2018-06-30: Something In Common
- Log: Something In Common
- Cast: Xantia, Elhaym van Houten
- Where: Vane - Residential District
- Date: June 30th, 2018
- Summary: Xantia sets up a secret meeting with Elly, who makes a logical leap of incredible proportions. Hilarity briefly ensues, before more serious things are discussed, and Xantia comes to a new realization.
======================<* Vane - Residential District *>======================= According to the histories, the Magic City of Vane once floated above the surface of Lunar, providing magicians with a vantage point like none other to study the mysteries of their art and world. Those days are gone. The Vane of today is a battered, ramshackle ruin, with all but a few houses crumbled into rubble and disrepair. The outskirts of the city would be a looter's paradise if there was anything left to loot; most residents are either scraping out a bare existence with the Magic Guild or simply taking advantage of free real estate to squat in the less-toppled buildings. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Vntv83fb8
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Something a little strange happened right before Xantia parted ways with the rest of the gang at Burwich. She took a moment to speak to Elly while out of earshot of everyone else, saying only: "Hey, Elly? When you get back to Vane, check your room in the Wolfsbane, okay? It's important." In a bit more serious a tone than is commonly expected from Xantia. After which she immediately returned to her usual cheery self with the abrupt parting greeting, "Okay, bye!!"
And with that, she went off, not stopping to answer any questions. Xantia must have figured this would be an effective tactic, because if she was told something like that, her curiosity would make her EXPLODE! Or at the very least hurry to see what's all about.
And sure enough, by the time Elly does stop by at her room, there's a plain yellow envelope on the ground, having been slid underneath the door. It has "DO NOT OPEN IF YOU'RE NOT ELLY" written on it. Presumably no one has attempted this, as the seal is still intact. Okay, so the seal is just an animal sticker depicting a cartoony-looking tiger, but it doesn't look like anyone's tried to peel it off or anything.
One might have expected the small scrap of paper inside to shed a bit more light on things, but it doesn't really. All it says is, "Meet me at Crimson Knight Locus and Mystery Hero X's Hero Training Course in Vane around midnight. I'll be waiting. -- Xantia" That's it. No date or anything. It's not like she could've known when exactly Elly would be back here. So that means one of two things. Either Xantia has been watching for Elly's return and managed to do so unnoticed, or Xantia's been waiting at that playground she mentioned every day at midnight for however long that letter's been there. Either seems plausible, knowing the brand of logic at work here.
The Hero Training Course spoken of in the letter is located in what used to be an empty lot among Vane's backstreets, clearly advertised as such with a colorfully painted banner labeling it. It's an extremely poorly kept secret that Mystery Hero X is in fact Xantia herself, her entire disguise consisting of a domino mask, so she is partially responsible for this playground slash training course. It has the kinds of things one might expect from a physical training course for army rookies, just more rickety, slightly more kid-friendly (but probably not enough as it should be), and kaiju-themed.
There, Xantia awaits seated on top of a pod that she's too large to fit inside, located at the top of a slide. Rather than watching the entrance for anyone who might approach, her gaze is cast skyward. Towards the moon. Towards Filgaia. This is probably no coincidence, considering her uncharacteristically melancholy expression.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
THEN:
???
"Of course," Elly answers Xantia, possibly making an adorable '-' face in the process.
A LITTLE WHILE AFTER:
"At least she didn't break into my room..." Opening the seal, Elly's brow furrows. "Um," she states finally. "I - midnight? She stays up that late...?"
NOW
In the spirit of things, Elly is wearing a colorful cloth vest that she had acquired somewhere along the ways with no sleeves, along with a sash (that has no weapon tucked into it) and her combat ballistic nylons. Plus the boots, of course. As she approaches the Hero Training Course, her eyes drink it in, quietly, in the light of the moon.
Their home.
"... Xantia? I got your letter," she called. She comes near to the base of the slide, looking up. Her hands fold behind her back, for lack of a better place to put them.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
If only Elly knew how long Xantia stays up sometimes. Especially recently, whenever staying at the Wolfsbane, it hasn't been uncommon for her to leave her room late at night, getting up to who-knows-what. Not sleeping in her room wasn't exactly uncommon even back on the Yggdrasil though. She can and does sleep wherever, whenever she happens to be tired enough, often in the most unexpected places. Trying to understand her sleeping habits may thus be futile, if she even has any such habit to begin with.
Xantia can at least be counted on to be a beacon of stability wherever she goes. It's hard to imagine her general attitude ever changing for very long. Her outfit, too, hasn't changed at all, not bothering to change into anything more fitting for her surroundings for any reason. Well, except for that one time, but she doesn't like to talk about that.
As for right now, however... she sure seems to have been in deep thought, reacting by very slowly turning her head in response to her name being called. She blinks a few times, looking surprised to see Elly there, maybe needing a moment to remember this - by her standards - elaborate way of inviting somebody to meet her here. You can see the moment everything clicks easily enough, that's when her expression changes back to the more commonly-seen cheerful smile.
"Oh, hi Elly! Thanks for coming!" With that, she applies some pressure behind her, pushing the pod down the slide. Xantia surfs it down, hopping down to ground level before the pod reaches the bottom, stopped abruptly by the rope fastening it to the top of the slide. She offers a little wave.
"You're probably wondering why I called you out here. It's because..." Pause for effect. "Guess what, we have something in common! Or did you know already?" She doesn't immediately clarify. Apparently she expects an answer to that question.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly smiles as Xantia surfs on down, though she steps back a pace or so, just to avoid interfering with the dismount.
"Of course," she says, smiling. She folds her hands a little more tightly, and then...
'We've got something in common!'
Elly blinks twice.
Something suddenly sparks in her mind.
"-- I - Your mother - oh-h - Xantia, are -"
Her eyes widen, like saucers. "Oh my gosh. Did Fei tell you? I...!!"
"I'll tell you all about her," Elly then says, eyes starting to well up. "Oh, Xantia, I had no idea..."
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCK: Half Blood Full Love(???) - Elly makes a key assumption underneath the summer moonlight.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
It's safe to say that wasn't the response Xantia was expecting. She seems excited right up until the point where Elly seems to realize what she's talking about... only to look confused and blink blankly when it goes somewhere entirely different. Fei wasn't the one who told her about this, for one thing, although he could have, so that part wasn't that strange. But what's this about her mother? "Um. What are you...?"
It takes a moment longer for her to piece together what she's being told here, and immediately becoming more animated. "You know something about my mother?! But, why would you...?" It's not impossible, she supposes, given the connection to Shevat she seems to have, and Elly knowing a lot more about that place than most would. But how did that never come up before? And why now, all of a sudden? This is very confusing.
Especially because she can't see how it relates to the response that she did expect. Frowning, she wonders out loud, "Is this something you only realized because we can both use Ether?" Because that was the only actual thing they have in common that she found out about. Her head tilts slightly, not understanding any of this. Especially not how emotional Elly is getting over it. What is going on?
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... Oh, this is... I'm sorry, I jumped to a conclusion," Elly says, with a mortification that exceeds her feelings of impending, justified death at the hands of Asteroid the Kid.
"No, I - My mother was from the surface originally," Elly says, lamely. "And we both have red hair, and I thought perhaps I took more after my father and that's why I'm taller and... Should I walk around the block? Perhaps we should start this conversation over."
After a beat, she says, "You can use Ether...?"
Maybe I can use Ether to bury myself in the ground, Elly thinks. Really deep. The moles and worms will be my friends...
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"...Huh." Xantia isn't making this any easier by making it initially hard to tell how she feels about this enormous misunderstanding. In truth, it's just because it takes her a bit of time to piece together what just happened. She seems rather incredulous when she does arrive at the conclusion, "...You thought I was your sister?"
One last awkward pause later, she finally smiles. "That would nice if it were true. Who knows, it could be!" Phew, doesn't look like she minds it. She seems happy about the possibility, even. "I actually thought about that sort of thing before... but with Fei. I guess it kind of looks to people like I might be his sister? I wouldn't know how a sister is supposed to act..."
She looks far away for a moment. It passes quickly, and she shakes her head. "Well, never mind that. Let's start over!" Cheerful enough about that too. No need to go around the block, even, she's moving on as if nothing happened. Good thing she didn't understand things quickly enough to get her hopes up, or this could have ended in devastating disappointment.
"Yes, I've been told that the powers I can use are called Ether! And I heard that you use Ether also!" She briefly covers her mouth with both hands, then speaks in a softer tone. "Sorry. That's not supposed to be something most people know about, right? That's why I asked you to come somewhere no one else would be right now. Don't worry, I've only talked about this with Fei and Lily, and I don't plan to tell anybody else."
By her standards, she's put a lot of thought into this. And is quick to resume that smile, happy just to have something in common with her friends. Even if she doesn't fully understand it, as she goes into next, at her previous level of volume: "Anyway, I was hoping you could tell me more about it! Anything at all could help!" With the search for her past, of course, that's what most things that get her this excited are ultimately about.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The thought crosses Elly's mind spontaneously that maybe Xantia is the child of herself and Fei from the future.
But this just makes her cheeks color slightly at the very idea and then reject it - time travel is a subject only for cheap surface pulp literature. (As opposed to 'historical fantasy,' which is the official neologism for the Solaris pulp literature that isn't set now-ish.)
"It's not well known outside of Gebler or other places, no," Elly says, a little wistfully. "How long have you known? Or I guess a better way to ask is how did you find out...? Gebler has testing systes..."
Then her lips purse. "Um," she says. "Well... let's see, where to start."
CLASS
"This will be the basic concepts of Ether science..."
Elly can't focus because her hair is being very slowly pulled on by the little towheaded asshole behind her.
HERE NOW
"... I'd say the biggest difference is that it comes from you, than other methods. Um. Here - it's easier if you could do a small effect here, just so I could see it? See isn't quite the right word."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
What a bizarre thought, as if it were a common time travel trope for the people involved with it to lose their memory-- Oh.
Not immediately answering the question so as to not interrupt getting the information she was after, Xantia waits for Elly to gather her thoughts, first of all. Then she nods, at the basic description. "I understand it's something you just... do, instead of using something that helps you do it. Right? It's funny, I always thought that was because of the amnesia, but I guess it's like that for everybody who uses Ether." It really is kind of a relief. The less abnormal she turns out to be, the better, as far as she's concerned.
When asked for an example, she silently nods, and decides to go with the common standby - the most easily visible thing that comes to mind. She makes a fist with her right hand, instantly prompting electricity to start crackling around it. Just as an example of what she can do with it, she stretches out her palms in front of her, having the electricity travel rapidly across the length of her arm, over her shoulders, and down the other arm, ending in her left hand now being electrified. "I can control it pretty well now," she explains, "It's kinda tingly, but it doesn't hurt. ...well, it doesn't hurt me. You shouldn't touch my hand right now."
The lightning effect vanishes as abruptly as it appeared when she draws her hands back, adding, "There's other things I can do with it. And he told me I could probably do more elements. Lily's going to try teaching me!" On that happy note, she realizes she hasn't said anything about who told her yet, and backpedals a little. "Oh, by 'he' I mean Id, he told me about it a while ago!"
That note wasn't any less happy. Perhaps not that big a shock, having heard Xantia going on and on about Id back in the village. She's so eager to talk about him that she makes the same mistake that she did before, prompting a hand to fly to her forehead. "Ugh, I shouldn't have said that, he didn't want anybody to know. So, um, you can keep a secret, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"People usually have affinities for some sorts, rather than others," Elly says. "I'm flexible, I can reach them all, I think... but I started with fire."
Then Xantia demonstrates! Elly watches, though her eyes don't seem to be, quite, focusing on Xantia. She may be looking in a different way. "Oh - I can see it's a tight structure. Is that the same maneuver you've been using? It's like any skill, you can develop it with practice, and get better and better steadily and surely."
Then she falters at the double header of Lily and Id teaming up to train Xantia.
"W-well... Lily's very skilled, but her own abilities seem unusual. I'd be a little careful - not because she'd do anything wrong, but because your assumptions may be different about what you can or can't do. Everyone is different, even if there are common tendencies. Um."
A beat passes.
"... of course," she says, if a little haggardly. "Just... be careful, alright?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"Of course!" Xantia cheerfully parrots, in a way that would make anybody worry if she's actually going to take the proper care. Does she even fully realize what she's getting herself into? That's not even a question that should need to be ask. Of course she doesn't, when does she ever?
Xantia is already far ahead of things, looking forward to being able to do more with this power she has. "Fire sounds nice, maybe I'll try that! It's better than ice, I don't want to be cold." There is... some form of logic here. "Id said my abilities are unusual too, so it makes sense that someone with unusual abilities would try to teach me, right?" See? It's all Xantia logic, but that counts!
Thinking about it a moment, she expresses, "I think what I'd like to try first though is stuff like lightning bolts. I can't really do that right now, it's just sort of... stuck to me." And with that, she unknowingly hits on how she's unusual. One doesn't usually start with electrifying one's own body. Either she skipped the basic course, or somehow remembered the advanced course without recalling the basics.
Xantia examines her own hands for a moment, opening and closing them a few times. Nothing actually happens, but she must be thinking about something relating to her powers. That would've made sense, at least. But expecting sense where it comes to Xantia is dangerous, as she proves once again by suddenly changing the subject to something else entirely.
"Hey, Elly... You remember when we were talking to that man in Burwich, the burger man without burgers? You sounded weird when you were talking to him. Could you... do that again for me?"
She must be talking about the accent. Pre-empting the obvious question why, Xantia turns hopeful eyes back to Elly, explaining, "It sounded... familiar. I'm hoping that if I hear more of it, maybe I'll remember where I've heard it before. Or what it is." It doesn't seem to have occured to her to just ask Elly directly what it is.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I could demonstrate one for you, if you want, but maybe we should um, not do it in the play space," Elly says, but Xantia's moving on into something that isn't maddeningly deranged and Elly is frankly glad for the opportunity to exist in consensus reality again.
"Uh? Oh - that was - um, that's just the accent of the language from where I am from originally," Elly says, slowly.
"Would you like me to sing a song in it?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
It's really quite simple, talking to Xantia. There just needs to be Xantia logic in what you say. It may take a little getting used to. 'Let's not blow up the playground' is something that makes plenty of sense to her, so that's a good start. "Of course, of course. We wouldn't want to attract attention to our secret meeting!"
Almost, Xantia. You almost hit on the actual most important aspect of not causing senseless destruction.
But yes, fortunately for everyone, Xantia tends to flit effortlessly from topic to topic once she starts talking, often forgetting about one topic entirely if another is given more focus. This is certainly enough to attract her attention.
"Oh, you speak a different language?" Spoken like someone for whom the very concept is completely alien. But even though she didn't remark on that part, the implications of her possibly being familiar with the language spoken where Elly's from don't escape her. Instead, she merely cheerfully confirms, "I'd like that very much!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly nods. "-I do, yes. It's hard to explain.-"
Remember, kids! Everything in --'s is meant to be Solarian!
She then rocks on her heels for a moment, as if to remember them. She begins to sing in a rather basic lilting melody. The words are probably meaningless to Xantia, but it at least gives her a sample of what the words sound like.
"-Clouds, floating in the blue... The clouds that ride atop the winds
"-Gray and white, slim or deep, always there in thick and thin-
"-The clouds we watch are like our lives, never quite the same-
"-But all on high and riding through, in our Emperor's name-
Elly pauses. "I can keep going," she says, "but it's mostly um - it's terms for clouds. It's kind of an educational thing."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia tilts her head when Elly suddenly sounds completely different. It's not immediately clear if she understood a language switch just happened. She doesn't give much in the way of hints in her expression - it just looks like she wants to ask a question that she never actually voices.
Perhaps she's holding for the actual promised song. Which, when it begins, prompts Xantia to close her eyes. She listens intently, focusing more on the words than the melody, or the quality of Elly's singing. Which doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't have an opinion on these things. She just has... priorities. Nothing personal.
Her eyes abruptly fly open when Elly speaks normally again, giving Elly a confused 'why did you stop' look, though nodding at the explanation. Then she looks down, rubbing her chin, frowning deeply in a pensive expression. Her silence lasts longer than necessary for this to become awkward. And then breaking it with a question quite unlike what anybody would likely expect, when she raises her head to look back to Elly.
"Elly, could you tell me... What does -lambs- mean?"
Could that really be an innocent question...? Xantia just spoke a Solarian word. Accurately, without so much as an accent to indicate that she isn't used to it. And what a word. A word which was not even part of the song's lyrics to begin with. What is the meaning of this?
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"- Oh; I'll sing the rest, if - "
But she has a question. Elly is silent again for a second or two.
"It means... a small sheep, you know? A lamb," this time she says the normal-talk word. "The story that they tell themselves... is that we're the shepherds, who have to guide the surface-dwelling lambs to a better future."
"It's a lie," Elly says; "but I suppose it made things easier for people, who had to see the rough end of the equation..."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
A simple, straightforward answer. But Xantia frowns. It still doesn't quite add up in her head, putting that knowledge together. She shakes her head, and volunteers an explanation. "I heard someone use that word... A really tall man wearing a white coat. I think... no, I know he's responsible for what happened to Lydia."
At least she's figured out the implications of what that means regarding where he's from. She gives Elly a look of frustration, still trying to make sense of what to her is the real mystery. "He spoke your language, I'm sure of it now. I can't... quite remember the rest of the words, but I know he said that word, I remember because it..."
She pauses, and shrugs. "I don't know. It made me feel..." She balls her fists. Judging from that and her expression, perhaps 'angry' is the word she's looking for. But all she actually says is, "...something. I don't understand why." She doesn't really see the harm in anything Elly said about it. As is so often the case, it feels like some crucial facts are still missing to let her draw any definite conclusions about this.
With a sudden sigh, Xantia's clouded expression clears somewhat, and she forces a smile. "...Sorry if I'm being weird. I could be focusing on the wrong things. I just... need to figure out what was once important to me, and why. It's hard to tell what's part of it and what's just a distraction."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh - Lydia and I already..."
Grey scale images of Elly falling over in surprise, weeping some, and meekly accepting her probable justified murder by Lydia, still revealed.
"Already talked, a bit, about that," Elly says faintly.
"I won't bring it up if you don't want me to," she continues. "I... Please don't take this as an excuse. But... The unit I was with... Gebler, in general... This isn't the only thing that the home country does. It's possible that it was another organization, though I can't think of who."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"...Oh." Xantia can't see that particular distressing montage, but even she's capable of reading between the lines enough to understand how that must have gone. Mainly because she feels that if it had been her, she possibly would've reacted pretty poorly herself to anybody she felt was remotely involved in making her go through all that.
She fails to take yet another opportune moment to consider she might have an unpleasant past, and ignorance might be bliss. She can't think like that. That would be opening herself to the possibility of giving up. She'd never do that. Ever.
But as for what Elly says next, Xantia is quick to shake her head. "I can understand how Lydia feels, but I'm not going to think badly of everybody who comes from the same place as an obvious bad guy. That doesn't make any sense." She'd like to think she'd still be able to at least keep thinking that way even if it was her in Lydia's shoes. But she'd rather not have to put that theory to the test.
For now, she simply smiles, trying to be of some consolation. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about that anymore. You're with us now, right? If you need help with anything, we'll help! I'll help! People'll start to understand you mean well after a while, you'll see!" There's precedent, after all. There was a time where she'd have had trouble believing the whole situation with Riesenlied would turn out the way it did.
She seems to be leaving the details of this topic rest, for now. Cheering Elly up a bit feels more important at the moment.