Session 96: In Preparation for the Final Act
With the actual heist behind them, the officers of the Starfall are left to decide the fate of their prize, the Frost Fair Blade, and their future dealings with the buyer for the blade that put Bast up to this task.
As they waited for the Decoy Team to return from their no-doubt thrilling misadventures, Isa, Bast, Linnet, and Yves explored their rendezvous location; an uninhabited, outdated private resort, at least until Isa convinced everyone that sticking around was going to be a terrible idea. The dragoon left early to inform the crew of this fact, leaving Yves alone with the Frost Fair Blade (and half a dozen other people).
Yves's role as the Speaker, the one who bridges the gap between Person and Esper, allowed him to communicate with the Frost Fair Blade itself. The Blade revealed itself to be a Guardian Force, as they knew, but not one they knew of. Guan Yu, the God of War, proclaimed that he would fight to aid his sworn brothers, and so long as the achingly earnest Yves believed in Guan Yu's cause, Guan Yu would believe in Yves.
We join our brave adventurers as they rejoin Isa outside of the private resort, ready for the next step in the decision-making process... ** Yves is most of the way through his second fruity drink, and dangerously near to burbling with enthusiasm. "So really, when you think about it, we just need to do a little bit of rescuing--it wouldn't be the first time, right?--and then we're home free with a new ally. Everything is going so well."
"This one was...different from the others. Three worlds?" Bast gives Yves a questioning look.
"...I mean, I'm not entirely clear on the metaphysics, but the ethics seem pretty straightforward?" Yves decides, after considering that look a moment.
(Linnet is a bit apart, fussing over the decoy team, who appear to be in the same number of pieces as when they embarked, not that that's going to decrease the level of fussing. Yves has Guan Yu's story in good shape.) Isa is standing on the beach, in a sort of nested staredown with a cluster of actors. In the larger sense, she's holding her own against a much larger group. But close-in, River is holding their own, their eyes locked with the Cardian's, not backing down. Eventually, Isa nods with a grunt. "Fine. Three days."
River nods smugly.
The actors cheer.
Satisfied that nobody is hiding secret mortal wounds, Linnet also cheers, dismissing everyone but Rahel to go wreak havoc. The dancer, she pulls aside. "Walk with me?"
Rahel nods, but before she can finish disentangling herself from her Linnet wig, Mogratheo raises a hand. "The Captain is going to debrief the Captain before anyone leaves," he says, in a rather passable Bast impression.
Mogratheo then looks Bast level in the eye and says, "Proceed."
"Oh, fine. Walk with me later, then." Linnet takes the wig and makes a face at the state it's in.
"Oo," says Yves appreciatively, and drops down into a nearby lounge chair with his drink to listen. Bast inhales slowly, doing his best to make Mogratheo wither away on the spot with a look, then sits down and starts counting on his fingers. One.
"There are a few more holes in the vault on the Seventh Dawn than there were before." Two.
"We were kind enough to make up for it by lifting about half the contents so they don't need the vault as much. Got the Blade." Captain Mogratheo nods with sage approval.
(Linnet has buried her face in her hands in semi-serious horror.) Three.
"The plan went to shit from there, Atomos got loose, we have a few holes in us but no one died, knows who we are, or needs to die because they know who we are." Yves sets down his drink long enough to offer sincere, mild applause.
Four sets of eyebrows shoot up at the reveal of Atomos's escape, but the leading man keeps himself completely under control, as the Captain should. Four.
"The escape was a godsdamned masterpiece that you'll just have to live with not having seen for yourself. Had to be there." Isa's ability to keep a straight face probably makes her one of the top ten percent of actors on the ship.
"Isa did some amazing flying," Yves offers. "I think the boost button worked really well. And no one fell off the ship without being tethered on, either!" Five.
"The Blade is on our side, we're taking a few to lick our wounds, and then going over to the Triad to kick the client's ass so hard they will never find it again. And I need a drink.
Over to you-" A corner of Bast's mouth twitches, but he keeps it firmly in line. "-Captain."
The smile Mogratheo cracks for a split second is as genuine as anyone's ever seen. "Tremendous work, Captain. I knew you could do it." He cracks his knuckles, relishing the sound, relishing Rahel's repulsed reaction. "We had our own dangerous task in Koehnta," he says, his eyes flashing across his doppleganger's companions. "We had to be seen, and seen we were, bustling and hobnobbing around town in a most dramatically undramatic fashion."
"Though a few mistakes were made," Eiri says, looking quite sheepishly at Yves as she works on decoupling the fake earrings from her ears.
"I wouldn't call it a mistake, really," Brandt says, giving Eiri an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "An interesting opportunity." Yves takes a long sip of his drink lest he ask any unreasonable questions. "Our first order of business was to establish that we were traveling for business by making an order," Mogratheo says, casting his arm out wide. "An order of drinks at the local tavern, because all great adventures start in taverns. While in said tavern, striking up careful conversations with nonthreatening-looking people, our lapin lazuli here became quite the viera of interest."
"I was brooding! I found a good part of shadow and I was brooding!" Eiri protests. "I wasn't trying to be interesting, I was trying to be striking!"
"And it worked!" Brandt reassures her.
"A little too well," Eiri pouts. "Um, Yves, you might, hm, you might have agreed to a meeting that might be a date with someone that thought you -- I -- we? -- looked like the right kind of dangerous."
"...uh," says Yves, and blinks a few times. "A date with what kind of someone? Did they also seem dangerous, or just, like, the kind of person who likes to be near people who might be dangerous?"
"I mean," Yves adds, mostly under his breath, "they would probably be disappointed. I'm not very dangerous."
"Both of you go and see who appeals more?" Linnet claps her hands back over her mouth before any further ideas make themselves known. "A sheltered ingenue," Mogratheo says, looking around for some sort of raised platform that he can jump on for emphasis. Finding none, he settles for a twirl and a flourish. "A traveling Cardian noble, on the hunt for love or a reasonable facsimile, a woman of noble birth and proper station looking for decidedly the opposite, and hoping to find it in the lean, wiry dark and stormy mage in the shadows of the damned."
"Oh for..." Isa mutters.
Yves nods earnestly to Linnet's very logical plan of attack. After all, she probably knows more about how this works than he does.
Bast half-raises a finger at Yves declaring how safe and boring he is, then very firmly puts it back down and settles back to watch as the Situation Develops.
"Her name is Millicent Albarea and here is her card," Eiri says, pushing a perfumed handkerchief with a time and place concealed within into Yves's hand. Not exactly a card, but it'll do.
Linnet, for her part, rolls her eyes comically and starts quietly gossiping with Rahel in the back of the crowd.
Yves solemnly accepts the handkerchief. "...I'll, uh, let's, maybe we should work out the details later. But no one got stabbed, I think? So there's that!"
"Yet," Bast can't resist adding under his breath.
"...hopefully on an ongoing basis, I don't know how to do a stabbing date, all my dates just involved gambling and drugs, or working really late, or sometimes libraries! Or all of those! Definitely no--oh, you didn't mean on the date. Right." Yves drains his drink, such as it remains.
Isa is looking at Yves and slowly giving her head a warning shake. Rahel bumps her hip into Brandt's side, and he sighs and lifts her by the waist. "From there," she says, faux-floating over to Linnet's side, "we made ourselves known about town a little more, sharing stories and telling tales, oh, there was a lovely sing-along outside with a traveling band which was absolutely delightful, we had coffee biscuits, we went to an art supply store and didn't buy anything at all, and then..." she trails off, looking meaningfully at Mogratheo.
("How did this lot make it out of an art supply store without buying anything?" asks a bewildered Linnet. "Heroic effort," replies Rahel.)
Mogratheo's sigh could be heard from another island. "I was supposed to be boasting. It was the entire idea! Make sure everyone knew it was us. Of course I was going to talk about some of our exploits!"
"But nothing that could get us in trouble," Lily, not quite out of character as Isa yet, says sternly from the edge of the scene. "Nothing that's not public knowledge."
"...which ones?" Yves asks, attention caught again by the account.
The sound of Bast's knuckles cracking doesn't so much contribute as hover meaningfully over the conversation.
"So I embellished," Mogratheo says dismissively. "A scholar of the arts would have recognized some of my stories from last year's traveling exhibitions."
"Escaping the Grand Fortress?" Lily asks. "Twice?"
"Did we happen to bring that giant novelty hook with us?" mutters Linnet, just loud enough to be audible. Mogratheo grins. "A tremendous adaptation of a classic, I felt! But, ah, one of the stories about a certain ship in a certain location might have angered a particular group of someones."
Yves, with self-restraint worthy of artists not buying any new art supplies during a clearance event, does not ask if any of the stories made him sound cool.
"Captain Bast spun a tall tale of stealing an ancient steam-powered artifact from a ghost ship that appeared only once every twelve months," Lily says flatly, "and apparently that actually exists, because a group of bounty hunters named The Elite were asking about us after we left the city square."
"I found out about it when I went back for more coffee biscuits," Rahel says.
Brandt salutes the real Bast. "Sir, you are being hunted."
"Not my fault," Mogratheo grumbles. Bast stretches slowly, then settles back down with a quiet "Ah, Tuesdays." "From there, it was really pretty smooth," Brandt says. "No one tried to kidnap anyone or throw us into the sea and/or fire."
"...Brandt, we've let your standards slip," replies Linnet.
"Are they supposed to want being thrown into the sea and/or fire?" Yves asks.
"No, just admiring that as your standard for 'pretty smooth,'" replies Linnet, still looking for the giant novelty hook.
"There was one really weird conversation I kind of blundered through," Rahel says. "In the marketplace, with Yves -- I mean Eiri, we were looking at some books, and Eiri kept turning her head away whenever she spoke so I couldn't hear her, so I got into the habit of just repeating back what I thought she said, and I got one really wrong, and this guy with a big orange scarf was really intent on having me repeat what I said."
"There was a book about fairies," Eiri says. "Eos and Selene, and I thought I'd heard one of you mention them before, so I was trying to get Rahel's attention while making sure no one went and got it, and she thought I said something completely different. What was it, again?" she asks Rahel.
"For the life of me, I thought you said 'I want to be your canary,'" Rahel says.
"...don't tell me one of you got another date out of that," comments Linnet over her shoulder.
Yves attempts to drink his drink, discovers it is empty, and slowly acquires an expression that suggests he's trying to work out exactly what a "canary date" might be, and whether or not he'll need to figure it out fast.
"No, just the guy in the scarf asking me what I said, and wanting me to repeat it, over and over again," Rahel says. "He was weird. I told him he had misheard me. It was really strange." Mogratheo bows dramatically in front of the group, then honestly and earnestly salutes Bast. "Report complete, Captain. Glad to have you back."
Bast nods in response. "Good to see you all in one piece. Well done. Did I just see Isa agreeing to staying here for three days?"
Isa shakes her head. "No. We're leaving here as soon as everyone's on board. I, ah..." She sighs. "Three days of shore leave at my chalet. Fully supplied."
River looks even more smug.
One of Yves's lop ears attempts to perk up at the sound of that. "I'm telling you, anyone with fashion as antiquated as we find here, we can take them if it gets dangerous," he says confidently. "...but that works too. That sounds great! Hey, Isa, do you refresh your decor there periodically, or is it 'traditional' in a way that means it doesn't need more than polishing for a few centuries? Wait, don't tell me, I'll see when we get there."
"That's....the other thing." Isa looks pained. "Crew only. Officers have another obligation in Cardia."
"Right, she has a point. River, your face will crack if you keep it like that. Get everyone out of the pit traps and let's get moving!" Linnet gives her best Director Holler to any outlying crew. Linnet pulls Isa aside. "Does this take precedence over the Captain's errand, schedule-wise?"
The lop ear un-perks, and returns to a full lop position.
"It does not. We've got a week or so still. Plenty of time to take care of business and get our affairs in order."
"Excellent. MOVE IT, PEOPLE! The sooner we get going, the sooner you're on leave!" "Business can be sorted out as soon as we're ready." Bast gives Yves a long, thoughtful look. "Any idea how Guan Yu might feel about ambushes?"
"Not off the top of my head," Yves says, "but I can ask. I don't see why he wouldn't like a bit of ambushing, if we're the ones doing it, and the people being ambushed really deserve it."
"I was thinking of pretending to hand off the Blade, to set things up. Maybe an empty box, maybe a trick or two in it. But I must admit there's a certain something to bringing the actual Frost Fair Blade to the handoff and having it do the ambushing, as it were."
"Risky, if they're prepared for trouble. No guarantee we'd keep control of it," Isa points out.
"That...feels like less of his style, but maybe Yves can talk to him." Linnet shrugs.
"...I like it. I hope Guan Yu will like it. He said he's the God of War, and ambushes are very warlike. Right? Uh." Yves frowns slightly. "Though I need to defer to Isa about war. And Bast about sneaking. And Linnet about style? But I can ask." For the moment, it is just the officers present. No one else associated with the ship is present to overhear. "Could we maybe get a little more detail on what and/or who you're expecting to face on the other end?" Linnet crosses her arms. "The enigma act is wearing a little thin, Captain. Maybe start with who R is and who you think they're holding hostage, if not your father?"
"The Undersiders. They're a dockside gang with ambitions - and a side of kidnapping, extortion and murder to go with it. Run by a sadistic brick shithouse by the name of Ramoc and his pet assassin Strela, no one else seems to stay at the top for too long."
"And I honestly have no idea who they've got their hands on."
"So they're just going to kill... someone random? To manipulate you? Or because they think it's really your father?" Yves looks appropriately appalled. "I feel really good about stabbing these people. And not in a date kind of way."
"Something tells me you need smarter enemies, Bast. So where are they likely to be, and how do we deploy ourselves around the Blade?"
"Also, if you let it be known after the fact that this was not your father, or anyone actually connected to you, and you're kicking R's ass for the kidnapping anyway, that'll score you some major rep with the crew." Linnet shrugs pragmatically. "Noted. And I'm all for stupid enemies; it's just that sometimes, throwing enough muscle at the problem works. They've had enough, for the most part." The look on Bast's face is rather bleak as he goes on. "Figured I'd let them know I'm in town with the Blade, act as they would expect, try to arrange the meeting in a public place and see what they want to do. Maybe see if we can get some information on where the hostage is, first."
"Are these the kind of people to leave civilian casualties? Do you want it to be public?" Linnet frets. "And are we flying into this completely blind, or...is there anyone at home you might want to call on? For either information or backup?"
"They wouldn't care much. I was thinking room to see and move" - he nods in Isa's direction - "not necessarily crowds."
Isa nods. "Good sight lines."
For some reason, Bast seems to find Linnet's last question...amusing? "I tried to find out what I can, but I'd say don't count on anything we don't already have." "...right. Well, I barely know where we are - " this isn't news, Linnet barely knows where she is in her own hometown - "but we're probably not far enough to do all our information gathering en route. So Bast, I'd suggest you get started on that as soon as possible so the Underminers don't torture their poor prisoner too much longer. Then...I guess maybe have the Starfall drop us off in one city and park in another? If the note got to you on the ship, clearly they know this is your ship, and I for one am not keen on having these people anywhere near this ship." Linnet is in full strategic flow, details to be worked out later.
"Now, Isa, there's a second part to this problem. Lay out the Albarean...complications for us, please?"
"Apart from the need to teach Yves how to date in a non-stabby manner." Isa chuckles. "Oh, Milly Albarea and I have known each other since we were kids. She's awful."
"...any particular flavor of awful?" Bast quirks an eyebrow.
"Corruptible, disposable, turnable, a great spy, a terrible spy...?"
Bast cuts Linnet off with "Or just a complete shithead who gloats about her chocobo collection?"
Yves waits anxiously for the details.
"You remember when I had to be the distraction while you went skulking around that pleasure yacht?" Isa looks faintly embarrassed by the memory. "Milly was the, ah, inspiration for my role."
"...so, uh, I don't have to follow through on that date, do I?" Yves asks. "Unless it's...really important. For distraction purposes."|
"Yech." Linnet shudders. "That's not the complication in Cardia you mentioned, then, is it?"
"No, that's almost certainly going to be Albarea-free," Isa says, completely unaware of dramatic irony.
Linnet blinks. "...okay, so, should I know what we're going to Cardia for?"
"It's my sister's birthday," Isa says portentously, "and we're all invited." There are two beats of total silence. "Right." Bast speaks up. "That."
"...I'm going to need instructions," Yves says darkly. "Given what has happened on some of my attempts to do social occasions before."
Linnet's face is caught halfway between puzzlement, warm fuzzies, and a knowing smirk. The effect is rather comical. "...also," Yves says, after a silent beat himself, "when you say we're all invited, does... I mean, I suppose your mother could have told her about... But is it... Like... Just..." He is struggling for how to phrase this. "She invited us? On purpose?"
Isa nods. "On purpose. If I must, I'll deliver your regrets, but that'll mean questions."
Bast strategizes. "How complicated do you expect this to get? Both for itself, and given the last family meeting."
Linnet manages to stifle her laughter long enough to ask, "I don't suppose your sister wants to come beat up some thugs with us? Or is this sister not that much like you?"
Yves nods solemnly, and his gaze goes abstract. Perhaps he is contemplating etiquette. Perhaps he is contemplating fashion. Perhaps he is contemplating birthday presents, and if so, someone should probably stop him. "My sister," Isa says with a faint hint of shame, "is a politician." She takes a deep breath. "I don't think it'll be complicated for you. Show up, drink the family cellars dry, try not to start any fights. I'll likely be dragged in a dozen different directions but I'm used to it."
"Excellent. So, some refreshing violence before the politics. Bast, when do we leave?" Linnet bounces on the balls of her feet, ready for action.
"No, no, she said not to do violence," Yves says. "--or just not start it? Is this one of those things like, what's it called, precedent? Only nobility starts the fights, other people just finish them?"
"The violence is the part with the Blade in the Triad, Yves. I'm planning two things at once. For efficiency," Linnet clarifies.
"Oh! Right. Yes. Do continue. Sorry."
"As a bonus, this'll give us a chance to lay low for a few days," Isa points out, "in some degree of luxury." "How much do we need to pack up here?" Bast looks around at the bustling crew.
As if in response, Owen walks by balancing a table perfectly across his shoulders, carrying it back toward the villa.
Isa looks around, "Celeste was in charge of settling in, it's on her to pack out."
(Linnet bends her neck at a weird angle trying to work out how the heck that table is staying there. "Isa, where did your family find this walking statue?")
"...right. That, plus getting the Meteor. I don't think we need to play any particularly complicated shell games in the Triad if they know I'm showing up anyway," Bast decides."
"As long as you pick a staging area significantly far from the docks, please," cautions Linnet, again.
("Owen? His family's been with us for at least five generations," Isa deadpans. "You should have seen his grandmother."
(Linnet boggles.)) "Bast, while we're en route, I might bug you for some more details on these people. Anything along the lines of...psychological warfare. Known trigger points." Linnet shrugs. "Whatever I can do to get into their heads while I'm waiting to heal you back up."
Yves accepts this as just the way things work around Isa and her family. "So long as they're not immune to being hit with a lot of magical ionized air," he says thoughtfully, "or to being stabbed with a spear, that's probably a good start."
"It takes some doing to be immune to spear. Particularly to airborne spear." Linnet nods appreciatively to Isa.
"Right. I'm going to go get the Meteor back in its hold," Isa says, and heads off to do just that.
"Does the nobility usually like..." Yves realizes that the person he was directing the question to has left, and shrugs to himself. "Oh, some things everyone likes, right? It'll be fine." He wanders off to see if Owen can pause the table-lifting for long enough to make him one more drink.
"Right." Bast claps his hands together. "Let's finish getting everything back on the ship, and figure out how to best assist the Triad with its crime problem en route."
As they waited for the Decoy Team to return from their no-doubt thrilling misadventures, Isa, Bast, Linnet, and Yves explored their rendezvous location; an uninhabited, outdated private resort, at least until Isa convinced everyone that sticking around was going to be a terrible idea. The dragoon left early to inform the crew of this fact, leaving Yves alone with the Frost Fair Blade (and half a dozen other people).
Yves's role as the Speaker, the one who bridges the gap between Person and Esper, allowed him to communicate with the Frost Fair Blade itself. The Blade revealed itself to be a Guardian Force, as they knew, but not one they knew of. Guan Yu, the God of War, proclaimed that he would fight to aid his sworn brothers, and so long as the achingly earnest Yves believed in Guan Yu's cause, Guan Yu would believe in Yves.
We join our brave adventurers as they rejoin Isa outside of the private resort, ready for the next step in the decision-making process... ** Yves is most of the way through his second fruity drink, and dangerously near to burbling with enthusiasm. "So really, when you think about it, we just need to do a little bit of rescuing--it wouldn't be the first time, right?--and then we're home free with a new ally. Everything is going so well."
"This one was...different from the others. Three worlds?" Bast gives Yves a questioning look.
"...I mean, I'm not entirely clear on the metaphysics, but the ethics seem pretty straightforward?" Yves decides, after considering that look a moment.
(Linnet is a bit apart, fussing over the decoy team, who appear to be in the same number of pieces as when they embarked, not that that's going to decrease the level of fussing. Yves has Guan Yu's story in good shape.) Isa is standing on the beach, in a sort of nested staredown with a cluster of actors. In the larger sense, she's holding her own against a much larger group. But close-in, River is holding their own, their eyes locked with the Cardian's, not backing down. Eventually, Isa nods with a grunt. "Fine. Three days."
River nods smugly.
The actors cheer.
Satisfied that nobody is hiding secret mortal wounds, Linnet also cheers, dismissing everyone but Rahel to go wreak havoc. The dancer, she pulls aside. "Walk with me?"
Rahel nods, but before she can finish disentangling herself from her Linnet wig, Mogratheo raises a hand. "The Captain is going to debrief the Captain before anyone leaves," he says, in a rather passable Bast impression.
Mogratheo then looks Bast level in the eye and says, "Proceed."
"Oh, fine. Walk with me later, then." Linnet takes the wig and makes a face at the state it's in.
"Oo," says Yves appreciatively, and drops down into a nearby lounge chair with his drink to listen. Bast inhales slowly, doing his best to make Mogratheo wither away on the spot with a look, then sits down and starts counting on his fingers. One.
"There are a few more holes in the vault on the Seventh Dawn than there were before." Two.
"We were kind enough to make up for it by lifting about half the contents so they don't need the vault as much. Got the Blade." Captain Mogratheo nods with sage approval.
(Linnet has buried her face in her hands in semi-serious horror.) Three.
"The plan went to shit from there, Atomos got loose, we have a few holes in us but no one died, knows who we are, or needs to die because they know who we are." Yves sets down his drink long enough to offer sincere, mild applause.
Four sets of eyebrows shoot up at the reveal of Atomos's escape, but the leading man keeps himself completely under control, as the Captain should. Four.
"The escape was a godsdamned masterpiece that you'll just have to live with not having seen for yourself. Had to be there." Isa's ability to keep a straight face probably makes her one of the top ten percent of actors on the ship.
"Isa did some amazing flying," Yves offers. "I think the boost button worked really well. And no one fell off the ship without being tethered on, either!" Five.
"The Blade is on our side, we're taking a few to lick our wounds, and then going over to the Triad to kick the client's ass so hard they will never find it again. And I need a drink.
Over to you-" A corner of Bast's mouth twitches, but he keeps it firmly in line. "-Captain."
The smile Mogratheo cracks for a split second is as genuine as anyone's ever seen. "Tremendous work, Captain. I knew you could do it." He cracks his knuckles, relishing the sound, relishing Rahel's repulsed reaction. "We had our own dangerous task in Koehnta," he says, his eyes flashing across his doppleganger's companions. "We had to be seen, and seen we were, bustling and hobnobbing around town in a most dramatically undramatic fashion."
"Though a few mistakes were made," Eiri says, looking quite sheepishly at Yves as she works on decoupling the fake earrings from her ears.
"I wouldn't call it a mistake, really," Brandt says, giving Eiri an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "An interesting opportunity." Yves takes a long sip of his drink lest he ask any unreasonable questions. "Our first order of business was to establish that we were traveling for business by making an order," Mogratheo says, casting his arm out wide. "An order of drinks at the local tavern, because all great adventures start in taverns. While in said tavern, striking up careful conversations with nonthreatening-looking people, our lapin lazuli here became quite the viera of interest."
"I was brooding! I found a good part of shadow and I was brooding!" Eiri protests. "I wasn't trying to be interesting, I was trying to be striking!"
"And it worked!" Brandt reassures her.
"A little too well," Eiri pouts. "Um, Yves, you might, hm, you might have agreed to a meeting that might be a date with someone that thought you -- I -- we? -- looked like the right kind of dangerous."
"...uh," says Yves, and blinks a few times. "A date with what kind of someone? Did they also seem dangerous, or just, like, the kind of person who likes to be near people who might be dangerous?"
"I mean," Yves adds, mostly under his breath, "they would probably be disappointed. I'm not very dangerous."
"Both of you go and see who appeals more?" Linnet claps her hands back over her mouth before any further ideas make themselves known. "A sheltered ingenue," Mogratheo says, looking around for some sort of raised platform that he can jump on for emphasis. Finding none, he settles for a twirl and a flourish. "A traveling Cardian noble, on the hunt for love or a reasonable facsimile, a woman of noble birth and proper station looking for decidedly the opposite, and hoping to find it in the lean, wiry dark and stormy mage in the shadows of the damned."
"Oh for..." Isa mutters.
Yves nods earnestly to Linnet's very logical plan of attack. After all, she probably knows more about how this works than he does.
Bast half-raises a finger at Yves declaring how safe and boring he is, then very firmly puts it back down and settles back to watch as the Situation Develops.
"Her name is Millicent Albarea and here is her card," Eiri says, pushing a perfumed handkerchief with a time and place concealed within into Yves's hand. Not exactly a card, but it'll do.
Linnet, for her part, rolls her eyes comically and starts quietly gossiping with Rahel in the back of the crowd.
Yves solemnly accepts the handkerchief. "...I'll, uh, let's, maybe we should work out the details later. But no one got stabbed, I think? So there's that!"
"Yet," Bast can't resist adding under his breath.
"...hopefully on an ongoing basis, I don't know how to do a stabbing date, all my dates just involved gambling and drugs, or working really late, or sometimes libraries! Or all of those! Definitely no--oh, you didn't mean on the date. Right." Yves drains his drink, such as it remains.
Isa is looking at Yves and slowly giving her head a warning shake. Rahel bumps her hip into Brandt's side, and he sighs and lifts her by the waist. "From there," she says, faux-floating over to Linnet's side, "we made ourselves known about town a little more, sharing stories and telling tales, oh, there was a lovely sing-along outside with a traveling band which was absolutely delightful, we had coffee biscuits, we went to an art supply store and didn't buy anything at all, and then..." she trails off, looking meaningfully at Mogratheo.
("How did this lot make it out of an art supply store without buying anything?" asks a bewildered Linnet. "Heroic effort," replies Rahel.)
Mogratheo's sigh could be heard from another island. "I was supposed to be boasting. It was the entire idea! Make sure everyone knew it was us. Of course I was going to talk about some of our exploits!"
"But nothing that could get us in trouble," Lily, not quite out of character as Isa yet, says sternly from the edge of the scene. "Nothing that's not public knowledge."
"...which ones?" Yves asks, attention caught again by the account.
The sound of Bast's knuckles cracking doesn't so much contribute as hover meaningfully over the conversation.
"So I embellished," Mogratheo says dismissively. "A scholar of the arts would have recognized some of my stories from last year's traveling exhibitions."
"Escaping the Grand Fortress?" Lily asks. "Twice?"
"Did we happen to bring that giant novelty hook with us?" mutters Linnet, just loud enough to be audible. Mogratheo grins. "A tremendous adaptation of a classic, I felt! But, ah, one of the stories about a certain ship in a certain location might have angered a particular group of someones."
Yves, with self-restraint worthy of artists not buying any new art supplies during a clearance event, does not ask if any of the stories made him sound cool.
"Captain Bast spun a tall tale of stealing an ancient steam-powered artifact from a ghost ship that appeared only once every twelve months," Lily says flatly, "and apparently that actually exists, because a group of bounty hunters named The Elite were asking about us after we left the city square."
"I found out about it when I went back for more coffee biscuits," Rahel says.
Brandt salutes the real Bast. "Sir, you are being hunted."
"Not my fault," Mogratheo grumbles. Bast stretches slowly, then settles back down with a quiet "Ah, Tuesdays." "From there, it was really pretty smooth," Brandt says. "No one tried to kidnap anyone or throw us into the sea and/or fire."
"...Brandt, we've let your standards slip," replies Linnet.
"Are they supposed to want being thrown into the sea and/or fire?" Yves asks.
"No, just admiring that as your standard for 'pretty smooth,'" replies Linnet, still looking for the giant novelty hook.
"There was one really weird conversation I kind of blundered through," Rahel says. "In the marketplace, with Yves -- I mean Eiri, we were looking at some books, and Eiri kept turning her head away whenever she spoke so I couldn't hear her, so I got into the habit of just repeating back what I thought she said, and I got one really wrong, and this guy with a big orange scarf was really intent on having me repeat what I said."
"There was a book about fairies," Eiri says. "Eos and Selene, and I thought I'd heard one of you mention them before, so I was trying to get Rahel's attention while making sure no one went and got it, and she thought I said something completely different. What was it, again?" she asks Rahel.
"For the life of me, I thought you said 'I want to be your canary,'" Rahel says.
"...don't tell me one of you got another date out of that," comments Linnet over her shoulder.
Yves attempts to drink his drink, discovers it is empty, and slowly acquires an expression that suggests he's trying to work out exactly what a "canary date" might be, and whether or not he'll need to figure it out fast.
"No, just the guy in the scarf asking me what I said, and wanting me to repeat it, over and over again," Rahel says. "He was weird. I told him he had misheard me. It was really strange." Mogratheo bows dramatically in front of the group, then honestly and earnestly salutes Bast. "Report complete, Captain. Glad to have you back."
Bast nods in response. "Good to see you all in one piece. Well done. Did I just see Isa agreeing to staying here for three days?"
Isa shakes her head. "No. We're leaving here as soon as everyone's on board. I, ah..." She sighs. "Three days of shore leave at my chalet. Fully supplied."
River looks even more smug.
One of Yves's lop ears attempts to perk up at the sound of that. "I'm telling you, anyone with fashion as antiquated as we find here, we can take them if it gets dangerous," he says confidently. "...but that works too. That sounds great! Hey, Isa, do you refresh your decor there periodically, or is it 'traditional' in a way that means it doesn't need more than polishing for a few centuries? Wait, don't tell me, I'll see when we get there."
"That's....the other thing." Isa looks pained. "Crew only. Officers have another obligation in Cardia."
"Right, she has a point. River, your face will crack if you keep it like that. Get everyone out of the pit traps and let's get moving!" Linnet gives her best Director Holler to any outlying crew. Linnet pulls Isa aside. "Does this take precedence over the Captain's errand, schedule-wise?"
The lop ear un-perks, and returns to a full lop position.
"It does not. We've got a week or so still. Plenty of time to take care of business and get our affairs in order."
"Excellent. MOVE IT, PEOPLE! The sooner we get going, the sooner you're on leave!" "Business can be sorted out as soon as we're ready." Bast gives Yves a long, thoughtful look. "Any idea how Guan Yu might feel about ambushes?"
"Not off the top of my head," Yves says, "but I can ask. I don't see why he wouldn't like a bit of ambushing, if we're the ones doing it, and the people being ambushed really deserve it."
"I was thinking of pretending to hand off the Blade, to set things up. Maybe an empty box, maybe a trick or two in it. But I must admit there's a certain something to bringing the actual Frost Fair Blade to the handoff and having it do the ambushing, as it were."
"Risky, if they're prepared for trouble. No guarantee we'd keep control of it," Isa points out.
"That...feels like less of his style, but maybe Yves can talk to him." Linnet shrugs.
"...I like it. I hope Guan Yu will like it. He said he's the God of War, and ambushes are very warlike. Right? Uh." Yves frowns slightly. "Though I need to defer to Isa about war. And Bast about sneaking. And Linnet about style? But I can ask." For the moment, it is just the officers present. No one else associated with the ship is present to overhear. "Could we maybe get a little more detail on what and/or who you're expecting to face on the other end?" Linnet crosses her arms. "The enigma act is wearing a little thin, Captain. Maybe start with who R is and who you think they're holding hostage, if not your father?"
"The Undersiders. They're a dockside gang with ambitions - and a side of kidnapping, extortion and murder to go with it. Run by a sadistic brick shithouse by the name of Ramoc and his pet assassin Strela, no one else seems to stay at the top for too long."
"And I honestly have no idea who they've got their hands on."
"So they're just going to kill... someone random? To manipulate you? Or because they think it's really your father?" Yves looks appropriately appalled. "I feel really good about stabbing these people. And not in a date kind of way."
"Something tells me you need smarter enemies, Bast. So where are they likely to be, and how do we deploy ourselves around the Blade?"
"Also, if you let it be known after the fact that this was not your father, or anyone actually connected to you, and you're kicking R's ass for the kidnapping anyway, that'll score you some major rep with the crew." Linnet shrugs pragmatically. "Noted. And I'm all for stupid enemies; it's just that sometimes, throwing enough muscle at the problem works. They've had enough, for the most part." The look on Bast's face is rather bleak as he goes on. "Figured I'd let them know I'm in town with the Blade, act as they would expect, try to arrange the meeting in a public place and see what they want to do. Maybe see if we can get some information on where the hostage is, first."
"Are these the kind of people to leave civilian casualties? Do you want it to be public?" Linnet frets. "And are we flying into this completely blind, or...is there anyone at home you might want to call on? For either information or backup?"
"They wouldn't care much. I was thinking room to see and move" - he nods in Isa's direction - "not necessarily crowds."
Isa nods. "Good sight lines."
For some reason, Bast seems to find Linnet's last question...amusing? "I tried to find out what I can, but I'd say don't count on anything we don't already have." "...right. Well, I barely know where we are - " this isn't news, Linnet barely knows where she is in her own hometown - "but we're probably not far enough to do all our information gathering en route. So Bast, I'd suggest you get started on that as soon as possible so the Underminers don't torture their poor prisoner too much longer. Then...I guess maybe have the Starfall drop us off in one city and park in another? If the note got to you on the ship, clearly they know this is your ship, and I for one am not keen on having these people anywhere near this ship." Linnet is in full strategic flow, details to be worked out later.
"Now, Isa, there's a second part to this problem. Lay out the Albarean...complications for us, please?"
"Apart from the need to teach Yves how to date in a non-stabby manner." Isa chuckles. "Oh, Milly Albarea and I have known each other since we were kids. She's awful."
"...any particular flavor of awful?" Bast quirks an eyebrow.
"Corruptible, disposable, turnable, a great spy, a terrible spy...?"
Bast cuts Linnet off with "Or just a complete shithead who gloats about her chocobo collection?"
Yves waits anxiously for the details.
"You remember when I had to be the distraction while you went skulking around that pleasure yacht?" Isa looks faintly embarrassed by the memory. "Milly was the, ah, inspiration for my role."
"...so, uh, I don't have to follow through on that date, do I?" Yves asks. "Unless it's...really important. For distraction purposes."|
"Yech." Linnet shudders. "That's not the complication in Cardia you mentioned, then, is it?"
"No, that's almost certainly going to be Albarea-free," Isa says, completely unaware of dramatic irony.
Linnet blinks. "...okay, so, should I know what we're going to Cardia for?"
"It's my sister's birthday," Isa says portentously, "and we're all invited." There are two beats of total silence. "Right." Bast speaks up. "That."
"...I'm going to need instructions," Yves says darkly. "Given what has happened on some of my attempts to do social occasions before."
Linnet's face is caught halfway between puzzlement, warm fuzzies, and a knowing smirk. The effect is rather comical. "...also," Yves says, after a silent beat himself, "when you say we're all invited, does... I mean, I suppose your mother could have told her about... But is it... Like... Just..." He is struggling for how to phrase this. "She invited us? On purpose?"
Isa nods. "On purpose. If I must, I'll deliver your regrets, but that'll mean questions."
Bast strategizes. "How complicated do you expect this to get? Both for itself, and given the last family meeting."
Linnet manages to stifle her laughter long enough to ask, "I don't suppose your sister wants to come beat up some thugs with us? Or is this sister not that much like you?"
Yves nods solemnly, and his gaze goes abstract. Perhaps he is contemplating etiquette. Perhaps he is contemplating fashion. Perhaps he is contemplating birthday presents, and if so, someone should probably stop him. "My sister," Isa says with a faint hint of shame, "is a politician." She takes a deep breath. "I don't think it'll be complicated for you. Show up, drink the family cellars dry, try not to start any fights. I'll likely be dragged in a dozen different directions but I'm used to it."
"Excellent. So, some refreshing violence before the politics. Bast, when do we leave?" Linnet bounces on the balls of her feet, ready for action.
"No, no, she said not to do violence," Yves says. "--or just not start it? Is this one of those things like, what's it called, precedent? Only nobility starts the fights, other people just finish them?"
"The violence is the part with the Blade in the Triad, Yves. I'm planning two things at once. For efficiency," Linnet clarifies.
"Oh! Right. Yes. Do continue. Sorry."
"As a bonus, this'll give us a chance to lay low for a few days," Isa points out, "in some degree of luxury." "How much do we need to pack up here?" Bast looks around at the bustling crew.
As if in response, Owen walks by balancing a table perfectly across his shoulders, carrying it back toward the villa.
Isa looks around, "Celeste was in charge of settling in, it's on her to pack out."
(Linnet bends her neck at a weird angle trying to work out how the heck that table is staying there. "Isa, where did your family find this walking statue?")
"...right. That, plus getting the Meteor. I don't think we need to play any particularly complicated shell games in the Triad if they know I'm showing up anyway," Bast decides."
"As long as you pick a staging area significantly far from the docks, please," cautions Linnet, again.
("Owen? His family's been with us for at least five generations," Isa deadpans. "You should have seen his grandmother."
(Linnet boggles.)) "Bast, while we're en route, I might bug you for some more details on these people. Anything along the lines of...psychological warfare. Known trigger points." Linnet shrugs. "Whatever I can do to get into their heads while I'm waiting to heal you back up."
Yves accepts this as just the way things work around Isa and her family. "So long as they're not immune to being hit with a lot of magical ionized air," he says thoughtfully, "or to being stabbed with a spear, that's probably a good start."
"It takes some doing to be immune to spear. Particularly to airborne spear." Linnet nods appreciatively to Isa.
"Right. I'm going to go get the Meteor back in its hold," Isa says, and heads off to do just that.
"Does the nobility usually like..." Yves realizes that the person he was directing the question to has left, and shrugs to himself. "Oh, some things everyone likes, right? It'll be fine." He wanders off to see if Owen can pause the table-lifting for long enough to make him one more drink.
"Right." Bast claps his hands together. "Let's finish getting everything back on the ship, and figure out how to best assist the Triad with its crime problem en route."
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