12. Campfire Chat
General Summary
The party reconvenes at camp, having had a chance to decompress, all that's left is the myriad questions surrounding Mirage's absence and the warlock's uncanny resemblance to the powers they faced in the tower.
As they convene around the campfire and the shadows of the forest around them lengthen, the silence grows alongside them. Finally, Mirage breaks it.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be with you sooner." she blurts.
Cypher looks up, but not at you. He pans the campfire circle, scanning for their reactions.
Saeldor looks mildly uncomfortable. Ta'lok looks like he's going to say something but Cri beats him to it.
"We were all worried about you," she says. It's soft, somehow both chiding and comforting at the same time.
"You going to say where you were, or are secrets contagious now?" This from Ta'lok, with a side glance at Cypher, who looks like he's getting ready for a fight.
Mirage sits there in silence for a second, remembering those cold, lonely weeks in prison. She remembers the moment she knew they weren't coming for her. As objectively, clinically, as she can, she gives the details of her imprisonment, how they cornered her on her way home to her parents. How they separated her from Nimbus. She's doing everything she can to put her own emotions in the back, knowing they've all just experienced something far worse.
But Cri can see right through it. and Cypher definitely can.
Cri reaches a hand for her shoulder. Mirage accepts it, but there's also a sense of guilt that literally CRI, wings-still-sore- Cri, is comforting her.
"I got out when I could. I've been on the run for...days, I've lost track to be honest. I..." she sniffles "I did not know if I'd see you all again. So I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me."
Cypher looks like he is absolutely daring Ta'lok to say something the whole time you're explaining. Everyone's listening quietly
Saeldor gives a low whistle when you're done. "I don't know, seems like that cuts both ways at this point."
Ta'lok's got frown lines deep enough to run trench warfare in. "Did you know this guy? Do we know him?"
Mirage told them what she could about her kidnapper; a freeholder living near the Ignia border - thinks he's gods gift to Aurian values, has a personal army, somehow knew she was in Ignia and levelled various treasonous charges against her. Due to the free-for-all, loosey-goosey system of non-governance in Auria, there was no special recourse for her to dispute them with.
Cypher offered to turn him catatonic, which brought Ta'lok's frown back.
"Yeah, about the mindfuckery..."
"I HAVE AN IDEA." Mirage blurts out.
All eyes move to her. Unnerved, amused, curious, startled.
"Okay. So, there's this game we used to play as girls, growing up." I glance over at Cypher again, and try to send him a look of 'trust me'. "The game is called Trust Me. The rules are simple." She makes eye contact with all of them in turn, lingering on Ta'lok, who looks nonplussed. "We take turns asking one question. No one is allowed to lie, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Cypher was curious at first now he's looking not so sure.
"We don't have to play right now." I'm looking at Ta'lok when I say this, "But we've all got secrets, right? For different reasons."
literally everyone involuntarily glances at the warlock
"You can ask the question, any question you want. But no one has to answer. The only rule is that you cannot lie." Then her voice gets quiet. "I don't know...just a thought."
Ta'lok gives a sort of snort/huff. "Works for me."
The party pass around a few low-stakes questions, but then the boss' turn comes around.
"How'd you..." he pauses, "How'd you get that voice out of my head? It was like, like swarming bees in my ear. I know, I know you said your magic isn't something you really practice or have to study for. I get that. But I'm trying to understand." Definitely giving him a Dad look, genuinely trying to connect.
"I know. I'm thinking." Cypher's frowning at the fire like it holds the answers to all life's questions.
"It's not something I could always do," he starts, careful, talking slow. "Not something I wanted to, either. I just didn't see another way. It was like pulling weeds. Like a firebreak. It's hard to explain."
He looks toward Cri. "You once said meditation can be like turning your mind into a house. Walking through the rooms, seeing what's there, throwing things out or dusting them off. Getting settled."
Anxiety is making him talk faster, but he waits for some confirmation that he's not talking out his ass
She nods, urging him on
He swallows, he's fidgeting with his shirtsleeves, picking at the threads with both hands. "My house has a door in it. An extra one. And it's like... it's kind of like... if I stepped through that one, and came out in yours."
He tries to look at Ta'lok, but fails. "And it was choked with I don't know, let's say weeds. Creepy, ichorous, not-all-plants-are-friends weeds. So I started pulling til I found you. I know that doesn't make any sense. It's not a perfect metaphor. But no matter how you ask there's always going to be stuff I won't tell you."
Everyone clocks the change from "can't"
Ta'lok nods his head, but his expression reads as a little frustrated. He's a literal, analytical thinker, and this is pretty abstract. But he's trying, clearly.
Cypher waits as econd, then remembers this isn't a follow-up question game. With some relief, he says, "My turn, then."
Cypher tossed it back to Cri, who offered a lesson on the interconnectedness of all life, the interdependence of all life, the truth of shared hurt and joy between lives. Then she gave the floor to Mirage who cleared the air thoroughly with a highlights reel of her adventures on the run.
Even Cypher and Ta'lok are sitting a little looser when she winds up.
When the laughter has died down, she takes a minute to catch her breath, and she glances over at Cypher.
"Cypher. You and I have had our differences, and I know I haven't always...trusted you, the way I should. But I want you to know that I do. Trust you, I mean. I don't know what question to ask. But..." She searches for the words, "Can you...can you tell us something? About what's going on? Just one thing."
Smile gone, immediately. He's staring at his hands again like they can spirit him away.
"Anything?"
Mirage looks up at the others and considers whether she wants to say this in front of the group or not. "It's like Cri said. We're nothing without each other. We want to be here for you, but you have to let us."
"I know I owe you answers. All of you. Especially after what we just got away from." He frowns, brushes at something on his shoulder (nothing there).
"And I know this is the last thing anyone wants to hear, but genuinely, I can't tell you the details. I won't. But... I think, maybe, I can tell you why not?"
Ta'lok is looking sharp-eyed at him. Saeldor has a considering expression on their face. But Mirage and Cri both nod and give him an encouraging look.
"Even that feels risky, honestly, but I think... if what was in there is like... like me, then, then like you said. It's not just my problem anymore."
A long exhale
"Okay. Okay okay okay." Deep breath seems to have done nothing to relieve his tension.
"First I just... I want you to know that keeping this from you - from everyone - has been... It's not for my sake. I'm not worried anyone will steal my techniques or something. And nobody's told me not to. It's kind of the opposite, actually."
He seems to realise he's been staring at his fidgeting hands again, and looks up like there's a million pounds of lead on his neck.
"Do you... do any of you know what a 'cognitohazard' is?"
He gets a lot of blank stares at that. He doesn't seem super surprised, but he seems to find it easier to direct the rest of his answer to the campfire.
"Another way to say it would be 'dangerous knowledge.' Something that, just by knowing about it, creates danger for the person who knows it. Information that can put down roots. Grow weeds." A glance at Ta'lok. "Grow of its own accord. Exert a will. Maybe it's not the information itself, maybe its a conduit, I don't know. All I know is the more you know, the more it takes. And I'm not letting it take from any of you."
This last with a stubborn tightening of the jaw.
Cri is looking up at the stars, listening. Saeldor is looking at Cypher with...pride? Concern? Both? Still just sitting behind this cloud of pipe smoke, his head tilted. Ta'lok is doing his goddamn best to wrap his head around this. And Mirage looks curious.
"How do you defend against something that gains power over you the more you learn about it? That was rule number one in the Army. Know thyself, and know thine enemy." Ta'lok's shaking his head.
A bitter chuckle and a shrug that seems to say 'you don't know the half of it.' "I dont really think there's an 'enemy' here, to be honest. Or if there is, it's not one thing."
Mirage gives him a critical look at that.
"I'll find you something else to throw tornadoes at." this with a smile.
"So what, we just...we sit here and watch you hurt? Watch this thing take from you?" She didn't entertain his attempt at humor. Her fingers twitch.
He flinches, and starts to say "I'm fine"
Mirage doesn't let him finish.
"Are you? See, with all due respect, I think that's fucking bullshit. Would you be cool with Cri dealing with the things you're dealing with? Looking the way you look? How about Saeldor, or Ta'lok. What about me? What if I walked around in a daze like you do sometimes, insisting I was okay. Would you just...be cool with that? Would you take my word for it?"
"Easy, kiddo," Saeldor murmurs.
Cypher is flinching at nearly every sentence, trying to get a word in, but can't.
When she finally winds up flinging tornadoes, he speaks. "I know, okay? I know I look like shit. If it was you I'd lose my goddamn mind. What's left of it. But I Don't. Have. Time." His shout's always been too big for him.
"I have to find a way out of THIS" Indicating his head, "Before it turns into THAT" pointing back toward the tower.
"And you have to do it alone" She crosses her arms.
"How the fuck else?? You want this in your head?"
"Use the other pieces on the board." Ta'lok adds quietly. He looks over at Cypher. "Can't win a game with just one piece, even if it's the queen. You know that."
He looks between them, frustrated but helpless.
"We are connected", Cri says quietly. "Your pain is our pain."
He's looking down, with a face full of unspoken thoughts. Frown lines. "I didn't want anyone in this," he says, quiet.
Mirage gets mouthy again and says, "Too fucking late."
Saeldor rolls his eyes in a "lawd-give-me-patience" expression. For a long moment, the firbolg is quiet. But eventually he says, "Probably feels like you're being ganged up on, kid. If you need a breather, we get it. But hopefully, you're starting to see how hard it is for us to...sit by."
"It's fine. You're right. I hate it, but you're right. I should've fucked off long ago if I didn't want this to happen."
Mirage looks furious.
Cypher glances aside and catches the absolute hurricane in her face. Cracks a rueful smile. "Don't worry, you can't get rid of me that easily."
But before she can get a word out, Ta'lok steps in. "You've been on a solo mission for who knows how long, kid. Too bad, you've got a team now. Get used to it. Take the night, catch your breath. But in the morning, start thinking about strategy."
He's just looking like it's a done deal. X happened, so Y follows. Very simple, very cut and dried.
An evasive sideways look at nothing. "Yeah, about that. I'm on first watch."
A raised eyebrow.
"Uh, and second."
TWO raised eyebrows.
He's bracing for more of the rightful yelling
"But you look so tired." Cri murmurs
He shrugs. "I don't sleep anymore. I swear I'll rest how I can, but there's no point any of you going without when I'm going to be up anyway."
Dead silence.
"It's... really not a big deal. Fewer awkward wake-ups from the psychopath, right?" he says, flippant, referring to the at least a time or to he's woken up in a bit of an episode before.
"The name of the game is Trust Me because you're not supposed to LIE, Cypher." Mirage stares pointedly at him.
He flinches.
"Okay fine, it sucks. I'm exhausted. I can't sleep and no amount of breathing or silence or herbal fucking tea does anything for it. I don't know how else to rest. But it's gone and not coming back and you know what?"
He looks up, defiant and sitting up straight for the first time this evening. "Worth it. Never would have got back here in time otherwise. Would swap it again."
Mirage looks like she wants to argue but thinks better of it.
"Thank you for telling us, Cypher." Cri speaks up again. "For trusting us."
His face has gratitude, even if he doesn't speak it. She gives him a gentle smile
He keeps fidgeting at his shoulder with the opposite hand, like he's trying to find something
"I think it's my turn to ask a question"
Mirage sits back down, looking tired.
"Can we please, please just go to bed?"
Full Scene Afterward, Cypher calls Mirage aside for a private word. He tells her she can ask anything she wants, but wants her to swear she won't go trying to solve the puzzle of the thing in his head on her own. A request she neatly dodges. "Back in Amir's prison." She starts, then stops. Definitely looking at her face at that "Tried to escape lots of times. I'm sure that's not a surprise." Wry smile. "They learned pretty quickly not to send anyone into my cell, or I'd be gone." "Be shocked if you didn't. More shocked it didn't work, to be honest." She gives him a small smile. "No windows, no locked doors. No Nimbus, for a while. The only reason I escaped," she continues, "is because somebody wanted me to do something for them, and I seized my opportunity." She looks at him and says, "I get that you think you've looked at this from every angle, you've thought about nothing else for. For however long. But there is always, always a way out. And I'm going to help you find it." He nods. Thinks a minute, looking at his hands. "I get that at this point, it's been a while since you were home. But, in the interest of... not doing things in isolation, want to stick around for a library trip?" Her eyes get big He's looking at the fire again, only glancing aside to gauge reaction Mirage has never seen Cypher him look shy before. Evasive, sure. "I mean I'll be totally honest, I fucking hate libraries. Books are boring. But I'm sure I could...find something to entertain myself with." She gives him a playful smile. He laughs, it sounds more like relief than anything else. "Well, nobody's perfect." "I don't know man, did you see that fucking column of wind? Did you see that fucker go flying out the window?" she crows, smirking. "Ehh..." he waves a flat hand in the air "I don't know, I might be a little bit perfect." She nudges his elbow and waggles her eyebrows. Ridiculous. "That was fine, I guess. It's no back-of-the-stacks corner nobody's even sorted for at least a year, but it's all right." "Nerd." A smile, genuine. "Gotta make up for my myriad of frail human weaknesses somehow," he says, miming a dramatic faint that would probably be funny if he didn't look a light-breeze from actually falling over. "Yeah that's you, weak as shit." Smiling and shaking her head, making it very clear she doesn't buy it FOR A SECOND. As she gets up to head to bed, she says to him, "You and I are the same, Cypher. There's more to us than meets the eye." He follows her gaze as you stand, though he stays seated. "That might genuinely be one of the highest compliments I've ever received," he says, not a trace of jest in his voice. "Do my best to live up to it." She gives him another genuine smile, inclines her head, and then walks to her tent and conks out. Full Scene
Full Scene Afterward, Cypher calls Mirage aside for a private word. He tells her she can ask anything she wants, but wants her to swear she won't go trying to solve the puzzle of the thing in his head on her own. A request she neatly dodges. "Back in Amir's prison." She starts, then stops. Definitely looking at her face at that "Tried to escape lots of times. I'm sure that's not a surprise." Wry smile. "They learned pretty quickly not to send anyone into my cell, or I'd be gone." "Be shocked if you didn't. More shocked it didn't work, to be honest." She gives him a small smile. "No windows, no locked doors. No Nimbus, for a while. The only reason I escaped," she continues, "is because somebody wanted me to do something for them, and I seized my opportunity." She looks at him and says, "I get that you think you've looked at this from every angle, you've thought about nothing else for. For however long. But there is always, always a way out. And I'm going to help you find it." He nods. Thinks a minute, looking at his hands. "I get that at this point, it's been a while since you were home. But, in the interest of... not doing things in isolation, want to stick around for a library trip?" Her eyes get big He's looking at the fire again, only glancing aside to gauge reaction Mirage has never seen Cypher him look shy before. Evasive, sure. "I mean I'll be totally honest, I fucking hate libraries. Books are boring. But I'm sure I could...find something to entertain myself with." She gives him a playful smile. He laughs, it sounds more like relief than anything else. "Well, nobody's perfect." "I don't know man, did you see that fucking column of wind? Did you see that fucker go flying out the window?" she crows, smirking. "Ehh..." he waves a flat hand in the air "I don't know, I might be a little bit perfect." She nudges his elbow and waggles her eyebrows. Ridiculous. "That was fine, I guess. It's no back-of-the-stacks corner nobody's even sorted for at least a year, but it's all right." "Nerd." A smile, genuine. "Gotta make up for my myriad of frail human weaknesses somehow," he says, miming a dramatic faint that would probably be funny if he didn't look a light-breeze from actually falling over. "Yeah that's you, weak as shit." Smiling and shaking her head, making it very clear she doesn't buy it FOR A SECOND. As she gets up to head to bed, she says to him, "You and I are the same, Cypher. There's more to us than meets the eye." He follows her gaze as you stand, though he stays seated. "That might genuinely be one of the highest compliments I've ever received," he says, not a trace of jest in his voice. "Do my best to live up to it." She gives him another genuine smile, inclines her head, and then walks to her tent and conks out. Full Scene
Report Date
17 Feb 2025
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