Session 62 - This Greeting Will Now Repeat To Allow You More Time To Make Your Selection

Previously, Across the Horizon…
Mechon held many new points of interest for our brave adventurers, and the majority of those points found their way to Bast.
Orrey claimed that Bast was jolting in and out of time after the Temple struck twelve, freezing for every thirteenth breath, then skipping forward for the next one. No one else noticed this this, including Bast himself.
Bast’s old friend Aurin was in the city, calling for assistance on a trip to the Edge of the World, though when Bast “jokingly” threatened to show up for this expedition, Aurin pleaded with him not to come along. The human from his past did not show up for a planned drinking session in the early afternoon to catch up, with a friend of his, Azdar Chid, showing up instead. Chid said that Aurin was gravely ill, stricken with a mysterious malady that rendered him unable to come to the agreed-upon meeting. As Mechon seems to exert an almost celestial power of punctuality on all people within its borders, this was highly irregular.
Chid said that he and Aurin were staying at the Top of the Hour, another tourist-trap hotel on the eastern side of town, and he would be happy to take Bast there to see his friend. Chid has another matter to see to before taking him there, leaving Bast alone with the rest of the Meteor’s crew to determine their next course of action.
We join our adventurers in Tellah’s just as Chid departs…
**
The door swings shut, and Bast can track the back of Chid's head, heading south along the road, away from the restaurant.
"...so we're going to check that out, right?" asks Linnet, very quietly, from behind Bast's right shoulder.
"I'd prefer not to wander into a trap without backup, yes." Bast mutters quietly in return.
"Good. Just signal me when you're ready to leave. Might as well not all go at once, but if your friend's actually sick, I'll be useful, and if this is a trap, I can at least freeze someone's feet to the floor while you're getting your grenades ready."
Orrey volunteers to lead the all-important "Ether Acquisition Squad," though assures Bast he knows how to run toward the sound of explosions should they be needed.
Bast nods as he takes another look at Chid's receding back and starts walking after him, trying to keep to the thicker parts of the crowd.
"That was fast." Linnet covers her and Yves' check, makes eye contact with Yves to confirm he'll keep an eye on Orrey - no need to do so with Isa, Isa's default position in the universe is "keeping an eye on everyone" - and strolls out the door a few beats after Bast. (There's not a whole lot of point being subtle. She hasn't done anything to conceal her hair, to begin with. But she's doing her best not to tread on Bast's heels, anyway.) "...why does he have to be so darn short..."
Chid's path winds south through Mechon, toward the aerodrome, though he breaks away two blocks before the main funnel driving people into the aircraft dock itself. Along the way, he exchanges a few words with a gruff woman running a fruit stand, taking a pair of pears, and a moogle with a knit cap on their pompom, who gives Chid a bottle of wine. As Bast passes the moogle, he hears them mutter, "one of these days he'll actually drink the godsdamned thing..."
These aren't streets he knows and the people are strange, but with a few glances at the crowd around him old habits serve Bast well enough. They walk more quickly than the gawking throngs or the drunk sailors of the Triad, like every last one has an important meeting; a few adjustments in posture, a touch quicker on the pace, and he's just another figure among thousands.
This whole tracking thing would probably be going easier if there weren't so many fascinating new sights in this city. About every ten steps, Linnet has to tear her gaze away from a brilliant display at a market stall, a new fashion, a building that has to have a story behind it, or just a striking new angle of the main clock tower. Too bad nobody around her seems to be taking the time to appreciate it all...
Chid's final destination is an apothecary, Jebel Moresdil. He takes the four steps up to the door, and steps inside.
(Thankfully, Chid is taller and more visually distinctive than Bast, so even the flighty Linnet tracks him to the right shop.)
That's a problem. Bast slows down, going through his pockets as if looking for something to buy a bit of time to judge a good vantage point for staking out the building.
Since she hasn't seen Bast yet, this is probably not the right time to go in. Linnet claims a bit of wall to lean against and pulls out a tourist map she claimed from a kiosk upon first arriving in the city, holding it sideways for extra effect.
Multiple products are hawked at Bast (and, shortly thereafter, Linnet) as they slow. Among their number: fish, pears, grapes, silks, sundials, watches, clocks, pens, crystals, keys, dates, gemstones, coffee, miniature figurines, scarves, paintings, the other kind of dates, and palm readings.
For lack of a better idea, Bast pretends to be interested in the wares of a watch seller with a decent view of the apothecary's door. The watches are almost annoyingly well-made. Wonder how well they keep time when you take them out of Mechon, he thinks while pretending to compare two of the fancier pieces.
After about ten minutes, Chid emerges from the apothecary, carrying a new bag. He looks completely at ease, and then he starts back up the road toward Tellah's.
Bast stays bent over the ticking display, apparently wholly absorbed, until Chid passes by. Setting down the last watch he was looking at with a regretful noise at the merchant, he turns into a side alley, looking for a route that will get him to Tellah's first.
"Ah, stormwinds. No, sorry, I've got to go, I'll see you next time!" Linnet extricates herself from a long-winded conversation with a crystal seller and follows that pompom! "Communication, Captain, I swear, we are going to have drills on this at some point after I get back..."
Chid ambles up to the entrance of Tellah's, not spotting anyone positioned around should they be watching him, and inspects the label on his bottle of wine.
"...then again, Lin, you're the one who insisted on following him, you should know he doesn't flippin' talk, one of these days you're going to have to learn to read minds, wonder if you need another crystal for that..." (All of this is a near-breathless muttered monologue while Linnet does her level best not to lose Bast.)
Back at Tellah's, Bast gives Chid an idle wave from where he's been leaning against the wall by the door, no longer out of breath from the rush back. "Wine for the infirm?" he asks, looking curious.
About six stall-lengths away, Linnet catches sight of her captain and skids to a halt, abruptly burying her nose in a conveniently placed book stand.
"Something for the aftermath. Aurin is a very social creature. If he is feeling well enough, perhaps you can share it with him." Azdar Chid inclines his head slightly. "Will you be coming alone, or does he have any other friends?"
(Still keeping an ear cocked, Linnet has completely bypassed the best seller rack and is digging in a box of two-for-one discards.)
"Not anyone he knows, but there's someone with a better head for medicine than I've got. Hey! Linnet!" He waves to her.
(The rack is full of the absolute best kind of trash, and there seems to be quite the industry for books here where the heroes arrive just in the nick of time.)
"Huhwhat? Be right there!" Linnet scoops up two promising novels with slightly tattered covers, pays for her purchases, and hurries back to Bast. "Hiya."
"Azdar Chid." A nod in his direction. "Linnet Leveche." An introductory hand motion. "Azdar was going to take me to see Aurin, if you want to come along." Back to Azdar: "What did you say he has come down with?"
(Linnet shoves the books in her pack and is all concerned attention.)
"We have not discovered any given name for it in our searching," Azdar says after warmly greeting Linnet. "Aurin has merely referred to it as an illness, and out of deference to him, I have not given it any name myself." He starts north, back toward the center of Mechon.
"Well, I'm no expert, but if there's anything a moderately experienced White Mage can do to help him, I'm here."
"I will accept help from anyone," Chid says.
"Though I admit most of my experience to date is patching up this gentleman and his crew after their adventures. But I might've read something. You never know."
"More pirates than usual lately, it seems." Bast grimaces. "So let me guess: he bit off more than he could chew on one of your expeditions? You tell him to look before he leaps, but getting him to listen..."
Chid doesn't respond to that, merely grimacing. He leads the way through Mechon.
"Gee, that sounds familiar." Linnet's tone is half-exasperated and half-fond.
"I am the spirit of discretion and restraint. Relatively." Bast gives Linnet an apparently-earnest look.
Bast and Linnet arrive at the Top of the Hour, which isn't as groan-inducing as its name would imply, after another 25 minutes of walking and exchanging small talk, largely between the chatty Linnet and the inquisitive Chid. The man with the beads and the hooked earring unlocks room 409 and steps inside. "Aurin? I hope you do not mind, but since you were unable to make your appointment, I have instead brought your appointment to you."
The room is small, with two beds, a desk, a bathroom, and a small balcony looking out at the Temple.
Behind him, Bast takes a moment to look through the door before stepping through. He keeps from glancing around for hidden dangers, but strains to pick up any noises that might indicate something beyond what this now seems to be - another mark Aurin's stringing along.
Aurin is resting in the bed closest to the window, reading a book. Linnet notes that he has no better taste in reading material than she does. He looks up as Chid enters, and then his eyes find Bast's, and he lets out a rueful sigh. "Hell. Bast. You had to see me like this, eh?"
He looks weary, with new bags under his eyes, and perhaps a bit skinnier than you saw him in the Triad (though no different from earlier today).
"If you were easier to find, I might show up at a more convenient time." Bast crosses the room and perches on the edge of the bed, waiting a moment before speaking again. "Azdar filled me in a bit. How bad is it?"
(Linnet leans on the doorframe and tries to look inconspicuous.)
He waves a hand. "It's nothing. He's worried over nothing. I just get the occasional spell."
Chid sets the pears and wine on the small table between the two beds and sits on the other one. "There is no harm in telling them more, Aurin."
Aurin is clearly uncomfortable, reminding Bast of his tendency to never show any sort of weakness. "Just anxious for some more reading time, I guess," he says with a dismissive laugh.
Chid gives Bast a what-can-you-do look.
Bast returns it with a small nod of understanding, closing his eyes for a moment before turning back to Aurin, his tone softer than before: "So - what have you been up to, since we last met? Didn't figure I'd have to go to the Edge of the World to find you."
"I had reason to travel," Aurin says, his tone saying that's a closed door and you'll need wires for it plus a lot of time, "and then I got going here. Found something interesting, and just don't have the way to get into it yet. Azdar, did you tell him about the portals? Bast, we can see into the past. The actual past! We can step into the past! You know what people would pay to get even a hint of what was actually happening back then?" His eyes sparkle at the idea of a job this big.
"He mentioned it, yes. I wasn't sure - the past? And see, or actually be there?"
He grins, and then lets out a rueful sigh. "Hell. Bast. You had to see me like this, eh?"
Chid closes his eyes. "It hasn't passed yet."
Linnet frowns and steps further into the room.
Bast tilts his head slightly. "Don't know what you're talking about, pretty boy." The words and the tone are light, but he holds his breath at the end.
There is a pause. Then:
"It's nothing. He's worried over nothing. I just get the occasional spell," Aurin says.
"How long does it take him to break the loop?" Linnet asks Chid, quietly and directly.
The breath is released silently. "You and your scholarly pursuits, yeah. I hear you've been poking around in the past - find anything interesting to read there?"
"The first time, ten minutes," Chid says. He lowers his voice to match Linnet's. "They have been getting longer. This is the first time he's gone back into one so quickly after the last."
"Just anxious for some more reading time, I guess," Aurin says with a dismissive laugh.
"When did this start? How frequently do they come on? Have you noticed a pattern to what triggers it? Have you heard anything of anyone else who was on these expeditions doing..." (she waves a hand in a very small "whatever the hell this is" gesture) "this?" (Linnet has pulled out a notebook, inside one of the books she bought in case Aurin notices, and is scribbling furiously.)
Bast nods at Aurin's line, looking lost in thought. "So what are you reading?"
"They started before he came here, he said." Chid rests his chin on his hands, his earring dangling above his shoulder as he adjusts. "I have not noticed a pattern as of yet, though I haven't been with him for all of them. No one else on the expeditions has reported anything similar."
"Okay, so somehow we have to figure out what the hell he touched that broke...something."
"I had reason to travel, and then I got going here. Found something interesting, and just don't have the way to get into it yet," Aurin says, continuing the before.
"...for the record, this is not White Mage territory. This is not a disease, this is temporamagical horseplay and if I didn't know better I'd swear your boy pissed off a god." (The last is almost hissed. Linnet catches herself, takes a few deep breaths, and calms down.)
"Did he say anything to you about his reason for leaving?" Chid asks Bast.
"...I'm sorry, I'm not angry, I'm upset that I can't help, and I'm scared of the implications if I do try to help and I screw it up, and I'm effectively trying to invent half a flippin' field of medicine on the fly and I need one of my companions and he's not here and this isn't how any of this works and damn it." (Calming down does not seem to have worked.)
"I was hoping to ask him." Bast gets up, eyes fixed on Aurin's to see if he tracks the motion.
"...this was a whole lot simpler back when saving someone just meant flying over the side of the ship to grab them when they fell off." Linnet is still scribbling, and it's still words, but her eyes aren't on the pad anymore so Twelve only know if her notes will actually make any sense when she gets back to the tavern.
Aurin's eyes track Bast.
"You have experience in saving people, then," Chid says to Linnet. "That gives me some level of hope."
"...but of course, a wind sylph who can't fly is about as much use as a fish who can't swim, so honestly apart from the standard White Mage stuff I'm pretty much making up the rest as I go. And hey, sometimes it works? I have ideas, but I'd have to talk to the captain about whether any of them are even halfway feasible, as none of them are really a just-me sort of thing." She sighs. (All of this is still a sotto voce conversation, so as not to interrupt Aurin.) "I'm sorry, I'm babbling again. Azdar, were you with Aurin on any of these, uh, time travel things?"
Bast sits back down, seeming heavier than usual, and awkwardly picks up Aurin's hand.
"I've been with him to the Edge of the World multiple times as we try to uncover its secrets. The path was getting more dangerous, hence the need for assistance." Chid looks thoughtful. "He has had episodes there, but they seem more frequent here, away from it. I have cautioned him against returning to the Triad, but I wonder how strong the proximity effect truly is."
"And you haven't noticed any in yourself?"
Aurin's hand rests heavy in Bast's own -- he does not resist, but he does not respond either.
"...pardon my snap judgment, but you seem a little less, uh, impulsive in the course of an expedition? I'm wondering if there's something specific he touched that set him off."
"Azdar, did you tell him about the portals? Bast, we can see into the past. The actual past!" Aurin exclaims, following the chain.
"He said these started before he arrived here, so I do not think anything at the Edge caused this," Chid says.
"...right, sorry. Thinking out loud."
Bast puts his other hand on top of Aurin's, holding it between his, looking too troubled to speak.
"We can step into the past! You know what people would pay to get even a hint of what was actually happening back then?"
"...Azdar, what's your background? Are you native to Mechon?"
"I am from Caerwyn, myself. My father accompanied someone who was deemed worthy of being a hero, but I had little interest in sitting around waiting for someone else to live my life for me. I wished for adventure, and then found it," Chid replies.
"Hah, yeah, that's familiar. My parents are academics who left Caerwyn.' Linnet looks at her shoes. "I was wondering if you'd been here long enough to notice if any sort of temporal anomaly ever...comes up around here. I understand it'd be a taboo subject, but, like, everywhere has their undesirables they fundraise for and stuff like that, right? I've been here all of a few hours, my experience is not exactly worth much here."
"Yeah..." seems almost dragged out of Bast in response. He glances over at Chid. "Does he track what's happening when he's stuck like this?"
Chid shakes his head in response to Linnet's question, and then turns to Bast. "Very rarely. He likened it once to dreaming, early on. He has been less willing to discuss it as it has gotten worse."
"...and now I can't even go home and ask them, stupid winds, stupid cat-morph-thing, stupid magic..." Linnet realizes she's been staring at her shoes and rambling. "Sorry, back on track. I promise to stop badgering you with questions very shortly. Where's the best library in town?"
"...and now I can't even go home and ask them, stupid winds, stupid cat-morph-thing, stupid magic..." Linnet realizes she's been staring at her shoes and rambling. "Sorry, back on track. I promise to stop badgering you with questions very shortly. Where's the best library in town?"
"I'm..." Chid blinks. "You know, I don't know?"
"What's the plan for the next expedition?" Bast asks.
"I'll figure it out. Thank you so much for letting me talk your ear off, Azdar, and I'm very sorry your friend is in such distress. I'll freely admit that I don't immediately know what to do to help, but...I have some ideas of where to start."
"Delve deeper," Chid responds. "The windows into the past we have found show a staircase in the past that is not here in the present, we think due to decay and weather damage. The plan is to find a pathway down without damaging anything. There is a cave through which we hear running water, but we know something lives in there, as we have seen signs of its feeding. Hence the need for greater might." He looks at Bast. "I would welcome your assistance, and I hope that Aurin would too."
"Do you know when this is...and is it just the two of you?"
"We were aiming to leave tomorrow," Chid says, "and with as many people as he was able to convince to help us. Do you know if he met with much success?"
"I only saw him briefly, but no one seemed in a rush to sign up just then."
"And depending on the length of this..." he trails off.
"And when in the past, I meant."
"Do you happen to have any other friends? That perhaps are on this ship of yours?" Chid asks, looking between them.
"I'm not going to volunteer anybody; that's his job." Linnet gives Bast a respectful nod with a hint of a smile.
"We can find a few more pairs of hands for this, sure. You mentioned...dangerous machines, I think? What have you run into so far?"
"...is any of it supposed to explode, and if not, do you want any of it to explode?" Linnet mutters.
"Technologically advanced devices that move autonomously, and if they have some consistency behind their actions, it is one we have yet to learn," he says.
From the bed, Aurin continues repeating the same conversations from before, following his half of the steady rhythm.
"Ignore that last bit. Captain, I'm not going to be a whole lot of help with Aurin here until I do some more research. Should I let the rest of the available hands know what might be going down tomorrow?"
To Azdar, she admits, "That's a maximum of three pairs, but one of them is worth about eight fighters by herself. And one is sort of a one-trick act most of the time, but when your one trick is 'zap it until it explodes violently,' it works out."
Bast blinks at Linnet slowly, then refocuses. "Yes, might as well. Machines and basement mystery and potentially missing stairs and all. I'll...probably stay here a bit longer."
"Meet you back at the same tavern?" Linnet asks. "Or at least have them meet you? I may be holed up in the library when I find it."
Chid stands. "It would be best if we met again in the morning. From the sound of it, Aurin would not wish you to see him in the moment of recovery." He gives Bast a sympathetic look. "I will not push the issue should you wish to remain, but his desire for solitude has been great."
"Morning, then." Bast gets up again, letting go of Aurin's hand. "You...be the judge of what to tell him about our visit, I suppose."
Chid nods, and sees them to the door.
Linnet shakes his hand with true appreciation.
As it closes behind them, they hear, one last time...
"Hell. Bast. You had to see me like this, eh?"
End session.