Tasha needed her sleep, even if it wasn't always as relaxing or healing as it could be. She woke up plenty of times from nightmares that she couldn't remember, or suddenly feeling on the verge of panic. But the frequency of these diminished over time. Nobody disturbed her, probably since they were all expecting her to still be absent. There wasn't any reason for others to be on Dark Horse or expect her to show up there after all.
Aaron says, "Cue! The black stiletto is probably on the floor or on a night table, depending on how much Tasha tossed and turned."
Tasha feels like she slept forever, which is a relatively wonderful feeling when you've just been through hell and worse. A literal hell, and death, and what comes of people pushed to far and the ruins they all leave behind. If she had learned anything in these last few days, it would be about limits. It is good, then, that she's had so much time to rest. Sleep, clearing the mind, a sense of emptiness preventing negative reflection, these do much the recover a mortal mind, and so it is with Tasha. It would seem to her, some time later, that negation, forgetfulness, and letting go are other important lessons she has learned, and might pity immortals for their lack of it.
The young woman awakes with a start, but not an unpleasant one. Simply a sudden awareness that she's awake, she's here in the Dark Horse, and that she feels better. Rested. At peace, in so much as she can be. She's woken up before, each a piece of the puzzle, until here now there are no secrets to when, where, or how. She was brought here to rest, and so she has. And feeling she's recovered enough -- and couldn't fall back asleep if she tried -- she sits up and has a look around.
Her bedroom hasn't changed since her last visit, and there no signs of drawers being rummaged through. The nasty black stiletto with the tortured handle is on the floor, but nobody has come in to step on it. Now that she's been active long enough, the lights in the room have started to turn up as well.
What follows could best be described as 'automatic'. Tasha rises, places her bed in clean mode, and collects the stiletto. At this, she pauses, a terrible reminder of not only what happened, but what happened after, and the absence of a memory and an experience. The knowledge of why that experience is gone, and the message she left herself as to its explanation. The stilleto is placed in the bathroom, where it should be safe, and she resumes cleaning. In time she comes back to the ansible that was left for her, though she still doens't know why. And so she stops again.
"Why did you leave this with me?" Tasha doesn't expect an answer, but feels like saying the question aloud is something she should do. An admission, even if no one hears it. She weighs the object in her hand. If she remembers correctly, she left it with Galatea. The memory makes her blink at the sudden emotion, something like regret. She's felt it before, each and every time she woke to found the ansible was still there, that whoever left it with her hadn't thought twice and returned to take it. The doubt as to why they didn't take it, and the feeling maybe they should have. Yet it's still here, and so too is she, and she feels. She feels something like regret.
That whoever was at fault,
Whyever it happened,
Whomever was innocent,
That she regrets how things have turned out.
And so she resolves to do something about it.
Because whatever else may or may not be, the ache in her heart only grows. The sense of loss at that strange place that seemed so like her, and that dragon, who seemed like what she might become. The silly old grandmotherly dragon, and the broken woman who existed beneath. She realizes what happened was so very much like the fights with herself; perhaps what happens when two similar, damaged people collide their loss. And for that reason and more, she won't let things end this way.
She won't.
The ansible doesn't respond, but then again she was never very clear on how to use it, at least from her end. "Tasha," the voice of the Niss comes over the intercom. "We are sorry that we missed you return. The nature of it confuses us. Thoth would like to speak with you when you are available."
"We're confused too," Tasha replies, too lost in her own thoughts about what happened and what she intends to do to realize 'we' might be confusing without context.
"I'll speak to him after I've gotten ready, in about thirty minutes." And with that she puts the ansible far from the dagger, within her room, and goes to take a shower and get dressed. her ruined clothes get placed in the hamper with the added input of 'destroy' for the cleaning system.
Her ship-board clothing options are a bit limited, since most of her attire is at the cabin right now. But there's plenty of comfortable clothing at least.
Tasha picks out a simple shirt, some synthetic jeans, a belt, and Captain Rehab's leather jacket. She also locates a laser and conventional pistol from her armory and hides them away under the jacket, in appropriate holsters. Once she's all set she puts the stiletto back around her neck and pockets the ansible opposite, and steps out.
"I'm ready to speak with Thoth, Niss."
Thoth waits for Tasha in the empty lounge. It's odd to see him with his mechanical eyes and somewhat withered head after seeing how he looks in the faerie realm and Dreamlands. "It appears we arrived here separately," Thoth says to her. "Although I suspect by the same agency."
"Yes. It was very thoughtful of him." Tasha's voice is neutral with a touch of sadness; her expression is the same way. She lingers at the entrance with the air of someone expecting more to come but not sure how to approach it.
"I have not followed up with the fae or dragons to see how they took the abrupt relocation, assuming they were also removed from the area," Thoth says. "Do you know what became of the Queen of Demise, or will the fae and dragons be going to war over her?"
"I know what I saw within," Tasha begins, walking to a nearby wall and punching up the delivery request menu and beginning to enter items she'll be taking with her. "The realm's interior was collapsing in to a storm. I was able to take Galatea to Kainudy, who appeared to be dying, fed upon by some inner demon. We were then beset by those demons as I tried to protect Galatea, but I was not enough. Kainudy awakened in to something like my ... My 'End Wolf', and started drawing the realm in to herself. I was able to stop her briefly by threatening Galatea, which I believed would reach her, butI suspect if the Null hadn't intervened one or more of us would be gone now."
"Intervened in what manner?" Thoth asks. "I'm not familiar with this End Wolf you mentioned."
"It's what became of the piece of my soul that experienced what it is like to have your soul eaten. Wolf made it, I think." Tasha holds up a hand. "I don't remember what it was like anymore, the Null removed that part of me so I could go on."
The order continues. Several pizzas, beer, fizzy drinks, and several bottles of assorted liquor. Plates. A few board games, a ball, and her datapad. That's two containers worth, in water-tight, lightweight travel portables. The next two are filled with long-term camping supplies, including efficient food and drink, a large tent, bedroll, and other assorted living and camping odds and ends. That's another two containers; four is as much as Tasha thinks she can carry and not be overly burdened.
"So we don't know the current state of the Halfworld or its inhabitant," Thoth concludes. "Are you going on safari?" he asks, noticing the supplies Tasha is calling up.
"I'm going back. I need to try and fix things." Once the order is complete, Tasha notes the time, having them delivered outside the ship. She then walks over to one of the lounge's couches and settles herself down, leaning back with her hands in her lap and her head tilted to watching the ceiling.
"I can take you close if you like," Thoth says. "Just to make certain the way is clear. I am sure you understand the risk if she is insane. Or are you going to meet up with Galatea first, assuming she is still around?"
"I understand the risk." Tasha lowers her head and turns to Thoth, head tilting. "I don't think Galatea would go far, and I suspect she's listening. If she's gone, I suspect she'll return when we do. I don't think she'll give up, even if she believes she can do nothing. She'll always be waiting." She holds out a hand, palm upward. "I need to help her, too.
Thoth's eyes whirr as he looks at the upturned palm. "I only know her from our brief encounter and when she came to tell me you would be indisposed for a while. I hope that she is avoiding the fey, if she is still near the entry to the Halfworld. Her kind angers them."
"Her kind?" But then Tasha's head shakes. "It doesn't matter; I'll rescue her if I can and bring her back to Kainudy, and I'll rescue her too, if I can." She then offers the upturned hand to Thoth. "I'd like it if you'ld help me; I know now just how limited I am, and I don't know if I can save them myself, if the worst proves true."
"Like the fey, I have to follow certain rules," Thoth notes. "I can help you as far as I can, however." He then pats Tasha's upraised palm uncertainly. "I am not familiar with this gesture," he admits.
"For this one, I'm asking you to take my hand. It's a gesture of solidarity and mutual assistance." Tasha keeps the hand out, letting Thoth decide whether to take it.
Thoth takes the hand, and says, "We have a contract then. I will call upon you in return when I have need."
This actually makes Tasha, despite it all. She quite nearly breaks in to tears right then and there, but manages to hold it back, if just barely. The edges of her eyes wrinkle, and she blinks. "Please do." She swallows. "We'll depart after the packages arrive. Until then, we can wait here."
Thoth is not a master of small talk. "Should I tell the others what has happened, or just that you are still on your extended absence?"
"I'm not sure how to handle them right now. One or both of us may not return, and I would hate for them to see me only for me to vanish again, this time permanently. And I need time to think about what has happened; I need to give them an answer about why I nearly destroyed myself. Again." She lays back again, head up. "One thing at a time."
A tone signals that the deliver drone has arrived outside.
"We'll leave a message then, to play if we don't return. If only you return, then tell them what happened, please." And so Tasha rises, straightening. "Time to go."
There isn't an army parked in front of the black portal, only a short, fuzzy creature with curling horns. The ground certainly looks as if an army has been through though, with bushes and undergrowth fairly trampled, but no signs of fighting having taken place.
While Thoth transported them here, he hasn't offered to help carry Tasha's supplies. "There may be magic at work monitoring the area," he warns Tasha.
Tasha frowns at all the evidence of passing, but seeing there is no blood, broken weapons, bodies, or anything else to suggest a battle, she can at least be relieved at that. Her attentions then turn to the fuzzy creature, which makes her frown more, for the how out of place and thus ominous it is. "I suspect that's the case. The little creature may be a defense, though it's a strange choice unless it's a creature known to be dangerous in the fey, but beyond our knowing." She turns to her first teacher and asks, "Do you recognize it?"
Thoth stares at it from behind for a time. "I think I recognize it," he says. "It may be Sisyphix, a demon who enjoys watching for trouble."
"Do you think it's here as a guard or to exploit the situation?" Tasha turns to peer at the little thing, knowing full well not to take anything in the Fae at face value.
"The Unseelie may have commissioned her as a watcher, or she may just be here out of curiosity," Thoth suggests. "In any case, we must get past her."
"Yes, we must." Tasha nods, then begins forward.
"Hello demon," the red woman greets the potentially Sisyphix, "we're heading in to the portal, now. I don't suppose you're going to interfere with that?"
The creature bends over backwards to look at Tasha. It's face is a bit owl-ish. "Oh my, oh my!" it sing-songs. "Into the dark? Into the place nobody can enter? To be sacrificed, perhaps? Or to bring out the Dark Queen? So many possibilities! Shall I guess, or will you tell me?"
"I cannot answer what I don't know, but we intend to enter." Tasha stops, deciding negotiation is what she wants now. To bloody the doorstep upon her return would not only be unproductive, but to her heart as it stands, unwanted.
"Oooo, oooo!" the demon hoots, and jumps to her feet. "In you go, in you go, to meddle-meddle, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup perhaps?" Sisyphix isn't exactly blocking them though. "With Thoth-Thoth, the bird-brain with a nasty stick!" she notes, covering her head with taloned hands and starting to dance.
"It's almost charming in it's blatant self-serving," Tasha remarks, turning to Thoth. "It's not stopping us, but it's words bode poorly, and I don't see her yet. Are you ready to proceed?"
"We aren't likely to learn anything more out here," Thoth says. "Asking Sisyphix anything can be frustrating to those without sufficient patience."
"It at least suggested some things, which may be useful, if they're true." But Tasha nods again, reaching in to hold the anisble which Galatea had said acts as a key. Her left hand manifests the shield, but not the sword. Tasha isn't sure her heart can handle manifesting that weapon inside; not again. Maybe never again. "In we go." And with that she steps inside.
There's resistance at first, but Tasha has the ansible, so that may be seen as a key of sorts. There's no falling sensation, just pushing through to the entry way of the temple. There's a metallic scent in the air, a bit of haze and smoke. Parts of the garden beyond the colonnade look burnt, but there's no raging storm or wandering ghosts. At least not in this part. It's also quieter than Tasha remembers, even though she can't remember there being any sounds on previous occasions.
"The world has not collapsed," Thoth notes. "So it is likely that Kainudy still lives in one form or another."
Tasha makes sure the entryway is clear and as safe as she can assess it to be as she waits for Thoth, then she steps aside as he enters. "Then at least we're not too late in that, and maybe I wasn't too late the last time." She pauses, biting her lip at the scent and the fire, frowning and regretting. "But maybe I just want to believe it. We'll see what's happened, at least."
Another quick look around and Tasha tilts her muzzle up, indicating a direction. "The last memories I have of this place, the ones I told you about, took place in the garden near Galatea's Tree. We can probably learn a lot by seeing what's happened there." Part of Tasha would rather not see, for all the possibilities. She is thankful that part of her carries a quiter voice than the one that would see this through, whatever the results may be. What happens after, she'll deal with after.
Aside from the burnt or stripped hedges, nothing seems out of place as the first enter. But the closer they get to the center, the more the statues have changed. Some have been knocked over or broken, but other are just in different poses. Mainly, they look more like they're depicting the death of the subject instead of what they were like in life.
Tasha looks at the statues as they pass. "I don't like this change. Everything seems to be focused on mourning and frustrated rage, but not the kind of rage the 'Queen of Demise' showed. A smaller, more personal rage. The kind that's supposed to break things, but you know deep down you're just doing it because you need to do something. Self pity, or regret; frustration at life." She sniffs, doing her best to hold back her own emotions with the sharp motion. "The realm is still here, so not Kainudy. I fear for Galatea."
"Only Kainudy should be able to affect the makeup of this place," Thoth notes. They reach the memorial to Cythrawl, the monument to whom doesn't look any different. But how would a miles-long largely face-less thing show pain in the first place. From here it's a straight line to the tree and the shadow-pit at the center of the garden.
"Galatea was still alive when I last saw her. I wounded her to try to stop Kainudy, but I wasn't ... " Tasha has to stop herself; she can't break down now, it won't accomplish anything, and she must be together as she wasn't when she came here last. She takes a deep breath, exhales, and tries again. "I wasn't in the right state of mind to return here and may have done more harm than good by being here. I wounded Galatea in an unmerciful way, because it was all I could think of to stop Kainudy, and my strength had already failed. The Null came shortly after." The young woman turns, checking her location and begins walking again. "Not far now."
The sand pit is wrecked.. the stones and sand scattered around, with bits of glass where the sand was melted. And in the center is Kainudy, looking 'normal' and alive. Sort of. She is lying with her limbs tucked beneath her like cat, her head up but her eyes glazed. She turns towards the arriving pair but doesn't seem to otherwise react to their presence.
At first all Tasha can do is look at Kainudy, which leads to a moment that may have been a moment, or it may have been minutes, or hours. A time when thought leaves the mind in the face of an immensity of questions, of uncertain, of emotions, and it's all too much that even sentiment fails to reach the face or stir the mind, and everything seems to stop. It is only after that unknown time that Tasha manages to look around, searching for Galatea where she'd left her.
It's hard to spot her at first. She's the same color as the tree she's leaning against. Even her clothing is gone, although a lot of her features seem to have gone with them, giving her a softer look more in line with the memorial statues than a person.
Unable to understand what this means, Tasha finds herself lost in that unknowable time again. Even when it passes she doesn't know if she should be happy or sad, lacking the knowledge to interpret what she's found. Eventually she finds herself looking to Thoth in askance, as if he might known what it is she's seeing, and what she ought to feel.
"I suspect that Kainudy is not actually conscious," Thoth says. "If we were to try and rouse one of them, Galatea may be safer, unless she is trying to melt."
"I-I see." Tasha steps back, as if the weight of uncertainty and unknown danger were enough to push her so. She looks between the tree, the dragon, and the god, then holds out a hand to indicate Thoth should stay back as she steps around in a large circle to try to get closer. From out of her pocket comes the ansible, which she holds up as one might hold a offering, hoping it might help her once again.
Galatea's eyes are solid golden orbs when she opens them, looking like ansibles themselves. "Tasha?" she asks, her voice have an odd echo to it.
"I'm here," Tasha whispers with hesitation, as if to a dying person to whom one had much to answer for. She bites her lip again, looking around as if the area might contain the answers to her questions, perhaps to her pain. Her eyes linger briefly on Kainudy before returning to Galatea. This causes her to choke, and once again she must put great effort in to not breaking down. After a moment, she manages to ask, "Are you ... Are you alright?"
"I couldn't handle it," the odd creature says. "I tried. I didn't realize how bad it could be. I had to put her in standby mode, until Persephone can get here. I'm sorry for what you went through, now that I've seen it."
This makes Tasha blink, head tilting. After a moment's tough she asks, "Kainudy?"
"She always hid how bad it was from me," Galatea explains. "I thought she could fix herself. But she couldn't, not with those things eating her from the inside. I don't know if I pushed her too far. I may be damaged too now. But Kainudy should be harmless for now, unless some other part of her wakes up and fights the current mode."
Tasha nods to all of this, they are at least things she mostly understands, points of reference and of action. They are things she can help with, or at least try to. This gives her more confidence, provides a direction for her mind and helps keep her together. She swallows again, takes a deep breath, and once she feels steady offers, "I came back to try to help. I brough, um," she waggles the bags at her side, " ... these, I thought you and I could ... if she were ... "
Another breath, another exhale. "What I mean is I'm sorry and I came to help. I brought some things, but they're probably not ... It doesn't matter. I'd like to stay here until Persephone comes. You might need a guard, or ... " She looks around, uncertain. "Maybe someone to talk to? Maybe Persephone will need to speak to me, or ... I'd just like to stay." The last comes out blurted, and is followed by a chewed lip and a look at the ground. "At least until ... Until things are resolved."
"Do you still have the black thing?" Galatea asks.
"The dagger?" Tasha looks down at her chest. "I put it back around my neck. I'm not sure what to do with it and don't want to risk leaving it where others may find it."
"You need to destroy it, but I don't know how," Galatea says. "It's the experience, all of it. Anyone you stab with it will live through it all.. or not. Souls can unravel from something like that. Maybe Persephone can get rid of it."
"Then I should stay here." It's a reason; an excuse. Tasha looks to the tree questioningly, and with hope. "I can camp somewhere out of the way, you don't need to deal with me?"
"I'll wait with you," Galatea says, and starts to pull away from the tree. At least her face is starting to go back to 'normal' - or at least the one Tasha is familiar with.
At this, Tasha brightens. "I brought pizza and, um," the bags are put down, and Tasha opens one, which smells rather strongly of what is indeed pizza, " ... beer, wine, I brought some board games to play since I thought we might have to take care of someone for a while, there a ball ... "
"I have been curious as to how you contact Persephone," Thoth notes. "A ball?"
"Everyone likes balls," Galatea says, pulling herself back together. "I could use a distraction."
"A ball," Tasha repeats, sounding distracted for the searching and for the restrained emotion she's trying not to let out yet, for fear it might shatter things. The ball is retrieved and held up, and after she pushes a button on it it inflates. "It's used for volly, I think."
"Doesn't that require a net to play?" Galatea asks as she gets to her feet.
Tasha frowns at said ball, to the point of looking a little accusing. "I did a quick search for the most popular balls for games played by people on Ymir. I don't even know what a volly is or why it needs a ball. Or a net. But it looked fun." She tries bouncing it on her hand, and like many canines, perks up immediately. "It seems fun."
"Don't let it get near to Kainudy," Galatea warns, and notices Thoth. "You call her on Death's Radio," she tells him in regard to his previous question.
"Does this version of her hate fun? Or balls?" Tasha glances at Kainudy, and stops bouncing the ball. She then deflates the ball and puts it back within the probably-not-dragon-proof high tech bag. She's just about done when she has cause to ask, "Death's Radio?"
"Because I don't know how she will react," Galatea says. "It was very difficult to put her into standby mode, and it may not be as safe as I hoped. I just needed to stop her from.. struggling." She looks at Tasha again, and says, "Yes, Death's Radio. At least that's what I call it. I've never had to use it before though. It lets you send a message along one of the privileged bands. I'm not sure if I can explain it better than that."
"A-level Hyperspace is an example of a privileged band," Thoth offers.
"It sounds like some sort of reality back-channel quantum-entanglement communication, since the ansible are supposed to be little universes. An external universe with variable temporal or non-temporal connections would allow for pan-universal instantaneous communications," Tasha remarks, which seems to surprise even her because she end sup look a little alarmed that she may have just figured it out, all from piecing together what everyone has told her about these things.
Tasha looks a bit relieved that she might be mistaken. "Oh, right," she says to Thoth, distractedly. She looks around anxiously and then suggests, "Maybe we should retire somewhere less likely to upset Kainudy, to talk?"
"It's not instantaneous in this case. That really doesn't mean anything across universes," Galatea says. She looks to the dragon, and says, "Do you mean to talk about her then? I worry about having her out of sight."
"I'm just trying to be helpful and safe, I don't really know much," Tasha admits, shrugging with her hands upturned.
"I'd like to stay close to my tree as well," Galatea admits. "I'm mostly physically recovered, but still feel weak. What kind of pizza did you bring?"
"I forgot which one she liked so I brought, um, five of them with mixed toppings." Tasha takes one of the bags, which is a large, gray, slightly metallic case with straps on the top, touch controls on the top, and large Xs on each side. These Xs prove to be variable legs, so when she sets it down again it forms a small table of stacked side-open spaces containing pizzas. "Just pick what you want." The bag that was near the pizza one is set up in the same way, except the top opens to reveal assorted drinks. The other two bags are also made in to tables, for convenience, but not opened.
"Too bad Molly's not here, I had hoped to share some with him, too. I, uhhh," Tasha stops, hand on a beer can, staring intently at the side of her makeshift table, "I ... I felt, um, you see ... I, well, I missed this place. And, um, you. And Molly. You remind me of ... a sister. I suppose. Does anyone want a plate? I have plates."
"I would like a plate," Galatea asks. "The fey haven't intruded. I don't know where Molly is. I'm a soulless monster to them, after all. I'm not sure how safe it is to offer any to Kainudy though. She didn't get sick after she ate one of my arms."
"I can offer her some," Thoth volunteers. "She should not have any emotional reactions to me."
Tasha winces at that. "I'm sorry. I know much hurts to lose ... um ... arms ... " As she trails off, she quickly decides a change of subject is in order. "I also brought chess, which you will both beat me at, and there's, um, 'part-cheesy,' a Vartan game called Gems & Feathers, ... " Thoth gets handed a plate as Tasha goes on, as well as a thumbs up and an anchorite pizza slice, " ... checkers ... three different types of cards ... we can do poker ... I'm not sure what this is but it seems to involve stacking sticks so they don't fall over ... "
"As long as we do not attempt to play Dragon Poker, since we don't have a proper calendar or clock.. or compass.. for this place. I'm not very good at chess myself," Galatea says. "How do you play Gems & Feathers? It isn't like Leather & Feathers is it?" She picks a slice from the first pizza she comes to, and sets it on her plate. Thoth chooses one that seems to have the most toppings, and then approaches the dragon.
Since Thoth didn't accept her suggested slice, Tasha puts it on her own plate along side ones with, predictably, a lot of other meats. "Gems & Feathers is about using a feather to roll the 'gem', which is usually a very sparkly round object, in to a hole. The original was a challenge because sparkles are very distracting, so skill is all about concentration. I got one that has a ball that wobbles and tries to be confusing, so it works for everyone." She looks for a place people can sit, then relocates the tables near some rocks and suitable debris. "We have a game like it back on Sinai actually. I got it because I used to play it with my mother."
"Does it come with its own feathers?" Galatea asks. There's a snapping sound, and Thoth returns with some of the plate left. "She seems hungry," he reports.
Thoth gets handed another plate and another slice of everything and Tasha doesn't skip a beat. "It comes with feathers. Back home you had to supply your own, and every time you lost around you had to give it up. It's a lot more unsettling when you're a Vartan."
"I imagine it would be easy to cheat if you had very firm feathers," Galatea notes, and nibbles on her pizza. "I haven't had pizza in a long time. Most worlds I've been to have some variation on it, usually." There are more noises from back where Thoth feeds Kainudy some more.
As the banter goes on, Tasha settles in to a pleasant calm feeling, so she doens't really notice when the tears start down her cheeks. She just keeps talking. "Using your best feathers or bad ones was all part of the strategy. It's a little weird, now that I think about it. There were also drinking games, guess-that-cloud and whoever has the best cloud idea wins that around, um, sometimes we'd go bow or spear fishing from the deck, which sounds like a waste of time, but we can all see very well, so ... "
"I was very good at Taboo, but.. are you alright?" Galatea asks.
Tasha just smiles. "I think maybe I am, now." She stuffs some pizza in her face, lets the tears fall, and offers another thumbs up.
Thoth is not one for card games, as it turns out. He excuses himself to go find out how the various fae factions are reacting to things. Galatea is an average opponent, and has probably never really gambled before, or else just isn't very competitive. At least, it doesn't feel like she's humoring Tasha.
It helps that Tasha isn't that competitive either. If she thought about it, she'd have admitted her competitive streak was more about self-esteem issues and anger than a need to prove herself in some style related to skill and ability. She's learned a lot about the ephemeral nature of physical ability and mental talents, of augmentation, and of luck of the draw, and might find it hard to really say that someone is good rather than lucky, or where to draw that line. That's if she considered it; right now, she's just trying to relax and to wait productively.
To this end rather than continue the card game Tasha suggests cleaning up. "This place is a mess, there are broken statutes, and I think the graveyard is still on fire. If this is a reflection of Kainudy's soul, maybe cleaning it up and putting out the fires will help somehow," she explains.
"How do you propose we put out the fire?" Galatea asks. "I don't know my way around in here.. is there a fire hose or extinguisher? It seems rather odd for a dragon to not have a means of putting out fires."
"I think she likes to punish herself with this sort of thing. Well," Tasha glances around, scratching her head, "If it's a symbolic universe with real-universe styling putting water in a bucket should work, shouldn't it? It might be less about the water, but that some being cared enough to put it out. Will. Like Samael said is the heart of a sorceror."
"So we need water and a bucket," Galatea says, standing up. "Where do we find those things?"
"Well, first we just look around for them. I'd say the 'inhabited' areas are our best bet. We should also find Kainudy's blanket," Tasha answers, starting toward where Kainudy keeps her office. "Just don't ask me to ... To go in the basement."
"Ah, I suppose she would have more than this hedge maze," Galatea says, looking back to where Kainudy is still just lying like a cat, or a swan. "I don't think she'll move before we get back."
"I'm just glad you two are alive and she's not chasing after me." As they walk Tasha starts explaining the different locations as they pass them, mostly by using names she made up either just now, got from Molly, or else else made up at some point before, "So we left the Angst Tree, which I suppose makes you Miss Angst now, or maybe Angst Woman. Daughter Angst? There's the maze of course, and the statues, the study and the entry way. I met Kainudy first next to the Statue of Danu, who is some sort of fae god who isn't here anymore. There's the Long Walk past the Long Walk Cemetary Wing, and the exit platform which leads, um, everywhere I suppose? At least to the Dreamlands, which are fun."
"Aren't they full of strange gods and monsters though?" Galatea asks. "Danu is another name for Daniarood, the dragon that made Kainudy what she is.. or was. I'm pretty sure they have bad blood between them. This does not seem like a very healthy environment."
"Kainudy seems to have a lot of bad blood, which given how old she is probably isn't that surprising. Also, she told me about some of it, so I know. There's also the uncomfortable fact I was wearing it for a while, so I guess I'm part of it too, now, which I suppose does lend more credence to my insight?" Tasha shrugs, but not in a negative manner; rather, her shrug is loose, airy, and playfully dismissive. It's the shrug of someone who has had their feel of sadness, stress, and conflict between people and is willing to shower forgiveness on all ideas if it means a bit more peace. "And my life is full of strange gods, so it's not like the Dreamlands are that strange. I like the cat city. I like cats. I have two. And I agree, this place is very depressing. How are you supposed to move on when you can't leave an endless reminder?"
"She doesn't want to move on," Galatea says. "And I'd be the Angst Dryad." They finally through the smoky area to where the study is. It still looks the same to Tasha, aside from the bookcase leading to the basement now being strewn all over the floor. But it's the desk that Galatea frowns at for some reason.
"I got mistaken for a nymph once. Anger Nymph and Angst Dryad. No one is going to write stories about us." Tasha walks up behind Galatea and looks over her shoulder. "It's a mess, isn't it? I've been trying to figure out if that's symbolic of the soul or just organizational laziness. And if she doesn't want to move on, what then? This forever? This and healing? Because after seeing all of this, even I'm questioning why I exist."
"She won't give up her grief," Galatea says, looking over the desk. "For her, grief is love that perseveres. And one of the reasons she stays alive. It looks like she does correspondence. I'm surprised. I see a wastebasket. Maybe that will hold water. What's through that other door that seems to have exploded a bookcase?"
"Love can be love, too. If she has that, then it already perseveres. Or is suffering and challenge needed to keep it in memory? I can believe things can get forgotten over such a long time," Tasha remarks, walking to the bucket and peering in it, then shaking it out and scooting it all with a foot in a neat pile for later cleanup. "Being sad forever just seems like aiming for despair, but I'm not a big fan of a universe model that relies on a majority-share negativity. Something else to fight, I suppose. Though, it's not like my fighting can do much as it stands. Not my fighting." Once the bucket is sufficiently empty, she tucks it under her arm. "There's some water here and there. And that place? That's the bad place. We're not going there. I remember enough to know that's where the experience happened, and where I stabbed Kainudy."
Galatea stares through the archway. "I wonder if part of her is in there then," she notes, then turns back to Tasha. "Water. Is there a toilet?"
"Not that I know of? I've been using the recycle I brought along." Or the grass, not that Tasha would admit it, but she is still some kind of wolf. To allay suspicion, and because she herself is now suspicious, she eyes Galatea, "Are you going down there? You are, aren't you? I know that look. And you're driven to serve or help her."
"I don't have any compulsion to help her beyond the familial," Galatea says, a bit forcefully. "She never did that to us. It's why Daniarood hated us, I think. There's a huge hedge garden, so there should be water. At least to wash up with if nothing else. What's behind the other bookcase?"
"You just seem very compelled, is all. You said you hated her, but then you dragged me in here when I was barely functioning, at great risk to the both of us. It was probably the right decision, but only for reasons we learned later. There were many reasons it wasn't the best choice at the time. We were saved by direct intersession of a Fundamental after all." Tasha's gaze follows Galatea's, and she frowns. "I think I thought there was a secret behind that one. I didn't know it was really a door. Can you see through it somehow?"
"I could see through it if I poke a hole and have a light," Galatea says. "And just because I hate someone doesn't mean I don't love them, or want to see them hurt." She goes to examine the bookcase. "Maybe there's a hinge."
"I think I kind of understand what you mean, except I killed the person I loved and hated, so maybe not." Tasha walks over to help out, feeling and sniffing around for signs of an opening. "I hope it's not full of all her old dead apprentices."
"Is there anything more beyond these two chambers and the 'bad place'?" Galatea asks as she pokes around. "Have you been to the far side of the garden?"
Tasha is trying to push, pull, and tip the bookshelf to get it to open, or at least move. "By 'far side' do you mean the one with the enormous statue of the Waymaker? Or a different far? I tried not to snoop around, since it seemed rude. Now that all that happened, I suppose it'll be comparatively easier to explain and I can lump it in with the stabbing while I try to get Kainudy to stop strangling me."
"That's funny," Galatea says. "I remember everyone else wanting to strangle her. I don't feel any heat or airflow, so this may just be a wall. But she should have a bathing spring somewhere. She liked to soak when she could. I wonder if we should just ask her."
"You can ask her. I am going to get her blanket and then stand way over here while someone puts it on her. I have realized we're a little too alike and that's very dangerous when one or both of us are enraged," Tasha insists. She gives up on the shelf, but does nab a few books to read that look interesting. They're what she thinks might make for good study material, since she feels that as a student she ought to try to learn, thereby making her more endearing and helping to show all the time here wasn't wasted on her. "So, spring or ask?"
"Let's try asking," Galatea says. "Isn't that a tapestry?" she asks, pointing to the alleged blanket.
Tasha walks over and rolls up the blanket, shouldering it. "It's a tapa-blanket. She was under it when I first met her, when Persephone forward me to her care. I guess Persephone wasn't sure how to help me."
"Persephone knew where she was all this time?" Galatea asks. "Or whatever time she's in, I suppose."
Galatea offers to carry the wastebasket.
"I still don't know what my temporal relationship to Persephone is. I do know I've been to her future, however." Tasha hands over the blanket instead, since Galatea is supposed to deliver it. "And I don't know if she knew. No, wait, she must have, since, um ... Oh great I forgot his name. Starts with a K. Krynn? Khryss? He saved my life, but in my defense I was in very bad shape at the time."
"He listens to Death's Radio too," Galatea says. "That's how she contacted him before. This thing is heavy. Why would anyone hang such a heavy thing on a wall?" She waits for Tasha to take the lead again though.
"Maybe that's why she hangs it on herself? To be crushed by the weight of history." Tasha's grin is mischievous and, more startlingly considering all that's happened, an actual grin. She starts heading back to Kainudy and the tree, swinging the bucket as she walks, like some sort of off brand Red Riding Hood. "Isn't Khyrss her mate? The oldest Waymaker, or the oldest of them is what Charon said. I don't think I was supposed to know that, but we'd already met apparently, he said I 'work for him' and I think he was really disappointed in me. Which, I suppose, I deserve. But, I'm also really tired, and so really annoys me. I'm not immortal like most of you, I'm apparently a lot more fragile."
"From certain perspectives, everyone is immortal, especially when time happens all at once," Galatea offers. "Khryss is more messed up than Kainudy though, being a ghost of a ghost."
"He said about as much. he's not sure what he is exactly, which I can sympathize with. He's a lot less than i am, which I can't, although I now have some kind of End Wolf that's what happened with Kainudy tried teaching through the hammer to the soul method." The way back is uneventful, largely because it's the way they came. Tasha doesn't know this place so well as to take creative paths.
When they get back to the tree and pit, something has changed. For one, there's a head on the ground with a shocked expression. Also wet bit scattered around. But at least most of the dark, ichorous blood is confined to Kainudy's muzzle and chest. She's still in the same position as when Tasha and Galatea left, but there's stuff dripping from her chin now.
Tasha frowns at all of this; she had been hoping to avoid more blood for at least a little while, but is at leats glad she didn't cause it. Her hand goes on her hip, and the bucket goes under her arm. It makes her look like an affronted, if futuristic, farm girl. "And what's all this?! We were gone for, what, ten minutes at most? Who is this? Is this an assassin?"
The head is vaguely familiar - it might that demon that was outside, Sisyphix.
"I'm not surprised, there's probably a bounty or something," Galatea says, looking disgusted. "Maybe they thought she was vulnerable now? We really need to find water."
"Well I guess someone found the strife they were looking for. I hope it was entertaining, little guy." Tasha walks over and picks up the demon head, then places it artfully on a nearby broken tree top so it looks like the demon is a very surprised stick man. She pats the head and turns away. "Do you think I should spread out my shadows to keep guard? I've been learning how to make them, and it might show Kainudy I actually pay attention when I'm not stabbing her. And you know what else?" Tasha gives a thumbs up. "This means I'm a better assassin than a real demon and all those elves."
"You are less predictable I imagine," Galatea says. "I'm not putting this over her if it's just going to stick." She sets the tapestry down someplace.. not sticky. "You can manipulate your shadow?" she asks, and gingerly approaches Kainudy.
"I think so. I did it as a spirit wolf, but that's a lot different than being a physical one. Kainudy was teaching me about it before I asked about astral project and the, um, bad teaching happened, and now here we are." Tasha spreads her hands; here we are. "At least my End Wolf would probably enjoy guarding us with Blackwings. Maybe I can use your tree ... I'll try that while you ask her."
"Use my tree.. for what?" Galatea asks, pausing mid step. "You aren't going to pee on it are you?"
"I did that earlier, I'm fine." It's not entirely clear if Tasha is being serious or not, as she does not change her expression and she's already walking towards the tree. "Kainudy used this to make my shadows fan out. Since my shadows are probably the only part of me that's together and working well, we may as well rely on them. Maybe I can have the domestic versions of me cook us something."
"So you have a shadow kitchen too?" Galatea asks, entering the sand pit to approach Kainudy from the cleanest side. "Kainudy, we need water to put out the fires and clean you up. Where is it available here? Respond."
"There is a pond," the dragon responds in a dull monotone, as if hypnotized. A wing then shifts and stretches to point in a direction.
"I wish that would work on some of my creators. I think Nora would just hit me." Tasha stands near the tree, closer than she'd let herself linger when she'd put Galatea here. She stretches out her hands and wiggles her fingers. "I think I need candles, maybe? Come on, shadows ... "
The shadows always appeared when she stood in the sand.. which is occupied by Kainudy. Some of the stones that they appeared on are still scattered around though. It wasn't clear that any of that was actually necessary or not, however. "I'm a ghost, not sure I like being called a shadow," Blackwings responds in Tasha's mind. The End Wolf is there as well, but silent.
I was told you're actually a piece of a ghost and not a complete soul, so we're both wrong. Anyway, do you and Endy want to head out and keep an eye on the place? We've had at least one demon incursion and as you;ve probably guessed already, we're not in going to be in great shape if I or Kainudy are drawn in to might fighting. The others can come out too, just stay away from the dragon. Meanwhile, Tasha just looks very focused and muzzle-wrinkled.
"I'll walk your dog, sure," Blackwings replies. "I don't trust the others in here, but this place only has two doors." Galatea takes the bucket and heads off in the indicated direction. Which means Kainudy goes back into quiet mode, but seems to be watching Tasha.
Two doors? And why don't you just them, is it because you're a bit wicked? Tasha's own eyes shift to watch Kainudy in turn. Or do you mean this place? Anyway, if either of you find someone that's not me, Thoth, Kainudy, Galatea or Molly, give me a how. Persephone and maybe Charon might show us well, but I don't know what form they'll take. Be nice to them and let me know if they're here. Everyone else ... Everyone else is suspect.
The presences seem to drift off, invisibly, to watch the faerie door and the Dreamlands door. So that just leaves Tasha with Kainudy, who apparently has nothing better to do than watch her. And occasionally lick some of the blood from her muzzle. It can't taste good.
Tasha would be tempted to lick Kainudy's blood right back, as the wolf part of her feels challenged, but the smarter part of her decides that's both not a good idea and she'd have to go get some blood, which is way over there, in the bad place. So instead she just sits on a fallen stone, folds her arms, and returns the stare with a pensive considering sort of look. It's very mature.
"What are you doing?" Galatea asks when she returns with the heavy container of water. "Should we deal with the fire first, or with the dragon before that stuff hardens into a crust?"
"I made my totally-not-shadows go and keep an eye on the exists. If we have more uninvited guests, we should know now." Tasha realizes she just send part of herself to go do things magically, but mainly she just feels she did something very useful and that she'll be excited later, when she feels more, well, more. "There's a dragon turning things in to crust? Oh, you mean Kainudy? I'm not pouring water on her, most things hate water being poured on them."
"We could try to move her to the pond and wash her," Galatea suggests. "Or you could fly over the fire and drop water on it instead."
"I like the playing fire bird idea, you can do the dragon maneuvering," Tasha agrees. She stands up and accepts the bucket, then heads for open space. "Try not to get eaten, please? If that happens I'm just going to run away after leaving a 'I'm sorry, but I'll die' note for Persephone."
"I already regrew my arm," Galatea points out. "And most of the demon body is missing, so she should be full. Be careful of the smoke, and don't fly too high because I have no idea if the sky is real."
"Above the sky is an eternal void; it's just like home." Tasha picks up speed, and then it's lift off time. Soon she's arching back and wondering why it feels like she never flies much anymore, and so blames her Human side as she comes in for a arching pass that should put water to fire and flyer to away from said fire.
The fire is actually quenched by the water. So either they're both real or both imaginary. Tasha could probably fly to the pond as well to refill.
This Tasha does, because landing means having to take off again and, well, why not? It seems like fun and is less ominous than having staring contests with Kainudy.
Each pass shows Galatea and Kainudy getting closer to the pond. The dragon is eerily docile in this state. She also gets a message from the End Wolf that Thoth has returned.
Tasha mentally notes Thoth has returned, hoping he lacks for unfriendly guests while doing it. The fire is slowly worke don over minutes of effort and becomes a game to see how much she can put out at once.
There's not as much as she first feared, since the breaks in the hedges kept it from spreading too far. She can see Thoth heading for the tree, and Galatea undressing to get in the water with Kainudy.
To Tasha's eye all seems peaceful, which strikes her as suspicious, but then actual danger would strike her as even more suspicious, so she supposes there's no helping it. And so she keeps to the fire in what she suspects might be a metaphorical activity.
The fire does not reignite in order to keep her busy though, and returning for more water at this point means being there for the dragon washing. Thoth, meanwhile, is examining Sisyphix's head on a not-quite-stake.
Tasha thus returns to the tree, landing and putting the bucket on the head, so that now it's surprised and has a helmet, which she decides is an improvement. "He found his excitement in the end. There should be a fairy tale about him, one of those lesson-teaching ones. Also, hi." Tasha waves, late and unnecessarily.
"I could not help noticing that when I left there was a dragon and a.. I'm not sure what Galatea could be called. And also there is a small bit of demon spread about. I had not expected to the hunters to arrive before I returned."
"They're off bathing. Kainudy gave the Sisyphinx the chom-chom and I put the head up there because I feel it's the kind of thing he might have been amused with and also it's fun." Tasha rolls her shoulder; she is still a bit sore, what with all the being bitten and sword fighting. "So there's hunters now? I have my not-shadows wathcing the exits and they only reported you."
"Yes, now that the parties involved know that she isn't about to come out and rampage across their world they have naturally decided to see if anyone can use this opportunity to kill her," Thoth notes, without much inflection. "I'm surprised Sisyphix was able to get in though. We'll have to see if the borders are open when the others arrive."
"Mooore kiiilling," goes Tasha, whose sigh is decidedly not mock. She sits on a broken pillar and folds her arms. "I'm not exactly in the best condition to be fighting hordes of, what, elves? Elves and their pets? Monsters? But I will if we need to fight, just be be aware Kainudy and I are both too close to tipping in to our problem states. If you ahve any magic to teach that might help, now's the time for it."
"Normally, we would be protected by Kainudy's restrictions on magic use in this space," Thoth notes, leaning on his staff. "And whatever permissions she's granted to her allies. We can not rely on those still being in effect though. Your most effective means of defense are still your shield and sword, as any dangerous entities will be more spirit than flesh and blood. My own skills are not geared towards combat, and there is a cost for using them, even here."
"I can hide people, although that isn't a guarantee if facing dragons or animals," Galatea offers. "Possibly provide a quick escape."
Tasha sits down on a stump, head on her fist as she clearly enters a thinking mode. "Hmm," she goes, confirming it, "I did come here expecting I might need to protect Kainudy, but I'm just a student and my knowledge of magical means is very limited. If they come in a force greater than our own, we could be in serious trouble. Even fighting could harm us, as Kainudy is being suppressed, I'm barely recovered, and Thoth has his own limitations. And you, Galatea, have admitted you're not much of a fighter." She taps her chin, then reaches in to her coat and pulls out her laser pistol. "And these won't help much, but they're better than nothing. I'm not even sure I can bring myself to manifest the sword as I am."
"The fae are not quick to organize, which is in our favor," Thoth notes. "I think time is running a bit quicker in here as well. You may want to rest for now, Tasha."
"I think I'll do that. Before I do, though, we should decide on the most defensible location, assuming there is one against magic. If it can't be assessed quickly, then Thoth please evaluate the area for our best point of defense. Galatea, you know your mother's magic better than any of us, so try to help out. I'd help, too, but mortality and mental fatigue demand I rest." And so Tasha stands, nodding to everyone. "I'll place my tent near the tree for now, which seems to have at least something like a defense."
"There is iron in the study," Galatea offers. "And silver. It's on the walls though, and I don't know how their presence might affect Kainudy's state. But it could serve as a place to retreat to."
"I will investigate," Thoth notes while Tasha settles down to rest.
"That's good. We should also try to ensure we can flee if it comes down to it." Tasha walks over to her collection of grey futuristic bags and picks one up, which she carries over and puts down. After pressing a button and standing back, the grex rectangle unfolds itself with origami's complexity in to a very serviceable Vartan-style tent. "I'll have my shadows scout. See you in ... In whenever I wake up."
"Tasha," the shadowy whisper of the End Wolf intrudes on Tasha's rest. "Something has entered from the Dreamlands. It is very scary."
Tasha's eyes blink open, her rest having been light and brought by exhaustion more than relaxation. I see. I'll inform the others. keep an eye on it and tell me if it approaches. And so she rises, peeking out just enough to see what's going on around the tent.
Galatea is having a whispered conversation with Thoth, looking worried. Thoth, as usual, has no real expression. Kainudy is still sitting in the sand. The sand itself seems to have been cleaned as well somehow, or else the demon blood evaporated.
Tasha rises to join the others. "We might have a problem, though I think you might know about it? Something has entered from the Dreamlands and my Wolf tells me it's very scary."
"We should probably go meet it then," Thoth says. "Please be prepared to move Kainudy to the secure zone," he tells Galatea.
"Alright," goes Tasha, who moves to join Thoth. Before she heads off, she turns to Galatea and offers, "Hey Galatea?"
"Yes?" the pale woman responds.
"Don't die." And so Tasha gives her a thumbs up and a, if tired, smile. Then she heads off with Thoth to meet this 'very scary' invader.
At the end of the of the colonnade leading to the 'back door', there is a tall figure. She is nominally humanoid, but stands nearly nine feet tall (two of which are taken up by a double-beehive hairdo). Her skin has a cadaverous green pallor to it, and her arms are long and spindly. The greasy black hair that falls to either side of her face make it seem like her mouth (she uses very red lipstick) stretches completely across it. Her arms are long and spindly, ending in long sharp fingers. She's got a large pink bow in the center of her hair, and has a pink blouse above a black dress with a black button up corset. She also has with her a large wicker box with a closed lid, about a meter on each side. She smiles when the pair arrive, showing very sharp, shark-like teeth.
"Secrets," Thoth hails when they're close enough. "Knowledge," the woman greets in return.
"Hey," offers Tasha, with a raised hand of greetings and of limited energy.
The tall ghastly woman looks down at Tasha. "I am the Harlot, God of Secrets in the Dreamlands," she says to her. "I have come to treat with the Queen of Demise."
"I'm Tasha, student of the Queen of Demise. Lady Kainudy is currently indisposed and is not seeing visitors; unauthorized visitors are being strongly encouraged to die." The young woman rolls her shoulders, not threatening, but the action of someone trying to wake up and not certain if this new meeting is one that heralds new violence. "I can take a message, unless my teacher Thoth has a better idea."
"What will it take to make you go away?" Thoth asks the Harlot.
"What are you willing to give?" the ugly woman counters. "I have come to offer the Queen a solution to her problems, and failing that, an alliance."
"Is that box part of the solution?" Thoth asks.
The Harlot pats it, and says, "One solution."
"Either way, she is not ready to meet with anyone," Thoth repeats what Tasha said earlier. He then turns to her and explains, "The Harlot is very powerful in the Dreamlands, as she keeps everyone's secrets. Which she will give out for a price."
Tasha interprets this as 'we probably can't beat her' or else 'it's best not to expend their resources to try and beat her,' which is just as well for Tasha. She's never fought a non-Ogdru'hem deity before, and isn't in the market for new enemies no matter how interestingly deific.
"I see," Tasha replies to Thoth, nodding slowly. She further interprets this as 'including yours,' which is ominous, but outside her immediate problem of fighting an elfin army. "Does this include relams adjacent to the Dreamlands, like this one?"
"I know the secrets of those who have journeyed through the Dreamlands," the Harlot explains. "Although Kainudy has always kept most of hers out of my reach. But not all."
The red woman confirms this includes her own secrets in the Dreamland, such as her soul tempering. "Thank you for explaining to me, ma'am. I am sorry I can't do more for you, but as her student, and as my teacher has said, she is not seeing anyone and I won't make choices for her."
"Then take me to her and I will wait until she is ready," the Harlot suggests.
The winged woman glances at Thoth, brows arched and deferring to his wisdom in denying a literal deity what she wants versus allowing her to see Kainudy in her current state and thereby endangering everyone further.
"Are you willing to help defend this place until you can have your audience?" Thoth asks. "A bounty has been placed, and the Queen of Demise is probably not useful to you dead."
"That would be inconvenient," the Harlot agrees. "Would you have me guard the Dreamlands entry then?" she asks with a toothy grin.
Tasha looks back to the visitor now, brows arched, shifting her weight to one leg. "That seems to be your area of expertise, ma'am. I can't imagine many would want to tangle with you, directly or otherwise. At least, it'd be a good measure of how badly they want to come in here."
"We aren't expecting trouble to come from that direction, unless Nyarlathotep seeks her out as well?" Thoth asks. This makes the Harlot's grin turn even uglier. "I was here first," the Harlot notes coldly.
"Then perhaps it would best for you to guard this gate then, as you suggest," Thoth says, and gives a slight bow before turning away. "Let's check on the other gate, Tasha," he asides.
"That'd be very awkward for me," Tasha admits of Thotep showing up, glancing at Thoth. "Having my sponsors fight and all." She sniffs, taking in a breath, trying to imagine fighting off Nyarlathotep, an army of elves, and this woman. It's all very exhausting to consider, and more so, grim. She's glad when one god takes up defense against the other, and more so, that one side of their two-front battle now appears to be closed. "Yes. Now that we have one entrance to focus on, we can arrange a killing field."
As they pass the study, Thoth says, "The Harlot has been seeking to overthrow Nyarlathotep here for ages. I assume that she believes the Queen of Demise can help with that." The main entry is mostly clear. There is a pile of trash pushed up against one wall. Outside of the garden itself, Kainudy is not big on housekeeping. "You might want to bring Sisyphix's head here, to at least give anyone entering a moment of pause."
"That makes things even more awkward for me, although maybe if he wins he can pass me some useful secrets," the young woman admits as they walk. After taking in the entryway, she nods and begins walking right out again. "I'm on it."
Tasha runs into Galatea and Kainudy on the way, as the woman is slowly leading the dragon along. "What's happening?" Galatea asks when Tasha appears.
"The Harlot showed up; we got her to agree to guard the entrance from the Dreamlands and we're consolidating our defense there, to make a killing field. This will go better with only one entrance to focus our resources on." Tasha walks over to pull the demon-headed scarecrow she made from the ground, laying it against her shoulder like she might shoulder a rifle or a log. "I came to get our 'shop's closed' message."
"A.. prostitute?" Galatea asks in confusion. "A prostitute that scares you death wolf?"
"I think that's just her title. If she's from Terran mythology, she's some kind of apocalypse figure. Whatever she is, she's a god, and a god of secrets, which makes her a very sturdy door between us and them." Tasha scratches her nose and rolls her shoulders. "Anyway, I need to get back. I have something I want to try with Thoth, unless you know how to reach out and draw things to this place?" Her brows go up, questioningly.
"I make fae angry, generally," Galatea says. "And until proven otherwise I probably make gods angry too."
"I was mostly thinking of trying to pull something of mine in from Ymir, something that could help me fight in the condition I'm in. I've had ideas about it and, well, maybe it'll scare the invaders." Tasha thumbs back to Galatea's tree. "I thought maybe you have enough control over this place and Kainudy to expend some energy to pull it in."
"You mean transport something?" Galatea asks. "Where is it? And how massive?"
"On the Dark Horse, which might be a hyperdimensional space. If you talk to the Niss they can probably help you; you can try telling the crew I need it and seeing if they can help at all. Maybe Samael can. It's, uh," Tasha holds out her left hand evenly and above her head, indicating height, "Forty feet tall and a good many tons? The Melchior, my Titan. May as well add another god to the equation."
Galatea just stares for a moment. "I might be able to, but I'd need to use the magic batteries on my ship and the dimensional gate drive," she admits. "I'll have to leave here for my ship, try to get things ready, then head down to Ymir and go to your ship. I've only ever talked to Thoth though.. nobody else would know me. How does it recognize crew to let them in?"
"The Niss are smart; there's several billion to maybe a trillion people assessing you, so I'm sure they'll understand in short order. If not, uh ... " Tasha fishes around, but finds she didn't bring anything especially self identifying. Instead she hands over her coat, revealing her two holstered pistols. "Take this. It's mine. I'll write you a note." And then she does just that, albiet awkwardly with the stick on her arm. She hands it over. It reads:
"Hi it's me. I am still alive, and we have a lot to go over, but right now please help Galatea get Mel to me so I can crush some elves with him. Love, Tasha. PS: Make sure Hake goes on those outings with Katie and pet my cats."
"Alright, can you take Kainudy the rest of the way?" Galatea asks as she puts on the coat and clutches the note.
Tasha eyes the dragon much the way the dragon had eyed her. "She'll eat me. I'll get Thoth," she suggests.
"I'll head out now then," Galatea says, and turns to hurry back towards her tree.
Tasha holds up a finger to Kainudy. "I need you to wait, to wait here, for Thoth." She's tried this with cats, it never works. She hopes Kainudy is more like a ptera, who do actually listen to her, at least most of the time.
The dragon's gaze follows the finger.
Tasha starts walking where the dragon is supposed to go, to see if she follows the finger.
Since she's already on her feet, Kainudy moves forward. Although, Galatea didn't say where she's supposed to be taking the dragon.
"HEY GALATEA," Tasha calls out, or rather yells. "WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE HER AGAIN?"
"Through the.." Galatea starts to call, but then there's a loud POP sound followed by silence.
Oh great. So now Tasha is alone with a dragon who probably wants to eat her while an army is quite possible, and literally, at their front gate. "Leeeets just take you to Thoth, he's not much of a fighter, right? He can sort you out." And so Tasha and finger head back to the god of wisdom.
This works until there's a corner in the hedge, and the dragon suddenly just.. sits down.
Tasha decides the blocked line-of-sight may be to blame, so she tries to angle herself so that she goes around the corner in a wide arc, and therefore her finger is visible longer.
The dragon is still stationary, but watching.
Okay, I need a shadow to go get Thoth and bring him here, Tasha thinks as she watches the dragon, all while syaing, "Up, up we go, lets go visit Thoth, he's very wise, and I'm not, and wouldn't you rather go hang out with him than me? Up, up."
This time the dragon focuses on the scarecrow, specifically the head.
This is dangerous, Tasha remembers what Kainudy did to the owner of the head, and Tasha likely did much worse to the dragon than that demon managed to do. Still, she can't just sit here, there's an army coming and she's the only one equipped to fight it, for however long she can. Tasha lowers the stick and shakes it, "Who wants to chew on demon head? Who does? Come on now Kainudy, help me help you."
This gets her on her feet again, but also elicits a stomach growl. And then she's walking a lot faster towards the head and Tasha.
Expectedly, Tasha is now also moving a lot faster, and towards Thoth. She hopes she's faster than a dragon, because she's about to find out.
As Tasha moves faster, Kainudy breaks into a trot. At least she's not stopping at the corners now.
Tasha is forced to power walk now, being both shorter and lacking in a four legged stride. At least this does remind her of her cats, and in particular, getting them to go places. She considers that she might have also used string, but definitely not her tail, because she needs that. "Allmost theeere."
That spurs Kainudy to suddenly break into a gallop.
And so Tasha has to sprint, because desite her lower half she;s not a horse, nor a deer, nor any kind of fast running animal. "ANY MOMENT NOW HEY THOTH!"
"What are you shouting about?" Thoth asks not turning around.
"ISENTGALATEATOGETMELANDIAMSUPPOSEDTOTAKEKAINUDYSOMEWHEREWHILESHEIISGONEBUTSHEDIDN'TSAYWHEREANDCANYOUTAKEOVERPLEASEINEEDTOWATCHTHEWGATE-" goes Tasha as she rushes by and begins running in a wide circle, holding the stick out to Thoth to take whenever she passes.
"This is not a relay," Thoth says, and takes the demon-on-a-stick. Kainudy ignores it to keep chasing Tasha though.
"THISISNOTIDEAL," Tasha complains as she continues to go in a circle, "ICAN'TFIGHTIFTIREDORDEAD!"
"She is supposed to be in the dungeon chamber," Thoth notes. "It is the most heavily warded."
"UGH," goes Tasha. "YOUKNOWIHATETHATPLACEANDHOWDOIGETHERTOSTOPEVENIFIGETHERTHERE."
"Let her catch you?" Thoth suggests. "Or do you want me try and get her there?"
"BETTERYOUTHANMEINEEDTOACTUALLYFIGHTANDNOTBEEXHAUSTED," is Tasha's well considered answer.
So Thoth taps the bottom of his staff against the stone floor, which causes a loud bell-like tone to ring out. This makes Kainudy stop her chase and focus on Thoth. "Alright, please take the head back now," he asks Tasha.
Tasha immediately hides both the head and her tail, before walking away with deliberate and boring slowness. Also, she's tired now. Her destination is the entryway, to stand guard beside the head until they can set up better defenses.
Thoth keeps tapping his staff every so often to keep the dragon following him, so Tasha knows how far away they are, at least. Until they enter the hidden corridor, no sound escapes from there.
Tasha is just glad that she escaped from there, and she has no desire to go back, not soon, and not ever. The head gets placed in a conspicuous spot in the entryway, right where anyone attempting to head deeper couldn't fail to notice it. She then starts picking up trash to see if any of it would be of use, hoping that by being part of here maybe it's magical and therefore dangerous -- potentially.
Most of it looks imported, unless Kainudy has a secret pizza oven and brewery or distillery hidden somewhere. She doesn't even have a bar, and never seemed to take this stuff beyond the entry hall. There are some paper-back books with lurid covers, strange things that could be anything or else just garbage, and apparently a loose collection of casino tokens and tiny bottles. Mostly there are fabrics that have been used as napkins, some of which give off eye-watering fumes from whatever spicy sauce was used.
"More like the Queen of Junk," Tasha quips as she sorts through things. Finding nothing interesting, and wondering if Kainudy has a real horde somewhere like other dragons, she gives up and walks over to sit beside the severed head. She knows it's not very intimidating, but at least she can conserve her strength for what may come.
"Sure you're up for this?" the head asks. It's using Blackwings' voice though.
"No?" Tasha looks up at the head, sees it's still just a dead head, and goes back to watching the entry. "But here I am anyway."
"You could still be scary," the head suggests. "If we knew what elves are afraid of. But be sure you can fall back to the study, with all that metal plating."
"Maybe I'll just go rip it all off the walls when Mel shows up and get Galatea or Thoth to make a sword or a spear for me. Then I can make elf shish kebab," Tasha offers, making little stab motions with a pointed pointer. "Once the others are back we can discuss strategy and tactics."
The darkness beyond the statues begins to distort a bit. "I think something is coming through," the head warns.
Tasha rises to her feet and the shield manifests on her arm. "Time to be the greeter. Hello, welcome, you're not welcome, our special today is death."
A single figure steps through. He's tall, with long white hair and skin as black as Thotep's, wearing a long robe and cloak made from expensive and exotic looking furs. He has has a lot of jewelry on this fingers, long pointy ears and around his neck. "What are you?" he asks, sounding like a noble. Not the sort of thing to endear himself to Tasha, certainly.
"I'm the official head mounter. If you've come to have your head mounted on a spike, I'm your woman. I see that you are a ma- elf of refined taste, so may I recommend silver, iron, or if you're feeling very self-absorbed, gold." Tasha pats the head on a spike beside herself. "If you're here for anything else, I'm afraid we're closed for renovations."
"You are not what I was expecting," the elf notes, looking around with a bit of disdain, and lingering over the burnt hedges visible from the entry. "I had assumed anyone in here would have been eaten. Where is the dragon?"
"Oh I was eaten, lets no be hasty." Tasha holds her free hand out, expressively, someone making a point. "That would be hasty. A better question, then, is who are you and what do you want? One of those assassin-types I suppose, what with the," here Tasha shifts her voice to mimic the man in a bad impression, ""Where is the dragon" question?"
"Do I look like someone in need of a bounty?" the man asks. "As for who I am, would it matter? It is unlikely you would have heard of me, or have any way of verifying my identity. I'm merely trying to ascertain the situation here, given how some seem to be worried about the Queen of Demise actually leaving this place. I'm not seeing rampant destruction here though. Not a dragon's worth, certainly."
"I did do my very best to clean up, I'll have you know." Tasha pats the severed head again. "Isn't that right, Head of Staff?" She grins a little at her own joke, but never takes her eyes off the newcomer. "But do mind where you stand, we have the delivery of one angry elven army at some point in the future, and I'm afraid the delivery personnel might not be cautious in their arrival nor distribution of the goods."
"So then, what is the situation here?" the dark elf asks.
"Complicated," is Tasha's answer. She watches the elf, glad to have avian eyes when she needs to stare at someone and hopefully make them feel scrutinized, judged, and hunted.
"Can you elucidate a bit more on that?" the man asks. "I'm used to complicated. I've managed to double-cross myself, allegedly."
"I can't trust an untrustworthy person, and by your own account against yourself, you're clearly not to be trusted," Tasha insists, arching her brows. "But just so you know, I am the Queen of Demise's apprentice. Do bear that in mind."
"What do you apprentice at then?" the man asks.
"Destruction of demons and gods," Tasha replies without hesitation, or even falsehood. It'd sound like hubris if she didn't know it for the truth; even then it feels rather comical given her state, but still, it's no joke and several greta beings lie dead in her wake. "I prefer the Ogdoad and their ilk, but I'll fight anything with enough reason to."
"That fits," the man agrees. "The dragon is known for biting deities and demons. Have any shown up yet?"
"A few, you know how they are. But, and not to be rude, but I'd really like it if you went away now. You see I suspect you may be scouting or spying, aside from your obvious statement to the fact, and the longer you remain the longer I am forced to consider how much you know and how destroyed that ought to make you be. So, if you please, be a good guest and don't overstay your welcome." And so Tasha makes a shooing motion.
"So, the dragon is definitely alive but in no condition to be a threat, since she has her apprentice standing guard," the man claims. "And I do not hear the distinct sounds of a god being chewed on. Thank you for your patience," he adds, and turns to exit back through the vortex.
Tasha sniffs disdainfully herself, once the man is gone. "Well hopefully that was nothing. I probably should have just killed him, but I tell you Blackwings, I'm a little tired of violence at the moment."
"You seem just tired in general," the demon head replies. "The pizza did not help energize you. Maybe you should take a bite of Galatea. She probably tastes like ice-cream."
"I do feel very tired in general." Tasha goes back to sitting down, if that will help. She's beginning to understand why all these ancient powers, dragons, and other such beings take such long naps, sometimes sealing themselves away fro an age. She feels like she could sleep for an age. "I already feel bad enough about Galatea, so I won't bite her. I just hope I cna reunite them in some way that doesn't involve blood, murder and tears. At least, not negative blood, murder, and tears. Postive blood, murder, and tears."
"Like all proper family reunions," the head agrees. "Just be there ready with the bandages."
There's another disturbance already brewing in the vortex, and it seems more disturbed than the previous one.
"That's why I'm here, to fix things." Tasha pats the impalement pole. "Speaking of things and fixing ... " She nods towards the vortex and once again begins to stand, shield appearing.
Something large barrels through and nearly runs Tasha down. "WHY ARE STANDING IN THE WAY?" it bellows.
The sword appears without Tasha even really thinking about it, such is her surprise. She staggers aside, raising the weapon and shouting, "HALT OR DIE!"
"Which one, I don't have time for both," the dragon says. It's not too big, but is very blue with gold filigree patterns. "Don't I know you?" it asks.
"Then halt, and die in a moment if it comes to that." Tasha walks to face the dragon, sword and shield ready on the defensive, but not yet the attack. "Blue with gold patterns. Interesting. Do you know me? Are you a remote One of the dragons from before?" She squints; before is rather a hazy prospect these days when 'now' is a bit blurry and challenging.
"You made a shield out of it? I'm pretty sure it wasn't one when I gave it to you," the dragon claims, and tries to go around Tasha. "Now, I'm here to sort out my grandmother. Finally. I should it have done when I had her in stasis, or scraped her up off of Vorhoun.."
"I'm feeling some temporal dissonance here, so lets slow down and talk a little more. Kainudy is safe and being looked after and guarded, if that will delay you, but bear in mind I am standing guard here, so if you value Kainudy's health and safety you'll respect I am currently one of her guardians and take intruders seriously. Deadly seriously, in fact. So please halt and wait a moment while we talk." Tasha waggles the sword at the space in front and off to the side, so she can keep an eye on the vortex. "So you claim she's your grandmother and you gave me the Blue. But I don't recognize you."
"I'm Persephone," the dragon claims. "Oh right.. back then you saw my crystal remote. That was.. a few centuries back for me." Now that she's forced to stop, she looks around. "This is where she ended up after running away?"
"A lot of people say things like that. If it were me, I might start feeling bad about where I lived." Tasha squints, leaning in. "You sound very different, and I don't see any crystals. Did you get over crystals? Where's Charon? You're also a lot more excitable than I remember."
"I just got a panicked call over the Emergency channel from.. I suppose she's my aunt. Or cousin. Lothrhyn, who is supposed to be dead. And Charon is off getting into trouble, most likely. You made the Yellow one into a sword? Who showed you how to do things like that? Seems irresponsible."
Tasha lowers her weapon. "Um, well, hi again?" She seems at a loss for a moment, not really having expected to meet Persephone again this way, as a door guard after her grandmother drive her more than a little insane and after a rampage that nearly destroyed them both. "Galatea sent the message. There was a, um, problem with Kainudy's instruction of me, and, well, I went on a rampage afterwards. And then she did. So, it turns out we're a little alike in that regard."
Persephone looks at Tasha. "You stabbed her with the sword, didn't you?" she asks bluntly.
Tasha holds her hands up in a helpless gesture. "She tried to teach me what it was like to have your soul eaten, after she'd tempered my soul. By eating it. I-I ... " And so she just stands there, helpless, trying to manage this person who fixed her and who she's now disappointed, and failing at it.
"Irresponsible," Persephone pronounces. "All around. Why don't I ever get to be irresponsible? Hecate turned a star inside-out trying something crazy, and everyone laughed," she grumbles. "Take me to her, Tasha."
Tasha doesn't say anything, but turns around and begins walking. As she remembers she's supposed to be on guard still, she hurries along.
Tasha leads as far as the study, and then stops and points. "There. Thtoh is with her, I'm- I'm not going down there."
"Why aren't you going down there?" Persephone asks. "Where is Galatea? Who is that horrible looking woman way down at the far end of the garden?"
"Galatea went to fetch my Titan at my request. We have an incoming army, most like. The woman is Harlot, a god of the Dreamlands come to speak with Kainudy, but we managed to get ehr to guard the Dreamland entrance. And there is- It's down there. It's where, where it happened, and I am not going down there and you shouldn't make me, unless you want a repeat of what came before." And so Tasha steps back, away from that place, and turns to watch the entrance. "I'm supposed to be on guard. I'm the only one who can really fight, here."
"I've fought plenty of times," Persephone says, and sighs. "This is going to get ugly. Kainudy's soul has been held together by scar tissue for.. how long has she been here, do you know? Add a century to that. I'll send Thoth out, if he hasn't been eaten."
"He's pretty tough, I'm sure he's fine. And I know. The others told me, and so did ... he. The Null. Khryss. He intervened, when Galatea brought me here after my soul splintered, and it seemed like we were too late and couldn't stop her meltdown. He ejected me, but I came back to try and fix what I could. You can probably thank him for that, too." Tasha holds her hands out, at a bit of a loss. "It's amazing any of us are still here. I'm glad you could make it."
"Yes, don't go anywhere," Persephone says. "I may need extra fingers to plug holes." Then she's heading down towards the dungeon.
"I need to stand--" But Tasha just watches Persephone go. She sighs; instead of going back or staying here she splits the difference and moves to keep an eye on the entryway from the entrance to the complex, glad she has keen vision at a distance. And so she folds her arms and leans against the old building, wondering how she got here.
At least it isn't a long wait before Persephone returns, with an apparently unconscious Kainudy floating behind her. "I don't suppose you know the spot in here where she's the most grounded?" Tasha gets asked.
Tasha blinks, pushing off against the wall and standing straight before turning to Persephone. "The tree. That's where she went when she was dying," she answers, thumbing back behind herself down the way. "Do you need me to show you where it is? I can have my shadows watch the entrance, but it will leave the entrance unguarded."
"I didn't see an army on my way in, so there should be some time yet," Persephone reasons. "Please take me to the tree."
"This way, ma'am." Tasha isn't sure why she defaults to polite and military when she's stressed, drained, but trying to do her best; she suspects it has something to do with Nora, and her time as a JEF cadet. Back then, she had been doing her very best, making her wonder how she ended up like this as she walks along. "I don't see Thoth with you, is he alright?"
"He wasn't bleeding too badly," Persephone says. "Actually, I think he's poking in the old cells. I hadn't realized there were so many, but he reasonably assumed some might still have bits of Kainudy hidden in them. I helped her break free of the conditioning Daniarood was using to suppress her power.. and as soon as we left, she went right back to suppressing it herself." She studies Tasha for a moment, then asks, "Are you afraid of yourself, Tasha?"
"Right now?" Tasha's brows go up, her eyes a little wide, and more than a little lost. "I'm scared of a lot of things right now, including myself. I hadn't realized I was so weak, or so easily broken. Or maybe I always had, and it was all in how I was able to keep myself from truly realizing it that let me push on where others' wouldn't. Of course, you saw what happened to me when I pushed too far in body, and I guess Kainudy got me for mind and soul." She looks away, studying the road ahead a moment, then behind the two of them, looking for enemies, looking for something, perhaps, that she'd lost. "Now I don't know. I'm not sure who or what I am anymore, if I can keeping going. Khryss had to remove part of my soul for me even to continue on this far ... "
"Well, you probably would have figured out how to sequester things given time," Persephone notes, looking at the surviving statues. "You almost sound as if you blame your hubris for it all. It's not anything you should ever feel guilty over, or use to judge your past self. Or you'll end up with a garden like this yourself someday. There will always be mistakes, or bad things happening. Take them as learning opportunities and move on."
Tasha considers this, long and hard. She studies one of the few people in the multiverse that know her, for it was Persephone who put her soul back together, when she was destroyed. She's not entirely sure what to say about the advice; there's an impact, but she's still sussing it out. So to fill the space she remarks, "I'd like to think I'd build something different than this," gesturing at the landscape around herself, " ... for the pieces and the shadows that dwell in me. My Sasha and my End Wolf deserve better than a graveyard." She does look more positive at least, in the nuance of ear angle and tension in her face. A bit less burdened.
"My grandparents overcompensated when they created my species," Persephone notes, turning where Tasha indicates at the memorial to Cythrawl. "Kainudy is over-protective. She doesn't want anyone making the same mistakes as her, even though making mistakes is important to growth. She was terrified when she saw what we could do in a fight, after feeling guilty about dragging us into it. She tends to think she knows better, but that's just a delusion. Try to avoid that too."
"If I've learned anything in all this it's how little I know, and how fragile my being is. I don't know much of anything, really." The walk's relaxing for Tasha. She'd been looking forward to seeing Persephone again some day, although not like this. It's a relief that the elder being doesn't seem to blame her or hold her accountable, at least not overall. Tasha supposes that when surrounded by ancient beings, she's really just another child, and for once in her life that comes as a relief. She's a child playing at the games of adults, of course there will be problems. And that she somehow made headway, that makes her proud, help or not. "If she believes that, then why did she subject me to having my soul eaten? She said she couldn't endure it, and that it destroyed her daughter and her mate. Why did she think i could, I'm just ... Well, you know."
"Honestly? She was probably trying to scare you," Persephone guesses. They've reached the tree and the nearby sand pit. She floats Kainudy over it. "When something scares her, she thinks others should be scared of it too. Your soul has been hardened, I can tell. Or she was trying to scare you out of a course she didn't want you to go down, for whatever reason. Her time in faerie has made her very good at manipulation, or at least it did, once upon a time, before she got damaged."
"I think it broke me," Tasha admits, finding it surprisingly easy to admit to Persephone. Perhaps, she considers, once someone has glued your soul back together, obfuscation and evasion seem -- and are -- a bit pointless. Such an arrangement allows for unfettered honesty and admittance, which the young woman finds refreshing, especially right now. There's no extra burden to it, direct and free expression without self-conciseness. "I don't thinks he understood how I kept going against the ineffable, and it made me realize certain things about myself that caused deep shame and made it very hard to believe in myself, or anything. She was right that it would scare me, but not how far I'd connect the fear, how I'd connect the weakness in me to everyone I know, to every mortal. I lost faith and begun to collapse. Galatea said I was bleeding darkness when she found me, and she had to do to me what she did to Kainudy. She said she couldn't handle what happened to me or Kainudy and had to excise it." The young woman heaves a sigh, head shaking, hand pushing back her hair. "Fear of endings and limits. I think it's about fear of endings and limits. For her, and for me."
Persephone sits and looks at her floating grandmother. "Facing your limits is always scary, especially if you weren't looking for them in the first place. Kainudy is going to be very very upset with me when I'm done with her. But, if she makes it through she can probably teach you more about how to deal with entities like Hastur and Thotep. She thinks like them. Which is one of the reasons she still scares me. I mean.. she once sent two friends, and Charon's remote on a minor errand on an alien world knowing that it would somehow escalate into a diplomatic incident that would bring specific rulers to deal with just because she wanted something from them. That's how these sort of people think all the time."
"I expected it from Hastur and Thotep, but Kainudy caught me off guard. It's hard to think ill of an old dragon huddled under a blanket, leaving in a world of her own regrets. I used to give her hugs, because I thought she needed them. I," Tasha pauses, as now she, too, needs to sit down. She drops herself down on a stump and leans forward, hands between her legs, wings mantled. "I had been planning to bring Galatea back to her so they could make up. I wanted to see her be happy, and eventually, I wanted that for Galatea, too. And then what was supposed to be a lesson turned in to this," and so she untwists a hand to gesture around her. "It turns out having the worst thing that can happen to you is the worst thing that can happen to you. The results seem really predictable in hindsight."
"There's almost always something worse though," Persephone says. "Those are usually things that happen to people you care about though. Alright, this will probably get weird once I start. I don't know how stable this world is when-" Persephone doesn't get to finish that thought, because there's an explosion behind them at that moment. There's no heat, but lots of wind and pressure.
Tasha instinctively ducks down, hands to her knees, ears flat, wings down. She's then up in a heartbeat, right hand on one of her guns, eyes scanning in the direction of the explosion. "Was that it? Did you do that?"
Behind them, between the sandpit and the tree, is the hunched over shape of Melchior, just as he's posed when having to fit in the hangar of Dark Horse. Galatea is there at his knee, looking frazzled.. and for some reason Sam is with her.
Tasha throws her hands up in the air. "My robot!" She exclaims, sounding excited and maybe a little manic. "Now this is looking like a fair fight!" She shoots Persephone a thumbs up. "I had Galatea go fetch Mel so that I could be a one-woman army in fact rather than bluff. Can you make me a twenty-foot iron sword? A spear will work, too. And a shield. Then I can give you the time you need to reboot Kainudy."
"I'm not a foundry," Persephone replies, eying the giant mechanical hyppogrif. "Can't you just use your regular sword and shield?"
"Elves hate iron or some-such. I suppose enough of high-tech metals and composites will do just as well, if there's enough of them. I'm going to go climb inside before something else happens." Tasha turns and waves to Galatea as she approches. "Good job! Persephone is here, why don't you say 'hi' to your niece and help her help Kainudy." her eyes then dart to Samael. "And how did you manage to talk your way in to coming? Did anyone else sneak aboard?"
"I was the one aboard Dark Horse at the time," Samael claims. "You wouldn't want someone to just make off with your boyfriend without me coming along, would you? Besides, this girl has me curious."
"I hope I didn't just destroy my ship," Galatea says. "Well.. probably just the dimensional gate system.. oh, Persephone!" She sort of stumbles towards the sapphire dragon.
"I do hate when people steal my boyfriends," Tasha agrees, giving Mel the once over to ensure transportation hasn't damaged him any, "And Galatea does that, even if she probably doesn't mean to. Anyway, we probably have a lot of elves, and maybe faeries and dragons inbound to take this place, which I plan to stop. Feel like beating up some fae? Oh, and the Harlot is here, so maybe avoid the aft exit."
"I know about her," Sam says. "This place is weird. I'll let you lead the way in your giant armor."
"That I can do. I'll check on Galatea later; I'm sure Persephone can handle things." Tasha gives Samael a nod, giving him time to clear off before she breaks in to a spring around the robot, until eventually she's airborn and landing stop the robot. After hitting the hatch she slides in, climbs in to the cockpit, and slaps the arm rests. "Lets do it, Mel."
"Where are we, and what are we about to do?" Melchior asks while standing. At least everything seems to be working.
"We're in some sort of pocket universe created by an ancient dragonoid being who'se mental and spiritual states impact the shape and stability of the realm. This realm will soon be under attack by fae elves and their forces. We are supported by those present here, a purple fae named Molly, and an actual god named 'Harlot'. We will be defending the entryway portal for extra-planar incursion." Tasha decides it all sounds a bit insane when she tries to explain it from someone built in the 'real' world, or perhaps like she'd stepped out of her life in to a holovid, but real it is, at least to everyone here. how real it is in general she thinks she may never know. "I know it's hard to swallow but remember that old Terran saying about sufficiently advanced technology being like magic? Well it turns out some of it really is magic."
"I do not know if my armor is proof against magic," Melchior notes. "Do we get to use one of the dragons as a weapon?"
From the elevated vantage, Tasha can see Thoth near the study, and Sam.. looking like a large two-headed Korv for some reason.
"Good question." The giant robot moves, its approach felt well before Tasha directs it to say in a rather booming voice, "Now's your chance for and magical advice or donation. Mel here's great in our universe, but he wasn't built for this. At least ... " Tasha realizes she isn't exactly right about that, the Melchior was constructed to see if a mortal could generate vril, " ... Um, under standard modes he's not built to handle magic. We're still getting the, uh, special mode to work."
"If the armor is an extension of you, manifest your shield," Persephone suggests.
"Good idea." Tasha holds out the two giant hands, flexing them, and then she shifts her mind just so and ...
It's a bit like her usual shield, and bit more like a shaard. The difference is that it isn't split into two halves in order to have two swords, so she's got one full shield and one full sword, which also looks shaard-like. But against ground-bound opponents it's at a disadvantage, unless she can get to be more spear-like. This may be a limitation based on what sort of weapons Melchior knows about.
Tasha still thinks it's very impressive, even if it's not exactly what she needs. The machine seems to look at these magical constructs, turning them this way and that. "Useful for an opponent my side, but it's going to be hard to stab a soldier on the ground. Lets try the sword." She's in good enough spirits to manifest the sword, that feeling positive is necessray to manifest such negativity is a irony not lost on her. One hand is held towards the sky and she tries to bring the sword in to exietence.
This time it's more like her 'traditional' looking sword, just yellow. Unlike the regular style one, this version seems to connect to the arm of the Titan, leaving the hand free. "I do not sense these manifestations, but they are visible to me," Melchior notes. "Are they holograms?"
"You can see them?!" Tasha had not anticipated this; she didn't think the Melchior's AI could perceive purely magical constructs at all, which reiterates what she knows about the AI, that is it alive, and perhaps even has a soul of its own. "That's amazing! I didn't think you could, they're usually not perceivable by artificial intelligence. These are magical constructs, they're extensions of my soul and eldritch power of both Persephone down there -- the blue dragon with filigree -- and Hastur. Congradulations Mel, you're a magical Titan now, and maybe a little bit of a Wizard."
"The nature of this environment may play a role," Melchior notes "Where will we engage the enemy forces?"
"Lets head there now." The giant begins to move. "We're heading over to the entrance, now! Good luck with Kainudy, Persephone!" Given the giant's size and stride, it's moving away rather quickly, though it does pause a the narrow confines of the walkway and hedge maze, where it can be heard to say, "You know what? Kainudy has too many mazes in her head already. Out of my way, decorative overgrowth." And then the Titan simply plows through everything except the statues -- as they would be rude to the departed -- on its way to the entryway.
Thoth is already there, standing with his cadeusis. Sam is presumably airborne, and at least hasn't landed on Melchior's head or anything yet.
"I see you have your sword and shield still," Thoth addresses Tasha.
"I imagine you never expected to be standing here with the Titan you constructed, and with me at the helm no less," Tasha remarks to Thoth as she gets her machine in position. The two are certainly imposing; a deity from Terra's past in fully glory and a forty-foot tall statue with a shield of Blue and a sword of Yellow, each large than a small vehicle. "I gave the Magi some thought as I walked over here. I think I realize now why I could never get the system to work. It was never about me exactly, mortal souls can't use really use Vril. It's about Mel. He's an immortal soul. It was for me to make it, and for him to use it, and together, I think, that's how it would work. Meditation, generation, full depth, go."
"Possibly," Thoth says. "Or it requires a pilot with some magical ability to begin with. I had intended to select and train the pilots myself before creating the Magi, but that is where I failed to produce results."
"Do I count as a pilot with magical ability? We have some time, I could try it now?" The great machine turns to look down at its creator. "By the way Mel, if you can see him, that's your creator. Although I believe he was using even older data to make you, so your origins may be even more exotic than having been made by the Hermes and Thoth from Terra mythology."
"So, is he nicer than Horus?" Melchior asks.
"I don't know if this is the best time to try anything," Thoth replies. "I've no doubt there will be turmoil soon, either from invaders or from Kainudy as Persephone peals away her shell."
In the cockpit Tasha makes a wavy-handed 'eh' gesture. "Kind of? They're both very direct, but Thoth is more bookish and cold to Horus's fire. Thoth is Horus's son, or creation, a part of Horus, so I suppose it all makes sense. Anyway, he's nice in his own way, and he teaches me." The Titan nods. "We can try later, if there is a later."
That's just as well, as the first intruders come through the vortex. Or fall through, trying to kill one another. More begin to pour though, but seem largely intent on fighting each other for the moment. While some of the elves are of the dark variety, others aren't, so armor and weapons seem to be the best way to distinguish them. As before, the Seelie sort are wearing shiny silver armor and have stylish swords and daggers. The Unseelie seem dressed more for blending in with nature, and their wooden staves are stand up to the blades just fine. There are other varieties, wielding axes and maces and big claws and teeth as well. No dragons or giants yet at least.
"HEY WHICH ARE WE KILLING AGAIN, THE SEELIE OR UNSEELIE ONES? OR BOTH?" And until Tasha knows which it is, neither are getting past. The Titan lowers in to a combat ready position, shields forward, sword over the head and pointed straight forward. It's unsettling to behold, seeing a building-sized being prepare for war in the same manner as a man.
"Keep any of them from entering the garden," is Thoth's advice. Sam really does perch on Mel's shoulder now. "Watch for spells."
"The visible kind, sure," the machine promises. Tasha isn't sure hot to watch for the invisible kind, except that there might be chanting, circles, and a wide variety of supernatural special effects. "No one's getting past me if I can help it. Sam, alert me to spellcasters if you can, and deal with anyone who manages to slip past. I can't relocate easily without leaving Thoth to deal with an army alone."
"That guy in dark robes who isn't fighting is a mage," Sam points out the figure who just entered. He's a pale elf, but already has glowing energy in his hand as he strides through. He doesn't miss seeing Melchior of course, and fires off his spell in a ball of violet energy towards the Titan.
The Blue shield comes up even as the Yellow sword vanishes, the hand that had been holding it ripping a boulder-sized chunk of stone form the surrounding structure, which the Titan hurls with full-force around the protective barrier.
The shield deflects the magical bolt, and people scatter from the boulder. Then the ground shakes, just before a wave of rage and grief washes over Tasha. The elves seem least affected (and Thoth and Sam show no signs of noticing at all) while more beastly opponents look stunned. But following the way, the temple is replaced by an actual battlefield, complete with smoke, the dark of night, an army of fae creatures and the sounds of rifle and artillery fire. The army appears behind the one Tasha is more interested in, and it does have dragons it. Spells are flying, but all seem to aiming for something behind Tasha at least.
Tasha can feel the End Wolf stir. Do you want out? I can handle things here. Blackwings, you too? And anyone else? The Titan doesn't appear to move, but its pilot feels the restlessness of the wave, the slight boiling of blood, and a hunger to fight. yet the pilot also remembers what happened the last time she lost control, and so holds back, and holds the line. "That was Kainudy, wans't it?" Even as she asks, she beholds the battlefield, having wondered if the pocket universe would start to warp even as they fought. She's particularly concerned with the spells shooting overhead, but can't turn to trace them. "The arcing fire, are they aiming at Kainudy, or Harlot? Thoth, if Persephone needs support, can you go shield her?"
"They are aiming quite a bit higher," Melchior reports. "Although we are taking small-arms fire, it is not sufficient to cause any damage. The target of the new army is behind us." The first armed group is in disarray at the moment.
"The forward army is disorganized; lets press the advantage. Keep an eye out for whatever it is they're targeting behind us, especially if it's Persephone, Kainudy, and Galatea. We don't have a choke point anymore, so we may as well get mobile." And so the great machine begins forward, its once empty hand raising until the Yellow sword flashes in to existence, then it drops forward as the machine breaks in to a run for the edge of the battle line, hoping to charge their disorganized rear and so break them.
The 'new' army rushes past, which leaves the original one more exposed. The new army was very mixed, but of a single purpose, however it was enough to shock the originals to stop fighting each other and looking Tasha and Thoth again. Thoth has his back to them though, watching the other army.
"Where are they going?! I can't hold two armies!" Knowing she can't very well stop and turn around without leaving herself exposed, and therefore dead, Tasha pushes on to her original task. "Thoth! The first army is coming around! Either retreat to follow the new ones or turn around! Sam, take off and pick off mages and stragglers, we'll deal with the new army when we can." And with that the Titan's engines flair to life, and the run becomes a sprint, and then it's lifting off and arcing around to charge down the length of the enemy skirmish line with its Yellow sword extended and shield up.
"Tasha," Thoth says, his voice coming across very clearly. "This is a memory. All the same, turn around and hunger behind your shield."
"Tsk." Armies, magic, and now illusions. The Titan slows and drops from the air, digging in and hunkering down behind its shield, turning to face whatever the real enemy happens to be.
It's distant, and there is a lot smoke. The silhouette of a city outlined in flames is mostly clear, and myriad motes of light fly towards a figure towering above it. Wings that too wide, and a head too high up above the ground. No animal should stand a kilometer tall. The dragon opens it's mouth, which is filled with white flame. It's not hard to tell what's about to come next.
"This is a hell of a memory," Tasha complains in that way combatants often do when things grow ridiculous. The machine hunkers down further, retracting wings, closing exhaust ports, and momentarily shutting off any intake and exposed destructible sensor, with visuals going off at the last second. "Ready emergency recovery Mel, this could be really bad. Deploy oxywater."
The cockpit fills with the inertial dampening fluid as something more like a beam of plasma that fire passes overhead. It sweeps in an arc, causing a massive explosion in the distance behind Melchior.
And so the machine whips around, trying to bring the shield to bear against whatever shockwave might comes from the detonation. Figthing is one thing, and a magical army another, but now it feels like she's an outsider that popped in to a science fiction war movie!
"This is the Battle of Vorhoun, I believe," Thoth repors, also taking shelter behind Melchior. "One of the worse days of Kainudy's life. And things in here are real enough to effect us."
Once the shockwave passes, the first army Tasha was dealing with get back up on their feet.
"So we're battling an army and bad memories and regrets? I can't even handle my own regrets!" Tasha none-the-less shields Thoth and herself, the projections for possible impact plots and advisement on the best stance and adjustment of the shield playing out in her mind in real time as she moves to adjust. She's thusfar avoided Full Depth in case their enemies can disable or assault her or Mel's mind individually, as a backup measure and to ensure she can maintain the Sword and the Shield, and it's been enough, and is enough now, but she wonders how soon it won't be.
When the shockwave passes, the Titan rises. It's still off to the side where it'd begun its charge, and Tasha doesn't want to give the enemy a chance. "Get clear, I'm going down the battle line!" The closed ports open and the engines roar to life ...
The fae forces are still recovering from the shockwave, but Tasha can see the glimmer of some sort of magical shields of their own. But then Melchior is off the ground, wings spreading.
Tasha has learned there is an ebb and flow to combat, and that failing to take advantage of an enemy's weakness can be as detrimental as not defending your own. On a whole, she's become more defensively minded, except when she looses it, and then all bets are off. She hopes she's reading the battlefield correctly now as the Melchior hurtles towards the battle line with Yellow and regular composite blades extended outward, its own blue shield held in front to deflect magical counter attack. She supposes back on Sinai and Abaddon this would be a 'calvary charge,' something she learned in the Winged Citadel can be devastating.
With so much going on as she nears the battle line the red woman decides she's reached mortal capacity and shifts up a level, in to Surface Depth. She'll need Mel's help dealing with any split-second -- or less -- corrections and adjustments, and to ensure the charge has maximum effectiveness.
During the transition, the shield and sword flicker briefly before stabilizing. But now Tasha is more aware of the terrain around her, which is mostly broken buildings. The fae are trying to get out of the road and into some of that cover, but only the ones actually near the fringes of the debris have time to move. Those nearer the center won't be able to dodge the charge. It helps that Tasha's shield isn't hindered by debris itself, so she can fly fairly low.
This is exactly what Tasha does. She doesn't try to over-extend by going for those too deep in cover, but aims for those whom she has a reasonable chance at striking. With the enemy battle line in disarray and the loss of significant numbers, order and internal structures break down, further weakening an army. She really was paying attention in class; at least, usually. The only adjustment she makes is to rotate the shield as she passes to ensure she can block behind herself on passing, shifting the field around as needed for best coverage.
Big shield beats little shields, and those stuck in the run are flung about as if hit with a snowplow. Only a few of those that made it to cover attempt to fire at Melchior, but firing off a spell isn't quite the same as firing a bullet, so they're unable to compensate for the Titan's speed. The force of its wake is enough to cause collateral damage.
Blades are extended in optimal patters to sweep the battle line with projected effectiveness. With Surface Depth, Tasha can engage in complex melee maneuvers that wouldn't have been possible otherwise, such as directing multiple limbs to different activities, not possible with the Human-based brain alone. The Yellow sword is there, the shield arm knicks and cuts where its shaard can reach without compromising efficient. At several points she cleaves building load bearing structures estimated to cause structural failure on those taking refuge inside. It's violence by the numbers.
The first pass is over quickly, since the fae haven't really had time to spread out much since this battleground appeared. They also aren't acting like soldiers should.. at least, not all of them. The elves specifically don't seem to be following any sort of chain of command, but the creatures near them follow orders. After Melchior reaches the end of the line, the bigger creatures begin to filter into the space that was just cleared. One of them is nearly as big as Melchior and appears to be made of rock.
Tasha begins an assessment of the rock giant's capabilities. If is slow and it can only hurl projectiles, she believes avoiding it and picking off enemies beyond its range is more effective. Locking her Titan in melee combat in the middle of the enemy battle line with spells raining down from all side evaluates as overwhelming, and so she goes with her first idea and will return to the rock monstrosity when she is freer to do so. New targets spread out before her, and she looks for individuals who may be commanding beasts, or engaging in spellcraft that is neither defensive nor offensive, but may be communicative. Knowing how the enemy arranges its battle line and maintains communication ahs become top priority, as it is far easier to fight disorganized, scattered, and panicked individuals than those compelled by artifice and ordered by instant communication and leadership.
It takes thermal imaging to spot the enemy forces, and only when they move. Although a few seem to be stationary, so may be injured. Not all of the creatures show up this way though. But in general, those that can move are continuing towards the direction of the main battle, which is also the direction Persephone and the others were in before everything changed. Thoth is standing atop the remaining wall of a collapsed building, and is looking in the opposite direction.
The rock monster isn't doing much of anything, unless it's just there as a distraction. Some of the other big ones can be seen following the rest, unable to really hide themselves.
Once again Tasha laments her Titan's lack of ranged weapons; at best she can throw chunks of debris at relatively short distances, with range increasing the chance an enemy can evade the projectiles. So she does what she can, taking out who she can, and never sticking to one place long enough to let the enemy gather on her position. To this end she lands now and then to make a concentrated attack on ground forces as she tries to isolate monsters where cover is good and escape is available, and so whittle down an army.
Tasha does, however, keep an active sensory assessment towards the direction Thoth is looking, to ensure she's not caught unaware again by 'background events'.
Sometimes, Tasha just needs to be visible to cause damage. There are still other forces out there, and they have rifles and artillery. The accuracy of the cannons isn't that good, but it does keep those around her disoriented. A proximity alert goes off just as Thoth says, "Anchor yourself." Either Melchior is really good at picking up his voice in the midst of battle or Thoth is using some sort of trick.
Tasha takes cover in a crater full of still-intact foundation structures that evaluate as durable, using the land to reduce exposure and to make the best use of the shield by hiding beneath it. The sword vanishes as the Titan kneels for better stability, one hand reaching to grab hold on a deeply-set foundation extension that has managed to survive whatever obliterated the building above. "Prepare for temporary system shutdown; close exhausts, mantle heat sinks and seal engines."
The missile alert goes off, and there's the briefest flash of something passing nearby at roof level, heading towards the center of battle. The sonic boom takes several seconds to catch up, and with it comes a hurricane of debris.
Tasha wonders if that was a nuclear device, or something more obscure. She has time to reflect that this battle is a lot like a simulation, except it's real, except also that simulations seemed more real than this pan-universal battlefield that exists in a pocket plane, which may as well be a kind of dream. She starts to review what she knows about deities and control, how sanity is evaluated by knowing reality, except that with full control of reality reality and sanity become conflated and incestuous, but stops herself before she can get lost in thought.
With the detonation passed the Titan rises enough to survey the battlefield, trying to estimate the damage and risk to itself and what it is supposed to be guarding.
The main battlefield is obscured in smoke now, but parts of the garden are beginning to appear again as well, so whatever this episode was it may be ending.
Tasha takes the opportunity to filter through sensors to try and pierce the haze, and if she can, see if the enemy can do likewise. At the same time she brings the Titan out of temporary seal and starts the engines up, keeping down until everything is online and she's ready to relocate again.
The ruins fade away, and the garden is back. Tasha can even see Kainudy floating in the air as Persephone works on her. The giant rock monster is nowhere to be seen though, so it may not have survived the last shockwave. The moment of 'normality' is a brief one though, as columns of bone begin to rise up out of the ground.
Uncertain whether the bone is from the enemy or Kainudy's nightmares, the Titan stands and readies itself for battle. With the landscape significantly changed and distance re-arranged, she opts to back track to as to put herself back as the center of their battle line, such as it is. The garden and the surrounding structures reduced mobility, but increase available choke points, and the relocation is part of taking advantage of that fact.
The space seems to expand again, catching up the Titan and the attackers. It isn't a battlefield, however, but a structure. Tasha finds Melchior on a white platform near the edge of a drop. It reminds her of Charon's inner world, but smaller and running vertically. The glowing shaft of crystal running up the center of the open shaft, with platforms extending out randomly or overlapping to form a rough spiral going up and down. Behind are walls, although they seem to follow a sort of organic filigree, as if made of ivory spider webbing. Somewhere in the distance is daylight, but this particular level must be a few hundred meters across at least. The fae are trying to reorient, which is made difficult by the panicked swarm of dragons running every which way. They're only tiger-sized, and wingless, but come in all sorts of colors and patterns. And are apparently terrified, running right over some of the smaller fae and knocking others aside.
The young pilot would be immediately concerned of civilian casualties if she wasn't mostly certain that the fleeing dragons are memories, and not individuals. If she weren't in Surface Depth the emotional strain might start to undermine her choices and leave her paralyzed. As it is, an idea occurs to her: the stampeed can be used offensively, and so the machine begins forward and starts to herd the dragons to rush away from her and in to the enemy, picking off fallen enemies and those too caught up to get away as she nears them. Pieces of the structure are ripped off and tossed to redirect panicked reptiles in useful dispersal patterns to further trip up the enemy army.
Several fae are pushed over the edge into the shaft (since dragons apparently don't believe in guardrails). Those that can withstand the onslaught turn their attention back on the Titan as soon as the stream of dragons starts to thin. It isn't clear which direction they should be moving, up or down, so decide to attack Tasha instead. They also don't seem to have any qualms about hurting the bystanders, since killing a dragon seems to work wonders for getting the others to avoid them, despite the herding efforts.
Tasha ceases herding once the attackers turn on the fleeing memories. While they may just be memories, they're Kainudy's memories, and she isn't certain that having her memories slaughtered will further destabilize her mental state. At least her herding was using memories to work for Kainudy, for once, but she recognizing she may have contributed to the murder indirectly. She notes the possible error and proceeds on.
Having the army focused on her is an advantage, Tasha determines, as that means she can delay they and keep them from interfering with Persephone. As such Tasha focuses now on defense and delay tactics, taking cover where she can, favoring defensive use of shield and shaard, and only attacking when it won't compromise defense. Now and then she hurls structural elements to ensure the enemy remembers she's here and disrupt mages and their casting.
Being indoors (even if it's a large space) works both for and against Tasha. While it gives her material to throw, the mages realize they can use it too. Since they can't get past Tasha's shield, they start attacking the section of spiral above and the section below Melchior, mostly with fire and ice attacks, and one of them casts some sort of fog effect to try and hide their forces (that latter not being very effective, since it doesn't do anything to hinder Melchior's non-visual senses).
Tasha hopes Persephone hurries, since while she can defend herself, she can't keep the structure from falling apart underneath her. She runs an evaluation to determine if they can hover, igniting the engines anyway in anticipation of needing to fly quickly once the stonework gives way. Since she can fly, she focuses mainly on attacks from dropping debris, which she has no special defense again. If she'll just have to hold out until the world shifts again.
The best place to maintain a hover is.. over the shaft, with nothing above or below. Melchior automatically keeps clear of the glowing crystal in the center, which seems to go up and down until the distance hazes out. This also reveals something new: that crystal alters the paths of the spells lobbed at Tasha now, so they go spinning off up or down its length instead of hitting her shield.
Tasha does take advantage but decides if she proves unassailable, or at least appears to be that way, the enemy might lose interest in her and turn back on Persephone. It's here where ranged weapons would prove especially useful, giving her a highly defensible position from which she could attack with impunity; this fact is logged for future equipment review. For now she does what she can, hovering and flying as needed to rip chunks and move away before structure can be directed against her, and using that to keep the enemy threatened and, hopefully, interested.
The enemy tactic for now seems to be to keep pelting minor spells at Tasha, even if they can't hit, while a trio of elves begin to work on something bigger out of reach of the Titan. "I think they're going to try something elemental," Thoth informs Tasha. It isn't clear where he is in all of this though.
"Can you hear me Thoth?" Tasha isn't sure of the method of communication nor if she can be heard, so she tries to see what result occurs. As for the spell, she can do nothing about it; both forces have entered in to a stalemate where they cannot attack and are relatively well defended, and while Tasha can pick off elves here and there, she's not making a significant impact. And, not knowing what the enemy entails, Tasha tries to think of counters to possible 'elemental' attacks.
Heat is not much of a danger unless it starts reaching plasma ignition levels; the Titan's composite armor is largely immune to lesser heat, except that attacks against its heat sinks and engines may cause engine failure and internal heat buildup, respectively. She prepares to dump coolant if needed. Water can choke the engines, and ice freeze them over, which she can try to deflect with the shield unless the attack bypasses it somehow. Wind can make flight difficult, or choke the engines, both hard to counter. Electrical attacks are not much of a threat. Earth as a threat is a great deal like what she's already been doing: avoiding structural masses. If the enemy can use high energy EM, that could be a serious danger, but only in high atomic, fusion, and anti-matter degrees associated with such detonations, which would hurt the enemy as much as her.
The attack that is brewing may be a combination, since it appears as a small storm cloud, complete with lightning bolts. It's still in the building stages though, and while it's small it looks like a storm would from a long distance away.
A blanket attack would be very difficult to Tasha to manage, and a storm could well choke her engines and knock her from the sky. Yet if she charges the enemy line she could well end up surrounded by monsters and spell casters, and disabled to boot. It's a difficult tactical dilemma. She reviews her options, and comes up with two a possibility.
The first is to redirect the spire's energies towards the enemy. She begins assessing the spire and the tower for this possibility, perhaps by using her shield to deflect the energy outward, or realigning things. The second is to use her shadows to assassinate the mages. Shadows, are you there? Endy, you see the mages, don't you? Black? can you kill some of them? If the ritual is like the ones back on Sinai, murdering even one might cause the whole thing to collapse spectacularly.
"We'll give it a try," Blackwings replies. And shortly after one of the mages falls to her knee, causing the storm to breach her corner and blast out across the wall before it was fully charged.
I knew you two would take to assassination. Which, Tasha realizes, also means she does to an extent, but then she supposes assassination is just war on a small scale with big results, and finds herself okay with the concept for that reason and as it costs fewer lives. With the threat averted, Tasha resumes tangling up the enemy while keeping to the safety of the pillar. Good work; withdraw for now.
After the big spell fizzles, the fae forces try to spread out along the spiral to try and outflank Tasha somehow, but this comes to a sudden halt. Literally, as the elves all suddenly freeze in place, causing their subordinate creatures to pause in confusion.
Tasha takes advantage of the halting to hurl a few pieces of stonework at the creatures, who remain a threat. "Anyone know what's going on? Thoth?" Being on one side of a magic phone is not ideal for tactical planning and teamwork.
"They are reacting to a mental command from their god," Thoth replies. That's when a golden dragon appears, twice the size of the wingless ones. As she lands the elves unfreeze and bow. Then there's a command that even Tasha feels: "LEAVE."
Tasha blinks in the cockpit. "/Well, this will be interesting. The Titan does not leave, or even move, but begins assessing this dragon god, while Tasha wonders how well relatively modern real world sensors will do against a dragon, and a godly one at that.
The Titan hovers in ominous silence, its pilot waiting to see if the enemy is withdrawing in full, or if they're just backing away so that a new challenger can approach.
The ivory tower begins to fade out, but the golden dragon lingers a bit longer, until the elves gather up their underlings and make their way back towards where the entry portal was. As things return to normal, it looks like they were a lot closer to the Persephone and Kainudy than Tasha thought.
Tasha notes this, but after a brief review, is uncertain she could ahve done things differently. That she was able to deflect a mixed army that vastly outnumbers her from getting around her she thinks is, militarially speaking, a great success. the conflict is logged for future review, along with a reminder for her to write some notes.
The Titan lands and approaches the golden, larger dragon. "Friend, foe, or parlay," is demands.
The dragon seems to look through Melchior to find Tasha. "No," is the answer, and then the dragon fades out completely.
"Interesting," Thoth comments. "I'm not sure if that was a memory of Daniarood, or the real thing."
"Sufficient." Tasha will take it; she has no idea how well a battle with a dragon god would have gone, quite literally, she has no way to assess it. Her sensors and readouts can only say so much of a being that may be made of very different stuff indeed.
The Titan turns to regard Thoth. "Either way, I'm glad it chose not to fight, as I mislike our chances against an actual god, especially one that old and with such powerful children and followers, whatever they think of her. It is took she drove the enemy army away. Where do we stand, now?" Thoth is undoubtedly familiar with the more robotic aspect to Tasha's voice being as she is, in fact, more robotic at the moment. And he would know why, given he built the Titan.
"That must have been an early trauma memory, so hopefully it means that Persephone is nearly finished," Thoth says. "We should head back to them."
"Yes." The great machine turns, then begins striding towards Persephone and the others, brushing aside rubble and bodies as it passes. "How would you rate my performance?"
"You kept them at bay, which was the goal," Thoth notes. "So a success. And you manifested your soul weapons through the titan, which was a pleasant surprise."
"We were also surprised; I was uncertain if it would be possible. I have can also report Mel is able to perceive them, if not their nature." The machine continues along and doesn't need to slow much to keep pace with this larger, more impressive Thoth.
Things are still happening at the sand pit. Kainudy is suspended in the air and struggling as if having a nightmare, while bolts of energy occasionally crackle around her. Persephone is motionless, staring up at her grandmother, and Galatea looks like she's about to curl up in a fetal position. The Harlot is presumably still guarding the entrance to the Dreamlands.
Tasha walks up beside Galatea, which means the Melchior does. "I am certain--" With her tactical analysis suggesting they are probably safe now, Tasha drops Surface Depth and resumes being less robotic, " ... ahem, what I mean is that Persephone knows what she's doing and things will probably be fine. I mean, she put me back together, and I was just chunks on the ground."
Galatea looks up at the Titan with a strained expression. It may not be worry that's affecting her. "It hurts," she says.
"What hurts?" The Melchior's face is not very expressive, alas. "Is Persephone helping you with the part you took from me, or the damage? Something else?"
"My mind.. hurts.." Galatea sort-of explains. It's not clear just how a mind can hurt though.
"I'm sorry," is all Tasha cna think to offer, uncertain if it's her fault and she should be sorry or if she's simply offering some condolences, for lack of information. "At least the enemy army appears to have withdrawn."
Thoth has risked moving to stand beside Persephone, looking more or less normal again (but still not he looks back in 'the real world'). He just watches things in silence.
"I wish I could be more help," Tasha admits, the Titan, armed as it is, holding it's hands out and up in a gesture of helplessness. "But this is well beyond me. I hope I was at least able to buy enough time and peace for this to be done right?"
"I need to wake her up now," Persephone warns. "If you have anything that can be used to hurt yourself or others, please put it down first."
"That is a long list, and it includes me," Tasha admits ruefully from the cockpit. "I'll exit my Titan and you should probably restrain me, unless you want to risk what caused this happening again."
In short order Tasha is back on the ground and walks up to Persephone. First out come the guns, which are laid down. Then Tasha reaches for her neck and shows Persephone the stiletto. "I was told to show this to you, but we haven't had time. It is very much a danger. And you will need to secure me as well."
"I have my hands full," Persephone says. "Can't you just put those inside the robot? It doesn't work without you piloting does it?"
"No. I can also order the machine tor restrain me or put me unconscious for a period of time; will that work?" Tasha glances back at her Titan, consideringly.
"I need everyone conscious, or they will become dangerous," Persephone explains. "Use your shield to protect your mind."
"I've never done that before; we only covered 'physical' attacks," Tasha admits, looking back. She forms the shield but it is, in fact, just that: a shield shaped shield. She tries laying it on her head, which does not shield her from looking ridiculous.
"Not as a hat," Persephone says. "Nevermind, just stash your weapons where you cannot easily reach them please."
Tasha puts them all down on a rock, then returns to the Melchior. She connects briefly, gives an order for the Titan to observe her mental state and prevent any self-damage and, if necessary, drop to Full Depth, and settles in. The shaards are driven in to the ground and the Titan relocates away from them before giving a thumbs up. "We are ready."
Kainudy's eyes open, and Tasha immediately feels as if her brain is being squeezed out through her ears. And Melchior begins reaching for the shaard.
Tasha is glad she moved away. Thinking is light pushing through the morning after an all-night bender, but she only needs to issue the command to make the Titan stop. She doesn't even realize she was clutching her head until well after the fact. "Agh, why does this place keep doing this," she stammers, half incoherent.
The titan doesn't stop, only slows.
"Oh c-come on, get it together, Mel!" Without mental commands Tasha has nothing; she can't exactly reach over and try and tug him back like she can for Galatea.
The AI isn't replying, but seems to be struggling against itself still.
"You might wa-want to look out, I'm having prro-o-oblems up h-here!" If she can't control Tasha can at least warn. In a painful moment of clarity she wonders if it is Mel, or Horus, she is fighting against.
She can see Galatea on the ground, and Persephone collapsed as well. Thoth isn't moving, but does say, "Unplug, Tasha."
Tasha decides to trust her machine and does so, but unseals the cockpit before hand so that she can escape if the worst happens.
At least now that she's disconnected she can fully dedicate herself to clutching her head and trying not to vomit.
Without the connection, Melchior stops in mid grasp. But Tasha's head is really hurting now. "Don't let yourself black out, Tasha," Thoth advises. But the pain seems to have peaked and is starting to diminish.
If there's anything suffering has granted Tasha it's the capacity to endure lesser forms of it. And, while her head feels like it's going to explode and implode at the same time, it's less than what she;d felt in the past, including the past of this place. And it reminds her she's alive, and wants to be, and that's all she needs to ride it out.
"Sephy, what have you done.." Kainudy can be heard growling as the pressure finally stops.
There's another voice that sounds familiar outside as well. "Tasha?" a male vartan calls.
Tasha can't be heard moaning, because she's way up in the cockpit. She'd say something but she thinks she might vomit if she does. Instead she scrambles under the cockpit seat for her emergency supplies, then pops two anti-nausea drugs and a high quality pain killer. She further decides she really should carry all these things on her person at all times.
"I'm alive ... I think," Tasha calls back, deciding that 'fats action' is not mere advertising and that she's going to hug whomever made these pills if she ever meets them.
"I helped you break free from Daniarood's shackles, and now I've had to break you free from your own," Persephone says. "If you choose to chop your soul up again in order to keep things isolated, I can't stop you. But you've no excuse now. Nothing is trying to take you over. It's just you. Crippling yourself isn't going to make the fae fear you any less, and it hardly matters if you can't relate to other when you're locked away by yourself."
"Tasha, this is very weird," the voice calls back.
"What part of it, it's all ... Oooh." Tasha has to steady herself for a moment, and then pushes herself upright. She decides to exit the cockpit, which is an ungainly and graceless affair which puts her on the ground and on her side at the bass of the machine. "Ow. Uh, everyone okay?" She lifts a hand as if to offer help, or perhaps to receive it.
A thick, taloned hand helps Tasha to her hooves. It's connected to a large black Vartan wearing tight-fitting golden pants. "I do not know," the Vartan replies.
"N-nice pants," Tasha observes, and it really is the first thing that comes to Tasha's mind. "Wow, these pain killers are really great, everyone should try this," which is the second. She takes a moment to look around, seeing if people are, indeed, okay, and who has the really nice pants.
Thoth is in a staring contest with a hawk-headed man in robes. Kainudy is angrily staring at Persephone and Galatea is staring at the very tall green woman who is sitting atop a large whicker box, one leg crossed over the other despite wearing a pencil skirt.
"Uh, well. I see everyone is alive and ... additional?" Tasha then remembers Kainudy may want to kill her, and so steps back a bit, giving the two animal-headed people a double-take and then having to momentarily re-assess as her brain tries to reboot in the face of too much, and too strange, all at once. "How about we all just take a moment to assess ourselves and see if anyone needs medical or other attention and then work things out from there?"
"You are the only person here to whom the concept of medical attention can be applied to," the Vartan (Melchior?) tells Tasha. "Do you need medical attention, Tasha?"
"Maybe, uh, psycological attention," Tasha remarks as she turns back to the new animal-headed deity. She squints at him, then gets closer to squint further.
The red woman then suddenly recoils in surprise, eyes wide, looking more amazed than anything else. "No way, no way. I thought maybe you were Horus but are you ... are you Mel?"