While there wasn't any further direct communication after her nap, Tasha did think she was being watched by something other than Mollymauk, since he stopped talking to her but the feeling was still there, usually in time to odd flashes of light from the water. Hakeber and Katie also reported sensations of not being alone, but couldn't be certain if it meant they were being watched or if it was just from being alone and trying to focus on something.
Thoth was not surprised by this, and noted that the act of focusing was more important, and to not be looking for any signs of unseen spectators. "Fae creatures are canny, and if they think you are deliberately looking for them, they may try to trick you," he warned.
But Tasha's contact did impart that she was due for another midnight swim. Molly met her on the other side of the water again, and took her to the Temple of Danu through yet another path that was different from those of her first visit. This time there weren't any other faeries to be seen.
Wearing the same thing she had been earlier, including the recommended sunglasses, Tasha once again walks in and looks around. She wonders where this place is, what world, what time, then remembers it's in a separate reality altogether, the Halflands. Still, she wonders at it and its history, tied to the fae as the goddess is, and how its strange occupant ended up here.
But questions can wait; she's here for an important appointment. "I've returned, Kainudy."
"Come this way," a voice calls out.
"She's in the office," Molly notes, and guides Tasha towards the voice. "Never a good sign."
"It's the same with me, often as not." Tasha follows along, taking the opportunity to look at the setting, which she thinks is nice. Her long forays in to the emptiness of space have given her a new appreciation for that which grows and the stability of stonework.
The office turns out to be a domed chamber with walls literally plated in gold, along with silver, iron and some other elements that certainly looked like metals but which Tasha isn't able to easily identify. There are standing bookcases overflowing with tomes and scrolls, such that there are also piles of them throughout the space. There's even a desk of sorts, that may have been a stone altar at some point. It has a stapler on it, and something that looks like an ivory candle with a golden orb atop it, which is currently dimming from a brighter glow. There is a parchment on the desktop, an inkwell and quill, and some other items. The dragoness is sitting on her haunches and scrawling something when Tasha and Molly arrive.
Gesturing to the dimming orb, Mollymauk asks, "Done with your daily torture session then?"
Tasha daintily avoids stepping on parchments as she enters, something that her longer, cloven legs have made possible. Previously, she'd have been a lot less elegant about it. As she looks around again, she notes the gold and silver, a fortune where she grew up, but with the wonders of Galactic technology, as common as any other material. her sense of rarity has shifted, she sees, to the magical, the mythical, and the truly rare. "Torture session?"
"That'll do, Molly," Kainudy says dismissively. "I've arranged for someone else to escort Tasha to the ritual." She looks up from her writing at Tasha. "Molly likes to think that keeping up with my correspondence is a form of self torture," she explains.
"I think I understand what he means," Tasha admits, tilting her head. She certainly goes about enough self-directed and painful tasks the others may -- and have -- questioned her sanity. "Who is my new guide?"
"Probably someone boring," Mollymauk claims as he leaves. "Interesting people are too dangerous to be here!" he laughs before vanishing.
"Someone I trust with your safety, since I can't go with you for this," the dragon says, and gestures for Tasha to come closer.
"I know the types." Tasha walks forward, reaching up to waggle her glasses to show she brought them without putting them over her eyes. She left her paints and Cards back on the ship for safety and to dry in peace, not wanting to risk her hard work. "And thank you for thinking of my safety."
"It wouldn't do for you to get killed on your way to getting your protection," Kainudy claims. The parchment on her desk is covered in odd symbols, with a blank space in the center. "Please place your blue marker in the center of the page."
"It's be very bland, dying so soon." Tasha reaches in to her pocket and draws out the Marker, which was never really in her pocket. She places it where indicated and leans over to get a better look. "Some sort of magical contract?"
"Basically," the dragon says, and moves the mark over one of the symbols, which flashes briefly within the stone before being replaced by the three-part yin-yang symbol that it normally has. She does this for several other symbols. "It's a bit like setting a combination lock, but also instructions." When she moves it back to the center of the page, a new symbol flashes, looking like a five-pointed star made of curved lines, with a flame of sorts at the center inside of an ellipse. This fades back to the normal symbol after a moment as well. "Alright, you can take it back now. Then put the yellow one on the page."
Take takes the Marker and puts it 'away,' then reaches in to the opposite pocket and pulls out the Yellow Marker. She examines it for a long moment, pensive, then places it center of the page and leans back. This sort of contract-based, heavily worded magic seems like something that would interest Hakeber, so she keeps mental notes. "Seals, and that center symbol I don't recognize. The Yellow Marker is another seal?"
"It's the Yellow Sign," Kainudy notes. "Have you had any hallucinations about it, say.. people asking if you've seen the yellow sign?"
"Yes, in the face of a lover when Mr. Yellow thought I was taking too long on my vacation," Tasha admits, glancing away and scratching at the back of her head. "Usually he's more direct about what he wants me to do; face-to-face conversations. I prefer it that way."
"Well, hopefully I won't do that to you, although in hindsight I probably should have used something like that on the last wolf I tried to mentor," the dragon says with a sigh. "Would have been easier than have to deal with all that pack hierarchy stuff." She starts move the marker around, but this time actually changes the angle for many of the symbols, and it takes a lot more 'coding' as well. The star-shaped sign does not appear at the end either. And at the end, the dragon looks a bit exhausted.
"You can take it back now," she says, and rubs at her eyes. "That made me feel like I've got centipedes in my eyeballs now."
"I have that problem on my end, too. I am not a wolf; I only resemble Karnors and Vartans, now. I am something else. But the Karnors and Vartans I know are still what they are, and it has been difficult fully relating to them. The farther I travel and more I change, the more distance between myself and what I was, which connected me to what they are." Meanwhile, Tasha watches until instructed to take the Marker back, which she does, returning it to the opposite pocket she placed the Blue Marker. "It is a dangerous thing," she agrees, nodding slowly, "Enough to unmake a demigod."
"Hopefully it'll be of use in the next phase of your training," the dragon claims, still keeping her eyes closed. "No idea what a Karnor or Vartan is though. My link to the all seeing eye is something I have to be very careful with.. for the past.. uh.. I don't know how long. A thousand years? It's difficult to keep track of time in a place like this."
"Yes, it certainly can be." Tasha has been in enough timeless places to know the feeling, if not to the same degree of scope as Kainudy. And since her death, her sense of time and connection to 'now' has felt thinner, more distant. "Closer to forever," as she thinks of it. "I can see how an all seeing eye would be dangerous. These is much to see that burns the soul, and even ordinary events can weigh upon a being."
"It never did me much good before when I could still mostly tolerate it," the dragon says. "Weird prophetic dreams, collect calls from across the cosmos, having to shift forms just to keep from going insane more often than usual.."
"You were never very sane to begin with," a new voice says from the entryway, sounding like two different voices overlapping one another but not quite in sync.
"I deal with those too, to a lesser degree. The prophetic dreams and strange visions are especially obnoxious. Often, as they are, not that useful, except in hindsight." And so Tasha makes a face. Her voice is quiet, gaze a little distant. She's about to say more when the voice interrupts.
Tasha turns to the voice now, the same expression meeting it source.
The figure in the entry stands about nine feet tall. The body is human, with dark golden skin and wrapped in a white garment that covers the left half of the chest and drapes as a knee-length skirt below the waist. It's wearing sandals, holds a golden staff with two coiled serpents whose heads face eachother at the top, has a long, thin curved neck that ends in a bird head with a very long, down-curving beak. Its eyes are glossy black marbles. "Which is why I agreed to watch over this tempering of Tasha's spirit. I still do not entirely trust you."
Tasha blinks at this, she then blinks again. "Thoth?" Because the figure looks exactly like the reference material she looked through, so much so she isn't entirely sure she believes it. The gods and demons are never exactly like the research notes suggest.
"Yes, Tasha, this is how I look in other realms," Thoth replies. "And before you ask if it is your intentions or your competence that I do not trust, Kainudy, the answer is yes to both."
"I'm perfectly lucid in here, Tweel," the dragon grumbles.
"Where will the soulsmith be waiting for us?" Thoth asks.
"Why does this feel familiar," Tasha mutters to herself as she steps around the table and makes her way to her teacher. She does stop to look him over, brows up, and nods approvingly. "I like it -- and I know you don't care and urge me not to base my judgment on appearances." She steps beside him and looks back to Kainudy.
"Temple of the Elder Gods, in Ulthar," Kainudy says. "Ultharathotep is most likely to bless this sort of thing, given the circumstances, and I was able to secure the services of a cherubim for the procedure. I've encoded all the relevant details into the soulstones. Unless you want to check my work, Tweel?"
"I wouldn't be able to check it and you are perfectly aware of that," the demigod of Knowledge and Wisdom claims.
The exchange reminds Tasha of when Captain Eyeshine, her mother, and various officials would talk and all she could do is look back and forth between them and wonder what it all means, while avoiding stepping out of line for fear of a scolding. The distant memory makes a slight smile cross her face, that she still remembers such things, and she's not so far away now she has forgotten.
"I know, but I have a headache and I'm feeling grouchy," Kainudy says. "You know the way to the Cavern of Flame from here." She makes a vague gesture towards another hall.
"Do I hold your hand?" Tasha asks this of Thoth, her newfound inner quiet making keeping a straight face that much easier.
"If you wish," Thoth says, opening his giant palm for Tasha. She feels extra small next to him.
Tasha does hold Thoth's hand. It makes her feel something, but she can't quite separate the emotions out to tell what. Safer, at least, and something from her childhood. "I'm ready, teacher." She also nods to Kainudy. "Thank you for your help."
"Thank me after you survive," the dragon suggests, as Thoth leads the way out of the chamber. The hall he takes Tasha along is open on one columned side, overlooking a very large memorial garden, full of statues of pointy-eared humanoids, dragons and other beings.
Tasha thinks of the Hall of Souls, places where age and memory linger in stone, echoing what was. She wonders if all such places will eventually blur together for her. She looks out at the statues noting their features, wondering who they were and thinking about what it means that she doesn't know. "Is this place all like this? Empty buildings and memorials?"
"This is just the Temple of Danu, Kainudy's realm," Thoth says as they move along. "But yes, she is alone here, and these are the memorials she has erected. The Cavern of Fire is at the far end, which is our entry into the Dreamlands."
"A world of memorials and empty buildings. It reminds me of Persephone's reality." Tasha almost says that it's sad, but there's something deeper there that makes her refrain. She has learned enough in her short lives to know there's some value in reflection. "Molly mentioned the Dreamlands. We may wish to look for a being who can assess Hakeber, while we're there. I have had multiple parties warn me about her inner darkness, something the fae may prey upon. I know something of her history but not entirely the source of this darkness, and I know enough of my own to be concerned."
"This is something outside of my field of knowledge," Thoth admits. "If this procedure is successful with you, then we can bring Hakeber in for an evaluation. I am unclear if hers is a case of demonic position, given that the entities involved are not technically demons, just as I am not technically Vril-ya." The end of the hall is in site now, a large iron double door, although the garden still seems stretch on further.
Tasha spars the garden one more look, then turns away. She has enough forevers to stare in t, and this one isn't her's to bare the burden of, and so she places it aside mentally to look forward. "Then I will go first, then we can address Hakaber. It may well be a purely mortal darkness, a burning hatred for the lies and belittlement that marked her childhood, and how only escape and separation carried her from it. My resentment is distant now, but I have walked far and changed much. Hakeber remains the inverse shadow of the coddled doll she was."
Thoth pushes the heavy doors open, revealing a cavern of red stone and crystal beyond. It's a bit warmer, but not exactly worthy of the term 'Cavern of Flame' yet. The walls have be reworked from natural stone into bas-relief sculptures depicting various beings, with a stairway leading deeper. "Normally, you would descend these steps alone, but since you are not here as a dreamer that rule does not apply."
"I see." Tasha doesn't exactly, but at least she understands the plain meaning of the world and, given the context, takes them for their literal value. It all does leave questions, however. "There are rules to entering the Dreamlands; dreams must take the stairs. Are there other rules?"
"These are the Seventy Steps of Lighter Slumber," Thoth explains. "We will meet two gods at the bottom, who will evaluate the soul of a dreamer for worthiness." And at the bottom of the stair are indeed two figures of similar stature to Thoth. "Nasht," Thoth addresses the first, who is garbed similarly but has a human head and Egyptian style headdress. "God of Knowledge. You know why we are here." Thoth ignores the second figure, which looks more or less identical to the first.
"Send your companion to Kaman-Thah," Nasht commands, indicating the second figure. Thoth releases Tasha's hand then.
Tasha goes where indicated, knowing ceremony when she sees it. She looks up at the looming figure, so much like Thoth. That at least the first figure is also a deity of knowledge surprises her, and she wonders if they all get together some time, some place, to share what they know.
"You have the mark of the Queen of Hades," Kaman-Thah notes as he looks at Tasha. "And ties to the Crawling Chaos and the King of Fear. Why do you seek passage to the Dreamlands?"
"I have come to have my soul armored, so that I may better stand against the Ogdoad and the other entities, deifific and otherwise, who threaten my universe, and others." Tasha says it all in a solemn monotone, which is less work than it once was. Death has quieted her soul to some degree.
"Move one to the Pillar of Fire," Kaman-Thah tells her.
"It isn't much farther," Thoth notes, rejoining her and leading onward.
Tasha nods gratefully to the figure, then retakes Thoth's hand to follow along. A part of her very much enjoys these forays beyond her own world, where she might wander so far she scarcely recognizes anything. At the very least it's a fresh experience, new, and at least for a time, full of infinite possibility until limitation makes itself known. She tells this to Thoth, "I am enjoying the walk."
They pass through several more chambers, some of which have cowled figures that look a bit like priests or monks engaged in various activities, until they arrive at an actual column of flame in the center of one of the chambers. "Just walk through," Thoth instructs, and then does just that himself.
Seeing no reason why not to, and far removed form the Tasha who would have been dubious of walking in to a literal pillar of blazing flame, the Tasha of here and now steps forward and enters the fire.
There doesn't seem to be any sensation, other than seeing fire everywhere. But once through it there is a vestibule with tables covered in clothes, weapons and other supplies, and an archway opening into darkness, where Thoth waits.
Tasha spares the weapons and other accouterments a look, noting, especially, the weaponry, before she proceeds out. A dangerous place, then; that goes with what she was told of the Dreamlands by Molly. Alternatively, a place where weapons are forbidden, but she thinks that less likely. She rarely walks away from danger, after all. It does make her curious, so she asks, "Are weapons not permitted here?"
"When a dreamer comes here, they are naked," Thoth explains. "This chamber is where they may take whatever clothing, weapons and supplies they desire. This does not apply to you, however, since you are not dreaming. The Seven-Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber await, and they will be more dangerous for you than for a dreamer."
"Because I am really here." Tasha wonders what it means that she walks the reality of dreams in the flesh. Is someone, somewhere, dreaming of her? And what of her, and her own reality? How deeply does touching the dream with flesh and blood touch her, in turn. "It is unusual for a mortal to travel the Dreamlands in the flesh?"
"It has more to do with the region the stairs pass through," Thoth explains. "The Dreamlands, the Fae Realms, the Halfworld.. these are pocket realities created from the substance of creation. It has many names, such as the Unformed, the Vague, Cacoastrum, Chaos and so on. It is a realm of potential, but one which seeks out form. For a disciplined mind, this means that it can be shaped into whatever that person wants. To an undisciplined one, it can mean all of their deepest fears and inner darkness being given form. So, it is essentially that you keep your focus on only the stairs, or upon me. Count out the steps in your mind, and focus on that number."
Tasha checks her grip, making sure her hand really is in Thoth's. Suddenly the idea to hold his hand is filled with merit and foresight, and she is relived by her good sense. "I will." That her mind is quieter now is something else she hopes will avail her. A calm sea has few, if any, waves. She almost starts thinking of the potential of such a place, but quickly decides she's not ready to shape raw unformed chaos, as she is barely a apprentice let alone any sort of master.
"It will try to draw your attention," Thoth notes. "Count loudly if you need to drown out any noises, and never look away from your focus. Start your count down from 700 on the first step. Are you ready?"
Tasha draws in a deep breath. Her inner chaos is still there, after all, the same fury that destroys monsters and gods, it simply rests in a deeper slumber under layers of death and wisdom. She makes herself aware of it for a moment, so that should it arise she is not caught off guard by it, and exhales. She thinks of where her mind might drift, but it's been largely quiet since her time in the glade, which has done much to calm her spirit. She nods. "I am ready."
The count begins.
Thoth takes through the dark portal to the first step. The steps seems to be made of blue-tinted, glowing glass with no supports, moving through a tunnel of fog where only the next few are visible at a time. And the fog is not static, but full of currents and shadows.
Tasha does her best to ignore all of it except her next step and the numbers. Thoth has warned her, and she's not so flighty these days as to forget instructions seconds after hearing them. The count continues and her steps with them in ordered sequence.
There are plenty of hallucinations along the way trying to pull her attention. Her name being called out in the distance, or a warning bell from her airship drover days, along with other furtive sounds that could be anything at all. The most dangerous sounds, however, where echoes of her own count, but from several steps back. Thoth was quiet. If not for her his hand he might not have been there at all.
But he is there, she assures herself, and she is counting and not where the echoes suggest. Still, the multiple counts are confounding, and so she begins counting aloud and tapping her side in turn to add that extra layer of sensory input and assurance. She wasn't beaten by a demigod, she certainly isn't going to lose to some random nonsense.
When the count reaches 0, Tasha and Thoth are standing with a giant tree to their backs, in a deep green wood with a canopy that blanks out the sky. The bark of the trees looks thick as armor and is covered in bracken and fungi that glow an eerie green. The forest is thus as dark as twilight. Thoth takes Tasha along the only path, and says, "As before, ignore any sounds or voices you may here. This is the Enchanted Wood, and you are safe so long as you do not stray from the path. The City of Ulthar will be at the end of it."
Tasha nods to this. She survived the unformed chaos, staying on a road should, she hopes, be an easier task. The woman who would have raced off at the slightest trickery or offer exists in the past; she is made of stronger stuff. "The Enchanted Wood. Stay on the path. I understand. I will not wander." She tightens her grip to show her dedication, and follows.
While plenty of things call out, or scream, or move in the shadows between the trees, there's no danger from noticing them. And somehow, with Thoth, each step seems to carry her farther than it should, until they exit the forest. The path becomes a hard-packed dirt road, and setting sun casts red light on the walled city ahead. "There will be dreamers in the City of Ulthar, but they may not notice us, or seem as phantoms to you. Except for the cats. Do nothing to injure one," Thoth advises.
"I like cats," Tasha notes in regards to harming them. "I would never harm one willingly." And she wouldn't. If ever that had been something she would do, all that changed once she ended up with two of her own. That does not apply in reverse, however, as they routinely try to harm her and everyone and everything else, which she finds endearing to a point. Beyond that point the end up put in a room with food and water, but not harmed. So she does not worry herself over the harming of cats. "Will there be anyone besides cats and dreamers?"
"Demons, possibly, and forgotten gods," Thoth replies. "Those may be anywhere, however. You will note that they are larger than normal. It is likely that your presence will eventually be noticed, unless the armoring is performed quickly enough."
Tasha nods to this; demons and gods may indeed be anywhere. Much of her life, after all, is dealing with this fact in one way or another. "Then let us proceed with all due haste." She has little desire to be fought over by giant gods in the middle of a place she scarcely knows; even Thoth has his limits in shielding her. "What would happen if I am noticed?" She suspects she knows from experience, but more knowledge is welcome.
"Then you would be noticed," Thoth says, as if being noticed where the dangerous part. Inside the walls, Ulthar is much like Abu-Dhabi in architecture, but the streets are indeed full of half-seen phantoms, which only become visible when they are close enough to bump into. And from every roof and wall, cats of various types watch them. The ones in the road cry at them, even. "The Temple of the Elder Gods will be in the center of the city," Thoth says, moving briskly and ignoring the phantom dreamers.
Seeing Thoth's lack of interest, Tasha does likewise and follows along without applying great scrutiny to the dreamers, save to avoid bumping in to them -- or walking through them. The cats are given an especially wide birth, though she can't resist giving friendly examples a little knuckle face rub, or a scratch behind the ears, which she knows after many months her own cats adore.
Atop a minaret, a cat-like-dragon watches Tasha. It even has whiskers, but no wings. So maybe it's just a very large, long cat after all. This is also a cat-headed figure which looks similar to Thoth in one of the alleys they pass, although this one is obviously female. Thoth doesn't pause at all though, leading Tasha along briskly as the sun sets further, casting longer shadows that chase them.
Tasha wants to pet these as well, but suspects they might object and, further, it would delay them. Still, it doesn't keep her from wanting to even as they pass on. The two figures linger in mind as they continue, refusing to leave her thoughts. She recalls there were other feline-modeled Vril'ya, and perhaps they are here which would be a boon to her search; as for the little cat-dragon, her interest is purely that of someone liking the things she believes are cute.
Eventually the come to a tall cathedral-like building with the same curved-five-pointed-star-with-ringed-flame symbol above the door. The final rays of the setting sun set it ablaze. "You should use your protective glasses now," Thoth says.
Tasha does so, pulling them off and securing them, adjusting them until they're fit right and look nice. Protective may be an exaggeration, they're as much a style choice as a piece of safety equipment, bu the wonders of modern Galactic technology mean even her stylish shades boast advanced features and protections she stopped reading about once it all became so much technobabble. "I am ready."
Thoth opens the door, and Tasha is still nearly blinded. The light from within the building seems to have a physical presence. She can feel it ruffling her fur and feathers. And there's a shape at the center of it all that she can't make out immediately. Thoth takes Tasha's hand again and leads her towards it.
Tasha's other hand shields her eyes from the blazing light as she does what she can to cut down on the sheer volume of luminescence and make out what she's walking towards. This, she decides, must be what an EVA near a sun would be like, minus the heat and radiation. At least, she hopes there's no radiation beyond the visible. Given where she is, even photons may be suspect, dream-stuff and memetic essence rather than any science she knows of. She follows, glad for the guide as she might well have ended up veering.
The silhouette of something in the light becomes clearer the closer Tasha is brought to it. A towering figure, taller than Thoth, which seems to make of wings. Wings covering the body, and more pairs of wings spread out behind it. Wings covered in eyes. The head that protrudes above it all rotates, having four sides and four faces: a human, an ox, an eagle, and a lion. Added to this are several interlinked, spinning rings that orbit the being, also covered in eyes. Thoth releases Tasha's hand, and says to her, "Present your Markers to the cherub."
Tasha needs a moment. It's not every day she meets a being of light; most of her experiences with extra-universal beings are of the decidedly dark variety. And this being of light is very unusual indeed. Bits and pieces of memory flit through her mind as she stares up at the blazing figure, not quite sure where to look that would be appropriate or inappropriate, there are so many eyes. Eyes like the Ogdru-hem's temples, a strange similarity and one she wonders at; some deeper connection? An expression of itself, as it is for the Ogdru-hem? There are so many questions between the memories. She thinks Hakeber or someone else mentioned a being like this, thought she can't quite remember when, or what the relation is. Beings of light are, after all, not her focus.
When she can finally muster focus on the task at hand, she reaches in to her pockets without averting her gaze, and pulls out both Markers which she hands over, palms up. Over to the cherub she remembers; this is a cherub. She is unlikely to forget the meeting.
The Marks drift up from Tasha's hands, and the symbols that were encoded into them begin to appear in nested circles that orbit the objects. And then the four mouths open, and the cherub.. speaks. It is like a song, and also like nothing else Tasha has heard. And she feels herself shaking apart beneath it. Her thoughts scatter, reflect and refract against eachother, along with all of her memories. Her feelings of anger, of love, of indecision and confidence seems like points of awareness orbiting some central core. It is not at all like her encounter with Atum, which dealt more with her personality and identity. This is something more fundamental, a breaking down into her component pieces of identity. Dissolution. And then an odd sort of awareness, as if looking at herself from all possible perspectives at once, until they overlap into something coherent again.
And then she's on her back, looking up through the open ceiling of the cathedral at a large moon.
If she had any presence of mind to do so, Tasha might have compared the experience to her merging with the Melchior or Harmonia in the deepest form of connection, when she was truly part of a machine's intelligence rather than couched by the abstractions of a simulated organic mental experience, yet there are decided differences and neither were so overwhelming as this. Neither allowed for her wholeness, each was the regulated mind of a machine. Not so here. Or so Tasha would realize if she wasn't left blinking on the floor wondering what happened, where she is, and why her entire sense of self felt blown apart and put back together.
There's little she can do but attempt to recover, and even that feels oddly disjointed, like even the echo of what happened requires she put the echoes in the right place. Like thunder, still rolling through her frame, it shakes and lingers.
"Take your time getting up," Thoth remarks. "It has been several hours since the process began. Let me know if you need assistance."
At least the blinding light (and the cherub) are gone now.
The cherub may be gone, but she's sure it will be seared in to her memory forever. She had always wondered what manifestations of light akin to the Ogdru'hem might be like; now she knows, and they are no less impressive and overwhelming than their shadow counterparts. Except, and she realizes this in the same languid slowness the rest of her mind runs at as she recovers, she might well have met a being untied to the physical. A true manifestation of a spirit of light.
By way of questioning, Tasha raises a very shaky hand to point at where the cherub had been; what was that?
"An angel," Thoth claims. "A servant of the Elder Gods. I an curious how Kainudy was able to procure one. Her relationship with gods is generally... poor."
Tasha can believe it and she remembers Kainudy or Molly had said as much. "An angel" she whispers, out of breath. Thoth had said beings of light exist, and that they are more reserved. This, she decides, must have been such a being. A servant of the Elder Gods. She, too, wonders how Kainudy found such a being to help, and why it helped at all.
But Tasha doesn't ask this; she doesn't do much at all except lay there. Even raising her hand felt like a momentous effort. It's some time later before she sits up, possibly hours, she can't be sure, she isn't even sure that she didn't fall asleep from exhaustion and that her continued consciousness is just a series of blackouts that seem connected for lack of understanding.
By the time Tasha sits up, she thinks she's been down quite a while indeed. A hand goes to her head, and she gives it a little shake. "Wow," she breathes.
"Do not manifest your Markers until we have returned to Kainudy's temple," Thoth advises. "I am sure she has plans for you regarding them, given her mention of further training. I advise you to.. be wary." Thoth pauses a moment, and then says, "Kainudy is a creature of secrets. You may put your faith in her, but do not put your trust into her, if that makes sense."
"I-I think so." Elaboration of word is temporarily lost to Tasha, she's still sorting out stability of being. With shakey unease she rises, standing unsteady for a long moment and having to rest a hand on Thoth's side for balance. "Is there ... Is there anywhere to eat or ... rest for a .. moment ... uh ... " She gestures vayuely out at the city.
"There isn't anything you can eat here," Thoth notes. "But now that you have been here, I can return us to the temple directly if you feel stable enough."
Tasha gives a slow nod; she's as ready as she'll ever be. A small part of her is disappointed she can't go look around, but at least that longing will be with her if she ever gets the chance to return here.
Thoth pulls Tasha close against him, and raises up his caduceus. When he brings it down suddenly, the butt of the staff lets out an odd, wind-chime like tone, and then the world around them turns to the fog of the Unformed for a moment, before fading out into the memorial garden at the Temple of Danu.
It makes Tasha extremely queasy, so having an empty stomach may be for the best just now.
"Walking between worlds ... " Tasha's memory is returning, and her thoughts solidifying. She pushes off and stands, mostly stable. She would further nod in thanks for Thoth's efforts, but she decides that's a bad idea as her stomach churns. Instead she clamps her muzzle shut and points down the hallway with a wing and her tail; lead on please.
Thoth simple scoops up Tasha, cradling her in his arms as he carries her towards the metal-clad chamber. Tasha can hear voices up ahead, but when they arrive there is only Kainudy. "Is she dead?" she asks Thoth.
"Not yet, you will have to try harder," Thoth claims. Was that a joke?
Tasha's smile is weak, but it is a smile. Her closest wing waves; hello Kainudy. She is otherwise content to remain exactly where she is like so much baggage.
"I've got some energy drink, that will help," the dragon claims. "Bring her this way," she says, heading off into another part of the temple. Apparently to a chamber that has overstuffed chairs. "Dwarf-made. Still under warranty," she claims. Thoth sets Tasha into one of them.
"Not your usual style," Thoth notes.
Tasha ins't sure what to think of the fact she can comfortably occupy a Dwarf-chair, she is shorter now. She slides back like baggage that has been put in a chair and left to shift and roll, her tail the only sign of life as the tip flicks.
"It's for the shark-men," the dragon claims. "They still deliver tea to me on a regular basis. I don't know why Oolong things I need so much still. It should probably perk Tasha back up though, so I'll get some brewing. But first.." The dragon goes to what looks like an icebox, and retrieves a beverage can. "Give her this. It's got.. uh.. stuff that shouldn't destroy her liver. I've seen teenage humans drink it without any problems."
Thoth dutifully pops the pull-tab on the can and offers it to Tasha. "Scarlet Minotaur. Exxxtreme Energy Drink," he tells her.
Tasha was a teenage Human once. It makes her muzzle wrinkle. "I could u-use extreme energies," she agrees. Pushing herself up, she accepts the drink in one, then both, shaky hands and has a sip.
It tastes.. very sweet. Almost syrupy, and also salty as well. But it isn't fizzy at least. Kainudy has left for wherever it is she brews tea.
It's definitely something, and the sweetness is a color in the gray world of her recovery. She sits up more, and once she finishes the beverage, manages to sit up straight. Looking around, she notes Thoth is the only being left, and looks to him. "That was ... a success, wasn't it?" As no mortal has ever had their soul armored that she knows of, she isn't sure even he would know.
"We won't know until it is tested," Thoth notes. "I have no way of doing so. Kainudy has two souls, so presumably has a way of checking for armor."
"In her, or ... " She gestures around; in a box or something. She did hold a multitude of souls in a bottle in her pocket for several hours, after all.
"In her," Thoth says. "During her first crusade, leading a fae army it is said that her second in command fell in battle, and gave her his soul so that the enemy could not take it. It allows her to perform faerie magic under certain circumstances, but complicates other things. It is believed to be why she cannot be armored herself in the way that you have hopefully been. She requires active armoring, which she has apparently lost the ability to do, and so cannot leave this Temple."
"A cell of necessity," Tasha whispers, nodding slowly. She wonders at her own armor; if it worked, what it means, how durable it is and who actually controls it. "The ... cherub ... is the one that controls ... my ... " She breathes. "My armor?"
"I assume you control your armor through your Markers," Thoth says. "I doubt Kainudy would allow an outside force access to it. She encoded something into the process. That star mark is the Elder Sign, protection against the Outer Gods and entities. How that is made compatible with the Yellow Sign, however, which belongs to an Outer God, I am uncertain of. They do not seem compatible."
There's a rattling sound, as the dragon returns pushing an ancient looking tea service with one wobbly wheel. The kettle and cups don't look like any style Tasha is familiar with, but then she's not exactly familiar with tea services.
Tasha considers this, frowning as much as she has energy to do so. "N-no," she agrees. Placing the empty drink down, she reaches up and pulls off her glasses, which she had forgotten to remove. She looks at them, half expecting them to have melted from the sheer force of light she was forced to endure. "H-hello Kainudy," she greets the dragonness when she returns.
"That stuff giving you caffeine jitters?" the dragon asks, as she pours some tea. "This is Oolong Black, which is fermented tea. Probably older than I am as well, I swear Oolong must plying me with his old stock. This is pretty expensive stuff in some realities, apparently. Handled by virginal kitsune or something, I wouldn't trust the advertising."
A plain looking clay cup is pushed towards Tasha, full of steaming dark liquid.
Tasha absorbs all this with quiet and somewhat shaky stoicism, even if it feels a little too familiar somehow. She puts her glasses back on her head above her eyes and accepts the cup (in both hands) and drinks.
It's very bitter, and very strong, but does have a calming effect. Kainudy plucks the sunglasses off of Tasha's head though and has a look through them. "These are going in the trash," she says. "I can see the imprint of the cherub in them. Freaky looking bas.. uh.. being."
Tasha looks calm until she hears her glasses are going in the trash, which causes her ears to go up and her to sputter. "No," she insists, holding them out. "For my ... My collection." She then pauses before adding, "Unless it would be dangerous..?"
"Collection?" Kainudy asks. "You collect nightmares? These things drive people insane. Or cause religion. Which is nearly the same thing. Do you have Nyarlathotep's autograph or something as well?"
"He gave me his Dagger," Tasha answers, but does make gimme motions for her glasses. Nightmarish some may think the cherub, to Tasha it's fascinating. Horrible and wonderful and full of light and severity all at once. And, the only being of light she's seen separate form physical reality. Plus, maybe she can drive someone insane with them if she needs to, a rather ever-growing armory for her in fact.
"They may not survive the transition back to reality," Kainudy warns, but hands the glasses back. "Don't obsess over the image though. These things don't like being recorded, generally. I hate having my picture taken."
"You are almost always covered in soot and blood, Kainudy," Thoth points out. "I am surprised you looked presentable in that book on cover leaf for that book on leadership from when you were still considered to be a non-pariah."
"At least my portraits aren't all carved in stone, flamingo-face," the dragon counters. "How's the tea?" she then asks Tasha. "Is it helping?"
"I'll keep it in a safe place," Tasha insists, laying her glasses on her chest and patting them. She listens to the back and forth, brows up and looking a lot more alive than she had as she sips her tea. For some reason, it all reminds her of family. When people are paying attention to her again, she nods with some energy. "I feel better," she admits.
"Good," the dragon says. "I expect you back for training tomorrow night. Tweel can take you back to your universe."
"I just spent energy getting her here from the Temple of the Elder Gods," Thoth notes.
"Okay," goes Tasha, who is still too worn out to argue about anything even if she had wanted to. When it seems like she might not be about to leave, she just looks between the two.
"You are the sorriest excuse for a god I've ever met," Kainudy complains. "Fine, Molly can take you both back."
The dragon then shouts in a voice that only a dragon can manage: "MOLLY, GET YOUR SORRY PURPLE ASS BACK HERE! I KNOW YOU'RE LURKING AROUND!"
"The's not very nice," Tasha insists of Thoth, feeling honor bound to defend her teacher, especially after he actually carried her back. She gives Kainudy a reproachful look, but then doesn't exactly hide behind her tea as she drinks it.
Jared pages, "Come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak." to you.