2018-08-07: The Courage To Be Open
- Log: The Courage To Be Open
- Cast: Riesenlied, Lydia Seren, Seraph Lanval
- Where: Taben's Peak
- Date: 7th August 2018
- Summary: Lydia reunites with Janey and a certain Seraphic surprise on the roof!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia was pretty badly hurt when Janey and the others were kidnapped but she recovered almost as quickly as normal even if it wasn't a pleasant process. She then promptly went out and stopped an assassination, perhaps out of spite against assassins, before finally returning to Taben's Peak. As of late, she's been more interested in spending time with Janey, Mikaia and the others and while her trade has suffered a bit, Lydia has learned to delegate and use the power of HIRED HELP (4 bp various leaves amounts) to handle the small stuff. She might still do the occassional water sales but that's not really as lucrative as it is in the actual desert she made her home.
She has returned to Taben's Peak intending to check on Janey and the other children of Taben's Peak, knowing they were kidnapped and feeling frankly a bit guilty that she wasn't able to help thanks to Pearl's chi bursting through her chest. They seem safe now but who knows what they might've done in the meantime. It's hard not to be worried as a former victim of kidnapping herself.
But even in these dire proceedings, she feels largely at peace. She isn't quite sure how it happened, but she's found she doesn't get angry as often or for as long even if her temper still flares on occassion. She has a more optimistic outlook on the world in spite of her arguably messing up more than ever.
And honestly, she doesn't mind it. She really doesn't.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied...
... well, in a way, she came back from Meribia in a worse state than Lydia, really. She doesn't have the natural regeneration characteristic of virtually all non-Tainted Hyadean like Noeline, and where her partner in life has been able to excise poisons from her system in due time--
--it takes a lot longer for Riesenlied, who's still in bed with a fever. Janey's been kind of a little whirlwind force of doting after her mother and doing chores and cuddling Mikaia and promising to not do that ever again and--
--now she's with Lydia, sitting with her and messing with a new reinforced frame for her three-inch tall Butler, Super Magdalen DX, who she claims will finally turn that frown upside down and become Super Magdalen XD.
"... ummm..." Janey hesitates for a moment, then lowers her head. "I'm really-- really glad you're all right," she mumbles as she scuffs a bit of oil stains on her smock. "Really glad. I couldn't stop thinkin' of you or Heath or any of the others even when I had a giant black fist up my neck..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The worst that could have come to pass happened, as far as another present may care. A dear friend - as dear as any for the short time they will be able to be together for the limitations of their lifespan - has had something taken from them by his own word and deed that he believes he'll never be able to give back. She embraced his vessel in an act of kinship and togetherness for their circumstances... but what he did to her, from a perspective that may seem so nonsensical by those limited by the ravages of time itself...
...
Lanval, the fallen Lord of the Land of a realm that effectively no longer exists, sneaks away from his vessel and makes off with an empty bottle of the Quartermaster's Stash instead while the rest of Fox Company deals with the latest job. How could he face them, after what happened? He's not sure where he stumbled, exactly, carrying himself along in a haze of dejection at his effective ejection from the society of Lunar as a whole.
As it is, he's manifested on the roof of the shelter in which Riesenlied rests off her poison-induced fever, staring blearily at the skies above from Taben's Peak. The portly phantom idly allows a microscopic fraction of forever pass, like tears in the rain. (He's water, so this metaphor is apt.)
...Speaking of what the parenthesis state, being water, he is generally compelled to allow himself to come to rest wherever it may pool. The roof is as such meant for water not to collect on top, but to trickle down off to the side. This is exactly what happens, as Lanval rolls off the roof and hits the ground with a weightless 'plop.'
Perceptive sorts will notice something falling nearby from out the window.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia is worried about Riesenlied, of course, but she also knows whom Riesenlied would worry about if she was in a position to worry about others and that would be Janey. So even if Janey is going to mom Riesenlied, Lydia will be there for Janey who, while being a brave lord of calamity who tells people what's up, still got nearly murdered by assassins like twice.
"Thanks," Lydia says, a bit awkwardly (she's not used to being fussed over). "I'm glad they were able to rescue you and the others so quickly. I should have been more careful...But instead I couldn't even help you when you needed it" Her chicks have a faint silver tint. "I'm sorry, Janey. I'm ever as grateful that you're a kind girl who concerns herself with others. I hope I can care for other folk as much as you someday."
Perhaps the clearest sign that Lydia isn't actually fully recovered frofm what happened is her hyper-awareness of her surroundings. That is not something she really needed before and was not something aware she really lacked before either. But this time she stands up quickly and says, "Careful Janey. Maybe they came back--"
She looks towards the Super Magdalen DX but it isn't ready yet for battle so instead Lydia draws out a socket wrench and approaches the window, looking for the source of that sudden movement.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"A-a-aww, shucks... I'm-- I'm not all that, you know," Janey slumps for a moment. She wiggles a washer underneath a bolt and screws it on with a miniature screwdriver that she probably procured from Lydie herself. "... I mean, I used to just be a thief on the streets before-- I guess, aah, I guess Mickey's the one that really made me care."
She rubs her nose and-- smiles at Lydia, smiling and giving her a hug-- before there's a 'plop' that she... hears, but--
Well, Mikaia is by far the more Resonant and magical of the two, we'll say. The most she was able to comment of Ragnell was that she was the "invisible beer ghost", owing to how beer disappeared into her when she served her a frothy mug.
"U-uh, right!" Janey looks a little wary herself, grabbing her screwdriver and-- swallowing. "L-let's make sure mom's safe, too. She's still sleepin'."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lydia's hyper-awareness is well-earned, and well-exercised in the wake of having to deal with the local chapter of Very Bad People. There's no tell-tale signs of sudden movement she might pick up on. No footsteps to be heard, no impressions on the ground--
Oh, there's a fat bearded barefoot guy in ratty aquamarine clothes that might've been very nice and appropriate for, say, clergy way back when, passed out right there. He might look sort of familiar, but there's an air to them that's... missing, which might invite some forgetfulness or other small buffer of time before they are recognized. They're not moving, but they don't look or seem dead.
Anyway, assassins... nope, no more noises that Lydia would pick up. Maybe they got scared off by the fat guy on the ground or something. Mom's safe, Janey's safe, Lydia's safe, the fat guy on the ground is probably safe by proxy? All is well!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia is slower to the window than she might have been thanks to a well timed hug. Lydia stops and returns the hug tightly though one armed since she's showing the wrench to whomever might be in the window. "You're all that and more," Lydia swears. Lydia is trying to be the cool big sis here, but Janey can feel the trembling through the hug no matter how brave a face Lydia puts on. That's the price of caring sometimes. There's much more worrying involved.
"The world will know yer name for sure one day, 'specially if you keep up with Ambrosius's lessons, I imagine!" Lydia smiles. "We'll check on Riese soon for sure, I gotta thank her for bringing you back." Some treasures can't be stolen though they can be broken. "I'm so, so, so glad you're safe." She has pretty much already said that but it bears repeating.
Still, she exhales a breath of relief upon finding that it isn't a child kidnapped to be an assassin it's a seraph kidnapped to be a snorelax. Lydia blinks in surprise a bit before adding, "It's just Lanval." Pause. She remembers when Lanval whispered to her words of thanks. It was a little weird, being thanked for helping a third party like that, but she is pretty sure she liked it. "He's not a bad guy."
But she still uses the wrench to poke him because something does seem off, even if it doesn't occur to Lydia immediately just what it is.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's scary, and even at the young age of... well, 13, Janey totally knows what it's like to suddenly have something to lose. She's grown up a hell of a lot faster than normal children at that point. There's a nod during that hug. "... me-- me too. Me too..." she whispers, a lot more vulnerable at that moment than the bullish bravado she likes showing to the world.
Janey... can't see a damn thing, unfortunately, though the presence of water is a little bit odd to her. She scratches her head. "Who's-- Lanval? Well, if he's not a bad guy that's all right, but I can't see anythin'."
A pause.
"Oh gosh it's not another beer ghost, is it??" Janey has no idea how right on the money she is, in a way.........
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Janey sees Lydia prod a bottle with a wrench, and then watch it roll downhill a short ways into a small ditch in front of a protruding rock. The 'clink' sound the bottle makes is fun!
Lydia sees Lanval roll that exact same space, to be stopped by that rock with another soft impact that almost fails to register a sound at all. This time, he finishes face-up. Usually, he has a cat-like smile on his face, with cheeks flushed and his eyes closed as though in the middle of some blissful alcohol-infused daydream.
He looks utterly wretched, his mouth a thin line, his face sullen and sad-looking. Probably not dead. Have they ever seen a 'live' Seraph corpse before? Either way that's proooooobably not a corpse.
There's a low murmur. Words are being said, in a tone undeniably melancholy but the words make no sense - like he's speaking a language none of them know. Dead bodies generally don't talk outside of some very specific and select circumstances, so yay, that's not a corpse! Too bad science will have to wait in which to dissect Seraph corpses! If there even is such a thing...
He doesn't look like he wants to get up.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Aw my clever cute sis. I'm blessed," Lydia says. "Really am." She used to think the opposite really, throwing her pain around here and there, but she can do this. She just has to watch herself, and of course--watch out for Janey. She was luckily out for most of the rescue but it isn't a fun experience, passing out thinking you'll never see someone again.
"There's more than one beer ghost??" Lydia asks as she watches Lanval roll about along the floor. "Lanval..." Lydia says. "Lanval!" She doesn't really think about how it might 'look' since it hasn't generally been something she fretted about before already.
"He doesn't look good." Lydia asides to Janey. "Wonder what happened." She closers her eyes for a moment before adding, "Do we gotta bucket of water handy?" Lydia looks over to Janey.
She looks back to Lanval and places a hand on Lanval's forehead asi f checking for a fever?? She doesn't really understand seraphs too well as is beyond what she has picked up here and there.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Yeah! There was a beer ghost at the Wolfsbane that I served, she's a real spitbrand and when she gulped beer it disappeared so I think the beer became divine too?? Is that how Seraphs work??" Janey genuinely has no idea, as she squats next to nothing and scratches her head as she hears murmurs.
"It's a bit scary when you can hear and not see, to be honest?" Janey admits, getting up to go, "Oh-- yeah, hold on--" as she hurries one way to grab a pail of water that she was gonna use to dip Super Magdalen in to get rid of all that flash and debris from all the sanding she was doing.
"Should I-- uh-- is it blasphemous in some way? I don't know Lunar customs," Janey asks.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"I dunno," Lydia says, taking the pail from Janey and sploshing the water over Lanval without missing a beat. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Y'might need to encourage him because he sure looks beat. You might need t'be fifteen in order to see beer ghosts."
She's sure by 15 Janey will be able to see beer ghosts. One way or another.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Putting one's hand on Lanval's forehead is like putting one's hand on the surface of water. Wet, and whatever the ambient temperature is out there, it's about a match here. Maybe not a fever? Maybe he's meltiiiiiiiiing....! Or, he's... just water with a personality and an appearance that makes some sort of sense to mortal eyes? Seraphim are distant creatures indeed, maybe far removed from the rules, limitations, and overall understanding of the world the mortals dwell within. Even so, Lydia gets a sense that he feels... dry? Shallow? Weak. Wounded? No, he looks about as physically intact as can be. A spiritual sense of being withered. If she cast her eyes away from him, it might be easy to forget he's even there because his presence seems so minimal.
The pail of water is dumped. The water in his wake as it touches him becomes cleaner, clearer... maybe even a little sparkly. A puddle forms where the water rests post-splashing that even Janey can see and enjoy. The water is pretty! Crystal-clear! She can see her face! She can probably drink it right from the ground and not worry about getting any gross germs or diseases! (LEGAL TEAM ADDENDUM: Please don't do this.)
Lanval stirs up in sheer lethargy. He seems to make blinking motions of a kind based on how his face wrinkles, but it's hard to say if that even truly wakes him up. He's sitting up, though, so that's something.
"...Mmmmph." He's mmmphing, that's also something.
"..." He turns his head slowly, regarding the young eager child who doesn't quite 'get' what's going on, and that Beastwoman who reads a bit strangely to his senses. "...'m..." He can say 'I'm' almost, so that's also something! Unless that was 'um.' There's an apostrophe there so it's probably 'I'm' and oh no, gaming forums are going to erupt into wars over how this was handled in the localization...
But that's a worry for some place far, far, far from here.
"...Heeeelloooooo." He seems to say the word as if obligated, rather than heartfelt, as the fat drunkard slouches forward. "..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Janey's mouth drops for a moment as she sees water becoming clean, cause-- well, let's be fair it was a kinda dirty pail of water and she momentarily feels kinda bad that it's getting splashed on someone... but... wow! That water looks clean enough to drink--
--but Janey won't, still. That's just rude.
"H-hellooo?" Janey pips up in turn, scratching her head. "... uh. Does he need somethin' to sober up? I guess we already splashed water but uh--" Well, she doesn't exactly know what a divine being needs, exactly...
A pause. "How'd you folks end up meetin' exactly?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"...She can hear me." Lanval says in a low voice. Is he unhappy? He's not much of anything there, going by his voice - as if just acknowledging what might be the truth, based on the return 'hello.' There's an eagerness and energy there that is enviable, like she wants to reach out and grasp what's there but can't quite do so yet. To be able to is a rare gift indeed, in the mortal world.
Lanval lifts up the gourd he carries on his person, but he doesn't pop it open to drink. Even with a splash of a bucket of water, he just looks so dry. Sullen.
"...Hey... tell me 'bout 'er..." He says to Lydia, speaking so low as to be almost unheard. Like he can barely muster up the effort to whisper, or to take any effort to lean over to indicate whispering, and is placing hopes that she can hear him where he sits. "Ish she a faithful one...?"
Why would he be concerned about that?
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia frowns, uncertain and the interest only grows as the 'beer ghost' responds to her beer ghost pokes. Ragnell had told her she was 'too young' some time ago, but it's moments like this she can't help but wonder if it's true. ALl she can offer them ia a short past with strange happenings embedded within it.
"Heeey," Lydia tells Lanval. "You look like shit, are you okay? Do you need help?" She frowns for a moment. "You want help?"
She looks back to Janey for a moment. "unsure. Um. Maybe he'll say." She gives Janey's hand a Her brief squeeze with her own. Chill out, Lydie.
"He's askin' about you." Lydia asides to Janey before adding, "Her name's Janey. She's a smart cookie, not a literal cookie though, just like the saying 'smart cookie', she's one of those." He looks back to Janey and then adds, "Um, I don't think so but..." Pause. "The Guard giving you trouble?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Janey's just kind of squatting and watching Lydia speak to thin air, thinking for a moment this is kind of very similar to every time Riese gets one of her called-by-the-world headaches and decides that she needs to do a cross-country trek to incredibly dangerous territory to just get them to leave her alone.
She's kinda glad she's not /that/ Resonant, in some ways.
"Uhh... faithful? I mean-- I don't know that much 'bout Althena 'n such... and after Granas, I'm-- I'm chill, I'm chill, y'know?" Janey starts nattering again.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
She's not an Althena faithful, she reveals. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Lanval betrays no real reaction to that either way, which is impressive, because the next person Lydia knows capable of that cheats by wearing something over the lower half of their face at basically all times ever.
An eye opens half-lidded - that's a reaction! As it seems to look about the surrounding landscape. What is he looking for? For what Lydia can see of his eye underneath, it's devoid of that aquamarine spark. He sure does look like shit! ...He's water, so maybe there's a different vulgar likeness a bit more thematically appropriate, even if he sure doesn't look like he's #1 right now.
"Mmmmmph... hello... Janey." A modicum of effort seems to be spared to at least say 'hello' to her. Is he okay? Does he need help? Does he want help?! Is it the Guard--
"Can we go... inshiiiiide..." He moans it out, as though even getting up under his own power were difficult. Uh, he kind of always comes off as that way, what with how uncoordinated and imbalanced he may appear with all that manifested bulk on his person, but this time it sure as heck looks for real. "Y-You don't... you don't wanna be sheen with me... out here..."
Goddess (or maybe Granas?) bless him, he tries to get up anyway with the nearby rock for support, but he might need help. "I'll... inside." He'll what inside? Maybe he was having second thoughts as he said it, but whatever it is, he'll do so when he's inside.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"He wants to go inside." Lydia asides to Janey. before looking back to Lanval. "An' course we can. The Fereshte and Taben Peak welcome all sortsa weirdos." She uh seems to think that's complimentary here. She does her best. "Eh?" She asks at the strange comments from Lanval. "Now I'm not sure why you think I'd not wanna be seen with you, but that's not the kind of person I want to be. You're a good one who cares for others, so--" She pauses. "Do you need help or-- Hmm...Maybe I can..." She reaches for one of Lanval's arms and intends to just flat out heft him up to his feet. She does have a terrible robot arm but she really isn't used to using it for its strength.
"But if it makes you comfortable..." She glances back to Janey. "Sorry about all the fuss, it must be weird to see me talkin' to empty space like this. But he was nice t'me and I want to appreciate that properly, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Yeah, uh... I don't really know your story, beer ghost, but-- I mean, everyone up here in Taben's Peak is kinda people who most authorities don't like anyway," Janey admits rather plainly, because it's not the Wayside way to be closed and untrusting. She nods at Lydie when she says about not being the kind of person she is--
"Yeah, Lydie's a good person! Mama is too, and everyone here. You're in good company," as she ... watches Lydia lift, well, thin air, exactly, save for the splashes of pure clean water billowing off Lanval's side.
"Yeah, I get it! Riesemom talks to thin air all the time anyway, so it's not even all that weird to me?" Janey grins as she gestures them inside to where there's a makeshift living room concocted out of a variety of things like old Grindery furniture, stuff re-appropriated from the Fereshte's furniture... the like.
"We don't got much here, but it's home."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Seraphim have a strange relationship with physics. Gravity seems to affect them, for the most part, so there is a sensation that he is being lifted - and yet he doesn't seem to have much true weight to him, for all the extra super-magic-whatever-calories this guy seems to have packed away! It's so weird!! Lanval ends up draping himself around Lydia, pathetically, to be dragged along back to wherever the 'inside' is.
"Thaaaaaanksh," he lets the word hang so sad-sounding as he listens to how Janey describes the place. "Mmmm..." Does that worry him? Does he not like being in the company of rough and tumble characters outside of the law?! (That would make no sense, he hangs out with a dread pirate and a rogue bard all the time!)
"'m... 'm shure they're good people... 'm shure they aaaare... wouldn't... wouldn't wanna..." Wouldn't wanna what?
His half-open eye looks about the landscape again. He does not see other Seraphim present. That's... good, then.
"...Ahh...guessh it'd be okay fer li'l ol' me to... be here then... mmm."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia smiles when Lanval says something like that. It's something like Riese would say right? 'Come be outcasts with us'? Still, it's pretty weird for someone like Lanval to be weirdly not too heavy when his appearance suggests otherwise. It may've been some pretty basic gratitude on Lanval's part, but that gratitude hit Lydia pretty hard all the same. It's far tougher to ignore Lanval than to offer him a hand here.
"Yeah," Lydia says. "'Course you're welcome. And you can tell us all about it if you'd like, but you don't gotta if you don't wanna."
She smiles at Janey. "...Yeah, it's home." Her smile widens to a frankly goofy extent. "Folks talkin' to thin air and all!" She wants to hug Janey again but she holds off for the moment since she half expects Lanval to float away like a balloon if she doesn't hover.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Janey flops onto a seat nearby, pulling her legs up as she seats in lotus position and watches Lydia drag her in. She doesn't look like she's having trouble, but she also knows Lydie to be pretty strong when push comes to shove!
"Yeah! Don't you worry 'bout a thing... uh--" she glances around for a moment. "As far as I know, you're the only beer ghost around, unless that other one-- Ragnell? 's around... that's the one I know mom talks to regularly anyway."
"Y'don't want anythin' else to drink, or anythin' else I can getcha?" She's attentive.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"..." Should he tell them? They aren't Althena faithfuls. It should be all right, shouldn't it? There's no risk of... taking away from them what he did for those who showed him such kindness before (by being the first people who literally tripped over him that could see him - well, that could trip over him period).
"'ll have anything... I'll... I'll drink anything ya got... thanksh... Janey." He turns his head to at least look her - or face her, one supposes - in the eyes, even if she can't really see him yet. "Mmm... Ragnell, a beer ghosht... ha ha ha... that'sh sho cute..." That laughter. There's at least a little joy there. Some semblance tries to come back to him - or maybe it's just his natural state to be joyful and that at his lowest, he can't completely be devoid of it. Can he? Still, he knows Ragnell does keep some pretty interesting company at times. (After all, she's one of the very few Seraphim that ever talk to him any more.)
"...Iiiiii know 'er too." He leaves it at that, but it doesn't sound like he wants to go into much detail about it - less dislike, more courtesy. Probably? "Mmmmph. There'sh not many who'll gimme the time of day..."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Ragnell's cool," Lydia agrees. "I guess even she has her stuff she worries about though." She dips her head for a moment, frowning faintly in concern but it's hard to dwell on that concern when she knows little about the actual situation there.
She wonders how it'd look to Janey if she gave Lanval someting to drink. Would the glass just hover in the air and gradually empty? Hmm.
"Yeah," Lydia admits to Lanval. She doesn't know what's going on and if she did she sure would have something to say, but as is she largely can just offer sympathy. Luckily, there is something to seize on with what Lanval has said but Lydia has to mull on it for a bit.
"Such a thoughtful one," Lydia murmurs, looking over Janey. A thief before perhaps but not a greedy one. When she receives blessings, she acts to pass them on to others. It is in this way she is an inspiration.
"If they aren't giving you the time of day, then they're both rude and missing out." Lydia says. "I feel sorry for them, not getting to spend time with someone like you."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Oh. Huh! Small world, huh? I don't really... I mean, I don't really know how many beer ghosts exist up here. Though we met her back in Filgaia-- the Blue Star?" Janey rather openly muses, because she figures that them being from another planet is really not a spoiler at this point.
"I'm sure mom'd love to meet you too if you haven't though," Janey points out with a gesture to where the Hyadean is fast asleep in her bed through a doorway. "She's kinda-- really into all that spiritual stuff and hearin' the world."
She gets up and fetches something a little special -- something Val's concocted and advertised as 'the Angel Special' compared to her 'Demon Vodka'. Whatever's in it is, in her words:
"It's like drinking a kick to the gut, but it'll really wake ya up!"
Janey uncorks it and sniffs-- with a 'whew!' as she goes, "I can't believe there's no alcohol in this. Val seems the type to just cure hangovers with more booze." She hands it over, nodding at Lydia. "Guess even amongst ghosts there's bad apples, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The Blue Star... oh, of course, that'd make sense. Anybody who doesn't claim to worship Althena out here in the open... that might be where they're from. To still accept the idea that anything could even /live/ there...
...
Lanval takes up the 'Angel Special.'
"Mmmm... shoundsh great, Janey..." She gets to watch a bottle go into thin air. Sort of? It's hard to reconcile for the non-resonant. Actually, what happens is even better.
She gets to watch a bottle drink another bottle. The bottle he's given is larger than the one it's going into. It should overflow and spill everywhere.
It doesn't!
"...That'sh good shtuff." It's non-alcoholic. He kind of smells like the stuff, but it looks like he appreciates a good beverage. Especially a beverage offered in good faith by a mortal, even if it is shy of reverence and more an innocent curiosity on what is there.
"Thanksh a lot... Janey... Lydia... ya really have been kind ta li'l ol' me..." A little dumb cat-like smile on his face spreads.
Janey's 'mom' sounds wonderful... really into 'all that spiritual stuff and hearin' the world.' If there's no other Seraphim here, that means... there's a vacancy, isn't there? He could just leave it all behind. He took something from the Fox Company that he can never give back. He's not sure he could forgive himself for ever taking the Goddess away from them - in a sense.
He'd like to stay here, he thinks. Maybe he could. They're nice enough. At least one can see him. They might not praise Althena, but... they could praise him, couldn't they? He could tell them what he used to do. He'd like to return to that. It's all he knew for five hundred years plus change. It's all he'd have loved to know for another five hundred years. Or more. Maybe forever. The Boundary having the holes it does, this is one place he'd love to protect.
...
But then... the Guard could uproot him at any time. They did before. They'd attack these people, wouldn't they? He'd be back to where he was before, maybe even worse... and yet, he remembers the Dragonmaster's mocking words.
'A wine-sodden, washed up drunkard, who asks questions of others instead of finding answers for himself.'
...
"...It shoundsh sho... wonderful... ta be here." Lanval lets it out. "But I can't shtay long. Not when..."
He can't. He can never stay on Lunar. The Dragonmaster all but banished him from it. If they caught wind of him being worshipped, they'd...
"...N-Never mind. Mmm... but I want to repay your kindnessh," he says, while still lounging on Lydia. "Ish there... mmm. Shomethin' ya might need? Li'l miracle... shpritz of healin', maybe... shome good water? ...Help brew ya a really nice tea."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Heh, the Blue Star. Such a fancy soundin' name for a dying world." Lanval's leaning into Lydia and Lydia gives Lanval a one armed hug himself since it does seem like he could use a few of those today. "If you ever make it to Filgaia, there's a lot of folks there who could use some water. It's a hot commodity there." Part of her knows that sending someone who can just make water happen into her prime market is shooting her trade system in the foot a bit but that's okay. If he can help them he can help them. It's fine. "But you already helped me personally out tremendously. I'm greedy enough to ask if you can give some respite to mom, I wouldn't say no." She pauses for a moment before adding, "But a nice thing about friendship is not owin' service to one another but doin' it out from our hearts."
Lydia grimaces. "Ugh, even if I believe it it sounds so hokey coming from my lips."
She shakes her head and adds, "We won't be staying here forever either, Lanval. You want to travel with us for a time, we'd be happy to have you. I didn't thank you properly, for what you said to me, but I think I'm finally at peace with my own gods at least. It hurt when they denied care for my friend...but I can't expect the Guardians to solve all my problems. They've only got so much power and I can't expect gods to be pe Maybe, she thinks, she can actually face them now. She had given up in order to protect herself, but she feels stronger now than she did back then. She's not entirely sure how it happened, but looking at Janey she has an idea.
The wounds that haunted her for so long of her life have healed.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The relationship between Lanval and other Seraphim, not to mention the Dragonmaster, would be totally way and above Janey's head right now... who... admittedly has no clue about the existence of the 'beer ghosts' and how they emanate a blessed Domain to protect those around them from Malevolence.
Gears and nuts and bolts are more her speed, right now.
"Aw, shucks... 's not a big deal, to be kind to someone, and if I can make someone's day, rather than be a sourpuss, I'll take it," Janey tries to not sound too bashful. "Yeah... people often can't stay," she says with a quiet note of sadness -- she knows someone special to her she'd like to stay, but he can't. Because of circumstances.
She grins at Lydia and says, "... hey, the fact that other people can know it for how gorgeous it is gives me hope. The Blue Star! A beautiful Filgaia, that can be saved! Or... or somethin' like that."
Lanval gets a taste of the Angel Special, which is some kind of bizarre concoction of mashed fruits and distilled milk from nuts and... really, Val's quite the brewer if you let her get pretty wild with her ideas.
But then Lanval asks what he could be doing for them. "A spritz of healin'? Hmm... well-- mom... mom came back from a fight in Meribia, and I think she got poisoned by someone or somethin'?"
Janey has no idea that the source of the poison is a certain mistranslated creature!! She wasn't there!
"If yer magics can purify or help denature that... then, maybe that'll help her pains? But-- yeah, what Lydia said... it's not because it's a service, just, y'know!"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
'A nice thing about friendship is not owin' service to one another but doin' it out from our hearts.' Those words from Lydia stick - so noble, so touching. A great sentiment to have, even for a wily black market merchant like herself! He listens intently to all the talk about the Blue Star... the limitations of the Guardians, her relationship to them... but respite for 'mom.'
Let's get back to that in a moment. They won't be staying... wait. Could they be?
They might go back to the Blue Star. The Fox Company want to go back, too, for Tethelle's sake...!
"...Ya find yer back to the Blue Shtar, ya gotta tell me. I wanna shee for myshelf...!" Ragnell went there and back, and she's okay... and... someone did say he'd need to find a new line of work.
"Mmm... I got shome... shome people I know who'd like ta go back there, too... but firsht... firsht...!"
He finds the strength to stand up! ...And wobble. "Ya shaid yer mom got poishoned, huh... that ain't a problem. I can take care o' that... jusht take me to 'er." It should probably be more urgent that he goes there, if the poison's that bad, but he's confident in his ability to take care of it. "Shimple ash shimple can be..."
Once they take Lanval to her - he might take a notice to pause and reflect that it's the strange horned woman on wanted posters that nonetheless seemed too kind and docile to warrant that kind of attention - it is definitely that simple for him. Venom and poisons are some of the darker sides of the element of water. As the very embodiment of it, leeching it out with a healing spell proves easy enough. Watery energies gather around him as he chants the incantation for the appropriate Seraphic Arte.
They'll see water coalesce in the air around and about the bedridden victim of some mistranslated venomous monster, going through the work to magically denature and remove the debilitating venom virtually instantly.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Janey looks on with a big sense of wonderment -- even if she can't see this benevolent ghost directly, she can hear his voice... his chanting, the way energies seem to gather around him.
Riesenlied bristles a little, previously writhing and stirring with her high fever-- but as the chanting goes up and the Arte takes into effect... visibly, the venom denatures and is prevented from harming her further. In an instant, her breathing relaxes, and she doesn't look anywhere near as agitated as when it was coursing through her body.
"... thank... you..."
She looks rather drained and will need a lot of rest to recover from it-- she's not even awake a moment later as her vision flickers and her eyes close. As Janey climbs up to start dabbing her mom's forehead with a nearby supplied towel, she looks up to where she thinks--
Maybe not thinks. Where she /knows/ the Seraph is. Even if she can't see him, there's more to seeing than just the eyes.
"Thank you so much, Lanval...! I won't forget this... if we find a way-- we'll show you, that's a promise!"
There's a big grin and a thumbs up from Janey.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It is, in a way, a miracle - the Seraphim are considered among the divine by the faithful for a reason! Multiple reasons. Few, in the modern day, would extend themselves so much for even this kind of grace for all the things that befall mortals all over Lunar. And yet, today, one of them has elected to do so.
It is pleasing to see genuine, thankful joy by the young girl who can barely comprehend him. Nostalgic, even, thinking so far back. Just the simple act of providing water, back then, was cherished. The bearded vagrant of a spirit rests seated for a while as Riesenlied regains her strength with the poison removed from her system, and Janey continues to see to her recovery like a motherly figure herself.
"Shure... shure..."
The air finds some of its mirth again, aiding and magnifying the sense of relief and celebration. Riesenlied will survive her close encounter with deadly toxins. Janey and Lydia will have their mom. It's all a nice little scene to take in, and yet...
He's running again.
Just like when he failed to have the courage to go and ask why the Goddess acted to weaken Her own Boundary, when he knew something was wrong the very day the Guard destroyed the place he presided over.
...
He suspects Sephilia is already recounting her day's travels and fun with her friends before the bottle they think is still his vessel. Left to their own devices, she'd probably still do that for months on end... without him actually being there.
...
He closes his eyes completely again. He does have to go back. He can't quite fight off the immense guilt of it all. He knows what Talise said about what she thought was going on. He killed her faith, because he was selfish. One of the single most faithful people he ever met, possessed of both the rare gift of Resonance and matching devotion in her very voice when she sang...
...He has to go back and face them for what he did (or rather, didn't).
He slips away quietly without another word, letting Janey and Lydia have their time with their mom. He's a danger to them if he stays with them. But maybe, once they find a way to the Blue Star...
...
One thing at a time. He'll march right on back, slip back into his previous vessel unnoticed, and have the courage to be open and forthcoming and everything!!
(On that very last point, no, he won't.)