Session 58 - Grandmother Song

_Previously, Across the Horizon..._
The Jozech Raid… did almost go as planned, thanks to our brave adventurers.
With a second chance at preventing untold destruction and unknowable fates, the crew of the Starfall set about preventing a bad future and better utilizing their strengths and limiting their weaknesses.
Linnet and Yves joined Apoc and Celeste on a diversion in the eastern mountains, luring away Albarea patrols into a series of pitfalls and traps designed to bewilder and delay, with very little permanent harm planned.
Orrey, Bast, and Isa once again took over a shipping vessel to deliver themselves in disguise to the facility itself, dispatching the wild card that was Cosmog in a quick scrap and then moving as much bluespirit onto their ship in a short amount of time.
Each side met with some level of conflict during their time. Yves and Linnet encountered an unexpected family reunion, with Yves' grandmother Yna making a sudden appearance upon their emergence from the caves (with some terrible fate befalling others in the mountain that perhaps some members of the group would prefer not to deal with right now), and Bast set the wrong fuse and blew up half of the facility, but as a great man once said:
These things happen.
With Cosmog dropped in the snowy fields and no ships in hot pursuit (possibly on account of half the facility having exploded), there is nothing left for our heroes to do but reunite and be on their merry way.
We join our brave adventurers as the Ohl Deel arrives at the rendezvous point...
**
There sure is a lot of smoke rising in the wake of that ship, but the ship itself is not smoking.
"I do hope you'll join us, even if only to let us give you a ride to your next destination," Yves is saying, quite earnestly, to his beloved grandmother. "I'd love to have you meet my colleagues and, well, honestly, my friends, I think, under the circumstances. They've helped me out so much, and they've been teaching me even more about... you know. Uh. Maybe thinking a bit more long-term regarding the effects of what I do on other people, places, things, and whatever is ambiguously between those categories? Also, I have some ethical questions about the source of our main ship's power, which you might be able to judge better than I have." An ear twitches hopefully.
Bast does not look like he was expecting the distraction party to pick up passengers as he leans over the side with the rope ladder.
"I wouldn't dream of imposing," Yna says in the tone of someone who honestly never has had to impose, as everyone else knew better. She gives the square-lined airship a very clear look of disgust, though, as it approaches.
Linnet is repeating her impression of a goldfish about every twenty seconds, as she opens her mouth to interrupt Yves, then his grandmother speaks and she can't bring herself to talk over her. Yna either hasn't noticed or hasn't paid a lick of attention, so for now the sylph is clinging white-knuckled to a tree branch and trying very, very hard not to swear out loud.
"That one's only /temporarily/ ours," Yves says hastily, seeing that expression. "We're taking it from the local factory because, well. You know. Subterfuge."
A relatively quiet "All clear?" comes from above as the ship glides to a hovering halt.
Isa thumbs the intercom button, and asks Bast "Set her down, or hover? How'd they hold up?"
Yves offers a very cheery wave indeed to the incoming ship.
"Hold for a moment, looks like we have a guest on the ground. Looks quiet."
"I do have someone to meet here in the mountains, Yves. You should come with me. I believe you would get on quite well with my new comrade. We all share the same goal," Yna says quite reasonably.
With the intercom on, Bast directs a "Setting down, get clear" to the party on the ground.
Orrey finishes up his sketch of Bast dodging the spiked chain launcher of the Bulwark and then heads over to watch as the ship descends.
"Oh... I'd love to, I really wish I could," Yves says, in a moment of woe, while also backing up to clear a space for the ship. "But I've made commitments! I've got some various important long-term plans that... I really need to keep working in my current situation. Though, if you needed to find me in the future, there is this couerl sanctuary we visited not long ago, where we could maybe drop off messages, in case we're both there? ...are you sure you can't just visit for a bit, before heading on?"
"I don't see any harm in that, my dear," Yna says warmly.
The Ohl Deel touches down.
Yves waves eagerly to those inside, now that the ship's close enough that he can make out a face or two through the windows of the bridge.
Isa draws the engines down to idle, to provide for a quick departure if needed. She locks down the controls, though, before leaving the bridge to join Bast and Orrey on deck.
Bast leans on the side, crossbow still in one hand. "Got you all a ride. No trouble?"
The mountain settles, a contented geological sigh.
Linnet casts her captain a pleading wide-eyed look of desperation, but her voice says, "We're fine, let's go."
"Not at all!" Yves says brightly, and sweets a broad gesture toward the viera standing nearby. "Everyone, this is my grandmother, Yna Mrjwin. I thought she was dead, but I should've known better. I had no idea we'd run into her here! Grandma, these are the officers of the ship I'm on these days--not /this/ one, like I said, a much better one--and my friends. Let's see, you've already met Linnet..."
Linnet gives a very perfunctory wave, scrambles on board, walks very purposefully to a small rope closet in the cargo hold, shuts herself in, and only then allows herself to scream into her hands. (She's not coming out of here until you land.)
The crossbow rises a couple of inches at the noise from the mountain, and Bast lets Yna out of his sight for the first time since laying eyes on the party before settling down again. "Introductions on the way, Yves." Then, directly to Yna: "Will you be joining us?"
"Until I see where my grandson has been staying, I believe so," Yna says kindly.
Yves beams, generally /and/specifically, though he's waiting for the ship to lift off before continuing the introductions.
Almost all of the edge she displayed earlier is gone. Still, Celeste and Apoc give her a very wide berth, with very big "watch yourself" glances given to Isa and Bast, respectively.
"Then welcome aboard our temporarily convenient flying tub...madame?" Bast makes way with a half-bow.
Orrey greets Yna cordially once she's onboard, nods to Apoc, and smiles at Celeste. "Have fun with the spelunking?"
"For a bit? Yes. A bit. Good exercise. Plan went well? For a bit. Mostly. Yes?" Celeste is spacier than usual.
Isa gives Linnet a look as she flees, and turns a raised eyebrow at Yves. She doesn't ask any questions, though, and once everyone is safely aboard she nods to Bast and heads back to the bridge.
"Bast is our captain," Yves says, indicating the moogle accordingly. "Very clever at all sorts of things, though he generally refuses to wear the captain's hat. I mean, I can understand that, I never liked school uniforms, but if they'd been as excellent as that hat--! In any case."
"He seems very..." Yna scans him to the bone with a glance. "Reliable."
Orrey eyes Celeste as she vaguely describes things."Sounds about like ours. Things started exploding earlier than we had hoped for. But we did manage to grab some of the blue spirit before they realized we weren't supposed to be there."
Bast's only response is a pair of raised eyebrows as he glances after Linnet.
"We heard the explosion," Celeste confirms. "Bigger than expected?" She's constantly looking over her shoulder.
The Ohl Deel rumbles as Isa re-engages the engines, and then they are off.
"Had to cut things short and leave more crates behind than we figured on. Bigger than planned, yeah," Bast says.
"And then this is Orrey," Yves continues, indicating the one in conversation with Celeste. "Knows his history, just like Linnet, and he's got the most amazing documentation skills, which I appreciate, because, well, you know how I've always been, things make more sense when they're written down, or diagrammed, that sort of thing."
"We weren't the first one to have the idea of damaging their ship...and the shipyard...and everything else there." Orrey sighs as he recalls the series of explosions ripping through the docks.
Yna gives the mid-story Orrey a very satisfied smile.
Orrey glances over at Yves and his grandmother and gives a wave.
She follows Yves along, always walking in the exact center of the hallways, always letting everyone else have the pleasure of stepping out of her way.
"And then there's--well, our tactical officer is driving this thing, so we can do proper introductions later," Yves says, stumbling briefly over trying to remember whether or not he can use Isa's real name now, or if that's still under wraps. Surely not with his grandmother! Still, better to double-check. "She has all sorts of military experience, and I've been learning so much with her. I still much prefer lightning to anything pointy, whether I'm wielding it or not, but I'm getting a bit better at other people's pointy things not meeting me unexpectedly--from my point of view, it's mostly when the other people expect them to meet that it's the problem, after all--so, well, yes."
Apoc guides Bast over to the side with a hand on his shoulder -- actors sure do like to touch other people -- and, with Yna and Yves safely out of earshot, runs the captain through what happened in the tunnels.
"I have always approved of the lightning, you know. You have a tempest roaring inside of you, Yves," she says, just as proud as she would be pinning a drawing to the wall.
Bast, eyes narrowed, nods once as Apoc winds down. "Got it. Linnet okay?"
"About as well as can be expected," Apoc says, looking over at the closed door. "She hasn't really had any time to come to terms with who she is and who she's going to be, has she?"
Bast, about to turn towards the bridge, stops short at that. "What do you mean?"
Apoc looks around again, and then folds his arms in front of his chest. "We're either mercenaries or pirates now, unless we're a particular brand of archaeologists. She's part of a theater troupe and she sings while she bakes potatoes. I'd wager more than half of the officers have taken a life, and one of the other two has taken to this a lot faster than the other.
"And Linnet, she lost her winds and all of her confidence at about the same time, and I don't know how much support she's got from the rest of you about it." He shrugs. "Not that she wants to hear anything about it from me, which is fine, your ship and your rules. I just don't know if she's sure she's got what it takes. It's a hard part to play."
"We're looking into that. As for the rest, well - call us mercenaries with a mission. Got to put food on the table somehow while we figure things out." Bast puts a heavy hand on Apoc's shoulder. "Thanks for letting me know what happened. Keep an eye out for me, would you? I need to go fill Isa in. And I'll have some questions about the situation with the stars for you later."
Apoc gives a very casual salute, and then goes for a combination amble & patrol.
Some time later...
The Starfall rises out of the clouds to meet the Ohl Deel, and Yna watches this new ship with far more interest as it moves to the switchover point to transfer the crew.
A run of weather-based and gravity-centric cursing rises up from the hold. "Everything's fine!" Beat. "I just hope you weren't counting on me to help move these crates. Blow me down, those are heavy. What the hell were you guys pinching from there, solid lead?"
"Oh! I should help." Yves springs up from reminiscing about visits in the forest to rush off and help Linnet with the crates. "I'll be back soon, grandma!"
"Oh fuck. Isa, hold that thought and that plan, I need to get down into the hold right now."
"Yves, don't bother," Linnet yells up the stairs. "It'd take two of each of us. That's what we have stagehands for."
Shaking her hair out of her eyes, the sylph runs up the stairs to head off her comrades at the pass. "Go talk to your grandma and leave Bast and Isa to figure out what they're doing with the lead."
Isa watches the bridge empty, and shrugs. "Starfall," she says, opening a short-range channel. "Open the starboard cargo hatch, if you'd be so kind." That is not exactly to plan.
"Opening cargo," comes Marina's reply. Forty seconds later -- solid response time -- the hold door begins to open.
"Lift with your knees," Yves shouts down the stairs, "not your back! You probably have the right anatomy to throw your back out, I think!" Then he turns back to his grandmother again. "I'm still not entirely sure what officers do, besides come up with ideas and then implement them," he admits. "Not haul boxes, I guess."
Bast dashes out of the bridge with "Nevermind, do what you want with the boat, just carefully!" and runs to the hold door.
"Hi, captain, what's the panic?" Linnet asks. "It's okay, whatever's down here, I promise to help keep Yves away from it."
"Delegation?" Yna muses. "I have always preferred doing the work myself. It's very rewarding work, Yves. Should you find time, I would welcome the chance to spend more time with you."
Isa hears the beautiful sounds of permission, and continues doing what she had begun doing. "Clear deck for incoming," she says over the radio, and moves to put one ship inside another.
"Kindly set that crate down slowly and wait until we're docked and have more hands and tools to do this." Bast tries not to show the full extent of his...concern.
"I'd really like to," Yves says wistfully. "And I /do/ like to be hands on, but it's a big project, and a big ship. I can't write newspapers and investigate leads and staff the guns and talk to passengers and negotiate deals and cook for the crew and hold conversations with otherworldly beings and try to figure out how to access new parts of the ship and execute tunnel diversions /and/ stage shipyard sabotage all at once. I'm only one person, and some of those things I'm terrible at, anyway."
Isa sees a great many people very quickly getting out of the way in the cargo hold, which is its own type of pleasant.
The crate hasn't budged more than a gnat's eyelash off the floor. Linnet without the wind to assist her is a twig, and not a very strong one. Nevertheless, she steps back. "It's that volatile?"
"Otherworldly beings?" Yna asks.
"Not really. But that's not a margin you want to test here," Bast says.
"Fair. Don't worry, seriously, I didn't get anywhere with the box. Mostly just giving myself a cover story for hiding down here. Are we home yet?" Linnet asks.
Yves makes an awkward hand gesture. "I probably... should check with other people before going into detail? Sort of like how you'll want to not detail who you're meeting in the mountains unless I'm coming along. But it's been, uh, really something. Lots of stuff going on out there. Up there. Down here. The important point is, I'm working hard to fix things, especially things that people broke by trying to regiment and control stuff that was doing just fine being wild on its own."
Yna takes one of Yves's hands in both of hers. "Of course, grandson. You can talk to me about anything. I just want you to know that."
Orrey continues chatting with Celeste, trying to get her to refocus on the present. "What do you think of Yves's Grandma? Where'd you all run into her?"
Celeste looks over her shoulder again, and then, in a hushed tone, runs Orrey through what the tunnels held for them.
Isa brings Ohl Deel into a berth entirely unintended for it, with a minimum of screeching and scraping of metal. The engines of the small ship power down, leaving only the conducted thrum of the larger ship's engines. "We're back," Isa communicates across the intercom to the cargo hold.
"I know," Yves says earnestly, staring into the eyes of his grandmother. "But they don't know you yet. Which is why I'm trying to be careful and not upset anyone until they've had a chance to get to know you better, and understand how important /your/ work is, too."
The short-range channel to the bridge opens again. "Well, the quartermaster is demanding a great many answers from me right now, but the door is locked. How's the captain taking it?" Marina asks, and Isa can hear the smug smile on her face.
"The captain told me to do what I want, Marina." Isa's not gleeful per se but she definitely seems satisfied.
"Good work, pilot," comes the response. "Bottle of red at midnight on deck tonight."
"Roger that," Isa replies.
"Linnet? Could you round up some crew to lift these things? And...take the rest of the day off, if you want?" Bast seems torn between setting foot back on the Starfall and not letting the crates out of his sight until they're properly secured.
Apoc opens the cargo hatch in the Ohl Deel and looks into the eyes of two very confused actors pressed up against the wall of the Starfall. He takes two steps out, looks at the clearance on both sides, and then mouths "well holy shit, Isa," to himself.
"I'll get all the big strong guys we've got, but we'll do better if you tell me where exactly you want 'em. I assume well out of range of whatever the hell Isa just pulled here." Linnet can't see out yet but can hear the shenanigans voice.
Orrey looks at the ship in the cargo hold. "The boxes are already in the hold...do we need to move them elsewhere?"
"...and in which ship you want 'em long term, I guess," Linnet says.
"Do we even have room in the hold anymore?" Apoc wonders.
"When we sell them, we'll likely need to ship them out the same way we got them in." Orrey pats the new ship fondly as he steps out.
"JASPER! Stagehand roll call! We got some crates that need moved like they're covered in wet paint and we're playing a monument we can't touch up! I need bears doing ballet, on the double!"
"Easier to secure them than the boat they came in on. ...while we're at it, find Jasper and see how we're doing on cables. This'll take a lot."
Evidently this is a familiar turn of phrase, because Jasper doesn't even crack a smile; he just whistles and trots off to hunt down cables.
Isa emerges from the bridge onto the deck, and looks around at the clearance. "Well it can't stay here," she says, mostly to herself, "but it's damn well here now."
"Yes. That." Bast grins at Linnet briefly. "Well done, Miss Leveche."
"Ours by right of conquest?" Orrey asks Isa, knowing the answer already.
Without anyone having seen her leave, Yna is no longer on the Ohl Deel. Orrey is the one to notice her heading down the hallway into the ship at large.
"Call it restitution," Isa says to Orrey.
Yves realizes he has misplaced his grandmother, and goes to follow after where she no doubt has gone.
Yves finds her in the engine room, of all places, just passing her eyes over the walls.
When Jasper has the situation well in hand and Linnet is temporarily out of things to shout about, she turns back to the officer crew, minus Yves. "We are going to need to have a serious tactical meeting before we report in to Lady Osler, minus the lady Mrjwin. There is a decent chance this meeting will involve me screaming, so I am going to try to work that out beforehand in the galley on some potatoes. In at least two hours or whenever everyone's ready, but no earlier, stake out a room and come get me. Until then, don't get in my way."
Orrey locks eyes with Celeste as Yna walks away. "She seems awfully spry."
With that, Linnet nods and heads for the galley so fast she almost cracks Bast across the knees with her braid.
"It's a fairly unusual ship," Yves admits, when he catches up with her. "I'd like to... well. I really need to check with people! It's the whole, uh, ethics of community... stuff? I read a pamphlet on it, I forget, but I'm trying to be better about working with the people I'm living with and trying to go after the same goals with. Still, I'd really like to talk to you about it, once I clear a few things. Just. You know. About power sources. Ethics. Sustainability. Those sorts of things."
"Remember how we didn't ever see her approach?" Celeste whispers. "Yves said he thought she was dead."
Bast looks like he wants to do about three different things at once, but settles for making sure that there is still a ship to look after once all the crates are stowed.
Yna nods to herself, and then turns and smiles at Yves. "Of course. Do show me your room? I should also like a look into the kitchen before I leave, so I can be sure you are eating well."
"Of COURSE," Yves says, delighted. "I've been thinking about adding some plants, but I need to consider what will work not only on irregular light as we travel, but a variety of humidity and temperature variations..." He has a lot of plant thoughts to convey, and ask for expert opinion on, as he leads the way to his room.
Yna knows an incredible amount about plants, and is just as happy talking about them to Yves as he is.
Isa is on her way up to the bridge, which is how she runs into Yves and Yna in a passageway. "Yves," she says companionably.
"Isa," Yves says, "I didn't get a chance to introduce you to my grandmother properly." He is as sunny as he's ever been in all the time he's been around any of these people. "Grandma, you recall, I was saying how I was learning to not take so many pointy things directly into the soft parts of myself? This is who's been teaching me that."
Isa gives Yna a look of unapologetic assessment, and nods. "Ma'am."
Yna tips her head slightly in greeting.
"I was hoping to talk to my grandmother about, uh, ethics in ship energy sources at some point, and maybe some of our more exciting encounters, as time allows all around," Yves says, not half as carefully as he's probably trying to, and he makes big hopeful eyes at Isa.
"Will you be traveling with us then?" Isa asks.
"I am afraid not," Yna says. "I have to meet someone within the hour, so I will be leaving shortly. Thank you very much for teaching him how to fight, Isa. He will need to know how, I'm afraid."
"I couldn't agree more," Isa says. "Should I give a departure point to our pilot?"
"Oh, no, I can leave from here," she says kindly. "You needn't go to any such trouble."
"It's been so good to see you again," Yves says warmly. "Should I write Mom and Dad to let them know you're well, or did you want to keep it a surprise for when you see them next?"
Isa's eyebrow says "our altitude can be measured in 'thousands'" but her voice says "Of course. A pleasure to meet you."
Yna takes Yves's shoulders in both hands and then pulls him in for a hug. "Why don't we go see them together soon? Just let me know when you are able. Leave a message at that couerl sanctuary you were telling me about; it's how I found you, after all."
"I will," Yves says, hugging back fiercely. "Until next time, Grandma. Take care of yourself? And show people what's what."
Her contented sigh reminds Yves of the moment before an avalanche. "I have and I will." She heads out onto the deck.
Isa hangs back with Yves as they follow Yna to the deck. "Hey, Yves, I've got a project for you to look into," she comments, totally casually. No big deal.
"Oh?" Yves asks, only a little distracted by his grandmother. "Sure, I can get to it right after I see my grandmother off." The deck. Presumably.
One more hug awaits Yves on the deck. "It was so wonderful to see you, my dear. Do take care of yourself, and I look forward to getting your letters." The wind whips up, roaring through the mountains, and she is gone.
Isa's jacket whips in the wind, and she comments to Yves, "Did you spend a lot of time with her growing up?"
Off the starboard bow, a mountain rises.
Yves smiles wistfully out over the place where his grandmother was before. "She really is amazing." He looks to Isa, and says, "Mostly vacations between school terms, and when I was younger. Not so much after... when my sister wasn't around anymore, because I went off to boarding school. She always told the most amazing stories."
A mountain capped with white snow and large wings -- no, fins -- with a ridge of rocks, or spines, along the middle.
The snow rustles, and it's not snow but feathers, and then the mountain lifts up higher, guiding itself with its thick finned tail, and the massive mountain of a whale flies off above the cloudline, the wind rustling its feathers as it goes.
"...that's new, though," Yves says.
"Well," Isa says, "that's definitely something."
Rahel jogs up from belowdecks and salutes Yves and Isa briefly. "Linnet's in the middle of a few things, but we saw a flying whale out the galley window and she sent me up to ask, ahem, "what in the name of the Forgotten's flying closet organizer was that?" I think."
"Yves's grandmother's ride home, I think," Isa surmises.
Orrey, a bit stunned by Celeste’s pronouncement, gives her a concerned look. “You mean she was a ghost? Or something...else?!”
"...Yves' grandmother is riding a flying whale that was a mountain. Well, that'll fit pretty well into the scuttlebutt about her belowdecks. Yves, the crew is mostly convinced that your grandmother is some sort of minor nature deity and not at all convinced as to her intentions, just so you're aware. You probably don't need to do anything to change that." Rahel salutes again and jogs back to the galley.
"I don't know, Orrey," Celeste says. "There is a lot I don't know about a lot of people on this ship, but I never thought about having to expand that to include family. Do you have any family I should be worried about? Any uncles who command legions of the undead, or anything?"
"Anyway," Isa says, "We have a new ship and if I keep it in the cargo hold for too long I am going to hear about it so we need to figure out how to get into the larger spaces in the spheres. Feeling up to it?"
“Not the undead, no.” Orrey says.
"Oh, very much up for it," Yves says. "It'll be interesting, and fun, and a challenge! Maybe if we open up more than one large space, we can start a proper dark-garden in there. I think the crew would really appreciate that, and Linnet could grow herbs, that sort of thing."
Celeste narrows her eyebrows.
“At least, not that I know of. The extended family is quite extensive, so anything is possible, I suppose.” Orrey delivers all of that with a deadpan earnestness that betrays his anxiousness about this newest wrinkle.
The Time Has Come.
Isa and Yves are no longer alone on the deck.
".....?" says Yves.
"Fuck." says Isa.
The last time Isa saw this figure, Isa was instrumental in knocking them overboard.
The last time Isa heard about this figure, they were instrumental in returning Orrey from falling overboard.
Metal armor wrapped in a tattered brown cloak, sixty feet away. Two golden lights shining.
The Time Has Come For Us To Speak.
"...oh, /speaking/," Yves says, in some relief.
"Speak of?" Isa prompts.
Memory.
Bast, finally content that the crates are secure and leaving the particulars of securing their newly acquired boat up to Jasper, heads up to the deck to see if any new trouble has dropped on his plate - or maybe just to catch his breath, Twelve-and-change willing.
Isa nods. "Say your piece, then."
You Took One Path.
You Remember Taking Two.
I Remember Your Paths.
I Showed You The Way.
Isa considers this, nods. "In that case," she says, "thank you."
Yves blinks several times, attempting to distinguish in his own memory exactly what happened recently, and what was, say, just a brief burst of anxiety about the possibilities before he came to a decision about something.
Linnet, alerted by nothing so much as an anxious magical tickle in the back of her brain, emerges cautiously onto the deck with a cleaver in one hand and a dish towel in the other.
The Twelve do not appear to be willing.
Bast hangs back by the hatch for the moment, observing the conversation.
A cleaver is not a great thing to be holding when the sense of panic you felt on really, really screwing up the first path rises in your throat all over again.
She shoves it in her jeans pocket without further thought and takes as confident a stand as she can project behind Yves' left shoulder.
I Saved You Once Before.
Show Yourself.
Orrey feels that.
Orrey looks uncomfortably at Celeste. “I need to go. Talk later?” He begins walking away before he even hears her response.
Celeste's awkward "ummm, sure?" follows Orrey up the stairs.
Well, at least this doesn't seem like we're fighting yet. Bast takes a few paces forward, hands in his pockets, and leans against a mast. "What do you want?"
Orrey walks steadfastly to the deck, feeling a familiar pull, but one that he can’t quite place, yet.
We Are Coming With Fire And Flood.
We Are Coming To Remember Him.
We Are Coming To Deliver Judgment On Those Who Made Us Forget. "I don't suppose we could impose on you for names instead of epithets?" Isa asks.
“Isa, you should know better than to expect clarity when dealing with such beings by now.” Orrey says as he arrives on deck.
"Damned difficult to align our efforts then, doesn't it." Isa grumps.
“The gods only give us enough to figure things out on our own. Eventually.” Orrey smiles at Isa. “Damned difficult indeed, but all forms of struggle makes us stronger.”
The figure takes its hand and places it on its chest. Dobverat. Of Alexander. Dobverat points to Orrey. He Believes. He Carried His Helmet. Yves sidles gently out of the way of people who have things in hand, to see if he can exchange a worried look with someone like Linnet or Bast.
Linnet's right behind him and wearing much the same expression of edge-of-totally-overwhelmed bewilderment she's had all day.
We Cannot Remember Him. We Know You Are To Blame. We Come To Remember Him.
I Have Rescued You. I Have Walked Your Path For You To Find Where It Ends.
Now You Must Help Me.
Bast glances at Orrey, then back at Dobverat. "...who is Alexander? Or - what? Where?"
"And I'm sorry, is this 'you' as in all of sapient civilization, or one of us five in particular?" Linnet asks.
"I owe you my life, and will assist with whatever you ask, so long as you do not ask me to act wrongly." Orrey says.
Alexander Is Us. We Were Alexander. We Remain Alexander, But We Were Once Alexander.
There is no chance in cadence or emphasis.
Isa watches Dobverat with the same unflinching certainty she showed to the Azure Dragoon at a bounty office. "Name your task, then, if we're obligated. Where you are vague, I will interpret and you will accept it as the consequence for lacking clarity. So, be clear."
Dobverat pauses.
After a moment, Dobverat "speaks" again.
We Seek To Remember The Forgotten. The Forgotten Was Taken From Us When We Were Alexander.
We Believe You Are To Blame.
Dobverat makes a circle with their hand when saying "you."
Yves leans over to Linnet, and asks quietly, "Is this about the stars and the masks, or about that weird clockwork thing from back at the auction, or... both? Neither?"
We Come With Fire And Flood To Remember.
I Saved You Before And Before. "What evidence do you have that suggests we are at fault?" Orrey asks. "You are not certain?"
Dobverat makes a line with their hand when saying "you."
I Walked Your Path To Find The End And Turn You Back.
Line, line.
The Time Has Come For You To Stop Us.
Line.
Linnet half-whispers back, "For all I know, this is about the damn tower, or the screaming bird trees, or someone your grandma killed under a mountain. Yves, I have no clearer idea than you do what they're saying or how we stop them. Besides lightning, and this seems like a bad time to experiment."
"So, that's a no on the clarity then," Isa says. "Fair enough, we'll do our best with the information we have."
"Oh yeah no lightning on the ship at things on the ship when we're just talking," Yves agrees in that half-whisper. "It would be unwise. Unpolite? Wait, that's not a word."
"What do you need, to remember?" Bast asks.
Dobverat points down. Restoration. You Have Our Memories.
"...where?" Bast doesn't sound too happy about being baffled.
“In the ship...?” Orrey whispers.
"...Yves, do us all a favor and don't poke the ship's core for a little while, ok? Just in case," Linnet says.
"Oh, yeah, sure, I won't," Yves says, as if he was not at all contemplating that at any point in the very recent past. "No problem."
You Have Our Memories.
Dobverat says this to Orrey after Orrey's musing.
Orrey nods. "Who is coming with you? You said 'We come'" Orrey adds.
We Are Coming.
I Cannot Stop Us.
We Will Be Us.
You Must Stop Us. "How many?"
"...okay probably mask and star stuff," Yves mutters, next to Linnet. "Things breaking apart or coming together is right on theme for that."
REMEMBER.
The shout is mentally deafening, and then the sky is gold and you are all remembering something that hasn't happened yet.
A sky full of ships.
Massive ships of silver and gold, metal grafted in outstretched wings, hundreds of steam-powered angelfish-esque ships drifting through the sky. Alexander Cannot Remember.
The ships glow, and then erupt into a bright bloom of beams of light. Logos Will Remember.
You Must Stop Us.
The sky is suddenly back to its normal gray.
"...and no word on how we're supposed to do that with one ship, of course," Linnet mutters under her breath. "Right. Well, that answers 'how many,' the answer is 'entirely too many.' Seven skies of chaos."
Bast grinds his teeth in frustration, but attempts a "Are your memories here? On the ship?", not really expecting an answer.
Yes. "When you're presented with a complex problem, break it down into manageable chunks. That's what my mother would say." Orrey says. "Can we get you the memories somehow?"
Dobverat has no facial expressions or visible eyes, but Orrey feels very Looked At.
Bast, taken somewhat aback, leans against the mast with a barely-audible huh.
"Alexander cannot remember...who is Logos? Where do we find...them?" Orrey asks.
The Machine City. Go To The Machine City.
Orrey looks at his companions. "Which one is the Machine City?"
"Mechon, where a man will want to be our canary?" Isa wonders.
"How will we know we've found Logos?" Orrey asks.
"Do we want to find Logos, or is that the 'fire and flood' part of the story?"
Dobverat turns to Bast. Fire And Flood.
"Logos will remember. We need to remember." Orrey says.
"Right, Logos bad, Machine City useful, memories...somewhere hereabouts." Bast looks at Dobverat again. "You can't just take the memories from this ship. Can you?"
Sealed. Broken.
"And we unseal them in the Machine City? Wherever that is?"
I Do Not Remember. Go To The Machine City. "Do you remember where it is?"
Dobverat looks at Bast. No. I Apologize. I Have Forgotten.
"Right, sounds like we've got a research project on our hands - after a few slightly more immediate items. Orrey, I hope your notes are up to your usual excellent standard, because wherever we end up next after meeting with Isa's mom, we're going to the library." (Linnet delivers the compliment with a wink.)
Orrey nods to Linnet, still a bit off kilter.
"Are we done here?" Isa asks of Dobverat. She seems to think she's gotten whatever's coming.
Bast spreads his hands in acknowledgement. "How long do we have, before the fire and the flood?"
Time.
This might be meant encouragingly.
The Machine City. Remember What Has Been Forgotten.
Dobverat's presence on the Starfall is but a memory.
"...well that's definitely the strangest thing that's happened to us all day," Yves says.
Bast sags back slightly against the mast that's been propping him up through this conversation. "Yeah, sure, what's another way we have to keep the world from breaking. We'll add it to the schedule."
"I was supposed to write stories not fucking play one of the lead roles." Orrey collapses on the deck, sitting down and staring off at the mountains.
"Would it kill them to give a straight answer to anything," Isa says, though she doesn't seem angry. "Platzhalter, and then Mechon?" she asks.
"Whose ships were those we saw exploding? Do you know, Isa?" Orrey asks.
"I didn't recognize them, so they're either very old, or don't exist yet."
"So, if I got that right...they were and remain Alexander, Alexander became Forgotten, and if we don't fix that they'll team up as Logos to kick our collective asses because that will fix their memory somehow?" Bast asks.
"Logos is bad. I got that much." Orrey says.
"Don't be discouraged, Orrey, you're doing a great job. You're a born protagonist." Linnet bends down to hug him, careful of the cleaver, then stands up and runs her hands through her hair. "Right. Strategy meeting over dinner pushed back an hour, but the plan still stands. Mandate not to get in my way if you don't want to end up in the salad is slightly relaxed now that Rahel tells me Mme. Mrjwin has left. I'm serious about the meeting, though; please don't head into our meeting with Lady Osler without all of our talking it through first." She takes a moment to meet all of your eyes individually, salutes with the cleaver, and heads back to work.
Orrey smiles a thank you up at Linnet. "Yves, what happened to your grandma?"
"She had another appointment," Isa says drily.
Orrey raises an eyebrow.
Bast twitches slightly at the cleaver salute, half-expecting to have to find a healer for Linnet.
Yves nods to what Isa said. "She had to head off, but she had a ride," he explains helpfully. "You might've seen it go? Pretty big."
"I was down talking to Celeste. About your cave adventures." Orrey prompts.
"Oh, yes! I think that went pretty well," Yves says. "More or less according to plan, for our part, though of course we overlapped with another plan, which was surprising at the time."
"Oh, good work on that, by the way," Isa says. "We'd have been in a tight spot if they'd been better staffed."
"It was a team effort!" Yves says.
"...did both of our teams run into different sides of Team Grandma's plan?" Bast asks. Bast shakes his head. "Right, let's save that for the meeting. Any other mysterious visitors we need to settle before lunch?"