Session 56 - Cave Story: Generations

Previously, Across the Horizon...

The Jozech Raid… did not quite go as planned.
Fortunately, through mysterious means, our brave adventurers have been given a second chance.
The mountains immediately to the east of the Jozech shipbuilding facility hide a series of twisting caverns and winding passageways. With Albarea presence unopposed in the region, patrols have been overall light as of late, with the majority of Albarea military might relaxing within the facility itself.
This, of course, adds too much risk and danger.
The party decided to launch a two-pronged assault this time, better splitting their forces between an infiltration squad and a distraction squad, with the former charged with the matter in Jozech itself, and the latter providing them their window of opportunity.
The infiltration squad would have the navigational brilliance of Celeste Meracydia, the technical wizardry of Yves Mjrwin, the relentless optimism of Linnet Leveche, and the impeccable style of Apocynthion Lunakrei Tolvani the Third. With a plan in their books and a collection of quick thinkers on hand should the lines be forgotten, the squad set out early on the morning of Kuganepo the 27th, careful to take their time and ensure this plan would be a success.
With Celeste’s skill at plotting a course and climbing a rock wall, the four worked in companionable silence, setting a bevy of traps and misdirections throughout the caves. Apoc split his time between serving as lookout and serving as manual labor, saving Linnet the shame of having to do either. With the time their early departure gave them, Yves devised a chemical for marking their paths in a clear mushroom-derived paste, one that would shine an ominously dark purple under ultraviolet light.
The caves are currently full of fake spider webs crafted from staticky threads of silk, flash pots primed to erupt into acrid smoke after tripping a wire low to the ground, rocks and gravel positioned at the edge of a precariously-positioned platform to feign the threat of a cave-in, dangerously sticky glue arranged as mold along the edges of tight passageways, remote-triggered noisemakers to simulate distant footsteps, and other nonlethal trials and tribulations for anyone entering the caves.
Nothing to do then, but wait.
And wait.
And wait.
We join our brave adventurers… in the waiting.
**
They wait.
Celeste is wearing a sleeveless gray hoodie, tan capri pants, and a pair of orange climber’s sneakers, with that gaudy dagger strapped to her thigh. She has spent the last thirty-five minutes going through a workout routine, and in this moment she is doing squats, her green hair clipped up out of her eyes. Before that, she spent time meditating, and then a bit of ballet.
Apoc has traded his flashier actor’s ensemble out for a burgundy coat and gray slacks, a color combination that can be mistaken for at least two other houses and one particular favored breed of Chasseur. His cap holds a notable red-and-black dyed chocobo feather that is just noticeable enough when found as to inspire potentially months of fruitless searching. The last twenty minutes for Apoc have been fascinating and educational, as he has been paying rapt attention to Yves as the viera mage rolls through a list of chemicals, what they can be used for, and what they really shouldn’t be used for but often are anyway, because it’s considerably more fun that way.
Yves is staring into the distance, thinking about mushrooms or something derived from mushrooms, during a pause in the list. He's wearing what used to be his work outfit--lots of black and dark gray, simple stuff with the occasional acid hole or peculiar stain--as he knows from experience that it's good for skulking, and also sometimes lurking, having done that sort of thing after work on a somewhat regular basis. "...though of course this doesn't hold if you're somewhere that doesn't get frost snaps at least once a year," he concludes, picking up from a sentence left off several seconds ago, "because then you have to worry about having acquired your ingredients from False Spotted Chocobo Tail, which looks and smells almost exactly like regular Spotted Chocobo Tail, but causes hallucinations in about half the people who eat it, and permanent intestinal damage in half. Not the same halves, but there's some overlap. Which is of course why a reliable supplier so important, but not nearly as useful as doing lab tests yourself."
"I'm never eating mushrooms again." Linnet has only been half listening to Yves' schpiel, but it's been enough to put her off mushroom omelettes for life. Her gray-on-black outfit is daubed in glue stains and wound about with spare spider silk, not intentionally, and her hair has been dyed a shocking magenta with the sacrifice of several pounds of beetroot. She's currently pacing through an old set of choreography and humming a cheerful tune, very quietly so it doesn't echo.
"Fascinating. It's a miracle any scientists actually live to publish their papers," Apoc says reverentially.
"Well, plenty of scientists go into less interesting lines of work," Yves says, with a slightly disdainful shrug. "Zoology, physics, sociology, that sort of thing."
"What drew you to chemistry?" Apoc's full attention is riveted to Yves. "I mean, you have this incredible talent for it, but there's no way that you haven't also thrown yourself into it fully and eagerly."
"Oh, well..." Yves stares at a different part of the cave. "I was into all sorts of science areas when I was in college, but I met this one friend, and, uh, he got me a job, and it just made sense to.... focus."
Apoc looks interested in continuing the conversation, but then Celeste holds a hand up for silence. She puts her head to the ground and closes her eyes. After a moment, she nods. "I can hear a patrol coming in this general direction," she says. "We're almost ready to move. Run us through the plan one more time, Linnet," she says, pulling all four of them into a voice-lowering huddle.
Yves is ready to huddle and not talk more about that previous point. "I'm ready to fake mild failure!" he whispers.
"Celeste, darling, you've got the plan spot on and you know it. Stop worrying, we'll be fine. And when the plan goes pear-shaped, we'll do it live." Linnet squeezes her shoulder reassuringly. "But, the plan basically boils down to 'attempt sneaking out of the cave, intentionally fail at the being sneaky part, separate along the trails you marked on our handy little map, keep our lights handy so we can follow Yves' sneaky mushroom trail, make enough noise for twenty more of us, and run them into as many traps as possible. And that way, we buy time for the other half of the plan. Once it sounds like they're no longer following us in any great numbers, we can make for the actual exit; if a couple of them do manage to actually track us all the way through the maze here, we can take them out together."
"We'll be the right type of threatening, but probably without any actual death!" Yves says, as he apparently only whispers in exclamation points.
Celeste gives Yves a thumbs up in response.
"Well, in that case, why don't I go raise the curtain, eh?" Apoc says, adjusting his hat.
Yves de-huddles, and bounces on his toes. "You're the man with the drama."
Apoc heads down the tunnel toward the sound of the approaching patrol, and about three minutes later, Linnet and Yves hear a rather believable commotion that could be caused by someone sneaking through the caves stumbling over a bit of loose gravel and swearing.
"Apoc, stop stealing my lines," Linnet mutters, but she's grinning.
A few seconds later, he's back in the group with a smile on his face. "Flash of a light and a bit of a shout in the back, we'll have company soon enough. After you, Yves."
"Right, we head past the paint-trap first, so we can see if any of them get too near. Remember, follow the signs to the /left/ at that point." And then Yves is off, to demonstrate.
Celeste ushers Linnet ahead of her, and Apoc brings up the rear.
The UV light flashes across the marker indicating the paint trap is just up ahead, everything going according to plan.
Yves is taking the lead while it's just a matter of moving around traps. He feels fairly confident that he can handle that much. He is also completely confident that everyone, having run through this during the setup, can avoid triggering any of the delicate faux-spiderweb lines around ankle height that will spray the paint gloriously about.
(Yves is far more confident than some of the rest of the party; Linnet has fallen somewhat behind because she's navigating very carefully around the stupid spider silk.)
"Okay, one more trap, then we trigger the noise-makers to start in the branch tunnels," Yves whispers, from the far side of the paint zone.
On at least one "web," real cave spiders have taken up residence, making the illusion (a) much more convincing and (b) much creepier.
The sound of rushing footsteps draws closer and closer to the paint trap location, just waiting for the perfect moment for Yves to trigger it before continuing the tactical retreat.
Yves tugs the backup string--it seemed safer than just trusting someone would step on the right things with the right force--and then there is a dramatic assault in the dark on the incoming hostiles. Specifically, an assault of bright, glowing paint, shot out in a fine mist that can make it yards and yards down the tunnel to make sure even people lagging at the back get a bit of tag-and-spray.
The smell of mushrooms is suddenly overpowering.
There is a sputter of shock more than pain, and more than a little bewilderment in the chatter of voices that rises up down the tunnel. The bewilderment is quickly turning to anger, as someone doesn't appreciate their uniform getting defaced like this.
"Lights out, don't hit the flash pot cord," Yves whispers, continuing his advance, "and stand by for the cave-in threat."
"Let me know when you need agonized panicked screaming. I practiced," Linnet whispers behind him.
"Just after the flashes. It's more dramatic that way," Yves whispers, with a quick glance to Apoc in the dark for confirmation on this point.
"Make a showman out of you yet," comes the cheerful reply.
With Celeste's path still fresh in everyone's minds, the four easily drop down out of sight in the darkness, moving to the next position. The footsteps are faster coming up behind, a reckless charge that shows no respect for nature's threats, even in this terrible lighting and dank cave.
(Turns out the tap choreography to "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" still works in soft jazz shoes. And it also works for dancing through a cave.)
Yves shakes his head at these people not taking this seriously enough yet. Well, if they're still assuming the glowing paint is a joke and not a way to make targeting easier in the dark... "Clear for flashes," he whispers. Once he's sure everyone is on the right side of some upsetting upcoming pseudo-attacks, Yves pulls the cord. And follows it up with a zap of actual lightning aimed to destroy the mechanisms that set the trap, while providing that extra-realistic scent and sound of magic at work.
The effects are tremendous, with a gout of faux flame roaring up from a crack in the stone, nearly blinding one pursuer, and another coming sideways from another crack, a coordinated assault of magical fire and lightning that sends both the Albarea guards in the front sprawling and shouting.
Yves gestures to Linnet to do some practiced screaming while he hurries on toward the noisemaker activation.
And Linnet obliges with a will, simulating several different panicked voices in quick succession, doing her best to throw her voice for added confusion. With a quick gesture to Apoc for some masculine-accented swearing to back it up, the cacophony is complete.
There is a great deal of echo that really adds to the cacophony of confusion, and then the four are moving again. "Where's the split?" Apoc asks. "Feather will be a great diversion," he says, tapping his hat as indication.
"You and I should split, as the two visible diversions." (Linnet spent a couple of hours earlier trying to stuff her hair under something before concluding that there's just too much of it. Hence, the temporary shocking pink dye job.)
Yves points to a large and irregular cave they're about to enter. "Noise to the left and right, we're heading through that one just behind the stalag--stalac--through that rock column there, just like on the way in. Get the noise-makers going, and then catch up with Celeste and me; we'll be standing at the exit route to pull up traversal aids once you're both back."
Apoc fistbumps Yves and Celeste both, not that they're quite sure what to do about it, and then he's off to the right, leaving the left for Linnet. The pathway winds up around the edges, with ropes dangling down from the back of the column marking their departure point.
Linnet salutes, whirls around so fast her hair almost knocks a stalactite down, and dashes left.
Yves heads for the ropes, somewhat grimly. He's made sure to leave this part in such a way that no one is waiting on /him/ to be athletic at the last moment before pulling up the ropes. With feet braced against pre-selected gaps in the rock wall, and hands on the knotted rope, Yves hauls himself up to the top (where the threatening 'cave in' platform awaits for anyone who tries to follow), and then takes several deep breaths.
Apoc tugs the feather out of his hat and lets it drift down to the ground right by the edge of the wall, and then pops the noisemaker knot. He then covers the rest of the ground to Yves in a few bounds, grabbing Celeste's hand at the end to make the last of the climb, and then sets about reeling his line up while Linnet finishes her half.
Celeste crouches down, watching for Linnet, listening to the increasingly angry and confused sounds of the Albarea soldiers advancing in.
With a practiced flick of the wrist, Linnet catches her braid on a particularly obstructive and tall stalagmite, yanks it off, and leaves a few pink-dyed hairs as a clue - though not the full length of them. She then bends down to the knot Yves tied so carefully, yanks it free, and bolts back to the wall, grabbing a rope and hauling herself up before she has time to think.
Celeste helps pull her up the rest of the way, and then reels the rope up after her, undoing the knot and slinging it around her upper body. "Ready, Yves."
"Out, smooth and quiet," Yves says, "and we pull out that gap-plank behind us in case anyone does follow."
Apoc shoulders his rope. "After me, then," he says, leading Linnet into the next part of the plan.
Uneasily, Linnet glances back over her shoulder, but the caves are twisty enough that there's really nothing to see yet. "Aye aye."
Apoc heads into the tunnels leading further away, flicking on the UV light to find the path.
Celeste doublechecks that the ropes they used to climb up are gone. "Job well done," she says quietly.
Yves is still in high adrenaline mode, but nods rapidly and silently to Celeste, ears flopping.
"Yves, you're a genius, but I can't help feeling that this was too easy." Linnet's still watching over her shoulder every third step, which doesn't help with not tripping on cave gravel.
"Hey, Yves?" Apoc asks over his shoulder as they approach.
"...yeah?" Yves says. "I don't like that tone. What is it. Is it something?"
"Which way was out? You marked both." His light flashes across the wall, which has faint glowing arrows pointing left and right.
Yves stares at the light.
Blinks.
It is at this moment that a bloodcurdling scream tears through the cave.
Yves blinks again.
"...well that's not any of us four so let's... Celeste, which way was it?"
Celeste closes her eyes and takes two steps forward, rests her hand on the wall, and then in from the right. "This way," she says after a moment, fairly confidently. "We came from this way. We went left to get to the large chamber there."
"Right, there's our expert, and someone behind us finds spiders terrifying, onward," Yves says, with a cheery bravado.
"After you, thunderbun." Linnet shines her light down the other tunnel a bit further just in case, looking for additional marks, before following Yves and Celeste.
Apoc takes up the rear again, hand resting on his sword.
Yves is not slowing down, now that Celeste has picked a tunnel.
Celeste leads the way, and at the next split pauses. Apoc's light flashes across the tunnel wall, and again, there are arrows pointing in both directions, in eerily similar hands. "We came from that way," Celeste says, pointing to the right. "I never heard anyone else in here while we were, Yves..."
"This is incredibly unsettling," Yves says brightly. "So I'm not thinking about it, because we have a cave expert with us and we'll be fine."
"He means you," Apoc adds helpfully, sparking an eyeroll from Celeste, but the tension cracks a little.
The mountain rumbles, just a little.
"I'll handle the panicking, the rest of you just focus on moving forward - was that yours, Yves?" Silence. "That wasn't yours, was it."
"Let's keep moving toward the part where we're not in here," Yves says. "That's our plan. We stick to the plan."
"...what are the chances the other three blew something up outside that shook the whole mountain?"
Celeste looks at the tunnel ceiling so close overhead.
"It'd be too early for them to explode anything yet," Yves says, stepping forward the way Celeste had indicated, "and we should really keep moving, don't you think?"
"With Bast there? High. With Orrey there? Higher. With our merc on the job? Lower," Apoc says. "And yes. Let's not be here. Exit, stage now."
"We can only run headlong so fast through these caves, particularly with misleading marks," Linnet points out. "Which, incidentally, someone else had better be watching for, it's going to take all my concentration just to get out of this stupid cave with two ankles intact. Particularly if it moves again."
With a prod, Celeste is sparked forward. Two more tunnels, two more criscrossed arrows. Each time, Celeste picks a direction. Each time, it is correct.
"See," Yves says, his cheer ever more brittle, "we'll be fine, because we brought experts. Belt and suspenders, not just paint, paint and expert, because it's always good to have some fall-back options."
"One more and we're clear," Celeste says, and then Apoc's light shines on two almost identical arrows, this time both pointing to the right.
"...fuck, that can't be good." Linnet stares at the cave wall. "...Celeste, where does the left one go?"
"I wonder if we would've found more arrows if we went the wrong way," Yves says, very calmly. "That's something to think about later. Let's just go the way Celeste knows we're going."
"I don't know," Celeste says. "I don't remember. I remember we were going right to get out. Are we going right to get out?"
"Weapons hot, everyone. Celeste, I'm sorry, please don't give that any more thought. Let's just go." And Linnet takes the lead down the right tunnel, straightening her back to project a confidence nobody feels.
Apoc follows, sword actually drawn.
"At least one of those is probably mine," Yves says, lightning sparkling along his fingertips. "We'll stick together and we'll be fine."
The cave opens up under the night sky, the stars in the sky shining down brightly, the cloudless sky showing their brilliance to all of Ducorde.
The rendezvous point is a two hour walk to the south, through the packed snow, under cover of tall firs.
The mountain is no longer overhead, threatening to fall.
The scream still echoes inside your mind.
"Everything's fine," Yves says. "Everything's fine. Everything's FINE. Everything is fine." He walks forward in the snow. "We're all here and everything is fine."
"Everything is fine."
An unfamiliar voice.
"I have seen to that."
Her voice is the plunging temperatures in the rapid onset of winter.
Yves stops.
"They are monsters, you know. Monsters who want nothing more than their crude, crass, simple power. Simple men and women chasing after stupid, futile dreams. Not a care in the world for those they hurt to get there." The snow stirs, drifting along in a cold swirl, spinning itself into a form, and then falling apart. "I know not if you trade in the morality and ethics of the simpler folk, but would it warm your hearts to know their crimes, children?"
Yves watches the form. "...if you've done something very drastic to them, it would help me feel better about the ethics of this situation, yes."
Linnet finally turns around and steps up next to Yves, trying her best to project "stoic and undisturbed." "What did you do?" Her voice is low, shaking only slightly, and about as angry as any of you have ever heard Linnet.
"Directly responsible for the deaths of eleven, the ruin of an additional thirteen, and the spiderweb of damage dealt from there to all those who depended upon them... why, the toll could number into the hundreds, by the time the cycle is complete. They thought to control nature, to twist and pervert it to their own ill ends, to claim dominance and destruction over our very world just so they could betray some number of their own. All I did was ensure that there would be equality, in the end."
Yves bites the corner of his lip. Then asks, "Do you know our crimes as well?"
"Of course I do, child."
"And by what power do you claim the right to judge?" Linnet asks.
"I don't know all of mine," Yves says. "Certainly not the spiderweb beyond. Complicity, to be sure. Is it possible for me to make up for it, by doing better? Or is there no equality except by subtraction?"
"Oh, child, child."
The cold wind dies, the warmth of a gentle fire in the snow-capped mountains left behind.
"It is not your place to know all of your own crimes, but rest assured that you have done much to make up for your own sins. And you have been far from complicit. It was through your actions and deeds that justice has found the Albarea family." The flames burn a little hotter at the end of that sentence.
The branches of the fir tree wobble and dance in the wind like the crackling flames of a campfire, and then she is there.
Dressed in a long black dress, the hem spun into writhing vines that sway with and against the wind. Tall black boots, untouched by the snow that surrounds her. A furry golden shawl wrapped around her shoulders, a shawl that blinks, raising one ear and blinking one eye before closing it and settling back in. A walking stick, gnarled wood topped in amber and frozen red leaves.
A face untouched by time but eyes that have seen generations.
Two long ears, hanging down on either side of her face.
"So thank you..."
She inclines her head.
"...grandson."
Yves' eyes light up. "Grandma! I thought you were DEAD! But you're still destroying industries! Oh, I should've known nothing could stop you!"
She smiles. "Of course nothing can stop me." Her eyes find the Jozech shipyard, through the mountains. "Nothing."
(Linnet steps back and adjusts her expression to be a little less boilingly angry.)
Yves turns to his companions, in genuine glee. "This is my grandmother, and she's just... she's /amazing/, there's no one else like her in the world. Grandma, these are my coworkers, we were running a diversion to help some of our other coworkers do some sabotage at the shipyard."
Apoc gives a very deep bow, as if in the presence of royalty.
Celeste bows, not taking her eyes off of the grandmother for a moment.
(Linnet also bows, but doesn't take her eyes off the lady while doing so.)
She only smiles, again. "What a delight to see you again, child. Come. Let us see how your coworkers fare at the shipyard."
"We were going to meet them at the rendezvous, after they were done, and there'll be hot chocolate and muffins, and, oh, I need to talk to you about some things I encountered recently, there's some animal testing horror that we helped dismantle, but I think it may still need more work, and..." Yves takes a breath. "...it's just so good to see you again."
Her arm goes around her grandson, comforting him, soothing him, welcoming him back home.
The ground shakes once more.
Grandmother and grandson drift down the path, leaving the others to follow in their wake. End Session 56.