2017-12-14: The Weakling and the Murderous Monster
- Log: The Weakling and the Murderous Monster
- Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Riesenlied
- Where: November City Guildhall
- Date: 14th December 2017
- Summary: A weakling and a murderous monster walk into an adventurer's guildhall.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida survived first contact with horrors from beyond the pale last night, and returned to November in one piece. She took a double-strength dose of Jay's sleeping tonic, and then drifted off into dull, dreamless sleep. Today, by some small miracle, she has something vaguely resembling her old sense of energy--and she has something to do with it. She still has no idea who Thomas Blackwell and Marcus Rider are, not to mention the strange, entirely-too-chipper Beastwoman they brought with them. They know Gwen, but Ida doesn't know them. She headed over to the Guildhall to take the pulse of the Drifting community, and to find out more information--if she can.
But first, she needs to figure out something she can do to earn some income. The job board is fairly empty today, but Ida scans it all the same. She's dressed in a plain linen shirt, slacks, and military-surplus boots, and her bun is a little messier than it used to be. Nevertheless, she looks... okay-ish? This might just be one of those rare 'good days'.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Things have been quite hectic in Wayside as of late, in the wake of her proclamation -- and Riesenlied has found it difficult to arrange for everything she needs for her trip down towards the Deep just from the village alone. Thus, it's with some goals in mind that she's here today under the guise of Nazgul al-Rashid -- with shoulder-length brown hair and a prim jacket and skirt -- to take to those errands.
She's speaking with a representative by the time Ida spots her, polite as ever. "Yes, that would be agreeable. I will forward you the details shortly..."
The rep bows and takes his leave, with a quiet sigh from the ... well, she is a Drifter now, isn't she? Odd times.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida settles on an offer from an apothecary she's worked with in the past--nothing fancy, just a run out to the desert near the Baskar settlements for some odds and ends. She knows the woman's address and contact information, which spares her the trouble of having to write them down. Ida sets off towards the lobby, figuring she can get a drink while she makes her inquiries.
And then, a very familiar voice.
Ida stops in her tracks. A spike of honest-to-God fear shoots down her spine, followed by the exact anxiety she was talking to Dean about the other day; the net result is that she just sort of stares at Riesenlied for a moment, like a small animal that just noticed the shadow of a hawk passing overhead.
Oh no. Stop staring. Why is /she/ here? Stop staring. Excuse yourself and get out of here.
Ida pulls her gaze away, takes a breath, and tries to walk off towards the bar as though nothing happened. Considering she is radiating strong emotion like a spotlight, this may be an exercise in futility.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied pauses as she brushes some of her hair back, sighing as she lowers herself to a seat-- and then she senses that fear acutely, which kind of races through the forefront of her mind. She glances around for a moment, before-- she spots Ida, swallowing in turn... and glancing aside with a quiet sigh.
The look on her face is hurt, but she's trying to put on a braver face. She returns to herself and tries to lower herself to her seat again, wincing as she unsteadily places herself down.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
She noticed. There's another, weaker spike of anxiety as Ida looks back at Riesenlied, meeting her eyes. She stops in her tracks, and stays there even after Riesenlied heads into a quieter part of the lobby to go take a seat. Now that she's burned out her rage for the moment, her heart feels cold and hollow. All that's left are the emotions that keep her feeling helpless, rather than the ones that enable her to do anything about it.
She looks back into the lobby, at Riesenlied. To say this is an awkward situation is the gravest of understatements.
Go talk to her, idiot child.
Ida takes a tentative step in the direction of the lobby. Her gaze flicks over to the bar. Drink. I need a drink first. I'm not doing this--
Didn't you tell Morgan you weren't going to become a drunkard? Talk to her. She has every reason to hate you, but she won't. That's more than you deserve. That's more than you've ever deserved. Cecilia hates you. Lily looks down on you. Everyone thinks you're a lunatic.
"Shut up," Ida whispers. She screws up her face, takes a breath, and walks over to Riesenlied's table. She stands there for a moment, an awkward silence settling in around her. "Hello," she says. "Nazgul." You didn't even think about what you wanted to say. Idiot child. "You're alive."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied's lips thin for a moment, as she can't hide her own anxieties. Ida's not the one struggling with her own feelings at the moment -- the way she kind of places her misshapen, draconic hand onto her lap is slow and deliberate, as if it's painful to move.
"... Miss Ida," she quietly expresses, finding it difficult for a moment. She sucks in a deeper breath, before-- she looks a little closer towards her. "You as well. ... I barely hung on, somehow... but, I-- I am of course glad to see you up and about."
She sounds awkward, herself. Her eyes flit to the floor for a moment. "... I addressed the rest of the fellows in Wayside, if you were not aware. ... spoke to them of the truth. The truth of the Guardians, and my desire to separate from my brethren's desires. Some of them are not taking it well. They have a right to be upset."
She can't help but wince afterwards, her horns wilting down slightly. "... I can... remove myself, if it would help your day be brighter."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida thinks back to Wayside. It's strange, how her early, fond memories of the place have darkened--it's like what happened after sucked the life out of them. In some ways, it feels like her meetings with Kalve--and the quiet times they spent together--took place somewhere completely different. "I'm not dead yet," Ida says. Her voice is soft. She listens to Riesenlied as she explains herself, and a pang of sympathetic anger ignites within her as the Metal Demon mentions that not all of her brethren were happy with this development. "But you will welcome them back if they choose to return," Ida says. "Just like that--" It hits her.
"That woman. The one with Valmar's taint on her."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied looks faintly nerved, but-- does gain a bit of steel in her voice as she says, "I do not take people in mindlessly, Miss Ida. But I refuse to exclude people in Wayside based on factors out of their control, no matter how dire it may be."
There's a faint, weakened sigh as she glances aside. "I've urged her to understand her situation. That I will help her too. I won't stand for a solution that begins and ends with violence. Not before we better understand why."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida swallows, and in doing so, swallows the urge to snap at Riesenlied for that first remark. "So you did recognize that symbol," she says. "I could never mistake it for anything else. She does not need your shelter--she needs an exorcism. She needs to have that taint driven from her before /more/ harm comes to innocent people." She still hasn't forgotten the way Neriah defended someone caught in the act of trying to poison innocents, and the destruction of the Statue lends a new, grave weight to things.
"I know not why she has that power, but the fact that she does speaks poorly of her. Valmar does not choose the righteous as his puppets." The words feel strange coming out of Ida's mouth. She's never been a zealous type, but seeing someone with terrifying powers--and the mark of the legendary Lord of Darkness--has rattled her.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied isn't quite aware of what all Neriah has done -- but she does take Ida's advice into mind. "She's more than the taint, Miss Ida," she tries to patiently remind her. "She is a person, with goals, hopes, fears. The power that infects her emerges during times of extreme duress. That I was able to reign her back with my own power should be proof enough that it is a constant battle of wills against the dark, is it not? If I cast her out into the wilderness, I would only exacerbate this problem."
She places her hand to her forehead. "Please don't judge them without an attempt to understand, Miss Ida. To merely write off the infected without learning their background... is that truly fair?"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's hands clench into fists before she realizes that's what she's doing--before she realizes that Riesenlied may interpret that as an attempt at intimidation. The Ida that Riesenlied met back in Adlehyde would never do such a thing without first thinking of the consequences.
"She is a danger to herself, and to everyone around her," Ida says. "If she can control it, then it may not be what it appears... but if this truly /is/ the Destroyer's power, then the fate of Filgaia is at stake. You can't keep her around and hope that everything works out for the best. Life does not work like that."
For you, maybe. But not for Riesenlied.
Ida takes a breath. She forces her hands open, and flexes her fingers. "I am not asking you to abandon her. I am asking you to help her by curing this affliction."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
And in turn, what would the Riesenlied that Ida first met in Adlehyde do? It may feel as if the Hyadean has gone through night and day both, the way she's changed physically, mentally, emotionally. But she does not react poorly to the clenched fists.
"Yes. I want to see her cured too," Riesenlied agrees. "But healing is a process, not a day-long fix. And one cannot possibly heal from an affliction that influences the mind and emotion by being ostracised and discarded."
She lowers her head gently. "She told me-- of her dreams. That Ge Ramtos seeks to destroy her. That point... Ge Ramtos, in specific, was curious to me. Why death?" A pause. "But there is a link there. Something to investigate."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I never said that you had to throw her out," Ida says, her voice sharpening. "But you cannot help her. You've lulled yourself into a false sense of security; if Valmar is behind this, that is precisely what he wants." Granas, Ida thinks, where is Elena now that she really needs her? /She/ could convince Riesenlied, she's pure and innocent enough.
Ge Ramtos. A Guardian. Ida's mind flickers back to Catechism, and to a question she never should've asked a priest. 'Why doesn't God have the Guardians help with Valmar?' It was precisely the sort of thing the idiot child would ask, but--
"I don't know," Ida says. "It should be looked into. It is no excuse for not driving the evil from its present host. /Why/ are you still dragging your feet? Is it because I'm asking the question?"
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"... what does exorcism involve?" Riesenlied has to genuinely ask. "I am not versed enough in how it is carried out. And-- she only arrived to start working for us for a few weeks now, here," she murmurs. "I will not invite a Granasian sect of Cathedral Knights to start conflict, Miss Ida. I want what's best for everyone, and you know that."
She pauses at that, and sighs again. "I will speak with Miss--" A pause. "Miss Elena, and Miss Rosaline. Those are the two Granasian priestesses I know and trust... will that be an acceptable first step?"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I don't know," Ida says. It's the truth. Her mother wasn't a Songstress--she was an Etone, a hunter of monsters and demons, and her duty was to protect the faithful from less spiritual threats. "But if you allow this to fester, it will take more of your people. You can't always hope to save everyone! You can't just decide you're not going to hurt anyone and hope it works out all right!" Ida leans in a little closer, her eyes locking on Riesenlied's. Her voice is hushed, but forceful, even desperate.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
There's a quiet wince of pain from Riesenlied as she nearly slumps her head over... but then speaks gently as she says, "I don't save everyone. I hurt people, I mislead them, I lead them astray. ... I hurt you."
The last statement feels very genuine, in the depth it is delivered and how deeply she takes it.
"But I won't abandon that hope. That hope is incredibly important to us," Riesenlied does speak. "It's a hope we've been searching for a way to express for hundreds of years, and it's a commitment we don't take lightly. It's a commitment that comes with risk and danger, whether inside like this one, or outside, from Lord Siegfried."
Her lips thin for a moment.
"I don't believe I'm letting this 'fester', Miss Ida. I can't stress how important a nurturing environment is to styming the development of these kinds of issues. I would know. We've all lived in the most toxic environment imaginable, for far too long."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida closes her eyes tightly, and breathes. It does nothing to stop the heat rising in her face, or the tears collecting in her eyes. Someone else's words come back to her, then, as she tries to keep from breaking down.
'My dear Ida, who do you think gave her the idea to work with you?'
Ida opens her eyes. Tears trickle down her cheeks. She feels as though the whole bar is staring at her, even though they're doing nothing of the sort. "You did more than hurt me," Ida says. "You've hurt my family. You've threatened our livelihood, and everyone else who depends on us. One of your allies is actively attempting to ruin me in every way they can. You used me, and you came crawling back to me hoping that you could make everything okay."
"It's not okay," Ida says. "Hope is dead to me now, as it always should have been."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
There's a tired sigh from Riesenlied as she speaks, "I am sorry. It is scarce comfort to you, but I can scarce hold myself back when I know my ancestors are being used to fuel military complexes." She lowers her head. "I've... made peace that they are used for daily purposes, but--"
She frowns. "But I just... can't sit still when I hear that Kislev desires a large amount of fossils to repair their Golem. I just can't. I'm not built that way. And I deeply regret that it was your family's stake on the line."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
There is... a pause, though, as Riesenlied asks, "But... which ally do you speak of? Is-- it the Trial Knight?" She narrows her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Your ancestors /were/ a military complex," Ida says. The corner of her lip curls, showing teeth. "Make no mistake, Riesenlied. You may be steering your brethren on the path of peace now, but a thousand years ago, they invaded my home and murdered millions of my people in the name of their goddess. You speak of 'myths', but the evidence is all around you. The Metal Demons had no intent to coexist with humanity."
Ida pauses a moment, trying to calm herself. "You did make a promise to them, didn't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied gazes to Ida for a moment longer, her horns flexing up just a little bit more as she says, "I have no illusions of what happened in the past. The wars are real, and we all have been suffering for it for hundreds of years afterwards. In how much our culture has degraded, reduced to nothing but the desire to refuel in the service of revenge."
She exhales, and says, "But the reasons escape us all. None of us know why the war erupted in the way it did. And now, in this position, with the opportunity--"
She gestures with both hands. "The opportunity Equites geased upon me, with the Trial Knight as my judge and executioner should I stray from my path, I will show the Guardians that we are more than butchers and killers. I will discover the truth of the past, through speaking with them, through communication, through collaboration. Nothing less."
She's out of breath as she pushes that last word out, shaking her head. "... that is the extent in which they've assisted me. Even before Adlehyde, we agreed such that our views would intolerably set us apart. It is my trial that they are interested in, Miss Ida."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida breathes, her chest shuddering as emotion wells up within her. Try as she might, she's never, ever managed to score a solid victory over the Trial Knight--all she's managed to do is contain the damage. It makes their threats even more horrible to her, as she knows she would be too late to stop them should they decide to carry them out. She would be unable to save anyone.
Something unreadable flickers in Ida's eyes as Riesenlied talks about the Temple. "So tell me, then," Ida says. She can feel the anger rising in her again--anger at whatever cosmic power decreed that Riesenlied be granted reprieve, while she suffered. "You went into that Temple. Were they there with you? Kalve went in there after you, but the Guardians showed him no such mercy. They could have killed him at any moment, and when we finally made it through, they--they tormented him." Shame and helpless anger twist together inside Ida's heart. As much as she wants to trust the Guardians wholeheartedly, she still remembers the way he crawled across the floor, desperate to show them his people belonged on Filgaia.
"But they did not torment you, did they? They spared you. I wonder, did they see the goodness in your heart? Was he not good enough?"
"Is he just like me? Does the world hate murderous monsters like us?"
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"Look at me!" Riesenlied exclaims, a rare and sudden outburst as she holds her misshapen hand up for Ida to see. "Do you think Equites praised me and showered me with flowers? Whatever he did, his presence has caused me to warp-- perhaps irreversibly. I have become so weak that Lily had to prescribe physical therapy to me so I can just-- keep functioning at a basic level, Miss Ida."
She huffs and-- gasps in breath, rubbing at her eyes. "The Trial Knight sought to watch me as I struggled through the temple. Equites was sent there to kill us. I only managed to stay his blade for long enough to plead my case."
She cringes for a longer moment, mired in unusual frustration, and sighs as she turns and limps to her feet.
"... I was born from a people who told me to be a murderous monster. A machine. That thinking was unbecoming of me."
She glances back towards the world. "Don't buy into their narrative, Miss Ida. You're better than that."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida was not expecting that. She jerks back, her eyes locking on Riesenlied's arm, her hands clenching as if in preparation for a fight. Part of her desperately wishes that this would turn into a fight, nevermind the armed guards posted to discourage such a thing. Let them try, Ida thinks, as she glances towards one of them, a woman sitting at her post the end of the bar. Maybe the fight will make her feel alive, again.
"And yet, you survived. You were thrown into that, and survived. If it were me, I would've died there, and no one would've buried me. I would've been left to rot there, and Drifters would've picked over my corpse."
"You are loved, unconditionally. Your followers know that you could be the death of them, and they follow you anyway. Your children call you /mama/." Ida says the word, and pain erupts inside her like she's been stabbed. She says nothing, for a long moment. "I killed a man with my bare hands a month ago because he was threatening innocent people and no one else could get through to him. The Trial Knight mocked me as I knelt on the floor, taunted me. And I deserved every bit of it for killing him, didn't I? Because killing is never what good, decent people do. You can talk all you want about 'narratives', but I still killed him. I still killed him, and if I could do it again, I still would. If that means I'm 'buying into your narrative', so be it--better than being a whimpering, red-blooded weakling like you."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied lets out a hoarse breath as she looks on, half shocked, half in disbelief, but full of hurt and damage inside of her. "I have killed too, Miss Ida. My hands are nowhere close to clean, and it is a guilty conscience that I live with each and every day--"
Hee hee.
Riesenlied's pupils shrink for a moment, like she just saw something in the distance. She pauses for a good five long seconds without speaking.
"I ... enough. Call me a weakling, as you desire. I want to-- I want to rest," she murmurs. "Please have a good day, if you can, Miss Ida." The way she rises again from her seat is a bit more haphazard as she wanders towards the entrance, gritting her teeth in pain.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"People love you anyway," Ida says. Her lips twist. Her eyes narrow. "They /hate/ me. They reject me." It's only after she speaks that she notices Riesenlied staring past her, and she looks over her shoulder--
Nothing's there. Ida's mouth opens, as if she's searching for words, but can't find them. It isn't until Riesenlied is out of her seat and heading towards the door that she speaks. "No," she says. "I can't. I don't have good days anymore."
And then Riesenlied is gone.
How could you do that? The words curl inside Ida's mind. She slumps into the seat Riesenlied was sitting in moments ago, sets her head on the table, and buries it in her arms.