic coverings that elasticized above his calf, of course. Under his jacket, he wore a solid black medallion no more than a few inches in size made of slate on a short, also black ribbon around his neck.
Laser-cut into the medallion's face was the robin's egg blue-colored glass outline of Northwind Aitherotech's symbol, a stylized conch shell.
Was it getting cold in here? He glanced at the barn heater- whose coils were still glowing -as he reached to roll his sleeves down.
...Oh! He had no sleeves that needed unrolling. He was still cold, of course.
Pleasantly surprised by more than one development, he set about closing the top button of his jacket, eyes wide and voice light with elation. "My God, they actually did it? They realized that their son is a liability on their own and did something about it. Not something I see often." He checked that his lapels were straight. "My son overheard the boy's father reminding Miss Ren, probably not that long before before her brother personally insulted me a few blocks away, that he was a member of the family and needed to be regarded as an adult. Between that, and Miss Ren initially trying to justify that her brother's situation wasn't that bad since she was used to having her privacy invaded, I genuinely didn't think it would be fixed."
He took a step forward. "However," he began, gesturing with his palm out, "I cannot fathom that a family with a problem that glaring would not have other problems impacting their ability to rule effectively. I already spoke of Miss Ren," he said, motioning to her armored form, "and her parents don't seem to think that her overzealous loyalty is a problem. The specifics of why they don't, why she's like that, why any of House Ren's problems are, or what they are carry nominal importance to me, and the argument at hand. Too many political families have collapsed in on themselves because they tried to mix family and politics and made a mess. Adding to that, the Rens are at war, which humans tend to do stupid things for, they're barely a generation out of colonialism, and they've still got some of that patriotic, gotta-prove-ourselves fervor going. It would be more than disgraceful to watch the family of this young woman I care about go the way of its colonizers and destroy itself within living memory of gaining freedom."
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Farm (inside barn)]
So that's what you really are. Just a condescending man trying to stroke his own ego by going on about his wise insights. Pathetic.
"Incredible," they said flatly. "As I suspected, you don't have all the information you need to pass judgment, and yet you insist on it anyway. Do you always treat the people you care about like this? Projecting your own beliefs and assumptions upon their feelings and experiences?"
Ren Yangchao stood up so they could make eye contact with Vince without looking up. "You have never even spoken to Yinha or Matthias in your life. If you truly do not intend to insult them, I suggest you refrain from speculating about their values, activities, and what knowledge they do or do not have at certain points in time. You know hardly more about Taiyin and Seilaan. You didn't even know that Taiyin had been dealt with until I told you. And with your tidbits of knowledge, you still think you can paint a picture of the family, a picture that you have enough confidence in to present to the being that resides in the mind of one of its members. Are your concerns totally unfounded? Not entirely, no. Does this family have problems? I'd be the last to deny it. But I didn't need to be told that from a man who barely knows them. The very least you could have done was try talking to Seilaan more.
"Moreover, even if you know what's at stake in the current war, you certainly sound like you don't. The fervor of cultural revival was winding down by the time Lord Pallone decided, ten years ago, that it is his nation's duty to wage one final war: the war that will bring world peace by replacing all cultures with his own. And since his culture is one that designates Renesians to a lower class of human beings, we aren't exactly eager to throw out our way of life and embrace his. Is it any wonder that we still feel that we have to passionately defend and celebrate our culture again, in a war about culture? It may not justify it, in your eyes, but perhaps you will at least begin to understand."
And with that, Ren Yangchao refilled their teacup and slowly drank it all in one go.
[Farm (exterior)]
Seilaan was absolutely livid. She's even worse than Senator Feng! "Congratulations. On missing the entire point. Of everything I just said. Tell me, do you like making me waste my time? I literally just spent at least a solid minute detailing exactly how the government could set up a situation where the people don't realize they're getting shafted, and you just—just—do you not realize how much of an insult you—"
Her grip on her sword tightened.
This won't end well for you, child.
"I take back what I said earlier," she said quietly. "I hope you do find out the hard way. Clearly, nothing short of that would make a lasting impression in your mind. Come on, Min, let's see if we can get this dream to show us your sword collection. Maybe we can have a friendly duel. I could definitely blow off some steam, and we have plenty of room here."
She turned and began walking to another part of the field.
[Ritter Clinic]
"What I meant was—ah, fuck it. Semantics bullshit isn't the hill I'm going to die on." Friedrich got up. "I'll be back. Better feed the goat before I forget. Come along, Violet."
He and the goat entered the kitchen and he closed the door just as the front door slammed shut and footsteps started pounding in the hallway.
"What a miracle I didn't lose my keys in the river! Oi, Friedrich! You won't believe what just—"
A soaking wet man appeared in the parlor doorway. He was simply dressed in a brown overcoat, trousers, and boots. His light brown hair was almost the exact same shade as Friedrich's, but as he was about ten years younger, there was far less gray. The hazel eyes were almost identical as well, but with a friendly twinkle that matched his bright smile. This man, although about the same height, was also broader in build.
"Good lord! Guests!" He laughed, as if this were the most absurd possible situation he could have stumbled across. "Terribly sorry to barge in like this. Please don't be alarmed, I'm not a burglar, I promise. It's not so odd for me to have the keys to my brother's house, is it? Don't mind me, I'm just going to dry my clothes and warm myself up by the fire." He scurried to the fireplace and tried to lay his coat out in front of it. Underneath, he was wearing a white button-up shirt, tie, and waistcoat.
It was possible for Friedrich's guests to notice that this man was the older version of one featured in a few photographs on the mantelpiece, the most prominent of which was a large wedding photograph that seemed to contain an entire village.
edited 11th Apr '16 10:05:35 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Wasteland City - Academy (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Celso, Hana, Miyuki, Half, Xeqa, Aunrei)
Celso's advice to stay away from Xeqa seemed pretty sound, especially considering the intimidating glare the warrior empress just gave her. At this, she shrunk away behind Peggy's hind legs, now closer to Hana and Miyuki. She decided to look at the former, for the latter had that shadowy thing behind her. The military woman explained that this place was called Hakoda and that her name was Hana Matoi. This name rang a bell for Phoebe...
"Hana - that's Japanese for flower, isn't it? One of our, uh, one of our team is from Japan, and he told me. You don't look very flowery, though."
"The place sure does, though," Peggy remarked, glancing around at all the pretty flowers and birds. "I really wish you could see this garden through my eyes. A Pegasel like myself can see colours more vividly than a human can. And to me, this garden looks absolutely stunning."
"And you said Miyuki was your daughter? Howdy you two - my name is Phoebe. Nice to meet you!" Phoebe took off her hat and took a bow. "Also, what's that shadowy thing behind her? Is it an enemy?"
Ashleigh, meanwhile, decided to follow Celso to where Aunrei was trying to clean the red blood off his hand. Despite his best efforts, including some impressive aquakinesisnote , the wound kept on bleeding. Water didn't seem to help at all.
"Those are some rather nasty wounds you got there," Ashleigh mentioned as she stood next to Aunrei. "I'm not sure if you have any healing powers, but perhaps I could help as well. I wonder if the power of Earth would work on it... If you'll allow me to try, one of my Mystripets has not only healing abilities, but bears the power of the very Goddess of Earth. Meade, come out!"
Ashleigh pressed a button on her Scanner, and a creature emerged from it onto the ground. This creature, about half as tall as Ashleigh, looked like a miniature tree, with roots spreading out like a skirt around her. She walked on little stubby legs covered in soil, and atop her knobby trunk was a round head with a single leaf sticking out of a branch at the top. She had little roots on the sides of her trunk for hands.
"Geisha, you can help too!" A second Mystripet came out - the large yet peaceful remora-like fish
◊ she had ridden on to get to the park appeared right next to the tree creature, gazing curiously at the blood on Aunrei's right hand.
"Geisha, why don't you try washing off the blood on this man's hand," Ashleigh advised. "Meade, why don't you tend to his other wounds. First try a Healing Nectar."
The little tree creature named Meade nodded her round wooden head and turned to Aunrei, not knowing quite where to start given all the wounds he had. But his back seemed like a good place to start. She reached her rooted arms up to a particularly large gash on Aunrei's back, stretching them up to touch the bloody wound. A sap-like substance flowed into the wound as the leaf on her head glowed.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get these wounds?" She was hoping his reply would give her a clue as to why it wouldn't heal. "And my name's Ashleigh by the way. Ashleigh Sable. I come here from the virtual world of Mystrica."
"This stuff isn't coming off that well..." Geisha was presently rubbing her fins all over Aunrei's right hand, wetting it in the process. "I even tried my Healing Water technique. Why is this blood red when the rest of his is blue anyway? One thing I may guess, the source of the red blood clearly has some sort of magical origin."
"How odd," Ashleigh agreed, then turned back to Aunrei. "Where did that red blood come from?"
edited 16th Apr '16 6:08:48 PM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
the cutest lizard
[Farm – Exterior (Min, Varris, Mazra, Caleb, Seilaan)]
Min smiled and followed after Seilaan, evenly matching her pace. As they walked away, Varris glanced back over Min's shoulder, looking at Mazra with uncertainty. “You know,” he said, “I kinda feel bad for Mazra. I don't think she was trying to offend anyone...”
Min just shrugged, having decided to stay quiet on the matter. Political stuff was confusing, and it was best to just ignore it entirely. She wasn't going to defend Mazra on her behalf, at least. If Mazra couldn't hold up her side of the argument, that was her own fault.
Sword fighting, though, was something she could get behind. “Yeah, I'd love to duel you. I've barely touched any of my swords recently, 'cause I haven't talked to either of my sparring buddies in months, and they're sorta impractical for being sneaky. So I might be a little rusty, but hopefully that won't impact my skills too much.”
She stopped in the middle of the field, some distance away from the barn, where the ground conveniently leveled out in an arena-like shape. Dewdrops clung to the grass below them, glinting in the morning sun.
“I think this spot looks good,” said Min, turning toward Seilaan. Varris carefully climbed down from her shoulder, landing on the ground with a soft thud. “How do you want to do this, exactly? As far as rules and stuff go? Do we just go until one of us gets tired out, or…?”
Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...
Mr ship
[Clinic/Henry]
Just as Henry was about to explain to Iveya that the CIA were the people to listen to for that kind of stuff Ritter left and shortly after that another man came inside claiming to be his brother. This was strange, Ritter never mentioned living with his brother and his step brother committed suicide. Looking at the photos it was clear that the man did exist in Friedrich's life but Henry didn't know if that was the stepbrother or not in the photos. Either way Henry decided to be on his guard incase this was some trick. Between this and the bomb he was starting to get bad feelings about this place.
"Eh hello there. Friedrich didn't say his brother was coming over." He started attempting to get up to shake his hand but the pain was still a little much. "I'm Henry A. Safon the Second. I'd get up and shake your hand but I'm still getting over some injuries your brother is treating."
[Forest/Lauren]
Demo had a great point Lauren thought, what if Henry did die in the explotion, and what if she was stuck here forever? No, she thought, Henry was like a zombie cockroach, there was no way he died there. After all she wasn't that far from him when the accident happened.
"I don't know." She said to Demo. "I don't think he died there because I was no less than 25 feet from him when the explosion happened and I'm not that badly hurt. That and the fact that both of our suits are lined with kevlar."
She looked around a bit more but realized that Moreena was right and that they might as well pick a random direction. Looking around she started hearring another song from her childhood and remembered those times in the city, and how Henry listens to that kind of music all the time.
"I think I have an idea." She announced to the others. "I hear music, the kind Henry annoys me with all the time. Perhaps if we follow it we'll find it." With a semblance of a plan she started to walk in the direction of the music.
[Ritter Clinic]
Iveya nodded at the newcomer, failing to recognize exactly what was happening. "Ah," she said, bringing her hand, still curled around her glass, to her chest in a brief salute, "good day. Your brother had kindly opened up the whiskey for his guests." She was about to offer him a glass, but alcohol was not enough to fully drown Uelane manners; if Friedrich wouldn't approve, she had no place to grant permission. No reason she could imagine not to, of course, but still.
Iveya's magic began to probe the newcomer, seeking to determine if he was a dreamer or a dream.
If it serves your purpose, you're free to simply say Iveya's magic fails to figure out whether or not he's "real", or even just give it a narratively useful lie one way or the other..
[farm, inside barn - Vince, Ren Yangchao, some wyverns]
What a piss-poor variety of immortal, one who actively chooses to remain with the same people for a whole millennium. Granted, the only other immortals he knew of were Rivari, who couldn't even understand the notion of having a family, but Ren Yangchao never... got bored with these people? A millennium was, what, forty or fifty generations? Even Tsadro saw personalities repeat themselves after only ten generations. Was the family guilt-tripping them into sticking around, like what House Oriyn did? They were... no better than a plain human. He thought an immortal would have the perspective at least slightly understand that House Ren isn't special, but... well what else would you get if you really only want to hang around your descendants? And directly in their heads, no less, where all you get is an extra layer of mortal bias?
Vince's eyes went dull. This was just sad now. Not in the slang sense, either. Not even just Ren Yangchao's personal situation, but everything about this. And it was in her... their interest to keep this going. If they weren't willing to take anybody but their family as a host... good God.
He kept his voice low. "I actually spoke with her about her brother, described his behavior as a diplomatic liability. She did agree with me, but not before going nearly catatonic. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy upsetting young women."
His coffee cup still hovered behind him. "I don't know why you keep bringing up those problems like they're the only thing at play here. When it comes to mortal humans, it doesn't matter where their institutional problems came from or how justified they are, just how well they keep them in check.
"If it were up to me, I'd pay no attention to the politics of Miss Ren's family or homeland, but it's difficult not to because most of what she talks about ends up being about politics and how her family does it right. And that choice alone is honestly worrying. Nobody should be buying into large-scale mortal-created institutions of any perceived quality anywhere near the extent that she has, and especially not members of those institutions. Of course," he said with a halfhearted shrug, "all of those humans think their government of choice, or whatever is the exception, and I suppose it's... justifiable that Miss Ren would feel that way as well..." He pulled the corner of his mouth back for a second in a cringe.
Suddenly, the wyverns looked up at the sound of another of theirs swooping into the roost, to check on a nest full of baby chicken-sized hatchlings. They joined this third in the roost, then peered out through the entrance to the pasture below. Animals were reappearing by the minute through this conversation, both small stock and cows watching the visitors with curiosity. The farm was coming back to life, as the farmer slowly revealed the actual reason for this farm's existence.
edited 15th Apr '16 4:12:01 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Outside barn
Caleb watched Min, Varris, and Seilaan leave with a confused look. When they were some distance he turned to Mazra and said, "for what it's worth, unless there's some link between her world and yours it seemed to me she was extrapolating what you said without knowing the whole situation. I should have said that sooner; I'm sorry."
City academy
"That's not quite what I meant," Half told Hana, "I was thinking about this whole region." Then he turned to Celso, "and I don't understand, what do you mean by...." Half recalled more of Caleb's time at the garden, "wait, you told my larval form that this was part of some kind of dream." Addressing Hana once more, "was that one of your hypothesis'?"
edited 19th Apr '16 8:36:26 PM by Novis
You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.
To dream is my right
Forest —> Farm(Exterior):
Anoerith
On the forest, there was a stone, ancient and solid.
But even being old, and bearing the scars of erosion, no being saw it there before, and there was no dust resting upon it, no sign that it had ever being more than a dream inside a dream before awakening. And despite its sturdiness, beings lesser than time itself seemed to have left their mark on it. It was not from that place, its color was darker and its aspect crystalline. And it was cut in the shape of a large horizontal slab. On it lied the form of a person, almost indistinct from the slab in the shade. The mist did not touch the lifeless form, hovering above it like it in what could be a sign of respect, if the water of dreams was capable of it.
But the being showed no sign of movement, no animation, no life. So the mist approached, its tendrils slowly coming closer, slithering over concealing dark clothes to find a way in. They moved closer to the being's head, and touched its face, made of static bronze instead of skin. A mask made to look like a face? Fully surrounding the being, the mist reached for where the eyes should be. Yes, there were eyes beneath the mask, which opened as the fog pulled their owner more completely into the dream.
Away. Must get away. Must..., the person thought, as her brown eyes snapped open, staring into the treetops and retreating mist. Where... what was that place? Were those... trees? But they weren't like the ones in The City, or The Isle. And the air... it reminded of home somehow. But that place wasn't home. That place had trees and the sound of birds, while Anoerith's home only had walls, iron bars, tools and spare parts.
After a moment of concentration, her body began to shake as things moved and rearranged beneath the black cloth that covered her, several loud cracks echoing through the forest as runes, gears and strings, muscles, tendons and bones entered their positions and she gained the strength to move from above the strange stone. She hated that noise. It was a reminder, that she was a copy, an imperfect mechanism made from cheap scrap material and leftovers. She generally didn't mind, she would rebuild herself better one day. But her inefficient functioning did not help exploring the world.
She walked around the stone, trying to see anybody who could have heard her awakening, and took care to look where she was stepping as she moved between the trees. She wasn't in The City, or anywhere near it, so it was unlikely that the Archivists were nearby, so maybe her lack of ability to not be seen wouldn't be too big a problem, but she was advised to take care out there, and she planned to obey. Plus, maybe she could avoid stepping on too many ants along the way.
She wasn't really prepared for sneaking. Her body was clumsy, and her boots were best for stomping around leaves than to carefully walk between them. If the woods where denser, she would leave the grey robes she wore over her imeric black spidersilk, for they got caught in brushes twice as she walked. She wasn't really sure where she was going, but she felt the need to move away from her point of awakening.
Anoerith was advancing too slowly, but what could she do? If she fell and broke something, she could probably fix it easily, but in the end the delay would be just as big, if not bigger. So instead she took her time, and decided to try to take care of her appearance as well as the circunstancies allowed. People were easily scared, no need to show them more than needed without meaning to. Her gloved hands checked the belt holding her robe closed, and were pleased to find it well tied. The buttons that linked her boots to the cloth that covered her under said robe were in place, and her hood covered her head, exposing only some hair and her face, through which she felt the light caress of the wind. She remembered how surprised Levi was to know she could feel through the metal, and how confused she was at the idea she shouldn't be able to.
Walking forward, she found the trees growing sparser, and grass starting to cover the ground. Green grass, not the blue one of the City or the grey one of Cirri's stories. Strange. Walking further, she saw a building and heard sounds. Voices. Would she go closer? It could end terribly. Yet... she had to try.
Moving closer, she saw strange forms moving through the mist. Animals, of the likes she never saw in The City, many of which she could spend days watching in the hope of one day building automata based on them. But she wasn't there to watch animals. She was there see people!
Speeding her pace, she approached the old building, and saw two people there. One looked somewhat like a human man, but he had what looked like... glowing veins? And the other looked like a human woman, with short hair. While none of them looked armed, she knew they could have weapons beneath their skins, and so she prepared to reveal her own weapon, should she be attacked. Still distant, she tried to sound harmless as she said:
"Hello? This place... it is not anywhere close to Tevirre, is it?"
edited 15th Apr '16 6:20:55 PM by EternaMemoria
"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."
Attitude is prohibited
[Wasteland City] (Academy)
"In fact it is not the right question to ask," Hana replied to Celso. "As, in my opinion, they are both the dream. For one to be the dreamer, that would imply a certain level of lucidity or control, would it not? And I suspect that neither has much of those," she chuckled. "Although, you've witnessed the differences yourself, haven't you? One of them cannot seem to acknowledge the other, for instance, and only one of them can speak at a time," she shrugged and leaned over to gently kiss the top of Miyuki's head. "But of course, these are merely hypotheses..."
Then she glanced over at Phoebe. "You're quite a strange character yourself," she said. "I think it might be advisable that you don't jump to conclusions about unusual persons. This is an unusual place, after all," she looked over at the shadowy figure behind Miyuki, then back over at Phoebe. "But no, that's not an enemy. There are no enemies here," she said, an thin smirk curling her lips. "This is a safe place."
And finally, to Half, "I have no idea what lies beyond the desert, be it a dream or otherwise. But this place," she said, motioning around at the academy ground. "This, the city, and the desert beyond it, this might well be an imagine location, yes. But again, that's merely a hypothesis."
Not entirely dead.
Aspie and 90's cartoon enthusiast
[Ruins]
"I can assure you Rey Nar Do, that I have faced many threats." Salaam addressed Rey (to call one by their full name is a sign of respect, respect that he felt the human did not deserve) briefly glancing down to his own pistol, which he kept in a relaxed position, not quite facing the human, but still facing his general area. "And I must inform you that you and the other human's scare tactics will not work on me, I have met your kind before. Occultists, placing your faith in superstitious nonsense." He looked over at Cira. "You, you should know that it is not a wise move to mock my prizes."
Ya, I'm weird like that...
Drummer Boy
[Farm (exterior)]
"That sounds good. When one of us gets tired we'll just take a break and keep going later if we want. Since you don't have armor, I'll make sure not to use too much force."
Seilaan sheathed her sword so she could put on her helmet. Her hair, seemingly of its own accord, arranged itself in a neat pile on the back of her head so it could fit inside.
"You don't think... I was too mean back there, was I?" She bit her lip. "I mean, I definitely acted more rashly than I would normally. I did feel very strongly about it, but usually, I'd hold back. But this time it just... came out. Something inside me wanted to—"
She abruptly stopped. It was happening again! She was letting too much of her true feelings show through. Whatever was going on, it was bullshit. "Never mind. I've been a little high-strung lately, which hasn't been doing any favors for my mood, so that might explain it just fine."
[Ritter Clinic]
A superficial probe would determine that the man was a living soul in his own right, but further investigation would reveal that the energy in this man's "soul" was uncannily similar to Friedrich's.
"A pleasure to meet you!" Figuring that Henry's injuries were making it difficult to move, Heinrich moved closer to grab his hand and shake. "Well, we don't really feel the need to announce our visits to each other, really. We drop by at each others' places all the time. It's like we both have two houses!" He laughed. "Oh, I forget to introduce myself, didn't I? Heinrich Ritter, the good doctor's stepbrother. But 'brother' is shorter and it's not that big of a difference, is it? I also happen to run the town's general store. Normally it'd be across the lane from this place, but it's gone. Along with the lane. And the rest of the town for that matter. But let's not worry ourselves over it now! There's too much snow falling outside to even think about leaving this place and taking a look around. Wait." He blinked at Henry and suddenly started laughing again, but stopped himself quickly. "Sorry, sorry. It's just... we have almost the same name. I thought—it is funny, just a little, yes? No? Ah well."
Heinrich was still chuckling quietly to himself as he turned to Iveya and made a slight bow to her. "And a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, madam. The way you're dressed... you're not from the Shijounese Alliance, are you? I don't know how you ended up all the way here, but you're lucky you found my brother! The Republic can't touch you as long as Friedrich's on your side. You can count on that."
The kitchen door opened. "Oi, thought I heard another—"
Heinrich's jaw dropped. "Friedrich? Is that you? You're—you're old! But I just saw you a few hours ago!"
He took a very deep breath. "No. You're not real. This is bullshit. You died seventeen years ago. This is bull fucking shit."
"Seventeen years! I've been gone that long? Good lord!" Heinrich watched bemusedly as Friedrich entered the room and put two fingers on Heinrich's neck.
"There's—there's a pulse. You're warm. And no weird magic. How the—never fucking mind. We'll figure it out later. I got my brother back!" Friedrich clapped Heinrich on the shoulder, joining him in laughter. Another glass floated out of the kitchen and into Heinrich's hand. Friedrich filled it and his own, and the two men clinked glasses and Friedrich drank.
edited 16th Apr '16 8:00:21 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
To dream is my right
Ruins:
Cira:
"Superstitious nonsense?!", he said, thunderstruck by the heights of the alien's presumptiom. "You... you haven't even asked the metaphysical mechanics behind my plan and already assumed I deal in foolish folk fables?"
Pointing towards the string of teeth, he added "How many humans have spoken to you? How many have you ever seen, that you were not hunting? Are you so ignorant as to think these teeth", he said, opening his lips as to show his eight canines," are human teeth?".
For a moment, Cira considered touching those teeth on Salaam's string with his power. He could feel in them the presence of their former owners. Or at least... fragments of them. Strings he could tug and weave with bitterness and hatred, to create a phantasmagorical maw for those teeth, so they could bite the alien. It would be too weak to kill, but would buy enough time for him, or the hidden enemies, to strike.
"If it's your wish to keep your ash-branded toy, them turn back and walk away. If you are lucky, maybe the enemy has no interest in your kind. If you belive in safety in numbers, however, you must abandon it, and anything else you took from those slain by your hand or tongue. Curses, much like fungi, spread uncontrolled in the shadow, given something to hold on to."
To Reynardo, he said: "The stick will have to do then. Although...", he paused as he spoke, as if unsure of what to say. After a moment he pulled his sleeves with a grimace, revealing many small open cuts along the skin of his arms. They were only superficial, and didn't seen to bleed, but also looked as fresh as if they had been made during the conversation. "... although it would be better if someone who didn't hurt his arms recently carried it. Do you volunteer? Terim can't, since he is a solid illusion, and illusions tend to... twist if they get too close."
"About that..."
Terim:
"About that... I think it would be better if I also walked away. You seen to have it all worked out.". By the Evil Saint's name, it had to work this time. Being dead for about six years had made Terim rusty at getting people to do what he wanted, but now that the group was splitting up, he had a chance!
"Is... is this some sort of joke? If I die, you die.", Cira said, raising an eyebrow. His face was otherwise unchanged, but his hand did fall to his side. Oh, Cira, still so easy to read.
"You already have it all planned, don't you? What could go wrong? After all, you are only trying to stop dangerous dead people by summoning even worse things. You won't even have to kill anyone, so I don't see why you would need my help. Unless, of course, you need to fight them all at once, and run away.", Terim answered, slowly and subtly loosening his hold on the boy's mind. Even being corporeal in that dream, his greatest power was not his ability to pull the trigger. It was the power to help Cira pull the trigger himself. A gift he was taking away.
"You are mocking me."
"What did I ever say wrong? You are a big boy. You are going to take a big bet, and I am sort of proud. And if things go South, you will have to deal with the consequences on your own. You can shoot those vampires, can't you? People always say the first kill is the hardest, yet everytime ypu had to pull the trigger after you killed me, I had to order you to. So, now it is your chance to show you don't need no master. I will be watching from afar, invisible to all, including our foes."
And so his form began to unravel into mist, and as all signs of his physical presence became wind and dust, he whispered in Rey's ear "If the idea of summoning terrible forces beyond your control is unappealing, my plan is still an option.", and after that he moved deeper into the ruins.
edited 16th Apr '16 8:38:46 AM by EternaMemoria
"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."
Ruins
Other human? Occultists? Reynardo laughed - so much that it rang out and reverberated among the buildings. “You poor child, do we really seem so human to you? Or do you assume that everything that is not of your kind is human? For these are not human teeth either.” Again he opened his mouth and extended his canines, having only the standard four however, before retracting them and giving Salaam a smirk. “What I have been trying to tell you is that you cannot kill me, because I am already dead.”
He shook his head and turned away. Apparently only an attack by dead undead psychic vampires would illustrate the direness of matters to this fool. And while he was not keen on being responsible for any deaths in this dreamscape, the creature was being annoying. He could tell and show Salaam how to save his own skin, but could not and would not force him to believe the things he needed to believe in order to survive.
But when Cira asked Rey to carry the torch, Rey physically and subconsciously took a few steps back. Carrying fire would be like handing the vampires a tool with which to kill him; just a strong gust of wind and he would be ashes. Then, most likely, he would come back as the very thing he was trying to destroy. “I cannot carry the torch. I am sorry.” That was all the explanation he gave.
Terim began to disappear, and he and Cira argued, to no avail; Rey took note of the whispered words as Terim faded. He did not like Terim’s plan, and trusted him the least of the group - Salaam at least was open about being vicious, and Cira had been a victim of Terim’s abuse before Rey’s eyes - but at least there was a backup plan. Now, however, that left Rey with only Cira and possibly Salaam. Rey did not trust the other creature to carry the torch either, whether Salaam was aware of his vulnerability or not, so what to do…?
“I can carry the torch.”
The voice was feminine, soft, delicate, musical. it came from behind them; when they turned they would all see a young woman with skin tanned like Rey’s and dark flowing hair, in a tattered but clean cotton dress, somewhat yellow with time. Her hands covered her face, as though she were hiding behind them. When she lowered her hands, revealing a soft and beautiful face, Rey took another involuntary step back. To see her so clearly….
Too soon! It was too soon. What were the vampires planning? Why would they start by using their best weapon against him first?
“Please. You are hurt,” the girl said to Cira, then turned to smile at Reynardo, and then at Salaam. She, of course, was human, or at least had been, alive.
“Ay wey….”
Recovering, Reynardo stepped toward her. Had the vampires sent her, or had he perhaps conjured her up? Had his mind, his dreamscape, provided him with a solution?
But of everyone, why her?
“Suri….”
[Wasteland City] (Academy)
Xeqa took a look around. "Wonder why the rest of this city's so empty," she muttered. But here? She knew the feel of this particular place well. An oasis. Her first thought was to disdain the garden around it as decadent, the work of soft city dwellers, but Xeqa had not survived this long jumping to such conclusions. She'd seen the outer city. She had reason to believe this garden was the lovingly-carved pommel of a deadly blade. And yet there was a question... she walked confidently over to the woman and gave a terse nod.
Celso, unlike Xeqa, knew this realm was a dream. So he was less surprised by the emptiness of the city. But he also made note of the fact that Xeqa seemed to think she was awake. That, he noted, was his first advantage over the dark Emperor. He headed over to Miyuki and the military woman, approaching slowly and respectfully, and said, "you know this young woman, I take it?" He offered a slight bow and his usual introduction. "Celso Merquior. I was just making sure the young lady was safe; she got trapped outside your gate for a time."
[Misery Manor]
"I did warn them," Gabriel said, his voice filled with resignation. Again, they would have to face their issues themselves. He headed over to the kitchen instead, overhearing Gon. He approached softly. "You... you've returned to us?" He wasn't quite sure how to handle this; he'd done well, but had centuries of training, discipline and experience to thank for that. Most people, he realized, would look like Gon. But felt he should try to offer some comfort. "I won't ask what this place made you face. But if you're with us, it's over." In the back of his mind, he was wondering if perhaps he should let his friends upstairs level the place. For every fortunate soul like himself who emerged wiser, how many innocents like Gon left with their sanity or very souls shattered? Then again, such willingness to purge darkness without thought for consequences had led to the fall of the Sages. He dared not follow that path.
Enough introspection, Gabe told himself. This man needs my help.
edited 8th Apr '16 10:23:17 PM by KillerClowns