2017-04-22: The Witch's Ultimatum
- Log: The Witch's Ultimatum
- Cast: Agatha Pyrelight, Sephilia Lampbright
- Where: Adlehyde - Fairgrounds
- Date: 4/22/2017
- Summary: Sephilia once again encounters the Pyre Witch, and learns that saying no to Agatha is harder than it sounds.
==========================<* Adlehyde - Fairgrounds *>========================== Located in the northeast quadrant of Adlehyde, the Fairgrounds are situated on a large open space traditionally used to train soldiers in march and maneuver. As a result of the Ancient Culture Exhibition, however, a large number of tents and other temporary buildings have been set up to showcase the latest in ARM discovery and advancement. Paths between the tents and buildings have been set up more or less at random in the area, making it a bit difficult to navigate, particularly with hawkers and visitors clogging the arteries. The central focus of the Fairgrounds is a large plaza set up for demonstrations, as far away from anything flammable as practicable. A raised platform occupies the centre of the demonstration area, with a (probably not scale) model of Adlehyde's Golems - Diablo, Lolithia, and Barbados - occupying three corners. The fourth corner is taken up by a similarly-scaled model of a gender-neutral individual with an expression of dull surprise, holding a model torch in an upraised hand. A plaque at the bottom of the statue helpfully explains that this is meant to symbolize the concept of INNOVATION; it is accompanied by a smaller plaque that explains innovation means coming up with new things or ideas. Onlookers generally remark that it's nice that the sculptor tries hard, anyway. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQRL7xws7w
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
Adelhyde is quite a big down - it's not hard to get lost if you're not careful, but for most people it isn't easy either. The uptick of strangers in the area over the last few months have been quite interesting - while many have been traveling here to partake in the upcoming festival, there have been an upsurge of those who have come from another world as well. And those... well, those are the ones who interest Agatha the most.
She's been keeping an eye on the city fairly closely for the last several weeks, thanks to a new development with an associate of hers who had arrived here recently. And at last, she's also found an opportunity to have a... discussion with a certain young woman who has been very bad at keeping secrets.
It's near dusk, in a part of town not too far from the saloon. The streets do not seem menacing, but they do seem unusually empty. Indeed, Sephy will find that it is almost unnaturally quiet, and the night seems to be coming on a bit faster than one might expect at this time of year. If Talise has told her about her last encounter with the Pyre Witch, then this will seem quite familiar, as a similar thing had occurred to her and Ida recently. But the thickening darkness is broken only by the appearance of a smoldering red ember... and a pair of glowing yellow irises, gazing as Sephilia from the shadows.
Agatha is perched atop a stack of boxes, her red and black hair spilling down across the wooden frame of her seat as she looks down at the young girl walking nearby. She hadn't been there until a moment before, and her face is lit by the glowing ember of her pipe, which she balances between two fingers. She smiles, and states:
"Hello, little Sephilia. It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia is returning to the saloon from a trivial errand--one that she probably could have let wait, if truth be told, and in the days early after her first encounter with Agatha, would have let wait. But she's grown careless, thinking the witch has perhaps forgotten about her, or lost interest.
As she scurries through the surprisingly deserted streets, Sephy hugs Chauncey a little tighter all the same--she may not still be sufficiently on her guard, but she IS worried.
Then Agatha greets her, and Sephilia stiffens.
"Oh, hello there," she says, hugging Chauncey a little tighter, her tone not quite managing to hide the little quiver of pure terror that's just iced her spine. She should have known the witch had not given up--none of the stories and songs about her ever had her lose interest, after all.
Still, one can't fault the girl for being timid. "Talise says you're the Pyre Witch," she says, lip trembling but otherwise managing to keep her composure. "Is that true?"
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"Mmmmm, the delivery is a liiittle boring," Agatha comments after a moment, looking down at the young girl. She brings the pipe to her lips, and takes a long pull from the tobacco inside. She lowers it, and exhales... and the smoke twists in an unnatural manner, swirling around the young girl below in a wide ring.
There are shapes that emerge from it - woods with beasts roaming through them, people running from the beasts, cabins and the suggestion of fire and smoke. "Your friend Talise was much better - venom and fear all in one, as if throwing the words at me might actually make me disappear in a puff of smoke~~" the witch's voice lilts slightly, and she smiles in amusement as the smoke dissipates on the breeze. "But really, my young lady... you have been *quite* naughty. Are you given to breaking promises so lightly? After all, you had agreed to not tell anyone about our arrangement, and then a few days later I find people who are shouting at me about trying to help you."
Placing her hands over her ears, Agatha gives a rather insincere little cry of disappointment. "Really, what am I going to do with you? You've already made it so much harder to hold up my end of the bargain."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy flinches despite herself. "I didn't tell them," she mutters, contrite despite herself. "I only talked to Chauncey about it, that's all. He already knew because he was there when you told me. I was only asking him for advice." Even to Sephilia's own ears, the excuse sounds childish, pathetic--but it was true, for all that.
"I...I didn't mean to," she finds herself wailing. "I just didn't know what else to do!"
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
Agatha smiles as she takes another pull on her pipe, not moving from where she is sitting. "I understand - it is difficult to chart your own path in life, isn't it? Easier to let someone else decide for you, to give up your freedom and the pressure of responsibility for your own actions. 'They told me to', 'those were my orders', 'they didn't give me another option'... such seductive words, are they not?"
Another long puff of smoke from the witch's lips, and this time it whirls in the breeze, taking the form of a woman standing atop a large hill, others kneeling in supplication before he. The Pyre Witch continues, sounding almost bored. "Better to rely on others to tell you what to do, because even if you do suffer the consequences, deep down you can just say 'but they told me to do it, so that makes this their fault'." A throaty chuckle, and those black eyes look down at Sephy, the witch's mouth smirking ever so slightly.
"Despite what your friends might have told you, young one, I do not *force* people to do anything. Those who wish to make a pact with me do so of their free will, and I will not compel them to do anything they are not willing to do."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"But...the songs, the stories," Sephy says, remembering the tales of the Pyre Witch from her childhood campfires, where her Dad would tell the delighted little girl scary stories when they were on trips together--a frequent occurrence. "They all say..."
She trails off, biting her lower lip. "But I still don't know how I can trust you! Even if you're right about letting other people decide, if I listen to you then I'm just doing it because you say to, instead of because my friends say to." The girl hugs Chauncey tighter, then works up her courage again. "So if I don't want to do what you say...w-will you let me go and leave me alone?"
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"But I never said you had to do anything - I asked if you wished to go home, and see your parents again." Agatha smiles more broadly as she leans back, spinning her pipe around in one hand so that it leaves a red trail of light in its wake. "After all, you are the one who was despairing about returning home, worrying about being lost and trapped on this world. If you sincerely no longer wish to go home, then what more do you need to do but accept your fate here?"
The witch takes another puff on her pipe, as if thinking, before she adds, "It is rather cold of you to consign your parents to their fate on Lunar, of course, while you are safe here on Filgaia. But I've always found that people can be quite surprising." Those black eyes narrow slightly, especially as Sephy seems to be not entirely on balance here. The poor dear - but still this was a bold step that she seemed willing to take. Agatha had to applaud her for that.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Wh-what do you mean, consign them to their fate?" Sephilia asks, suddenly feeling her spine turn to ice. "My Mom and Dad--they're okay, they're safe, right?" The girl has a tone of pleading desperation in her voice, almost as though she may burst into tears at any moment. Her arms tighten around Chauncey as tight as they will go--the doll bears the hug stoically, as he always does.
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"They are for now, of course," Agatha replies, smiling again at that sudden start in the young girl. After all, who wouldn't be upset at hearing a proclamation like that. "Of course, who knows how long that will last? The Goddess' dictates become more severe by the day - first alcohol, then singing and dancing. She crushes that which does not offer praise to her glory, and her fist will grow tighter and tighter each day. Soon even those who are devout and faithful will begin to feel that squeeze as she seeks even greater control over Lunar."
Agatha slides down from her crate that she was sitting on, although it doesn't seem that she actually touches the ground. Instead she seems to be resting on her twisted and coiled cloak, which itself floats just an inch above the ground. The witch almost seems like she is reclining, a faint red light cast out from behind her as the sun sinks below the horizon and night begins to fall.
"And soon enough the Lord of Calamity will reach out their hand to punish the Goddess for her perfidy. The cataclysm that will visit Lunar will be unprecedented - even I cannot say what form it will take, although I suspect fire... but that is just my preference." Agatha leans forward, getting ever closer to Sephy. "But you will be safe here on Filgaia, along with your friends. I suppose that is something to be thankful for."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia can't help it--she lets out a sob. "I want my Dad and Mom!" she wails. "I don't want bad things to happen to them! I want to--I want to go home so I can show my Dad everything I've done and he'll be proud of me! I want my Mom's meat pies!" The girl breaks down and falls to her knees, crying freely now.
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"Ah, so are you saying that you want to go home then?" Agatha asks. She's not exactly huge on crying children - she finds them more bothersome than anything else - but it seems like the girl is at least willing to get with the program. Of course, she did go and blather to other people as well, and that had to change things.
"Well then... unfortunately you chose to involve others in our dealings," the witch muses, and drifts down so she is close to Sephy, sitting right in front of her. "And unfortunately the steps I need to take to return you to Lunar will have to change because of that." She leans in closer, and speaks some words that will imply difficult, difficult times ahead for the young woman in front of her.
"If you want to go home, there are two things I will need for a start. First, I need an apology from both of your friends. Miss Ida, and Miss Talise. A sincere, from the heart apology. And then all three of you must bring me an offering, so I can start weaving the spell you will need to return home. Miss Talise can select them for the three of you."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia shudders, but hesitates just a moment before she finally nods. "I want...I want my mom and Dad to be safe and...and..." She draws a shuddering breath. "What if they say no? My friends..."
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"Unfortunately, young Sephilia... actions have consequences," Agatha replies, and reaches down to lay one hand lightly on top of the girl's head, almost as if in sympathy. She feels unnaturally warm, even through the black velvet glove she is wearing, and Serphy will be able to feel the sharp tips of Agatha's fingers against her head.
"You broke your promise to me, and that means it will be harder. Your friends may well indeed say no... but for your sake, and the sake of your parents, I suggest that you be very, very persuasive." The witch leans down, bringing her hand around to put the tip of one clawed finger under Serphy's chin to bring her eyes up to meet Agatha's own black ones. "I prefer not to lie, as my path is far more easily paved with the truth... but how you convince them will be up to you. Only you can decide what you think the best way forward is. Think hard."
And with that, Agatha withdraws her hand and slides away, giving the girl some room. "I look forward to your efforts, young one."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia trembles, on her knees, and flinches away from Agatha's touch. She's upset, terribly upset, at the implied danger to her family, and while a part of her is screaming in her mind to let it be, she just can't take the possibility of never seeing her Dad and her Mom again. Even if she finds her own way to Lunar, it might be too late, if the witch is telling the truth.
"There's...no other way than to get them to apologize?" she asks, knowing that her friends will never agree to that condition. "Then...then I can't do this..."
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.
"As a wise man one says... try harder," Agatha states, and smiles. "I think you will be surprised what your friends are willing to do, with the right... encouragement."
There is a feeling of heat, like a great fire had just been built in front of her... and then the witch is gone, leaving her ultimatum hanging in the air over Sephy's head. She gives no other chance for the girl to protest against the assignment that she has been given - just an ultimatum.
And the sense of despair that goes with it, of course.