From the desert portal point, Kai is able to link through to the ancient one Kadath, and then through to the one in Faerie in the town where the somewhat doomed expedition entered the Dreamlands originally. "I need to recharge a bit," Kai notes when they arrive at the bottom of the long spiraling stairs. "Should we report that the Queen of Demise and Nyarlathotep are fighting in the Unformed, or let them keep worrying? The fey depend on the Unformed for a lot of stuff," she asks Tasha.
"Well, it's basically true and I can't see how revealing it would hurt us any. It's not like they won't find out eventually anyway and it might help prevent them from interfering," Tasha replies, tapping her muzzle with a finger. "Plus, the reward is all ours and you got that noble, which makes it extra amusing money."
"Yes, should claim reward just before leaving, so they can't change their minds," Wulfgaar suggests.
"You two can haggle about the reward, there should still be a few of the adventurers who can sort of corroborate things, but they probably already said we weren't turning back at Kadath," Kai notes, and starts climbing the stairs.
"I'll just say we had more to do and happened to be along for the convenience and reward," Tasha insists. She follows along, hands shoved in her pockets. "So why hasn't Galatea tried to kill me yet, and do you think she's strong enough? You said she's stronger than you are?"
"She probably hasn't made up her mind yet," Kai suggests. "She can afford to take her time, and apparently does not hold onto anger for long. I don't think she's intentionally murdered anyone before."
"You never forget your first murder," Wulfgaar adds, and the goose honks as well.
"So she's either going to calm down or else some force behind her will compel her to murder me. I really don't want to fight her, but I won't just roll over to die, either. For both our sake's I hope we can find a peaceful resolution," the red woman notes with some anxiety. She then turns to Wulfgaar and nods. "I know I won't forget mine, it was my ex-lover, unless you consider the beings I killed before that murder."
"Was your hand on the blade that killed them?" Wulfgaar asks. "And were they trying to kill you at the time?"
"Yes and probably. She would have if I hesitated or tried to capture her. I did cry a lot afterward and.. during." Tasha says all of this in a neutral and somewhat tired tone, but then she's been traveling for days and has experienced some form of magical onslaught, had relations with a true dragon, and more, so it could be normal wear.
"Yeah, if you had a good personal reason, probably murder," Wulfgaar suggests. "Mine was slitting the throat of some dark priest from behind. Evil priests really go in for fancy headwear, even though it means they can't hear well or turn their head fast enough. Uglier the hat, the more evil they are."
Tasha nods to this. "Cultists and the like really enjoy their pomp and ambiance. I've visited a number of temples to various dark entities and they are have a certain feel. I can see mortal priests operating there being prone to grandiose expressions. Memetics and symbolisim are important elements in their work, but they may not be practical for other things -- like armor or neck safety." The woman looks up towards the exit. "Anyway, lets go find those elves and get this over with. The sooner we have a pile of money the sooner we can spend it on something fun and relaxing."
There are guards at the top of the stairs, but they don't do anything as the group passes them (they're actually guarding people from entering it seems), though to do look surprised for a moment, until they get a glassy-eyed expression and just turn back as if nothing happened. Then it's a short-ish walk to the plaza where things set off from. The stage has been taken down, but there are still a few tents showing that not all of the adventurers have left after returning.
"I see Lord Fael'wynn's carriage," Wulfgaar points out. "So the money should still be here."
"Well lets find some elves. Maybe the adventurers know. Want to split up and ask around, or.. Oh?" Tasha follows Wulfgaar's gaze and then nods. "Well, lets head over then. I hope everyone made it, even if we just see a few tents. I don't remember losing anyone while we were with them."
"Most of them probably head back to Avalon," Kai guesses. "The injured ones might still be here though, or those looking for another adventure."
"Always another adventure. Speaking of which, what are you going to do? We're finally back, so your duty's basically complete," Tasha inquires as they make their way over.
There's an elf stationed at the carriage, who stands a bit straighter as they approach.
"May hang around here, see if anyone is looking for muscle," Wulfgaar says. "Less depressing that waiting for a destiny back in Avalon."
"That sounds like a good idea. I'd ask you to join me, but I think you've already seen where I'm headed," Tasha says until they get too close to keep talking, "Lets get this done first. Hello!" She gives the elf a wave, too worn to opt for smartassery. "We have a report on the Queen and Nyarlathotep."
"What? You're from the expedition?" the elf asks, looking surprised. Then he points to one of the hotels that surround the plaza. "The Quartermaster should be able to verify who you are, and send you on to the Secretary and the Burser."
"Thanks I'll head over then." Tasha gives the guard a nod and starts walking again, saying to Wulfgaar, "It's been nice to have you around, I'm sorry if maybe things didn't go the way you hoped. My own path is going to lead to stranger places, I'm not sure there's a lot of glory to be had. I kind of gave that up. I'm.." She glances back towards where Kai walked off to, ".. not entirely sure how long I'll be able to keep it together."
"You are under a heavy geas," Wulfgaar says. "You can always pass it down to your offspring when you can no longer bear it. My grandfather passed down his geas to my father, who passed down his goose to me."
"I'm not sure which is more fearsome," Tasha admits. "As for me, I've fought hard to do what I can so another wouldn't have to.I feel like having my children take over means that I've failed that; it's also why I've been hesitant to have any. Maybe I can't end all of it, but I can at least try to banish the Ogdoad. I won't be able to rest knowing I dumped all this on someone."
There's a doorman, who is apparently familiar enough with adventurers that he lets them in despite them still carrying all their gear with them. He even points to the end of the hall, where the Expedition Office is set up.
Tasha marches that way. "I am looking forward to a nice bed without some psionic menace putting me there," she remarks conversationally.
"Are you sure Kai can't hear you say that?" Wulfgaar asks, and even opens the door for Tasha. Beyond are several desks, though only one is occupied by an elf that seems to be transcribing things from parchment into a bound volume. By hand, instead of using magic, too. He looks up when the door opens. "Can I help you?" he asks.
"More of the other way around, followed by money. We can report on the Queen and Nyarlathotep," Tasha answers. She shifts to lean against the wall near the door and cross her arms. "Just got back, we had some other private business elsewhere and managed to do more digging along the way."
"Hmmm," the Secretary goes, looking at Tasha. He pulls out another, smaller ledger from under the desk, and opens it up. "You are Tasha Argentine and Wulfgaar of Stribor, correct?" he asks.
"There's also a goose named Anklebiter, but she's not one for conversation," Tasha notes, smiling.
"There were reports of a third member in your party," the Secretary says. "Not signed here though. Have they fallen?"
"Who knows where they are," the young woman replies vaguely. "At any rate, they're not here, so I guess we'll collect for them."
"Attendants do not get a share, only those who have signed the contract," the Secretary notes. "You are expected to pay them yourself, if they are not slaves."
"Got it. Ready to copy the report down, then?" Tasha's ears perk forward. "I'll be leaving out one of the sources unless you want to curse everyone who ever reads the transcript."
Pulling a fresh piece of parchment out of thin air, the Secretary sets it on the desk and writes a header in a fancy looking script. "We have many reports of events leading up to the return of the expedition members and wounded," he notes. "Is there anything you encountered or experienced privately in the ruined city that you wish to report?"
"Only that it's every bit as dangerous as people say. There's surely more going on there than we saw, but I wouldn't recommend finding out. The city's alive, for one, and the god is probably quite real. There were boats full of beings. Best avoided, unless you're there for a reason." Tasha glances to Wulfgaar to see if he has anything to add.
"Smelled like fish," the barbarian relates. "Too many stairs, ambush points. Magical traps on doors and walls that look like decoration. Magical door at the top, not sure non-sorcerers can open it."
"The portal that the others escaped through," the Secretary notes. "What become of the Brother Bone of the Platinum Order and the Kitsune Lila-ren, both of whom were reported as staying behind with you?"
"They're safe, both made it to their destination unharmed. I spoke to Lila-ren only a little while ago in the Platinum City." Tasha hides her surprise that they knew who and what Lila-ren was; the kitsune never mentioned not revealing it to the elves, but Tasha assumes she always tries to hide her identity. Interesting. 'We used Brother Bone's connection to the city as a escape point."
The quill is busy as the Secretary records this. "And did you obtain information about the Queen of Demise there?" he asks.
"And elsewhere, mostly elsewhere. I'll just relate that now: The Queen is engaged with Nyarlathotep in the unformed and the Dreamlands continue to lack a ruler. There's also at least one uncontrolled angel wandering in the vicinity of Kardath and there may be more wandering and uncontrolled servitors left over from the conflict. Expect regions they fought in or near to be indirectly dangerous because of this. The angel's power was..considerable."
"Very helpful!" the Secretary says, and writes faster. "We can direct our Astralogians to focus their attention on disturbances there, and put out a call for any reports of difficulties accessing it, or intrusions of the Vague into it."
"That's as much as we were able to obtain, we didn't think it wise to push any further or attempt to enter the battlefield. The fighting is as intense as you would expect and not a place for mortals or lesser immortals." Tasha glances to Wulfgaar once more to see if he has anything left to add.
"So no information on how the battle was faring?" the elf asks. "Nyarlathotep would not be able to influence the Unformed, but that would only be a small disadvantage."
"Yes, his power is not to be underestimated, not even his avatars." Tasha then shakes her head. "I am aware of psionic forces involved are catastrophic, so nothing more can be learned. At the very least neither side is clearly losing."
"That is disturbing," the Secretary notes, pausing in his writing for a moment, before continuing. "Only a select few in the Court seem to know anything about the Queen of Demise, and there are no records of it appearing in the past."
"If it did not appear, but only a few know, I wonder how they know. And, it is unlikely to be wise to be on that bad side of such a being. At any rate, I would urge you to consider a cautious and open minded approach towards the Queen, especially if some bad blood or malice existed in the past," Tasha suggests, one ear flicking. "She is unlikely to be in a forgiving mood. Honesty and contrition may be more useful than aggression. That's how these things often go. But who knows, really?"
"You believe it is not another dark entity then?" the Secretary asks.
"It's hard to say, but as someone who regularly interacts with dark entities including Nyarlathotep, they tend to have long memories. If this is a new such entity, it may be best not to start things off with lingering malic. Such entities can be implacable, it's rare to get a chance to interact with them before they expand across time and space and beyond," the red woman explains.
"We generally do not deal with such entities, as they so far have not been able to intrude upon our realms," the Secretary notes. After a deep breath, he then asks, "Did you come across anything else of potential interest to the Seelie Court?"
"I am not from your realms and so what interests you is unknown to me. I gathered what was requested; the advice is extra, as you may appreciate not being obliterated or otherwise inconvenienced." Tasha loks to Wulgaar again.
Wulfgaar gives a barbarian grunt. He seems to play big-and-dumb at times. "I don't recommend pissing off demon gods either, unless you have the appropriate sacrifice ready and the proper magic sword or prophesied tool of banishment. And if this is one is new to you, then you definitely don't have either of those."
Tasha looks back and nods a slowly. "As someone who battles demons, I can tell you that has a lot of truth."
The Secretary adds a few more notes, then turns the parchment around towards Tasha and Wulfgaar. "Please place your signatures at the bottom," he requests, offering the quill.
Tasha steps forward, then pauses. "Is this magically binding on some way?"
"The ink will only flow if you are who you say you are, but it is only ink," the elf explains. "Unless you'd prefer to sign in blood?"
"No, that's probably not safe for anyone here." Tasha signs her name and then hands the quill over to Wulfgaar.
Wulfgaar adds his flourish, and then the Secretary signs as well. He then sets it aside, and turns to the back of the contract ledger. There are pages of stubs there, and he fills out two of them. "Take these to the Bursar through that door," he says, pointing to a door in the right-hand wall. "You are the last reporting in, and all other expedition members have been accounted for, so we can finally pack up and go home, and try to get proper treatment for Lord Fael'wynn."
"I heard he fell ill. Heard, audibly." Tasha's ears flick again. "Well, pleasure doing business with you, we'll just collect our money then and be off." She gives a polite nod, then heads for the door.
There's a sign hanging on the door in elvish script, which looks pretty but which Tasha can't read. Wulfgaar has apparently been around them long enough though, and says, "I think it says to knock before entering."
So Tasha knocks. "We're here to collect after our report," she calls inside.
There a bit of a pause before the door opens, revealing a sleepy looking elven woman in a fairly plain gown. "You have stubs?" she asks, before yawning.
Tasha hands the stubs over. "You may also be pleased to know you're going home soon." Happy people, Tasha knows, sometimes provide extras.
"I'd be happy to get a decent night's sleep," the Bursar notes, and gestures for the two to follow her into the next room, which is so thick with magic that it makes Tasha's fur stand up.
Tasha ties to smooth her fur down; it does not work. Instead she tries then to perceive the room with her two supernatural forms of vision, to better familiarize herself with active magic. Perhaps it will be useful. "I'm certainly looking forward to sleeping for a week."
It isn't visible to her senses, but it feels like there are invisible walls. They don't go in very far before the elf motions for them to wait. She then turns one of the invisible corners and goes blurry. This is followed by even more magic happening. Tasha hasn't really seen much in the way of elven magic on this adventure, but now it seems to be trying to make up for that all at once. Eventually she returns, carrying two boxes. Each is about the size of a pistol case, but made from some sort of exotic wood that seems brown, but with hues of red that seem to float in the grain. The fastenings are of silver. She sets the boxes on a small table, side by side, and then puts on some heavy looking gloves to open them. Inside are iron-framed wafers of gold resting in silk. The elf must be stronger than she looks to have carried both of them.
"I'm curious, why the iron-frame? An anti-theft measure, or are the coins from a different civilizations?" Tasha does lean forward to peer at them, even picking one up to inspect it. "Ahh, gold. I know someone who really enjoys this color."
"The iron is there to prove it isn't fairy gold," the Bursar notes. "Not conjured in any way, and actual mined and imported from the mortal realms, and not radioactive or showing other signs of alchemy."
"Handy to know, thank you. I do not interact with elves often." Tasha puts the gold back and then turns to Wulfgaar, "One box for you, one for me, then?"
Wulfgaar picks one up, and despite the guarantees of authenticity.. bites into it, then checks for the tooth marks.
Tasha leans in to see if there are indeed tooth marks.
"So it seems," the barbarian replies to Tasha.
Yes, Wulfgaar has large teeth it appears.
"Interesting," Tasha says of all of this new information. She runs her hands through the coins to check weights, then nods, closing the box. In truth she doesn't need the money and gold is in great supply where she comes from, what is important to her is that it's exotic, interesting gold, foreign currency from a foreign land, material proof o her adventures. Also, it can buy souvenirs. She's going to need a lot of souvenirs to buffer what happened.
The boxes are closed, and the gloves come off. The elf then makes gestures over the tops of the boxes, and instructs, "Please press your preferred thumb to the center of the top of your box."
"Some sort of locking mechanism? Or proof we received them?" Tasha holds upa thumb but waits for the answer. She fels like she asks questions so often she might want to invest in a small creature or floating object whose sole purpose is to inquire about things for her and report.
"Locking spell," the Bursar explains. "Don't lose your thumbs before you need to open them again."
"I try not to." Tasha's tone makes it sound like more than a quip, which it is. She seals her box and then stuffs it under an arm. "At least you can't say you didn't profit from our adventure, Wulfgaar."
"Mmm, lots of milkshakes," the barbarian says. "And sleeping with a demon, too."
"I won't tell you to be careful." Tasha pats her box, nods to the elfess, and then starts out.
Wulfgaar takes his box and shoves it into his pack, then bows to the Bursar before leaving as well.
After parting ways with Wulfgaar, Tasha goes on a shopping spree as she raids bookstores and magic shops for (legitimate looking) books of magic, cosmology and demonology, history of the elves, treatises on dragons and also whatever religions she can find - though are mostly pamphlets and actual religious texts, rather than any books examining the religions. Weapons both mundane and magical are examined (with the better shops letting you test them), with one elven sword a good fit for Shojo. By that time the various vendors have spread the word, and Tasha is being somewhat swarmed by people selling the cheap touristy stuff to magic potions, toys and jewelry.
It's at that point Tasha calls it a day and rents a quiet room in a well-watched building, with a request she not be bothered by vendors. She then sends word to Kai their room is ready, and where. It's there she sorts her items in to better-packed arrangements in to the cases she bought for the purpose. She knows some of it is of questionable value, but this is the closest shop to home, and it's better than nothing. The rest of the gold she keeps because she likes the idea of having a wooden treasure chest full of fairy gold in her room. She may no longer be Vartan but she still enjoys shiny things, and she suspects what part of her is dragon appreciates having gold nearby.
Kai shows up eventually, and says, "We should be able to gate directly to the base end tomorrow, after some rest. I've contacted Galatea to handle things on the other end, but she's still helping in the 'weirdness' training for Shojo's men."
"I wonder how that's going. I'm sure it's entertaining to watch, anyway. Sam's probably enjoying himself." Tasha flops on the bed now that her things are all packed for tomorrow, she then opens the chest and begins stacking money on her belly, seemingly without any purpose. "Back home then. If they're still busy we can speak to Tatha-hem about the artifact and Yog'Sothoth while we wait."
"So is that your dowry?" Kai asks, gesturing to the belly-gold with a smirk. "Try to get some rest. A direct gate transition across multiple realms can be exhausting and disorienting."
"Maybe it is. Right now it's fun to look at. It's shiny and I like the weight of it. I like the feel, it feels like a memento." Tasha scoops up the stacks and pits them away, sealing the box. She then begins undressing for bed. "I am all for resting, and I'm going to sleep a while when we get home, so you can rest, too. We should try to be energized when dealing with Tatha-hem and beyond. Goodnight, and good night gold!" She pats the chest, puts it between her pillows, and wiggles until he's comfortable.
The woman's out like a light.
Tasha is awoken by the smell of breakfast. Specifically the meat part, and the local caffeinated hot beverage. Lesser to that are the scents of fresh bread and eggs. "Wakey wakey, eggs and steaky," Kai says to her as she carries in the tray of food. There might even be pancakes involved.
"Iiiii ariiiiiise," Tasha intones as she sits up torso-up, legs stiff, like something she saw in a Terran movie, probably on Abaddon but maybe it was a holovid. "Thou hast awakened me via this sacrifice of meats and other things that are not important. Wait. Pancakes are also important. Pancakes pleaseth me."
"You sound like a vampire for some reason," Kai says as she sets the platter in Tasha's lap. "Eat up! We're going back to the base today."
"Do vampires like steak and pancakes? If so, I want to be one of those." Tasha scoots to swing her legs over the bed edge; she wastes no time digging in. "Back home, such as it is. Well, the ship is more home, but it's hard to think of as permanent when its core is a part of teh problem. A core part of the problem, if you will." It's amazing how she can eat and talk without tripping over herself, it must be some form of advanced canine-personing.
"I don't know that vampires can savor their meals like most people do," Kai notes. "But you'll need your strength to carry the gold and your gear outside of the city."
"Yep, that's why I made sure to pack well and buy holders. Gifts are heavy, that's why i waited until now. And, well, gold is gold." Tasha may not need gold anymore, but she still wants it. Having lots of gold is an old dream and, besides, it's an adventure trophy, something she's been considering collecting. "Just you and me now, but not too far until we're back."
"Fuel up, and we'll head out," Kai notes. "We've got a relatively small window when Tia will be able to open the big gate for us."
"Just watch this breakfast disappear." True to her word Tasha can make food vanish with surprising speed which might be some form of magic. A childhood full of eating-when-she-can and working hard has certainly left lasting habits. "Annn done." The plate gets put on the bed and the young woman stands. "lets do it."
The town is relatively quiet at this hour, aside from the farmers market section. Lord Fael'wynn's coach passes them, with the elf's very hoarse screams still making it through the lacquered wood. Then it's some light traffic on the road out of the town and towards the woods. "We should probably get away from anyone that might see us," Kai notes. "Opening gates outside of prepared structures is not common."
Tasha follows Kai's lead, shifting her path to move behind obscuring foliage, angling, then doing it again a few times to make visual pursuit much more difficult. She then stops and turns to watch the path they took. "So this is big magic, right? Did you save it for the return because using it would cause an alert, and if we do it heading out, we'll be long gone?"
"Mainly because I hadn't been to our destinations before," Kai explains. "But going back, we have a huge beacon and the power to open something between realms. Opening that on this end is still going to use up all of my strength though." Once they reach the edge of the forest, Kai heads off-path into the trees.
Seeing that no one's following them, Tasha heads after Kai. "I guess traversing universal boundaries is really hard. It's difficult to appreciate the ability and energy required in events that transpire across realities."
"Tia can spare some power to activate the gate, I'm sure," Kai says, and stops in a small clearing between some of the trees. "This should be good enough. I don't sense any monsters around at this time of day. They like to sleep in, you know."
"The forces of darkness really like darkness. Which I guess is good for them since most of the universe is darkness. They should feel lucky." Tasha puts her things down, limbering herself up should she need to confront non-monster dangers. "How long will you need?"
"Just a few moments, since I'm getting help from the other end," Kai notes. "It isn't very flashy to see.. except for the bright flash of course."
"Great and powerful magic, like great and powerful technology, is really random like that. I wonder if there's a god or some-such that specializes in adding flair to all their great works?" Tasha has no idea, but she does keep an eye out and stick near Kai.
"The God of Paying Audience, I imagine," Kai says, apparently staring at a spot between her and tree in front of her. Then there is a flash of light and a thundercrack, which from just a dozen feet away is very loud and leaves ears ringing. But there's a circular open in the air now, and the replica fire-base is beyond it.
"WHAT?" asks Tasha, who whirls around covering her ears. "ARE WE GOING??" She does hurry to grab her things. "WHY WAS IT SO LOUD?" She doesn't wait for an answer though, sensing time is of the essence.
Kai gestures for Tasha to step through first.
Tasha hurries on through, she doesn't want to be caught off-guard while hauling several leather bound boxes and partly deaf after all, nor block their escape -- something Nora drilled in to her for dealing with space emergencies. She's through in short order.
Kai follows, the gate soundlessly (for a deafened person) closes behind her. Then she just falls to the ground.
Tasha notices, mainly due to the wind at her back and the shadow. She turns around and prods Kai with a cloven hoof. "ARE YOU DEAD? NEED ME TO-" She pauses, then sends, "Do you need me to carry you? I can come back for the souvenirs."
The apparently human woman manages to roll onto her back. Instead of answering though, she points up at the sky over the lake.
Tasha turns and follows the pointing, ears up and brows raised.
The sky is lighting up with multi-colored aurora, but the ribbons are in concentric circles radiating away from a point. But soon they stop and reverse, collapsing back into a huge blob of light that more closely resembles a storm, including oddly colored bolts of lighting. From this descends Dark Horse, shorn of her disguise and showing her alien contours and colors. When the aurora fade away, the vessel is left hovering a few hundred feet above the water.
"I prefer ominous black clouds," Kai notes.
"WOW." Tasha's tail wags, she's very rarely the one watching a ship land, and quite often the one on the ship while it's landing, making this a rare experience and rarer still considering the type of ship the Dark Horse is. She puts some of her things down so she can wave to the hovering vessel, and she wonders what everyone did while she's been away.
The ship just keeps hovering. Below it is a small figure in comparison, and since they're also floating it's probably Galatea.
"The test is still running for Shojo's men," Kai explains. "Help me up, and we can get to the command center."
"I guess they're busy doing landing-stuff. Lets drag ourselves to the fort so we can unload. If you want you can lean on me, I'm tough." Tasha helps Kai up, then lets her lean on her shoulder as promised. Together they head towards the copied base.
At least this time Kai doesn't look like she's been stomped on by a giant. The airfield is silent, but it's not as if there is a ground crew for the odd mix of craft taking up space. Then it's up the stairs to the command building, then the elevator to the top deck. Kai at least can stand on her own by then. Hakeber is the first to notice them arrive, and barks, "How was the quest?" The others all turn as well, and Gabriel comes over to help Tasha with her pack and other supplies. Tasha's bench-warmers are also there, and apparently wearing new clothes as well. "Mom!" Sasha greets, though it isn't clear if he's addressing Tasha or Kai. Each of them could probably claim to have three mothers.
"The quest went well, if bloodily, and there was a lot of sand. A dragons. A lot of sand and even more dragons." Tasha, with everyone's help, eases her packs to the deck and then flops in to a command chair. "Wow I missed all of you, though it's still weird coming back and seeing three of me. Kai's exhausted. What else? Oh, I brought souvenirs for everyone. Ummm," the young red woman fishes around her belt, then tosses Gabriel the dagger since it's not exactly comfortable to sit with, "this one's for you!" And she blows a kiss.
"Something to set on a trophy shelf," the big wolf says with a grin as he examines the blade. "Hand forged I assume?"
With the mention of gifts, the other Karnors crowd around. The Vartans and Humans hang back to let them, along with the Lapis.
Hakeber gets very close and sniffs. "What did you just eat?" she asks.
"Oh, probably. It forged my hand pretty well too when I had to use it to enter Avalon. It used to belong to a knight named Percival, but he threw it at me so it's mine -- and now it's yours!" Tasha leans forward to begin unpacking gifts Hakeber gets an entire box full of books. "I got what I could, but I'm not sure how useful they are. They all deal with things like magic, neighboring realms and realms of interest, dragon and fae history, and there's a bunch of pamphlets about deities." Tasha nods to the pile for Katie too. "You might enjoy them as well. Lets see ... " She opens a long crate, which is just filled with melee weapons, showing sh really is a long stronger than her petite looks suggest. "Here you go Katie!" She gets handed an estoc, a kind of military rapier intended to be used with two hands; it looks both delicate and like it could pierce a dragon's hide.
"Ooo, fancier than my dress saber," Katie crows, while Hakeber cackles as she grabs up the first book, and immediately starts looking for the references section.
"I'll start scanning and see if a translation can be worked out," the fuzzy scholar says, since she doesn't get the translation perk that Kai provides.
Tasha sits up a bit to nod down at the books. "There's stuff fro you too, Lacci, mostly the history books." She drops down and picks up a long sword, unsheath it a moment to check the fae runes on its blades, then sets it aside without a word about it. "There a dagger for you too, Hake, apparently it's used mostly for ritual purposes which I thought might be handy." She pushes over a curved blade dagger, no sheath. It certainly looks much more ceremonial than practical, though it also looks very sharp. "What else.. "The box of weapons still looks more than half full. "So the rest of these are for whoever ants one. I didn't have time to think about it, I ws being chased by souvineer salespeople. I also got regular souvineers annnd gold."
"Gold?" Hekeber, Katie, Sasha and Vasha ask at the same time.
Tasha's head snaps up, she looks to each of the questioning individuals in turn, her her left ear flicks, then she notes, "The gold is my souvenir. You may look." She opens the third of the four boxes -- the whole array of boxes having been strapped together so she could carry one off each shoulder -- and opens the ornate treasure box. It is, indeed, filled with glittering fairy gold. She, with some hesitation, takes out four coins and hands them over to be spread out among the four of them.
Liza clears her throat from behind Tasha. "May I have one?" the pregnant Lapi asks. Since it the coins are iron-wrapped, they're doubly valuable back on Sinai.
"Iiii suuuuppooose," Tasha replies, drawing another coin, and then one more, so she gets two. "The second one is for Aaron. She then picks up a small, easily hidden boot knife and hands that over as well, "Also for Aaron."
"Ooo, you realize he'll try to cover the knife in poison don't you?" the bunny notes, accepting it anyway.
Vasha finds a morning-star mace in the box of Dangerous Toys, and Sasha picks out a short-sword. Sharon peeks into it, but doesn't select anything.
"It's Aaron, that's why I picked that one in particular." Tasha taps the side of her head; she knows. She then looks down and opens the last case, which is just a jumble of interesting things. "Dragon carvings -- by actual dragons -- a couple of dolls for Mariel, there's a few rolled up paintings, some toys, what else ... I grabbed what I could before I was hounded." She pushes the open cases forward so that people can look through them; the gold box rests in her lap, and her head on that. "As for the mission, I found a map. I also learned how to expel he Ogdoad permanently. Also, also, I have a lead on an artifact tha I need to investigate -- I'll be talking to Tatha'hem later. Can also see the 'ugly truth behind everything' now. I also have a Silver Key to dream realms? Bad news: almost got mind stomped by a real angel, read a big evil book, and also, I'm possessed -- by the map which is also the vision thing."
Hakeber then hugs Tasha from the side. "That makes us Dark Soul Sisters, or something," she claims.
Gabriel looks less pleased to hear about being possessed. "Is the map a demon then?" he asks. Sam is noticeably absent from the room.
"I have video from Dark Horse," Shojo announces. "They've located all three of the men in different areas."
Tasha ugs right back. "I was thinking the very same thing! It's kind of nice, even if it isn't." And then she kisses Hake on the forehead, hugs her tighter, then lets her go. "We will dela with this, mark my words."
And with that declaration Tasha looks up. "Did you? I missed all of the trials. I bet they looked shocked to see the ship? Have they started to really understand what they're involved in now?"
"And where's Sam?" Tasha adds, looking around. "Still chasing them around?"
"Not sure, Gabriel says, as people start gravitating to displays that appear in the window. Mr. Pink, Mr. Gold and Mr. Black have apparently been dumped in different forest areas in just their shorts (save for Mr. Black, as the Naga doesn't have underwear). They all seem to just be waking up.
Tasha pushes the boxes aside so as not to be a hazard, but leaves them open so people can look through their contents and pick what appeals to them later. Tasha herself carries her gold box and sits down at a unoccupied console so she can follow along. "Wow, technology, screens, readouts. It's all so nostalgic."
Each of the men acts differently on waking, but none of them let the situation (and whatever led up to it) give them pause. Mr. Pink does the primate thing and climbs the tallest tree he comes across. Mr. Gold stays on the ground, and bangs rocks together to try and nap out a cutting edge. Mr. Black tastes the air, and slithers in the direction of the lake.
"I didn't think she was going to take everything from them," Sharon says. "I'm still impressed that they didn't get killed in the old mining station," Sasha notes.
Tasha settles back and rests her hands and head on the box. "By the way, we'l need to decide what our next move after I talk to Tatha'hem and ask her if she knows how to talk to someone else who I won't name because I can't evaluate them yet. There's an object floating in space that might be useful. In space, somewhere."
"We still on track to hit Daltoona though?" Hakeber asks.
"Oh definitely. If the object is useful to that purpose we'll think about getting it, if not, it can wait. I'm not even sure what it is." Tasha reaches over and pats Hakeber's arm. "I haven't forgotten you."
"Maybe it's the weapon Horus refused to use," Hakeber suggests. "What does it look like?"
"A black crystal sword-like object of indeterminate size. I saw it against a starry background, so the scale is unknown. It may not even be in our universe," Tasha explains.
"Well, that will make it hard to find if that's the case," Hakeber says.
"Mr. Pink has gotten high enough to have spotted the ship," Sasha reports. "He has to think he's been abducted by aliens now. Alien aliens."
"I have a map, but I also plan to ask a god if they know where and what it is. Supposedly it can be used to free souls from demons and traverse demons to the universes they've touched on." Tasha then blinks, perking up. "I also found a symbol of use, but I'm worried about showing it to you. It may make the possession easier to deal with, but the entities don't like it. Yours could react, um, badly."
Tasha then looks over and nods. "Especially if he sees Galatea floating out there. And, I mean, some of us are at least kind of alien."
"Oh, they've seen Galatea in the mining station," Sasha says. "Naked in vacuum with white skin, jumping out of the shadows at them."
"It just gets better and better for them. It's like getting a our-adventures crash course, minus all the injuries." Tasha claps her hands together and resumes watching. "At any rate, we can discuss when to it Daltoona soon. Maybe after I have the talk with Tatha-hem."
Mr. Gold has used his rock to fashion a pointed-end spear out of a fallen branch, and seems to stalking through the woods like a predator. None of them have tried calling out (although Mr. Pink is the only one who could - Naga are not good at shouting). No forest creatures have been encountered, but it's still daytime. Everyone seems to heading inward towards the lake though. Only Mr. Pink has the lay of the land, and knows where the castle and the base are at.
"You were abducted by monsters?" Lacci asks Tasha. Whatever she saw of the mining-base stage of things is making her feathers puff out just thinking about it, apparently.
"They're certainly brave, none of them are hesitating at all. Maybe they suspect trickery, like a simulation?" Tsha plops her head on a hand and fishes out one of her better snack bars since she doesn't need to hold back any longer. At Lacci's question she shakes her head, looking over. "Nooo, see, we had to travel between a number of, um, planes, or universes. We went from a realm of dead warriors, to a border-town that bordered realities -- most of them very magical and occult by our standards -- on to a really nasty wasteland with a multiverse-wide memetic city in it. It's there a wandring angel and sawms chased us in to the weird city. From there we arrived at the Dragon City of Law, then we went through a literal hell, to the Dragon City of Knowledge. It's there I read a book about all the dark gods, got possessed, learned a lot, and bled a lot."
Tasha then blinks. "Oh, you meant when I first started traveling? Kind of. Gods, monsters, and demons all like to grab me for a talk, or scare, or personal injury on a fairly regular basis."
"She was abducted by giant bunnies," Aaron offers.
"Those too, though I did fly out to see them so it was kind of expected," Tasha clarifies.
"The giant bunnies were nice," Gabriel says. "They carried us down a mountain, and gave us baths."
"Tia is not a giant bunny then," Lacci claims. "Giant bunnies aren't terrifying."
"I carried you down the mountain. Unless I'm just remembering i my favor. It was a while ago, and at least one death ago. Also, my memory isn't great," Tasha admits, shrugging her shoulders. "Oh and the bunnies can be intimidating. Not now, at least not to me, but back then, sure. Tia is.. Tia is something else. Has she said anything about me?"
"She took us shopping at Caltrop," Vasha says. "She seemed like a nice Human for that. We picked up Shojo's men, and once they suited up and left to 'secure' the mining base, she disappeared. We got a signal to suit up ourselves and come to the station, no sign of Shojo's guys, and Tia was looking all strange and handed over their spacesuits and gear to take through to the base."
"We were kinda surprised you weren't checking in with us," Sharon says. "I figured maybe you couldn't."
"Yeah, like Kai Tia can change her form. I'm not sure which is her original, but it's probably the one she 'does business' in. Also, she's still mad at me, so I'll jsut avoid her for a while." Tasha then turns to Sharron and nods. "I tried with Vasha, but the temporal dissonance made it hard to relay anything and we were pretty busy. Also, the fact I'm possessed got Kia to turn off our syncing, and I wanted to wait a bit to see if there were any other problems. I'd hate to spread this to the rest of you."
"We'll have to catch up the old-fashioned way then," Sasha says. "With a wild orgy. Or fondue. Have you ever had fondue?"
"I haven't had fondue. Does it have meat? Also: I'm in on the orgy. Sharron, how much has Katie been stalking you? And Vasha, any luck?" Tasha looks between the two of them, or rather, the other two of her.
"It hasn't been that long since you left," Vasha says, feathers ruffled.
"I haven't been stalking anyone," Katie claims.
"I'm not confident enough in my body yet," Sasha claims.
"I guess it will take time and strong effort," Tasha agrees, nodding slowly. "Also, I've been gone for like, two weeks." She then nods to each of them. "It takes a lot of time to adjust, I know."
"I haven't been stalking Mr. Gold either," Hakeber pipes up.
"Wow," Tasha says, sitting up and folding her arms. "I leave for two weeks slash like a day or two and it's either disaster or super boring. I will be expecting you three to step up."
"More disaster then?" Sasha asks.
"Preferably more excitement, disaster I have to fix when I get back," Tasha corrects.
"We went shopping," Sharon notes. "That was exciting!"
"And we got our fake IDs," Sasha says.
"Oh!" Tasha snaps the fingers of her right hand. "peaking of exciting, we might have a new member coming by sooner or later." She then nods. "New IDs are good. Reality is very particular about IDs, our reality that is."
"You picked up another stray?" Gabriel says. "And Kai let you?"
"Kai helped." Tasha gives Kai a thumbs up for some reason and then looks back. "And I wouldn't call her a stray, she can certainly take care of herself. She's most like, hmm, a cross between you Gabriel, and you Katie, but older. An old soldier who feels like she couldn't do enough during her war. She's um, hmm, big, several thousand years old, reptilian, a cyborg, and silver."
"Does she breathe fire too?" Gabriel asks.
"Nice color though, very metallic," Katie says, nodding in approval.
"And use magic! Also, she's a lawyer." Tasha wags her tail enthusiastically. Lawyers, where she came from were people who handled legal problems for the extremely wealthy and, she assumes, other such problems like ethics. She may be wrong, but she feels like Gwyndrael would at lest listen to her ethical dilemmas. "So she should be a big help in war councils. Extensive experience."
"Well, active experience is always good, so long as it won't be difficult to accommodate her," Gabriel admits.
Sasha nudges Sharon, and says, "You could be a virgin sacrifice!"
"Wouldn't females want male virgin sacrifices though?" Sharon shoots back.
"I'll save you both!" Hakeber claims, with a big grin.
"She is a bit big, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution," Tasha assures Gabriel. "Besides, you two will probably get along." She then glances over at her other selfs' antics and grins. "Maybe, I'll ask her. And she likes things that are interesting, like me. If you're interested you should say so. Dragons respect being direct. Anatomically, it's a bit more challenging."
"Wait.. she's seriously a dragon?" Sasha asks. "A normal one?"
Lacci clacks her beak. "Dragon?"
"No such thing as dragons," Kai claims.
"I like to think all dragons are unique enough that there's no 'normal' dragon, but yes she's a true dragon. Big, silver scales, four-on-the-floor, dangerous breathy, highly knowledgeable, thousands of years old." Tasha rummages through her jacket pocket and pulls out a sketch pad, which she holds out. "This is Gwyndrael." It's a sketch of a large dragon, presumably female, sleeping. She then show the picture to Lacci. "You know, dragons." She show the picture to Kai next. "Kai is just jealous because Kai is off-brand."
"A monster of legend," Lacci says upon seeing the drawing. "Often used as a mascot or symbol for some military groups."
"They're definitely real. Or, well, if you think of reality as what's actually real then maybe not, you know, in that relativistic way. Different rulesets. Of course then I'm only partially real and Kai and Tia less so." Tasha waggles her hands. "Anyway, whatever your definition is, she'll be coming over eventually."
"Charon was a dragon," Aaron reminds Lacci.
"Charon was cute and small though," Lacci says. "Not intimidating."
"Charon's not what you'd call a true dragon. Their entire line are more like faux dragon-adjacent beings, but probably more powerful. You can see the difference in their socialization. True dragons are all loners. They don't really establish nations and communities, they are nations and communities unto themselves," Tasha explains. "Also: memorize this Lacci, it's important dragon history. There's more in Dragons: A Guide For the Lesser Races and The Dragon Realms, History, Religion, Spirit."
"I guess the only military history in that is about defeating dragons then?" Lacci asks.
"Well, I skimmed it, but it does deal with draconic conflicts on all sides. The first one's very dragon-perspective and it's very condescending, but it's considered generally correct and accurate in most things if you can get past the tone. The other one was written by the worshippers of Bahamut, so you can trust it's true and just, and so probably correct, and it deals with opinions on various things draconic, like religion, what it means to be a dragon from Bahamut's supposed perspective, and more."
"Dragons actually worship something other than themselves?" Hakeber asks. "Or is that where their magic comes from?"
"Not sure about the magic but some do worship something, though Bahamut and the others are dragon gods so maybe that's easier to accept. Gwyndrael lives in Bahamut's city, and I think she worked for or volunteered for the state as a lawyer, or Advocate. I'm sure she'll be happy to tecah you dragon history," Tasha explains as she turns back to watch the show. "I only know what I've picked up from all the dragons and dragon-adjacent beings, including myself apparently."
Outside, the men have reached the shore of the lake, and so Dark Horse descends to the water. It isn't clear if they can spot one another yet (as they don't have Vartan vision), but they can all see the anachronistic fire-base, and the modern-art hulk of the Astraea. Mr. Pink and Mr. Gold start running along their respective sections of beach towards the base, while Mr. Black takes the more direct route through the lake itself, unless he's actually trying to swim out to the Dark Horse.
"I wonder if they discussed their paths or if they have individual priorities. A Naga might naturally want to investigate the power and possibility the ship represents, while the familiar might draw the Humans and the Silent One. Think I should go out and meet the two if they near the base?" Tasha glances over, ears up.
"They did not know they would be captured by a ghost like alien that could manipulate their minds, so prior collusion is unlikely," Shojo says. "They also split up to cover the station faster, which presumes they were not expecting to find anything, or were each confident in their own abilities. My only instructions to Tia where to give them something they could not possibly have been expecting. I'll go and meet them, but you are welcome to come along, Tasha. You have the proper number of fingers for Silent Sign."
"Hey I am excellent at Formal Sign. Besides, I an be an interesting opponent, too." Tasha doesn't get up just yet, but she does nod towards the sword she put aside. "That's yours by the way, an actual magic sword. It will be effective against anything that enters from the more magical side of things."
"I've never used a magical sword before," Shojo admits as he heads towards the elevator. "I saw a Confederate pull a rabbit out of a hat once."
Tasha hops up, snatching the sword before racing t catch up with Shojo where she hands it over to him. "It's like using any sword, it's just magically enhanced. Think of it like a energy matrix or a field. Otherwise it's the same, I made sure to not buy anything unfamiliar for practical use. Can't have you puzzling over strange and occult weaponry when you desperately need it, that's my job."
Shojo accepts it, and sticks the scabbard into his belt for now. They both reach the armored main ramp that leads into the airfield, with the armored doors behind them. Then Shojo draws the sword, tests the balance, and takes up a 'thou shalt not pass' sort of stance.
Tasha removes her jacket and one of her belts, namely the belt with her travel supplies and tools rather than armaments. She then walks over to stand beside Shojo, draws her own sword, and plants a hand on her hip to stand in a very expectant and non-nonchalant sort of manner, a step or two behind the large avain man. "I feel like I should give cryptic answers and talk about inner strength when they arrive."
The first to arrive is Mr. Gold, which isn't surprising given his long legs and species-renowned ability to run very fast. He also has a weapon. He stops a few meters away, and sizes up the situation - swords versus sharpened stick. He as the reach advantage, but his weapon is not as effective. So he holds it butt-down and bows his head instead. Surrendering?
Tasha thinks about this. It could be a trick, it could be recognition that he might be about to stab his commander and also his boss, which Tasha isn't sure the man knows is her yet. Since Shojo brought her along -- and since he noted her Sign ability -- she takes this as her moment to act. "Welcome. What is your intent, who are you, and what have you decided?" The actual translation means more than its literal interpretation: she is asking what the man's stance is towards them and his situation, who he is as a Silent-One, and what he makes of the situation he is in -- all very formally.
"My intent is to be the first to survive this nightmare," the Silent One signs back. "I am a warrior, and will always be a warrior no matter the circumstances. I present my spear as a sign of fealty." After signing that, he flips his holds his spear horizontally in both hands, and presents it palms-up.
Tasha inclines -- rather than nods as she usually tends to do -- her head with uncharacteristic seriousness. "Welcome again, Warrior Gold. Present your offering to us." She does not say to whom.
So Mr. Gold steps, and presents the spear.. while standing between the pair still. After all, Tasha may just be Shojo's translator, but he isn't taking changes. Shojo is still as a statue of course, but does turn his head towards Tasha and says in Vartan, "We each grab an end on the count of three."
Of course, that would mean Shojo is grabbing the end that was sharpened.
"I understand." Tasha's nod to Shojo is also formal, if more familiar. She doesn't comment on the choice of which side to grab but does note that the sharp side was directed towards Shojo rather than her -- a sign of respect of Shojo's strength or a doubt in her own? Either way she finds it revealing on some level and that's what this is about for her.
On three, she grabs her side.
Shojo takes his, and they both lift the spear. But Shojo didn't discuss what to do afterwards.
Tasha decides this is either an oversight or a test for her, maybe to see if she really has faith in him or is just putting on an act. She suspects he may see her as a bit of a glory hound despite her stepping out of sight from civilization as a whole, but the answer to thatis a complex one.
So Tasha holds the spear for a moment to show a ceremonial acceptance of the object, then she places another hand on it, and deliberately has it over to Shojo completely.
Shojo sets it butt-down, and nods to Mr. Gold before stepping aside to let him enter the base.
As Gold passes she Signs, "Ask to look at the weapons I brought, ask any one you like," as he passes. She then, just before he heads off, gives him a very informal thumbs-up as his final reward for 'escaping the nightmare' knowing that a bit of informality and irreverence can do a lot to help a person deal with the overwhelming unknown.
At least, it works for her.
Mr. Gold does not go very far, just off to the side and behind. Mr. Pink is jogging along the beach at a more sustainable pace towards the ramp to the base, but there's no sign of Mr. Black since he entered the lake, especially with the undisguised Dark Horse floating between the Naga and the near shore. "With the ship down, we don't have any video feed on Mr. Black," Shojo notes.
"Do you want me to look for him? The lake's dangers are unknown," Tasha replies, looking up, and up further now that she's slightly shorter. "I can probably avoid Galatea."
"Wait a bit longer," Shojo advises. "He is probably trying to investigate the 'alien' ship."
"Well, I certainly can't blame him. It's interesting how the Silent-One and the Human are going for normality and familiarity and the Naga is going for the unknown. Not that I'd expect a Terran base to seem normal to him, but it should be more normal than the ship." Tasha lowers her sword and stretches, since there's naught to do but wait. "So, how have you been, Shojo?"
"Lacci took me shopping on Caltrop," Shojo says, but then Mr. Pink arrives, and asks, "Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? Have we all been abducted by that alien chick? Is this a zoo?"
"All shall be revealed," Tasha intones as she spreads her hands. "In time. You must look within for answers, and without for growth. You are not alone." She then looks back to Shojo and asks, "So how are you and Lacci? And how are we getting along? Any complaints? Miss me?"
"There are three more of you," Shojo points out. "We all went shopping together. I felt outnumbered."
"Tia, Sharon and Yue went off on their own," the Vartan adds.
"Ahh yeah, that's pretty weird isn't it? Even I still can't quite grasp it yet. I have all these powers and sometimes I forget I am what I am and just default to who I've been for most of my life. I'm trying to encourage the new mes to grow and differentiate a little, since I'll need them to be more confident in who and what they are and their relationship to Prime." Aside to Mr. Pink, Tasha adds, "You can stand with Mr. Gold if you want. Unless Shojo says otherwise. He's your direct boss."
"If you wish to stay until your teammate returns, you are welcome to," Shojo tells Mr. Pink, who sits down cross-legged on the tarmac.
There's a disturbance in the water next to the pier, and a dark shape can be seen reaching the shallows. Then Mr. Black 'stands up' out of the water, holding onto a large fish with an armored head and very big teeth as he slithers up the shore.
At that point, Dark Horse begins to drift towards the end of the pier as well.
"Big fish in the lake," the Naga reports to Shojo. "Small wiggly ones as well." Naga aren't much for facial expression, but Mr. Black's posture seems very relaxed, as he offers up the fish.
"Hey, that's new." Tasha points at the fish. "And very practical of him. Looks like all three of them decided they were out of their element and violence wasn't the answer. At least not yet. I was kind of hoping to fight Mr. black, too." Tasha shakes her head sadly. Then, as if she hadn't been sad at all, she turns to smile at Shojo; she looks about to say something when Mr. Black slithers up.
Taking the first by tail in his non-spear-holding hand, Shojo hefts the heavy, wet thing over his shoulder. "Good catch. Anything to report?"
"Weird looking ship is Dark Horse inside," Mr. Black notes. "Alien thing took my equipment, I did not lose it. I like this place."
"That ancient military transport looks brand new," Mr. Pink says, gesturing to Gabriel's newest toy. "The other one isn't like anything I've ever seen before. And this firebase looks like it was taken off of Mars."
"It is pretty cozy," Tasha agrees, nodding slowly. "Good job by the way, not that it's my place to say so." The snake does get a thumbs-up though, which Tasha also directs towards the other two.
Mr. Gold is quiet of course, even with his hands. But he does give Mr. Black a nod of approval over his catch.
"Yeah they're pretty weird, right? I should walk around the base some time. Oh, and I think we can spare a wing in it for you and your men, Shojo. Maybe a floor can be used for training," Tasha notes, nodding.
"I do not believe the residential towers have been fully explored," Shojo claims. "We need to test that this fish is not poisonous," he adds, since any fish on Abbadon would need a lot of chelating to get toxins out.
"Lots to test then. Are we all done here? I haven't been back very long myself, so I'm all for taking a break. I'm not as physically mighty as I used to be, you know!" Tasha sheathes her sword, then rubs her shoulders and rolls her arms in their sockets. "Do you need me to explain anything or go over anything with your men?"
"I will debrief them with what they need to know," Shojo says. "I have asked Sam to assist with some of it."
"Oh that'll be fun." Tasha cranes her neck to look around at Shojo. "I'm not in the way, am I? I can leave?"
A clicking sound on the pier indicates the Phin walking suits are in use, as Kaa and Moka disembark Dark Horse.. with the Jotoki skittering behind them.
Tasha mock-gasps. "Oh no. Aliens. And they're coming to steal our fish," she declares, eyes widening and ears going up. The effect is ruined a bit when she waves to said aliens.
"I think the men would wish to clean up and retrieve their gear, so I will be debriefing them afterwards, and then you may join Sam in the main briefing room if you wish."
"You know where he's been hiding then?" Gabriel asks Shojo.
"Right-o." Tasha salutes, then she tries to sneak in giving Shojo a hug.
It's like hugging a tree, of course. A very solid tree. "I had asked Samael to monitor events in the mining station as best he could. Galatea is still an unknown quantity, and I thought he could provide an unbiased opinion on her performance."
"Well, he certainly has the experience necessary. I suppose I could also go check on him, since someone needs to inform him we're back. Also-" here Tasha looks up, her expression going more serious. "I'm strongly leaning towards moving forward with things on schedule and without the delays I mentioned might happen. I'd rather get things over and done with; we can worry about the new information afterwards."
"Mrs. Teatime provided us with a secure data chip," Shojo says. "It has her latest intelligence on the target."
"Excellent, we'll review that later then, and then we'll decide what's what." Tasha pats Shojo's arm encouragingly. "Good luck with your men, I'm going to go intercept the others." With the unspoken additional that it's to reduce the amount of questions Shojo needs to field, at least immediately.
Shojo and his men head for the command center at the far end of the airfield, and Gabriel stays with Tasha to meet with the Phins. "None of them panicked," the Karnor notes. "I'm not sure if they intended to seek eachother out or not though."
"Well, they were individual operators before they joined us as a team. I'm sure they're only slightly more familiar with each other than they are with us, and less so, all of this." Tasha waves a hand at their surroundings. "Anyway they'll probably get used to this eventually. Ms. Teatime seemed to know her stuff. And we have our own work to do, to get ready. I should probably train, uh, myselves more and decide what I personally am going to contribute. I think with all of me I could operate a vehicle alone by splitting duties, especially if we can sync up, that may allow me to be my own squad if necessary."
The Phins arrive, with Kaa asking, "Permission to ent-ter base, Captain?"
"Permission granted," Gabriel says. "There's a salt-water pool behind the command center. Complain to Kai about not salting the lake."
"Kaa will try to seduce her first," Moka claims, as the large mammals move past, with Rock and Rainbow (with the cats perched atop them) following along.
"Galatea hasn't moved," Gabriel notices. "Is she waiting for a signal?"
"Have fun!" Tasha waves after the departing group, then peers around the landscape until she spots Galatea. "She might be talking to Kai. Or staring at me." She squints, maybe she can tell at the distance.
She seems to be facing the other way, since there's a shock of yellow-gold that would be her hair, with the rest of the figure being white, like it was when Tasha first encountered her.
"Well no glares, she's staring at the opposite direction. What's over there, anyway? Pick me up, I'm too short to see!" Tasha holds her arms out to be picked up.
"Can't you fly?" Gabriel teases, but easily lifts Tasha up to his shoulder.
"My wings are sore from putting heavy bags on them!" Tasha sits down and then shades her eyes against what may be, but may also not be, a sun. "Lets see.. Mostly the surrounding mountain is made up of caves, but they're also access ways. We should probably set up monitoring devices next to every cave, come to think of it."
Directly across the lake is the old hunting manor-castle. So Galatea may be facing that, as it's the only other non-natural looking feature.
"Hmm, that's the castle. I should maybe ask her." Tasha does not want to ask her, but it's for security purposes, so she'll swallow her anxiety and distaste and make the effort. "Galatea? Is there something wrong with the castle?"
There's no response.. since Kai disabled the communication function on the ansible because of the dark map in her head.
"Oh.. I forgot Kai disabled communications. I forgot it's not just syncing. Well, I guess I'm no use then!" Tasha leans on Gabriel's head and tries to play bite one of his ears. "Anything you want to do? I've been subject to Kai banging a barbarian for days. I like women but, you know. Or, should I go fly over and ask because I have a job to do?"
"The helmet feeds from the mining base was.. disturbing," Gabriel notes. "Those men will probably need some counseling from Dr. Sen, unless we make an effort to have Galatea seem harmless. So, yeah, you should probably bring her in."
"Fiiiine, just remember you turned down sex to make me go do something I need to do! Which is part of why I love you." Tasha hugs and then kisses Gabriel's noggin, then pats his hand until he releases her, at which point she becomes increasingly light until she starts to hover. "We should talk about kids, too! But later! See you in a bit!"
And then Tasha's rapidly accelerating forwards Galatea.
Hopefully the odd woman isn't in defensive mode. But she doesn't react as Tasha comes up behind her. She doesn't even bob up and down on the breeze.
To be extra safe Tasha just slowly flies a circle around the woman with the woman at the center. "Galateaaaaa, are you there? We were worried about you hovering up here. Also, I have news if Kai hasn't passed it on yet."
It takes a moment before Galatea opens her eyes and looks at Tasha, and her expression is neutral. "What news?" she asks.
"Well, Kainudy is fine, as is everyone with her. Well maybe not fine, but she is alive. I've also made some headway in locating a object that might help us recover not only her daughter but potentially also her mate. It may be os some use helping her, too. Of course the information was supplied by a demon-book so we'll have the confirm it ourselves. I also have leads on the Ogdru'hem within this reality."
But then Tasha frowns, is silent for a moment, then asks, "You didn't enjoy playing monster, did you?"
"I had to turn off.. a lot of things, in order to manage it," Galatea answers. Then she starts staring into Tasha's eyes. "You have a psychic parasite, like Hakeber," she comments flatly. "Are you aware of it?"
"Well, I;m sorry you had to do that. You do know you don't have to do any of it, right? If you ask, we can set you up to live as a student at the dorms on Caltrop. You don't need stress yourself out over any of this." Tasha waggles a hand down at the ship and base. She then pauses and corrects, "Well, most of it. No one here can bring the ship in, not even Kai. But for the rest you can just kick back and relax. You're not required to be 'on the team'." Another pauses. "Yes, it's the map. Part of the information form the book. I also have a Silver Key, if you can perceive that."
"I would like more details about my mother," Galatea requests. "And then the map and other information. Kai was assigned to you, so I will continue to offer support. For now." While her voice remains neutral, there's still a bit more weight on those last two words.
"I see. Well, if you want to go, I can arrange things so you can. We won't keep you." Tasha folds her arms and settles in to 'lean' on the empty air. "Kainudy has moved in to the Unformed and continues to fight there with the others along as observers. The fay are very concerned, but I fed them some truth and also some leading suggestions to maybe-if-they-would consider settling old grievances with the Queen of Demise rather than allow potential aggression to accrue in absence of some sort of gesture, or worse, immediate hostilities. Otherwise neither side appears to be winning. That may be bad, or not: It's Thotep so prolonging the engagement may amuse him and achieve his goal. I also know the Dragon God of Knowledge is aware of her situation, if you need someone to seek out and ask. You are expected."
"Come to think of it, you, Kainudy and myself are all expected," Tasha adds, ears flicking. "He may be a good lead on how to address the various problems if we can recover Kainudy."
"Recover?" Galatea asks. "It sounds as if she has become the Queen of Demise after all. How are the fey involved in this?"
"Oh, well, based on what they said the Queen displaced Thotep's control over the Dreamlands, though we know it's the other way around -- he took his avatar and used it to invade the.. uh.. Kainudylands. Their battle spilled out in to the realms between, then in to the Unformed. Ask Kai about Kainudy's history with the fey, but they basically backstabbed her after her war with the Steel Dragons. There will be a woman coming by sooner or later who can talk about the war from direct experience; she knew Kainudy and knows her current status. Anyway, some of the fay remember their betrayal and put two and two together, most of the fey have no idea and are just worried to monumental powers are fighting across lands and realms they use." Tasha taps her chin in thought. "As for becoming the Queen, that label existed longer than her current situation. It seems to have started roughly around the time her army was decimated and she absorbed the dragon mage's soul and demonic essences. The mage was key, right? But he died. So they agreed to have Kainudy absorb his knowledge and powers. That appears to be the start of the Queen."
"She always went to great effort to keep things bottled up," Galatea says, starting to sound normal again. "Afraid of losing her mental armor. I thought it was because she was vulnerable. I see in hindsight how cracks in it caused problems before my time. Is she lost then to the Queen? The djinn does not easily return to the bottle, as the saying goes."
"I remember her as we left her: She seemed lucid, resigned, and like she didn't blame anyone. Persephone -- who is probably wiser than all of us combined -- made her in to a complete Queen of Demise instead of one made of mismatching parts slowly crumbling. If we consider that, then maybe she'll be fine. Just because she's the Queen doesn't mean she's not still Kainudy. I think that was the lesson Persephone's been trying to teach all of us." Tasha tilts her head the other way. "The Queen is just a title after all. Ultimately she's just Kainudy with more power and evil bits, not unlike her apprentice." Tasha's smile is wry.
Galatea is quiet for a bit, but doesn't look too concerned. "The battle cannot last forever," she concludes. "You aren't evil if nobody sees it."
"No, it can't. We have no idea how long it will go, but forever sounds unlikely. Eventually we'd interfere, at the very least." Tasha thinks a moment about evil, then shakes her head. "I'm not sure that's true. Evil can still be done to you and take place in your mind. You may not be judged for it, but it's there and shouldn't be dismissed. It's a problem if not one that reaches beyond you. The evil inside Kainudy ate away at her after all, and it will for both Hakeber and I as well."
"But have either of you done anything evil?" Galatea asks, with renewed focus. Is she looking for confessions?
"Hakeber has done terrible things to pizza and piza delivery felines," Tasha says, an attempt to add some humor. She smiles but it dosn't last, then she reaches up and rubs her face. "I don't know? I spent several days in the Dragon City of Justice and I still can't figure out if I'm just or evil. Am I doing the right thing? Is it all going well? Am I on the verge of falling apart, or breaking down, or being consumed by the evil around and in me? Will I make any difference or just end up the latest step in a timeless plan of some dark god? I don't think I have, at least nothing of real and tremendous evil, but I've used rough ways to accomplish things and sometimes I've gone beyond my usual limits to prevent something I think is worse." The young woman shrugs, then drops her hands and looks up at the phantom sky. "Hake? She's probbaly harmless, but she's not mentally strong. She could be pupeteered."
"This map of yours came from a demonic book?" Galatea then asks. "Do you know how to access it?"
"Not especially. It is aware, but it doesn't like the Elder Sign so it stays quiet most of the time. A kitsune suggested I 'push' the key and the map to my eyes to try and use them, but we only tried that once. And yes, a book. I think it was the Necronomicon." Tasha returns to the air-leaning posture. "I had planned to focus on it all more after the operation due to our quickly diminishing free time. Oh, and the map can 'see the awful truths hidden in the world'. It seems to reveal people's natures, what they hide, who they are, or, at least, their awful sides. It may reveal a lot more, and may be necessary in tracking down the Ogdru'hem. Maybe.. I should look at everyone?" But Tasha sounds anxious, uneasy.
"Do you really want to see your companions that way?" Galatea asks. "For it to exist within you, there must have been a spark of evil for it to anchor itself to."
"Well, there's the spore, and I felt.. I think I felt my soul twitch when it arrived. There's also Hastur's power and any other influence on me. But it you mean me, well, of course I'm not perfect. I used to be pretty mean. I think most mortals have some evil in them, even without having been mean." Tasha shrugs; she doesn't know. "As for 'my companions', I'm just worried something may have infiltrated us. Both you and Kai can appear Human, who knows what else can hide so easily?"
"You forgot Samael," Galatea points out. "Or have you forgotten that he is a demon?"
"Sam's no hiding though, but you're right in that he may notice an invader. Unless he doesn't want to say so. I like Sam, but I can never be entirely sure of what his motives are. He serves Thotep. Thotep is attacking my mentor and your mother; he's also helped us out, surely for his own plans. Sam's hard to evaluate." Tasha rubs her nose, then sighs. "The truth is I don't know how to gauge him anymore. I used to be more sympathetic but after.. what happened happened, it's hard to be around him without the.. reminder. I'm biased. But I wonder how unfair that is. I don't know the truth in whatever he has like a heart.he hasn't personally wronged us that I know of, but he openly serves Thotep."
"He can't hide from Kai, none of us can," Galatea claims. "And she is an amoral, soulless monster that does not care for matters of privacy or dignity. If someone is trying to deceive you in a dangerous manner, she will report it to you, so long as she serves to watch over you."
"Then I'll trust in that. Kai is many things but she seems to still have to follow her directives. Also, she thinks I'm boring if that helps any." Tasha makes a face. "I used to be considered exciting. Mostly. Responsibility will just ruin you."
"She is a dumping ground for my mother's darker desires and thoughts," Galatea says. "The 'id' of a dragon politician."
"So she probably finds us all boring, other than perhaps Samael," she adds, her white skin changing to pink as she takes on her human appearance again, complete with red hair. "I should probably get my clothes from the ship."
"That 'id' really likes meaty barbarian Human men. I guess I can't be too upset about that since it pushed me to flirt with Gwyndrael, and that worked out really well!" Tasha wags her tail. "Glad I didn't make any of my other selves my emotional dumping ground, or they'd probably be a problem. As for your clothes, well, depends how fast you want the mercs to see you in a more attractive light." And so she winks and grins.
"I'm hoping they don't realize Tia is also Galatea," Tia says. "But it shouldn't matter. Mr. Pink would probably find Kai more to his liking anyway. I'll help you examine your map later, if you like. At least enough to see if the communication restriction on your ansible can be lifted. That only applies to communication with myself though. Your link to your siblings is different."
"I'd like that. But why is my connection to my, uh.. siblings, different? Also they keep calling me mom, And Kai! They call Kai mom! That is very unsettling, especially in light of who Kai is, which means Kainudy on some level would have kids with me, but only her dark side?" Tasha's hackles get a little poofy here. "There's a lot of really weird connotations and directions here. I'm ending up having children just by existing at this rate."
"I am also their mother then," Tia points out. "Your link to them is different because it works the way Kai's works, which I don't understand. She's the prototype for everything that followed, including the Stelya-rhyan and T'spyra-rhyan, the latter of which is technically what I belong to."
"Gabriel's going to feel really left out at this rate," Tasha decides, frowning. "I hope he doesn't. Well, I'll work on that the usual way. Um." Tasha blinks, shakes her head out, then nods. "So it's like the link between Kainudy and Kai then. Or some prototype of it. Soul transfers. What's a T'spyra-rhyan? Please tell me it's something-horse."
"It is an ivory tower," Tia says. "The original was ten kilometers high, but Lothrhyn was only about a 20 meters when she created me."
"Soooo.. Wait, an ivory tower?" Tasha lowers her head and thinks, she's sure she's seen it somewhere; ah, Kainudy's nightmares, when Persephone was working on her! "I've seen that tower! It was there when I was fighting with the fey, one of the vision landscapes. So this tower was somehow alive? I'm not sure which tower I saw, but the one I saw was filled with dragons running everywhere. It's where I might have seen Kainudy's maker."
"Very unfriendly by the way. I remember asking, "friend or foe" and she just said "no". Glad she didn't join though, that would have gone badly," Tasha admits.
"Yes, that would have been the original, on Tyrrhyn," Tia says, then points to Dark Horse. "I'm going to get dressed. Try not to infect your sibling-children with the map."
"I won't link up with them until we do more work on map. Better just one of me than all of me." Tasha begins to descend, but towards the pier. She looks about to say something else but her muzzle closes and she just gives a parting wave as she descends.