2018-12-05: The Approach Of Two Heavy Hands
- Log: 2018-12-05: The Approach of Two Heavy Hands
- Cast: Lily Keil, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: Photosphere - The Gutter
- Date: December 5th, 2018
- Summary: As the Filgaian calendar threatens to come to a decisive end before it can turn to December, two individuals noted for their ruthless measures meet by chance. First acquainted as foes to a conflict whose nature continues to elude the full comprehension of either, they reach an understanding that there are means and methods both must employ to see this crisis to its resolution. A mutual level of trust - at least in this time - is established.
=======================================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>=======================================
Where a society exists, there inevitably must exist a divide in it.
And those that are divided downwards, further and further, fall into the Gutter -- a colloquial term for the giant scrapheap ghetto that has gathered at the bottom of the Photosphere, along the ridge where the spherical spaceship rests against the canyon wall. The Gutter is largely composed of shanties lined up against each other, with haphazard streets largely carved out over the centuries from the various community efforts. The wall against the east serves as an exit to the Arctican wasteland, below the line of the Photosphere barrier, but it is largely a death sentence to go outside. The Gutter is a term that has many connotations, almost all of them negative; it is a term for where those that are unfit for purpose go, for those that refuse to obey orders, for those that simply can't lend their efforts to the ongoing conquest of Filgaia.
But hope does not die so easily.
Down here, over the many centuries, demons have come and gone -- demons that are called the Tainted. And though there are many who have been robbed of all sense of hope and life, there are still many who gather together to cobble a living out of meagre means. These demons are largely forgotten by their peers -- they do not receive support or aid, and they are left to fend for themselves against the breach of monsters, not to mention any Metal Beasts thrown down from the various experiments that happen upstairs.
Amidst the Tainted, their greatest success story lie in the Ebony Wings, a scouting group that rose out of nothing to end a resource crisis back in 79 PC. Their exploits are still seen today, in the form of the Ebon Roost, an overhanging perch where a large number of Metal Dragons are birthed, raised and trained. Other locales include VAL-HALLA, a small bar in a back alley that the group use as a makeshift base of operations outside of the Roost.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygpjMbQeBas
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Down, down, down. Deep beneath the entrance to the gutter, far from the most active front of the ongoing battle, beneath the broken homes of the Tainted... there is an altar. About this altar are the lines and colors of the Ley, a secret treasure here that suggests dangerous things indeed. There is the path to a breach, nearby... And this place remains very, very dangerous. Metal Dragons regularly sweep down here before they move back towards the battle, and they are only one of the dangers of a place whose energy is hostile to mortals by its very nature.
Naturally, then, there are some people quite interested in it.
As a wounded Dragon sounds its final battlecries not far down the tunnel, a woman in red is visible over the span of a few moments. It would be almost accurate to say that she 'appeared'; it's really more that she was hidden once, and abrubtly... became less so, as if the shadows themselves relented in their concealment.
The deep reds of her armored clothing are cut in military style, with black boots, black gloves, but no recognizeable insignia. There is a beautiful rifle strapped to her back; in one hand there is a strangely-shaped blade, easily requiring two-hands, thin but heavy, with marks of orange about its person. Galatine was left here for a reason.
...And Lily Keil, being the woman wielding it, steps towards the altar again, kneeling short of the nexus, looking thoughtfully at it once again. There's a knife at her boot, a radio at her hip--
She's frowning in concentration, and pale, perhaps by exposure to these energies. ...Maybe something else.
It is very quiet in here.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Down, down, down. Too far down for his liking now. Ethius allowed himself to go the depths in an attempt to ascertain the Veruni's interest in the wounded Metal Demons. He would have followed them out in full out the tunnels were it not for one truth - no, more of a pointed clarification - he had come to discover that made a very specific thing clear to him:
They are out of time.
Ethius comes back in through the tunnels, his right hand over the lower half of his face in a vain attempt to hide its every feature. His hand can't obscure the white of his beard hairs growing in. He remains dressed as he usually does, favoring ashen and maroon colors - if he had the bandanna around his face, he'd still look the part of some outlaw scoundrel from out over in Ignas' Badlands.
His pacing is irregular. When the man walks, or really does much of anything, there is a steady, purposeful rhythm to them. It is absent now, giving way to uncertainty and maybe even panic. He can even be heard exhaling loudly every so often. His posture is slouched. There's bags under his eyes.
Maybe he's just pretending - that's just how off he looks, compared to how he carries himself.
The altar's nexus messes with clear visibility of colors and shapes. Ethius only sees there is someone, or something, there. His free hand shoots forward, an open palm - the sorcerous equivalent of a drawn gun - as he starts to slowly pace around the outer perimeter of the altar to the Ley Point.
The Ley Point that Mother is already trying to use as her novelty bendy straw to the lifeblood of Filgaia itself.
"Who's there?" Asks Ethius, shutting one eye as the ambient dust in the air irritates his vision. (This, too, is unusual, for a man who seems to exist and thrive in places of smoldering ruin to the point of comfort and maybe even personal preference.)
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Footsteps; they're obvious in the quiet, to someone who knows how to listen. But the pace--that says more. The unsteady rhythm of steps, loud exhalation...
They don't match the voice. And yet, the question is answered, promptly:
"Lily Keil," the witch announces herself, rising from her seated position, blade clanking against the hard ground--but lowered, not raised. The golden-eyed woman regards Ethius Hesiod, former enemy, with some thought; his demeanor is different. His face is partly shown, more than usual; And one eye...
"You see it," she remarks, and it isn't a question. Her posture by contrast is straight, her entire bearing crisp, military... but in her eyes there is something different. There's a fatigue there, a distance more apt to a woman hunted than a woman laying a trap. ...But they may be the same thing.
Lily shakes her head. "I had no idea this was here, exposed. Is this why Mother chose this place? ...Did she choose?"
There is more yet that she's realized than she's said. But she looks again to Ethius. "...If we allow the energy that has been gathered from this point to be released freely, we can't predict what would happen."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Lily Keil.
It takes him a second to lower his palm. He stands motionless for a few passing seconds, trying to listen beyond the blade's clanking on the ground to ensure there isn't another presence either of them are missing. The Photosphere's Metal Beasts have deployed a wide range of tactics in which to assail and annihilate the collected Drifter forces. He can't rule out any silent stalkers waiting for a moment to pounce.
In accordance, he moves to make sure his back is up to the wall, favoring any irregularities in the area (pillars) that allow him to better cover his right side. He's dedicating his off hand to hiding his face, after all.
There is ruminations made aloud. He is quiet, for a time, as though considering whether or not there are things he should discuss... or even can. Similar, overbearing feelings of dread resurface. The same ones he felt as everyone stepped inside of the Photosphere.
...
"One thousand years." Ethius remarks. "it is unthinkable that there would not have been a greater layer of security around it." ...Could they have applied one? The power of the Guardians, however strained, have done terrible things to Riesenlied even through her attempts to find common ground and acceptance. It could be they simply were not able to, that the existing Photosphere and subsequent Gutter encampments were as close as they could get.
He internally ruminates on choosing, or... no. This possibility he cannot voice opinions on directly. There is a tangential one...
"I hypothesized that they favored colder climates." Ethius remarks. He knew where the Photosphere was located, if not the full brunt of what he was actually triangulating. "It was imperative to ensure they were not setting a foothold in the Zulan region of Lunar upon confirmation of their presence."
...When he became insistent that the CaraKin not involve themselves too much in that region's problems. Or any region's problems, on Lunar. That must have been at the forefront of his mind - the knowledge the Metal Demons were based out of a cold climate, having had to keep to himself the idea they might've tried to set themselves up within a similar environment.
"...Beyond this, I cannot say."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Only them--for now, at least. It is a somewhat rare reprieve; there is a reason, after all, that Lily has kept herself concealed. It takes too much power, too much energy to keep fighting while waiting. There are too many. ...But his precautions serve him well enough; while the wall itself could break, between the two of them they have a fair gaze at anything that could come up.
...Lily, after all, has her back facing the wall perpendicular to the entrance, not the entrance itself.
"Yes, that's true. ...There had to be some reason that they couldn't interact with it before, even with the weakened power of the Guardians and the planet since that War. ...Or maybe this is why they're so afraid; this, knowing that all this time, Mother has been this close," Lily gestures to the nexus, "Towards annihilating them."
Could they survive without the planet? ...Lily suspects most of them couldn't. They aren't distant gods. But...
Lily looks thoughtful at Ethius's remark, thinking back. She recalls his actions at Zulan; her own, at Zulan, for that matter, the Malevolence there...
"A fair idea. But I suppose we have competing data, now. If they chose their landing point at all--If the flows of this energy weren't somehow altered over time. If, if, if."
Lily shakes her head. "I can say more than that, at least. We could debate what was, but what we know for sure is that we cannot allow this energy to go to Mother--we can't allow her to complete the link. The world will not survive; even if we can destroy Mother, without cutting off this energy, we risk her immediate resurrection."
She looks directly for Ethius's eyes. "...What I'm about to tell you I tell you because I know you will do what you must, regardless of personal feelings. ...Riesenlied, in her new form, has been channeling and gathering this energy. She is the interface point."
Lily pauses, and looks out to the open dome, where any Dragon could fly. "...And I believe that if we kill her outright, then that energy will be released, uncontrolled. It would probably kill those present--a theoretically acceptable sacrifice. ...But it might also be already changed enough to reach Mother. We need a way to absorb that energy--to purify it... or to destroy it."
Is she being honest? There's no way to tell, of course. She speaks evenly, as if stating fact. "I believe I have such a method. If we can destroy the method of control on the Dragon, then she would be able to assist us. ...If we can't, then your work with energy flows tells me you're one of the only people who even understands the problem enough to try to craft a solution. If we can't talk her down, break this spell... We need to destroy this nexus. We need to ensure that the ley flows cannot reach from here towards the enemy."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Between the two of them present - both noted for their ruthlessness and their penchant for thoroughly dealing with any would-be assailant - nothing less than a dedicated horde of Metal Beasts could stand to take them. This doesn't preclude the possibility of something of that happening, but the proximity to the Ley Point might be what is keeping such at bay.
He remains silent about the idea of whether the landing point was chosen. He's a man who has professed to being interested in lost or out-of-place technology. This place, in its entirety, is that. He should have much to say.
He does not.
When she looks him in the eyes - or single eye, rather, dust is still irritating one eye and he doesn't want to have both hands occupied in case of a sudden emergency, he straightens up imperceptibly.
Riesenlied has been channeling this energy. This answers a lingering question he may have had that he can't 'ask' again because it is near the point in which he suspects it would cease to function. The Spectral Lens did have an additional 'connection' independent of the angles that would lead to the Guardian Statues.
That one must lead to Riesenlied instead of Mother, then. Another complication. Mother was not as close as he believed in the wake of Lolithia's... deactivation? The Golem was far from unsalvageable slag when they had to disengage.
After an initial meeting of intense distrust that led to all-out violence that threatened to destroy Lacour's coliseum from below, now, the two of them are in a situation where they have to rely on one another as experts in their fields attempting to tackle a problem too big for either.
"I would assume the method of control is through Alhazred, consistent with their level of involvement and observation of what was used to attack the caravans." Ethius speaks at last, as though working through a mild discomfort in which to find something, some concept, in which he feels it necessary to speak. His eyes shift over to his left as he thinks he hears a sound... but nothing comes.
"I have not been able to ascertain the presence of either Alhazred or Riesenlied." He manages to maintain that character to his speech. Detached, at an even rhythm, neutral in tone. It is entirely incongruous with what body language is showing through, of a man on guard, a man who may well be overwhelmed.
That supports the alternatives Lily is laying out as a possible inevitability.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Nothing less--and maybe not even that, given their location. But how much would such a battle cost? Every ounce of strength wasted on the foot soldiers of this war is another that cannot be spent at the source. However much danger the Metal Beasts may pose to those here--to anyone, Metal Demon or otherwise--...the necessary choice now is not to place all of their forces into stopping their rampages. But it is not a kind choice.
Silence, though--Silence, and the will not to speak, is a value of its own. Lily knows there is little wasted conversation to be expected here; for once, she's the more loquacious in a conversation. She considers asking about the lens he used... but she saw before; if it were that simple, then it would be in use now.
Once, they were trying to kill one another, regardless of the collateral damage; now, indeed, Lily thinks that perhaps the only one present who will act clearly, harshly enough may be her former enemy. ...It would be difficult to call them friends, but... This, too, is a kind of kinship.
"Mm. Alhazred... That's a fair theory." Ethius looks to the left; Lily checks right, first, then that same direction, and seems likewise to find nothing.
Discomfort... Lily shows little of that here, despite everything; her own voice remains even, cool. It does not have the same even neutrality as Ethius's, and yet it remains distant--tired, still.
But as long as Ethius can maintain that tone of voice... It suggests to Lily at least that he hasn't reached a breaking point.
"Riesenlied," Lily says, "Has been here in this place, and I'm sure she will return. ...I'm counting on it, frankly; it seems to be necessary to be here to gather the bulk of the energy. Alhazred, though--"
"I have no leads. With any luck, Lady Harken has finally put aside her qualms with eliminating him. We can't count on that. And I can't leave this place yet to go in search. I have... preparations, I'm making."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Riesenlied has been in this place... but presently isn't. Why, Ethius wonders, if it is so important for her to be there to channel. Does she need to be here directly to channel? It may be a tactical move to stop them from finding some way to sever control over her, or over the Ley Point. He falls back to old habits as a means of comfort, which is to say, he seems to consciously hold himself back from reacting much. A poker face.
A poker face that, if he's going through great pains to hide his face when Lily has seen it in brief prior when she attempted her shadowy disintegration spell upon him, may in theory not be quite as solid as it normally would.
"Infighting." He remarks. That is in theory good news. Harken had nearly punched his ticket in before. If she takes care of Alhazred, that might take care of the problem, but it remains a theory at best.
"The upper levels are in the process of being secured." Ethius remarks. "We encountered the Golem Lolithia."
If only he fried that one instead of Diablo, some may internally chide as far as the hand they've been dealt goes. A hand where some of the cards have been burned for some reason, as though the dealer were offended by the existence of the red-suited Jack cards by some bizarre and obscure line of logic.
He internalizes whether he should state why his attention was piqued. The Veruni matter must be handled delicately. He knows naught what will become of the ones Ambrosius took, unaware of his situational altruism in the end. There were others with him whose well-being he cannot see to. There is too much he does not understand. It vexes him, in that he should. There is so much he believes he should know, but does not. All he has are the last two to three years of memories.
There are much more grave matters at hand than a handful of Tainted and seemingly unwitting Drifters.
"No less than three dozen were present. At last observation, the Golem has ceased movement." Ethius continues. "My presence is incidental."
It almost sounds like the usual gamut of things he claimed, some time back. 'Pay me no further mind, I am simply possessed of a curiosity.'
"...The final possibility in which to resolve this," he speaks again, "is to deal with Mother."
Those are loaded words. How much did it take to deal with her a thousand years ago, only to simply stave off her reawakening?
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily can only speculate about that, about a great many other things. ...But she has no reason to focus on Ethius's face, on his discomfort, on the clear fact that he wants to hold himself in reserve; she notes it, considers it, but the cold logic of Colonel Keil's daughter finds no advantage in pressing Ethius right here and now.
Her own poker face is quite effective for the moment... But why would it be so simple for her, when the even more taciturn Ethius Hesiod would have trouble in the face of all of this? It isn't greater talent for secrets--the quiet man has demonstrated that over and over.
"We can hope. Some of them may remain loyal... But I can't imagine they all will."
Lily considers; Golem Lolithia in play... She frowns, in concern, waiting for the report as to the Golem's status, as to the result of that encounter, sharply. Lily cares for the Tainted--but she can do the most good for them by ending the threat here. And that means--
Ceased movement. "Good," Lily answers, and briefly--just briefly--she allows herself to ask inwardly why she doesn't ask for a report of casualties in the operation, to notice that she ought to.
...She still doesn't ask.
"So you didn't know it would be here--but you were present to watch it cease activity. ...Hopefully it's sufficiently damaged or exerted that it can't be applied in the coming battles..." Lily thoughtfully considers what that might do for her own plans. Only then, though--
Only then does she look back up to Ethius's single eye. "Yes. I think that's necessary, regardless. We need to destroy her--completely, this time. ...But, it's easier said than done. If either objective isn't complete, I think, then we're only delaying the inevitable."
"...Mother must be destroyed. But my place is here, dealing with this. The truth..." Lily looks into the distance for a moment. "No, nevermind. There's no need to be philosophical. Destroying Mother would also solve the problem. ...But someone has to be here, ensuring that this situation doesn't worsen during the battle with her. Left unchecked, this power could reach her--and if she's destroyed, and Riesenlied is left with this much raw Ley energy... I don't know what would happen. But I bet Alhazred has an idea, and I don't aim to let him try it."
"...Honestly, I think... I think that knowledge is out there, somewhere. I have reason to believe that..." Lily considers, purses her lips, looks back to Ethius. "An entity from a Zeboim-era ruin knew of Mother. Knew the 'world eater', and the Taint that it passed on to the Metal Demons. We cannot let either of these situations go."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It is a mutual hope, even if his is unvoiced, that the Golem will no longer be in play for the coming trials, as Lily further lays out what can be accepted as gospel - Mother and Riesenlied both need to be addressed.
Lily reaffirms where her place is in all of this - here. Is there no one else watching this location with her? He takes a cursory look back towards the way he had to come to even arrive here. No movement, no sound. They're still alone. That they have this moment of calm is in itself unsettling.
As though anticipating an ambush, a trap, some decisive application of overwhelming force in which to remove two principal players from the equation.
"I will not convince you otherwise," he ultimately concurs about the matter of needing someone to keep watch over these Ley Power flow. He blinks once - maybe the first time since they once again acknowledged the other's presence? - as he straightens his gaze out. He seems to be finding some sort of center of his, in which to return to being a barely emotive statue of a living being. "There is nothing more I can do for Riesenlied."
Arguably, there is nothing less he could have done by distressing her, calling her a threat, and making it clear he would move to completely annihilate her - all but seeming to make a big scene out of it, staying straight in her field of vision rather than attempt to strike quietly and discreetly from other angles while (far) kind(er) souls appealed to her.
It might not have been a good plan, even on the limitation of choosing to do so on the fly.
As Lily breaches onto personal thought and honesty about the knowledge that is out there, to have the belief that someone, so long ago - back in the Zeboim era - knew of all this, the two of them share mutual slips of their masks. Lily purses her lips.
He looks away. It doesn't look like a conscious check for any vulnerable angle of attack, his gaze really is just... drifting away.
"You have my utmost assurance, Miss Lily," says the man who will not look her in the eye, "I will see to the safety of every world within her reach."
"They will never know of her."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily has chosen this vigil alone. Many others will pass through, saving still more of the Tainted trapped within this hellish Gutter whose draining point is their current ground, but Lily intends to remain. ...She hasn't shared the fullness of her plan with even her closest comrades. Some things are better done in this way; with one to take the responsibility, one to pay the price.
It would be hard to believe that no one would think some ambush, some trap, some trick in this place... and Lily does not hold that belief. She knows otherwise.
Ethius says he won't convince her otherwise, and Lily inclines her head, her black hair shifting about her shoulders at her wordless assent. It is as good a time as any to recall one's center, to prepare. And he says there is nothing more...
One might expect Lily Keil, who has as much as stated the value she places on Riesenlied's life--far, far higher than that she places on the civilians caught up in this conflict elsewhere, nameless to her--well, one might expect her to take greater issue with the things that Ethius has said. Maybe Lily sees a kindness in the attempt, one that is hidden, one that assumes the necessity that one person's safety, at least, must be sacrificed. ...Maybe not.
But both reveal a little bit of... maybe not humanity, but Self, past which they prefer to keep others in the dark. ...And here... His assurance echoes in the silence, to Lily's mind, a certainty--a vow.
"Then I entrust it to you," Lily answers. "Unmake her. And I'll act without reservation as I must."
"...One way or another, she ends. And so do her plans." Lily lets that hang; his words linger, for her. Destroying something so utterly, that even the knowledge is gone... Yes. Yes, she can understand that. But there is one thing.
"...You may be alarmed," Lily says. "By what it is that I have to do. I just ask that no matter what you see coming for us--leave it to me. I'll get it done."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Between the two of them, an understanding is forged - the both of them have things that need to be done, to ends and extents that may yet be beyond others' comprehension. Maybe even each other's, for the depths of which they still keep a number of their cards close. Some cards, they may not even be aware that they presently hold.
Ethius manages to blink out the dust that was in one of his eyes. Now both of his eyes are open. Both of his eyes are staring. That stare of his, oft unsettling to the less sure of strength for just how much those eyes seem to take, take, take, and give so little back.
"Very well," comes his response to Lily's warning. A part of him thinks, internally... is there something like that in turn that-- no. No. That will not. He does not need to consider the character of the 'that,' only that 'that' will not.
"Time grows short." That's a rare overstatement, in the sense of... what time? Any moment, maybe even this very moment, Riesenlied is working to give Mother access to the Ley Point. As Ethius steps out from his cover and faces away, he starts stepping towards the way back towards the Gutter.
His hand goes away from his face. It digs around for something on his person, but he has angled himself as such that Lily can't get a clear view of it. Some sort of metallic stone, perhaps... of what? He doesn't have it out for long before he stows it away.
No good-byes are offered, no promises to see her again. A part of him understands this could be the last they'll see one another.
...Could? Is that the correct word?
He doesn't have time to ponder it for the metaphorical record. (He detests the metaphorical record, by all appearances.)
Unless interrupted, he takes off into the depths moments later. The time has already come to resolve this once and for all - he's already tardy.
They all are... by a thousand years.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Neither has a certain origin--but both can agree on their immediate futures, at least. That understanding can be a weapon in the hours to come.
Lily regards Ethius as she notices both eyes open, that stare of his... and does not seem to mind it. A look alone will not deprive her of what she needs here--not with how much she's already staking. She waits, for his acknowledgement--
It's good enough, and it will serve to iron out a wrinkle that had concerned her, left unvoiced directly but certainly considered. Time, though. Time...
Lily inclines her head as Ethius steps out of his cover, turns away, and starts his steps. Time grows short. Out of simple curiousity she glances down for the object, but as she is unable to identify it she can only let it pass. Simple curiousity is a luxury for those preparing to enter battle, and she takes it as such. No goodbyes are offered by her, either; no promises, no more statements. They have said all that they need to say. She does not interrupt Ethius's passage towards his own part of this mission.
They could win, and still never see one another again. That's the nature of choosing goals; the understanding that in war, there can be no certainty of having everything.
Lily watches for a time after Ethius still, thoughtfully staring, before she too turns, begins to walk towards the wall, and pulls a small device from inside her jacket. "..."
Soon.
In the meantime, Lily watches the altar and beyond. Her path is set. After a thousand years' waiting, what do a few more hours matter? "<One way or another,>" Lily murmurs to the Ley itself, in an ancient tongue, and resumes her vigil.