2018-12-01: Whispers of Matricide
- Log: Whispers of Matricide
- Cast: Siegfried, Seraph Ragnell, Lady Harken, Elvis, K.K.
- Where: The Photosphere - Secret Places
- Date: 12/2/2018
- Summary: Having witnessed Mother's declaration that Filgaia is to be her snack, much as Hyades was before it, Siegfried's will to carry on the fight in her name is broken. As the Photosphere shakes under siege, the upper echelons of Hyadean command gather their sworn allies for one last discussion on just who gets to lay the Chaos Dunk on Mother.
======================<* Photosphere - Control Level *>======================= The core of the Photosphere is where the Quarter Knights operate out of. The highest level of the Photosphere is led to by trams and stairwells, with a ring of the critical systems that powered it: engineering, life support, and the now long-defunct faster-than-light drive. WIthin that ring is the command center itself. The command center includes numerous screens, showing maps of Filgaia and readouts on Metal Demon operations throughout the world. The high tech nature is abundantly clear, as this operates as the room from which the Quarter Knights command the Metal Demon war efforts. At the center of the room, though, is the heart of their race: sealed double doors, inscribed with runes of fallen Hyades, that mark the final resting place of their beloved Mother. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygpjMbQeBas
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The battle of the Photosphere has began in earnest.
By all rights, Siegfried -- leader of the Quarter Knights, leader of the Metal Demons -- should be leading the defense of the Photosphere. He is not. Instead, after reentering the Photosphere, he and his cohort spread out. Some are going to secure key defensive positions; others are standing by, until what order is given. A close eye is being paid to Alhazred, in the midst of all of this.
Siegfried and a small cluster of those he trusts most, plus the highest ranked Veruni representative, are now gathering in the very depths of the Photosphere. He called them there -- from wherever they fled. He stands tall, but battered. His armor is broken and cracked in places; his mending is yet incomplete. He frowns, as he looks them over in turn.
"You have all heard what Mother declared," he says. "A decision must be made. I will not belabor this with poetic words, lamentations, or anything else. We must see to Mother's true nature -- see, with our own eyes, that anything can be done -- and then make a decision."
He swallows. "For the good of all worlds we hold dear, and for any hope that any of our species might have a future. Will you come?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Those he trusts most! Ragnell would be flattered, if Siegfried had voiced that sentiment aloud. Then again, given what Mother had declared earlier on the battlefield, maybe trust doesn't count for much these days. After all, she hadn't joined that battle, but watched from within the Photosphere. On the other hand, her role in these matters has been known from the start.
Either way, she leans on the wall to one side of the leader of the Metal Demons, arms folded over her chest, red eyes gleaming in the shadow of the brim of her hat. Siegfried makes a statement; asks a question. And while it would be typical of Ragnell to make some roundabout quip to the nature of 'I wouldn't be here if I intended on flaking out now,' she pushes off the wall and rests a hand on her hip.
"Yes," she says simply. Sometimes, simple is best.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
Another 1/4'th of the Photosphere's leadership watches Siegfried with a sly, almost sleepy expression. Tellingly, unlike Siegfried, Harken is in pristine condition. Coiled and ready to strike, biding all her energy for when it is needed most. Loosely coiled around the pole of her terrible scythe, and silent.
For a time, anyway.
"We'll go." Harken agrees with the man she has, for so long as she can remember, thought of as her mentor, commander, and leader. A steely blue gaze sweeps across the room, less of a threatening glare than a resolved inventory of their numbers. "If it's all true, she dies a second time. That's all there is to it."
It doesn't sound like a threat. It doesn't carry enough energy to be a threat. It simply... is.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"This is a most unsettling turn of events."
Indeed, though considering his options on whom to side with at a certain declaration laid bare, to this world thurst forward its very demise. And yet, changes were felt on the battlefield this day. Even among the Metal Demon ranks.
However, before making an order to the Veruni ranks, Elvis will hear Siegfried out. Of the Metal Demons he has met, he respects leadership. And while his tactics against Humankind are what he considers wasted effort, The man only wants best for his kin.
As it seems...
Someone else above him does not.
"Concerned is the most direct way to state how the Veruni forces view this turn of events. I hope this was some kind of scare tactic to demoralize your opponents, Commander Siegfried." Elvis stands nearby, arms crossed. Numerous lacerations are bandaged and healing at an accelerated rate, though he is certainly still wounded. And his mind is cluttered with other thoughts about that girl he faced.
It was not Avril.
"If what Mother stated is true, we have much to fear. But I will support you in your decision." The man looks to the others assembled. A... Seraph? Is that what they called them? is present. Though he can only tell she is here due to the vaguely hazy form nearby, and a distant voice. The same effect from similar beings.
Lady Harken was as well. "Madam." And... "I remember you. From the castle." A calm statement to one so enigmatic as the Trial Knight. Sure, they were on the battlefield recently, though that was not their first encounter. "What draws you into such a conflict?" From their limited interactions, he can only make assumptions about K.K.
"Lead the way, Commander," Elvis states, ready to see just what this day still has in store.
This is going to be one long report to Volsung, for certain.
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
The depths of the Photosphere. Perhaps not as deep as the Gutter delves, but its proximity is notable. It is here that the Trial Knight arrived, in the aftermath of the Metal Demons' impregnable defenses collapsing under the power of Asgard. It is here that they lingered for a time, to make ready for what was to come.
And it is here they arrive now once more when so summoned, to discuss the future.
The Trial Knight's armor, damaged as it was, is once more resplendent in its polished shine as they stand at the fringes of that small group, between the Quarter Knights' leader and the Seraph Ragnell. Their arms crossed over their chest, they say nothing at first, as Siegfried goes over the events that have come to pass. That inscrutable helm merely tilts for a moment, considering the azure-armored knight when that question is leveled. Will they come?
"I possess a task yet to tend to in this place," they state, simply.
"But 'twas you I gave my word to. Not to your Mother. You yet have my blades and counsel at your disposal. I shall come."
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
Siegfried isn't the sort to communicate trust. Either he feels it should be understood, or he feels it less certain than he cares to admit. He glances sideways, his slate grey eyes meeting Ragnell's. There is a metallic gleam of red in those eyes.
Hise eyes meet Elvis's for a moment. There is a flash of hesitation, and then he nods once. "It was no ruse of ours. Mother never spoke of Hyades in such terms before. I can pray she lies, but..." But, he thinks, she has no reason to. She is a goddess. Siegfried's brow furrows. "We will uncover the truth of it."
He glances, then, towards K.K. He looks briefly at the Trial Knight, and then nods. "I will not deny you that. But, I would have your eyes -- which can see more than mine -- determine if some corruption has gripped her, and if there is anything to be done. If not..."
His head bows. "...Yes, Lady Harken," Siegfried concludes. Even if his voice wavers, with hesitation.
But when he looks up, there is none. He begins to lead the way forward -- to the wall. Siegfried holds a hand out, and then a secreted away door slides open, splitting down the middle, to reveal a hidden pathway. Siegfried steps into it. "A shortcut. It will get us near Mother's chamber, and allow us to view her, without a direct approach."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell smirks over at Harken when the other Quarter Knight weighs in. She's gotta say, she likes the cut of her jib. And also her scythe. She doesn't say anything to her, as the last time they met, Harken couldn't see her, but if Harken indicates that's changed... that'll be another story.
Elvis, meanwhile, has a somewhat more optimistic view of matters. A scare tactic? If it was, it backfired badly. The ones who ended up demoralized were her own 'children.' Ragnell is honestly anticipating the worst in this matter. But, in the end, she is their goddess. She can understand wanting to believe until the very end. And K.K.? To them, she shares a nod, communicating far more in their mutual understanding than a mere gesture, especially after... the other night. With the last of them in agreement, she looks back at Siegfried, meeting the glance he gives her.
"Let's get goin', then," she says, before following him into the hidden shortcut. The explanation is appreciated. It's nice to be clued in on what's happening as it happens.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
The enigma of the Trial Knight is, largely, unknown to Harken. She has never crossed swords with them, and has known them only via distant report and recorded footage. But there is clearly an element of trust, however difficult it may be to show, between Siegfried and what may well be an animated suit of armour. "Good." Harken weighs in on K.K.'s pledge, "Wits are in vanishingly short supply of late. Yours will help." and she pushes away from her perch, stretching her legs with each step. A predator warming up for the chase.
There is a really good chance this is actually for Ragnell's benefit, more than hers. More to the point, the Quarter Knight makes eye contact with the Seraph. There's no recognition of a familiar face, but this much is clear: she's been perceived.
Harken holds her tongue further until the passage opens. Mostly since she cannot recall ever hearing such a tone or such hesitation in Siegfried's voice ever. "Tch. Much like your friend in the armour, I bend my knee to you. No other."
A final thought, Harken levels a scarlet gauntlet at Elvis as she moves to wave the others into the passage to Mothers' quarters. "Harken. No madam. No Lady. Harken." she corrects him. It's remarkably patient-sounding, for someone so famous for viciously murdering people who can't fight back. But that's propaganda for you.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"Hmmm." A thoughful sound is what the leader of the Quarter Knights gets in return. "All of this does seem heavily contradictory to what our reports say of her before. It makes me wonder..." Elvis leaves it at that. Part of him is curious if that actually is even Mother. Perhaps a powerful being playing puppeteer upon their matron. Or a long slumber has had caustic effects on her mind, inducing eternal delirium?
"Useful to have," the Sentinel comments toward the passageway. But why would they ened such a thing? Worry? Fear? A strange concept. Perhaps she just valued her solitude. His foray into the corridor is halted by a deep burnished red gauntlet for a moment. "Hm? Oh. Apologies. Harken it is." Seems the lady values her own form of addressing. A simple correction to remember.
Elvis' heels click on the floor, causing a small echo, perhaps the only sound he generates in a moment of contemplation.
Just what would drive a being to forsake its own progeny? The words rang clear. She was to claim those who defend Filgaia righteously as her own children. That statement didnt sound like it had room for the previous kind.
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
"Then 'tis that you shall have."
A simple pledge, laden with a simple earnestness, prefaces sharp and decisive pivot of the Trial Knight's heel as they follow in the wake of Siegfried's resolved march. That sightless gaze falls upon Harken for a time, the dip of their horned helm an acknowledgment of her own observation. Even unseen as it is, that attention is somehow piercing for however brief it may be before they continue forward once more.
"Whatever may come of it."
Not a word is spoken to Ragnell -- but that look, and the subtleties of the knight's body language, may well be more than enough as they pass the Lightning Seraph by. After all that has transpired, well...
"There are none of us who do not wear some mask, Sentinel."
K.K. remains prepared for the tipping point as their bootfalls echo throughout the passage with the faint ring of metal on metal, knowing well that it is already in progress.
"Even those who would proclaim themselves gods are not exempt."
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
Siegfried notes what Harken says. Far be it from him to deny her that. The Quarter Knight's eyes stay forward, but he focuses as he walks. "Very well. I should warn you... Mother fights rarely, but when she does, she is a being like few others. I doubt we have the power to end her, with just us."
The Quarter Knight's brow furrows, as he considers that. He dislikes the sound of it; he dislikes the very thought of it. "...We must not draw her attention. Let her never see that we are here."
Besides, if duplicity is to be required... then they would do well to not spoil it.
The hallway leads to a small elevator. Siegfried presses a thumb against the controls -- and then the doors open up, into the waiting elevator car. When they all step in, it lifts upward.
"If this is true, Alhazred is not to be trusted," he says. "He was tolerated at Mother's decree... and in hope of what we believed her to be."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell chuckles at Harken's remark on wits, but pauses when Harken makes eye contact with her. It's not a coincidental gaze passing through her or spotting her only vaguely, as Elvis does; it's clear and direct. So Ragnell does what Ragnells often do: she grins, winks, and blows her a kiss.
What can she say? Harken is a very attractive lady.
As for Mother--who's to say there isn't room for her new "children" as well as her old? The point of contention is that she's orphaning those children in the first place by devouring their worlds. Ragnell has to wonder how the Hyadeans never noticed that, but she imagines this examination of Mother might be illuminating one way or another. K.K.'s remark on even gods wearing masks gets a grim look from Ragnell... but she keeps her thoughts to herself. For once.
"S'pose that's t' be expected from someone who calls herself a goddess," she remarks to Siegfried of Mother's power, voice kept down. "You don't think we could take her even in a surprise attack, though?" The elevator opens. Ragnell enters and takes up a spot in the back. She hums thoughtfully in regards to Alhazred, tapping a finger on her now-folded arms. "What exactly was her decree about Alhazred? Out've curiosity, if there were any particulars about it."
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
All things being relative, the Knight clad in scarlet seems to find some measure of satisfaction in the piercing quality of the Trial Knight's presence. Her stern features twist in a smirk, not altogether unpleasant. Harken's interest is piqued. . . whether this is a good or a bad thing is just one of those things open to interpretation. She falls in line behind Elvis, after his apology. "It's fine."
There is, however, a long pause as the unfamiliar woman who remains in the Trial Knight's orbit winks at her and blows her a kiss. A small portion of Harken's still-human psyche wonders: why don't any boys ever do that? Poor Jack. Forgotten to the last. She maintains eye contact through the entire gesture, though, and meets it with a nod.
Nice.
The Quarter Knight stalks silently through the corridor. The stakes are made clear by Siegfried: Mother is not simply something you can raise swords against. She--it--whatever term applies, is no mere foe to be fought. Harken locks gazes with Siegfried as he underlines this point, and her acceptance is clear. No foolish 1V1's this day. She does not challenge him on this in the slightest.
But of Alhazred, she is not so silent.
"Oh, I've long since stopped trusting him." Harken admits, as she stares upwards towards the elevator's display panel. Her tone is wry, tired, but comforted. "But to hear that from you is sweet indeed."
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
The march to look upon such a deific figure feels as though it stretches into infinity. There is a dread that overhangs Elvis as they walk forward, though he wouldn't be where he was if he didn't learn to resist such feelings. Though they manifest, rarely. "Understood."
The hallway finally ends in a lift. "He is insane, if you ask me. He 'researches' calculations in suffering. This benefits no one." The Sentinel enters the cart, and attempts to look toward Ragnell. Or in her general direction. "Hm, can't quite... see you, though your presence certainly interests me." An... odd thing to say, but what he plans to do if/when this is all over certainly involves such beings.
A look to Siegfried. "So, if this is true... a being of such magnitude would require great effort to deal with." It may require assistance from those that sieged the Photosphere. Even then, the mortality rate would be severely high. They are powerful for a reason.
Poignant words from K.K. An adjustment of a moustache accompanies a comment directed toward them. "Would be quite the world if that wasn't true, Knight." Quite the world indeed. Would be truthful. And boring.
A smile is given toward Harken. "Hm! Seems like he has rubbed all of you wrongly. Some cases more..." A glance from Harken to Siegfried. "...Recently." He would most certainly like to hit Alhazred very, very hard. Due to Riesenlied's recent evolution, his research may go wasted into helping her.
What a terrible creature, picking on such poor beings. "Do you think there will be loyalists still after this?" Elvis asks, beginning to work his mind and ponder outcomes and possibilities.
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
Without a word, the Trial Knight steps into that elevator. Their hands clasp at their back, their left pinky twitching in the faintest spasm. Siegfried's words are met with a lone nod. Discretion. For as bombastic as K.K. can be... they know the value of discretion very well indeed.
Maybe it just makes it more fitting, than, that these thoughts on discretion nip at the heels of them turning that sightless gaze on Ragnell the very second she decides to blow Harken a kiss.
The silence is resounding. One can practically feel the withering judgment.
Soon enough, they are settled into their comfortable state of stoicism as the elevator begins to rise through the levels of the Photosphere. Their head cants at Elvis' words. Would be quite the world, says the Veruni.
"Perfectly shaped," intones the Trial Knight.
"But lacking in luster."
They speak not on the matter of Alhazred and his many foibles.
Maybe living tablecloths just escape their notice.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
Harken breaks the rules of Gods and Men, posing out of turn as she turns back to Elvis before their elevator opens and they must observe stealth. "Who do you think he practiced all his sick experiments on first?" she pauses, then flicks an armored finger into her own cheek. Yes, I'm pretty sure it was obvious before you did that, Lady Harken, but you did it anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
"Mother instructed us to permit his work to continue," Siegfried says. His eyes narrow. "...And he worked before there was time for intervention, thus we have Riesenlied's current state. Still, Elvis, I think you are correct." He glances sideways at Harken, then he nods once to her. "I will trust you to do what must be done with him, when the time comes. If I do not myself."
He shakes his head to Ragnell's second question. "It is unlikely. She holds considerable might, and she was overwhelmed only with numbers and... a powerful foe, before. Moreover, I fear the very loyalists that Elvis asked about. She was our god. Some may be loathe to leave her service."
The elevator comes to a stop. There is a hiss, and Siegfried lowers his voice. "Now," he says. "Through here, and we will be in a maintenance shaft that provides a view of her. Keep your voices down. Silence is what we need, now."
He steps through, carefully. The maintenance shaft is a catwalk; the view of the chamber below is through the grates of the catwalk, looking down on what may as well be a cathedral. A huge, curved chamber rests underneath and around Mother. There is some art to it, even: some reverence, in how the room was sculpted. Then, however, there is Hyadean practicality at work: a large platform leads up to Mother.
Mother herself is there, too, of course.
Her form is a massive silver thing, with grey steel mixed in. There are numerous protrusions and blades off to each side, along her head and back. Her armor is segmented, like an insect's. Some of it glistens -- and underneath the segments, one can see the gleam of raw, red meat.
Her faceplate is a mask, like the one seen on the battlefield: a serene woman's mask, framed by horns. Mother seems to float there, with the occasional hiss coming from here. She seems distracted, to boot.
What is not present, however, is any corruption: no Malevolence churns about her, no sickness of the spirit seems imposed. Instead, there is something else: a subtle but pervasive sense of wrongness that emanates from her, like a wound in the world. In that, it holds a similarity to the spiritual sickness of Malevolence...
...but it is focused on her, and directed, rather than a natural thing. It is not a force, but rather a part of her very existence. For the Seraph and the Resonant in the room, it is easy to sense.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Harken's only reaction to Ragnell is to nod and wish for a boy instead of a butch. Ragnell takes it in stride with a grin. She wasn't expecting a blush and a giggle out of the Quarter Knight anyway, and 99.9% of her flirting is just for fun besides. So when K.K. fixes her with that faceless, yet absolutely withering stare... her grin only grows more wolfish as she forms a heart with her hands at them. Problem~?
"Ah?" Arms lowering, Ragnell turns her attention to Elvis, who answers her question and then remarks on her fuzziness. "Ahh, that's normal. Guess you still need to polish your spiritual senses, huh. Well, jus' be glad you can hear or see me at all." She waves a hand, then looks back over at Siegfried. So Alhazred's to blame for Riesenlied... Well, she knew that already, but. In a more directed sense than had been previously assumed. "...Hmm. So he worked his filthy little magic on her without your go-ahead, then?" she remarks, tone carefully neutral.
A nod follows the other answer. Elvis raises a good question about the loyalists, and Siegfried's answer is... less than inspiring. Better to bide their time, then. So, when it's time to go through the maintenance shaft, Ragnell nods, maintaining her silence. She's very quiet when she wants to be, and soon she has a great view of Mother from that platform. And what she beholds there, both visually and spiritually...
"......"
The Lightning Seraph stares hard at her for several long moments. There is no Malevolence: that's plain from the start. But there's something else. Something similar. It reminds her of that... caustic goo in what was once the pristine waters in the Serpent's Coils, but it's not exactly like that, either. This is... Mother's own sickness.
She looks to the others and gives them all, K.K. in particular, a curt nod. She's seen enough.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
The hiss of hydraulics and the cessation of motion heralds the discussion's end. Harken closes her eyes briefly and hefts the silver pole of her weapon in both hands. No blade yet extends from the shaft, but it gives her a measure of focus sorely needed in this space. Siegfried's words, his orders, if you will, burn into her soul. His permission is given to put Alhazred to the sword, which is the sweetest gift she has ever known. But there's a time for revenge, and that time isn't now.
So steeled is Quarter Knight that she remains silent despite Ragnell's very valid query. Despite the opportunity for told-you-so's and laughter. When the doors to Mother's enclosure open, a bubble of silence envelops the pallid Knight and she lopes after Siegfried without the faintest noise.
Harken does not rush overly through the cathedral-esque enclosure to peer at Mother. She stands at the catwalk's edge, rather, sharpened gaze travelling to and fro. Whatever the Trial Knight and their strange, girl-smooching Seraph make measure of this alien beast will change the destiny of an entire people. Best she makes sure nobody moves to interrupt their work.
But despite all that, there's a brief moment where Harken glowers downwards at the wretched mass of metal and flesh. She wonders how that mask might split beneath Azrael's edge.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"I see," says Elvis, seeing Harken with her quick response. "I did not know. I hope you get your due justice." The man looks down for a second at the mention of Riesenlied's name. "I do hope we can extract her from that form, or at the very least, regain free will."
"It is a risk we cannot ignore," he adds toward Siegfried.
"I can... somewhat. Being trapped in a lab for so long leaves une dulled to such a sense, but with so much interaction with Malevolence lately, it is coming around." A nod toward Ragnell-- possibly off in direction by about two feet.
As the elevator begins to come to a halt, a sound of shifting sand can be heard-- the Sentinel takes a step forward, and his boots barely make any noise. Those perceptive can see a layer of what appears to be dirt caking the bottom of his heels, clinging quite tightly to them. He will be damed if his metal heels cause the noise to give away their location.
They had arrived. The antechamber for a deific being known as Mother. Elvis' eyes look upon her. A frightening if not magnificant creature in her own way. Though the analytical mind spots a differentiation not unlike the innocent little Tainted being discussed. A mixture of Metal Demon form, and flesh. muscular, red flesh.
And something further. A sense about her. It feels distant, much like the Seraph who feels so far and yet is so close. But the sense is off, like a localized form of negative change. Possibly some form of adaptation or triggered mutation.
It seems similar to Malevolence, yet is not. He idly ponders in silence if it has anything to do with disrupting the Guardians. A turn to look at the rest of this interloping party. His eyes narrow.
What will Siegfried's judgement be?
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
Ragnell offers a heart.
K.K. offers a frown.
You can't see it.
But it's there.
The knight, however, remains mostly wordless throughout the elevator trip up level past level of the Photosphere. Their attention shifts only when Harken makes mention of Alhazred's work on her. Their gaze turns back towards the elevator door.
"There are things in this world that ought not be tolerated in any measure," they finally offer, just as the elevator reaches its destination.
"Worms oft number amongst their ranks."
They pause, only, at the talk of Riesenlied, and Ragnell's controlled question. Their polished helm turns towards Siegfried for a moment, almost expectant, before they continue onward behind the Quarter Knight.
Into the depths.
She is undeniably alien, the creature that rests beneath them. One can see some passing resemblance to the Metal Demons that she would claim as her children. And yet... there is something else, there. The Trial Knight stands above, watching her, seeing her -- seeing past that insect-like chitinous surface, past the physical, as they crouch downward carefully over that grate with a strange degree of flexibility for one so armored. One hand reaches outward, gripping upon those bars as the knight leans forward.
And they see the form of her within that discomforting silence. They see the root of her illness.
They see a living scar dragging itself across space and time.
Slowly, the Trial Knight stands once more. They turn, to make their way from that grate, a brief glance of confirmation given to Ragnell.
They have seen it.
And all they offer in words, is a quiet whisper as they clear that barred view.
"'Tis not your Mother who is being corrupted."
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
Siegfried's expression is impossible to read, as he gazes upon Mother. However, it is the absence of reverence that speaks the most: once, he looked at her as a source of wonder and awe. Once, he looked upon his goddess and knew his cause was just. Now, there is stony nothingness as he watched.
And waits.
He looks to Elvis, first -- his eyebrow raised, but he shakes his head. He waits for Ragnell and K.K. It is the latter to explain; then, the Quarter Knight looks down. There is a great tension there, in his limbs. He lets out a long, slow breath. A thousand years of hopes and justification hang in the air.
Then, they melt away.
His voice is a whisper after that. "Then... she must die," she says. "She has killed our home once. She has remade our people once. We will not suffer this to occur again."
He looks down at Mother, one last time, and then back to the others. He locks eyes with Elvis. "I would have us help the Drifters. Loathe as I am to suffer the Guardians' presence, it is anathema to her. We will help them come here."
His expression hardens. "...And, we shall help her end this. Harken, Elvis... you will help with this, will you not? K.K., I know that you have another task. And, Ragnell, I suspect you would stand with your knight."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Nothin' strange about smooching girls, Harken. Try it sometime, and then you'll see.
"Is it now," Ragnell murmurs to Elvis. She quirks a half-smile. "A double-edged sword, i'n't it, that Malevolence?" But past that, she leaves that matter lie. There are other things to attend to. She does tilt her head at Harken and her implica--oh, no, that's basically outright saying that Alhazred experimented on her, with that cute little dimple poke of hers. She snorts and comments, "Now that's not fair, K'. *Worms* at least serve a useful purpose."
But the group moves in, and they all observe Mother. K.K. is the one who puts their and her observations to voice. Ragnell is prepared to explain it further as needed--but it is not. She's a little surprised that that's all it took, but... honestly, mostly not. Disillusionment is powerful indeed, and she caught that stony nothing on Siegfried's face as he looked upon his "goddess."
"Naturally," she murmurs, voice kept low and private. "But lucky for you, I stand with them in a way that looks a lot more like what you're askin' us t' do anyway." As of right now, anyway. "I'll go ahead an' find some o' th' Drifters I know as they storm the place, join up with them, guide them here." She pauses. "Any preferences on what to do if we cross blades with any loyalists?"
In other words, how much mercy are they to show to those among the Metal Demons who fight, even after having heard Mother's proclamations?
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
The time spent in silence weighs heavier and heavier on Harken's soul. Her gaze slowly narrows, nose furrows, teeth begin to clench, fingers tighten around Azrael's heft. She balefully glares at the beast known as 'Mother', silently attributing to her every cruelty and every sin that has been leveled against her in her returning memories.
Whatever cold fires burn in her heart stay tempered. So they must remain, until it is slain.
The ashen-faced woman meets Elvis's gaze first, then she drinks deep the judgement of the Trial Knight. Deferrence is given to Siegfried, as the confirmation of his whole life's servitude to a lie is made. Her path was set after Alhazred's interest in her waned, after all, and his control over her state grew lax.
She must die.
For Harken, the tension breaks. She wants to laugh, and her countenance twists again to a sly and vicious grin as she stows the urge. Acidic fire flows beneath her every calmed breath and her practiced whisper. "Yes. Filgaia's Heroes will find their passage through here very easy, indeed." she confirms for the Hyadean commander. "And once they have poisoned dear Mother with the Guardians' might, I will tear her in half. You are cordially invited to join me for it."
Unlike Ragnell, who is probably more thoughtful about these things, Harken probably intends to just instantly hell-murder any Mother Loyalists who question why she's opening doors for the Humans. As an afterthought, the Quarter Knight slowly pulls a scarlet hood over her head and the rest of her cloak settles around her.
Well--it's not... as recognizable...
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
What feels like a never-ending moment comes. Siegfried decides the fate of his people. A small smile spreads on Elvis' face. Not because a titanic being will be killed, no. But because he does not have to turn on what are supposed to be allies. Even if it is an alliance of convenience. They can benefit with each other.
To survive on a while that rejects them. Though if they work together. Maybe it doesn't have to be that way.
"I would be lying if I said I favored the Guardians as well," he admits in a quiet tone. "But if I am to earn an audience with them, for the sake of my kind and yours, it would be wise to help them. As for the drifters... I can try to talk to whom I know."
A firm nod toward Siegfried. "Yes. I will send word. What we can spare will be deployed to assist." Perhaps he can get some Golems deployed out, or soem strike squads. "A strange energy, for certain..." is given to Ragnell. Harken seems ready to sink her blade into that new red flesh, red as her own armor. A crimson dance for certain to be seen.
"I will notify my nearby agents. Consider the Veruni to be attested to your side, Commander."
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
And thus the decision is made. It is out of respect for Siegfried's millennia of history with this creature that K.K. remains silent as the Quarter Knight deliberates.
And it is out of knowledge of what that creature is that when he makes his edict,
"Then she shall be carved from this earth."
... their response is direct and immediate, as if it were what they resolved the second they gleaned that thing to begin with.
Arms crossing across armored chest, they nod only once at Siegfried's assessment. It is hard to say just what they might be thinking or feeling in that moment, their stance giving away little but their readiness. But perhaps that is all that really needs to be known, now.
"This creature is a living blight unto itself. You must needs be aware that some of your own may well be tempered with her affliction, much as a dog diseased by the tick upon its back."
The implication is clear, one Harken, at least, seems more than well prepared for:
Sometimes, the only solution is excision.
But that is the lone advice they have to offer, now. The path is set forward. The Trial Knight has made their decision. They have something they must do.
And they will see it through to the bitter end.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
Ragnell's question to Siegfried, in a way, makes him show more pain than he had so far. His brow furrows -- and there is a visible hesitation, before he nods. "If they do so now, after what she has decreed... then they will pay the price for their loyalty," he says. "They care not for their own destruction. Mete it out to them."
He glances to Elvis, then to Harken. He nods. "I will trust in you both, then. Elvis, lend what help you may. Harken... be sure your scythe strikes true, when the moment comes."
He reaches to his shoulders. With a press of two buttons, recessed into his armor, the dark blue cape he wears falls away. It pools to the ground by his feet. It would seem, perhaps, that the Quarter Knight does not intend to face Mother. He speaks as though he will not be there.
He then holds a hand out, and there is a shimmer of light. A white cape appears, with a hooded cloak. He begins to don it, pulling it about his armor with quick movements. The last bits of blue light, from the subspace storage he used, waft away from him. He turns his head, and glances at K.K. He nods once to them.
"All the more reason that we not face her alone. Unless she turn our natures against us," he says. He frowns, for a moment, before his hands reach up, and then pull the white hood up, obscuring some of his face in shadow.
"Strike well. Strike true," he says. "For my part... there is something that must be set to rights. I make for the Gutter."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
It's not really thoughtfulness so much as Ragnell isn't as closely tied to these matters as Siegfried and Harken are. She has just enough distance to manage *some*... if not objectivity, because she has more than enough reason to want Mother and anyone who supports her very dead, but deference to the desires of Siegfried, who has borne the fate of his people for all these centuries. When he decrees that anyone foolish enough to go down in flames with Mother deserves only death, she nods, accepting it at that.
"Will do, then," she murmurs. He'll go to the Gutter, and Harken to slice Mother in half... Ragnell suppresses a snort and instead smirks at the two. "Well, well. So many fine choices there. Guess I'll see where I end up--but I 'spect I'll see one o' you again in short order." She glances at Elvis, who also admits to not being fond of Guardians, but nonetheless hoping that helping them will earn him an audience with them. Hmmm... She notes that, but puts it to one side for now.
For now, she walks over to K.K. to rest a hand on their shoulder, her gaze lingering on their faceless helm as if doing so lets the two see into one another's eyes. "I'll be seein' you again too, no doubt," she murmurs. "So let's be sure to have a lot o' fun stories to swap, huh?" She flashes them a half-smile. Then she looks back to Siegfried. "Let's get outta here, then. We've all got things to do, an' no time for wastin'."
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.
One judgement is delivered.
And another.
And another.
And so on.
The pact is made, and each moves to leave, to start their mission.
But for the robed Harken, there is one final matter. She props the hem of her hood up with a single finger, having ceased her egress to turn and regard Siegfried one final time before he can depart. Even as Ragnell so correctly surmises, that there's no time to waste, she cannot bear to leave a certain something unsaid.
"Don't fail Riesenlied." Harken's advice is short. Not curt, but short. "She needs to see her Father again."
Annoyingly, the stealthiest Quarter Knight winks out of sight as a cloaking device engages. Not even any footfalls to listen in on as she leaves.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
The decisions made, and the path has been made clear. A great battle was to happen on this, the summit of the Photosphere.
"Good luck," he wishes toward Siegfried. "I am sure many will be there for the same purpose."
"I must tend to my wounds if I am to be ready." He must focus his magic and mind for this coming battle. He hopes that the Metal Demons that oppose her know what she is capable of. If not, there is no telling what they will need to be prepared for.
Elvis looks to the exit. "I must get in touch with others. We will reconvene on the battlefield, fighting together."
"Be careful."
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
There is little else to be said. And little else K.K. sees fit to address. Siegfried knows the realities of his situation -- his people's situation. That he does not succumb to it all is something, at least, that earns the Trial Knight's respect. The qualities of a leader.
The Quarter Knight has made his choice. And so too does K.K., shifting upon their heel to leave...
... until they feel the weight of a hand resting upon their pauldron-studded shoulder. The knight pauses; even just the way it falls is familiar to them enough to know who it belongs to before they even look. But look they do, that featureless mask of their stare falling upon Ragnell as if to communicate some unseen, unspoken sentiment.
"... Yes, we shall," they utter, the tinny warp of their voice quiet in the moment. An answer to both, perhaps. They'll meet again. They'll have stories to spin.
"Stories worth the telling."
The words a promise stronger than iron.
And with that, they take a single step forward, a shell of pleasingly warm, white light enveloping them to shuttle them away.
Deeper, into the Gutter.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
"Mm. Yes," Siegfried says, with a glance at Ragnell. "Once it is done."
He glances to Elvis, then; his head nods once, lightly. "Stories worth telling," he agrees with K.K. He looks ready to turn, but Harken has parting words. Siegfried's movement stops -- he seems to draw to a complete halt, and he looks utterly taken aback. His mouth opens, then closes.
He is silent. He offers nothing more, looking in the direction that Harken left. There are no farewells, then, as he turns; his cape flutters after, and the Quarter Knight begins to walk back towards the exit as well.