2018-12-12: Contrasts
- Log: Contrasts
- Cast: Lily Keil, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: Photosphere - The Gutter
- Date: December 12th 2018
- Summary: Before their attempt to free Riesenlied from her bonds, Avril and Lily talk amongst themselves. Naturally occurs prior to Pain of Loss - Daughter.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Before the coming battle at the bottom of the Gutter, before the arrival of Alhazred and the confrontation that follows--the dais continues to glow, brightly, the lines that mark the Ley lines and Point gleam, and there is still the passage of travel here. ...But not so much, at the moment. It's quiet, and it's still.
There is no obvious sign of many people here right now, though there has been violence; Dragons, smaller Beasts, a number of struggles before the passageway to the exit. But there is someone here; Lily Keil is hidden, easy to miss... until she lets go the shadows that were concealing her before, to step towards the dais again now that it's quiet, staring at it thoughtfully. She is wearing red military gear, a rifle at her back, a large sword in her hand. "..."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
For now, it's quiet.
For now.
But for what lingers below, but for the debris that at periods rains from the overhang above, but for the lingering signs that people -- en masse -- have passed through here and beyond...
But for the Gear, ready and waiting, beyond where Avril now stands, its presence a promise of what is to come. Even in the light down here, Skadi's massive greatsword glimmers in what light is present.
As if in meditation or prayer, Avril stares down at the object she bears in both hands. Her eyes at some length close, and she remains there as still as a statue for a measure more.
The Medium shines its light gently...
Then she turns, gazing over at Lily.
Clasping the Medium to her chest, she begins to carefully make her way over, as silent as a breath.
"Lily, was it not...?"
She glances away, off at the altar and what awaits there.
"It appears we have crossed paths once more. I had meant to speak to you before."
Before all this.
"Perhaps it may not be proper to do so now, but I would welcome it should you have the desire."
After all... they are both here for one thing and one thing alone.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily doesn't look to the glimmer of light radiating off of the Gear's greatsword. She sees it, and that's enough for the moment. It doesn't register a threat in the moments she takes to decide, so instead the red-clad soldier turns her head towards Avril, looking her over, at the time that the Medium shines. "..."
It's an unusual Medium. But then, Avril is an unusual woman. "That's right," she answers. "I guess we have. It's the kind of time where that happens, though. Everything's converging here."
Lily hefts her weapon to rest the blade against her shoulder, a clearly nonthreatening pose for the moment.
"Now's as good as any time, if we keep our eyes open; there's been some enemies coming through. Mostly I've been staying hidden to conserve power."
"Is there something you wanted to say?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
A strange woman, indeed. The outfit she has worn thus throughout Elru has been exchanged for her usual robes, making her look almost delicate in contrast to Lily's own martial appearance. Even her hair -- loosed from the braid it's been in and returned to her more typical style -- stands in contrast to Lily's own.
She looks like she'd be more at home at a temple, or perhaps even a palace.
Yet here she is in the garbage of the Photosphere.
To try and save a friend.
"It is. I can feel it," Avril says, her grip tightening around the edge of the odd Medium of Lucadia.
'Now's as good as any time'.
"I understand. I will let you know if I sense anything approaching," Avril answers, with but one glance more towards the altar.
A few pieces of debris fall.
They're nothing in the long run.
"Yes, there is. About your powers, to be more specific -- yours also function with but your own will. Is that right?"
'Might you be the same as me?'
Such is the look in her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Red, green; black, white. Delicate, armored. The differences are not lost on Lily; even their speech is different, because while they both may be quiet, Lily's rough, clipped phrases are very different.
But they do share a reason for being here.
"I believe you can," the witch answers, perhaps more cryptically than is necessary. But with the both of them paying attention, they can find time to talk; Lily nods to Avril's assurance, and gestures towards one of the walls, walking a few steps back towards it. It's a more defensible position, with better sightlines, once she turns back to Avril.
She does not answer the question immediately. Instead, she looks thoughtfully into Avril's eyes, notes the expression.
"...Yes," Lily answers. "I've always had them; they operate on intention... though I've had to learn how not to use them sometimes. Not everything you will is something you reason out, should act on."
"I know some, about it; things I've heard, things I've seen. ...But if you're looking to me for answers, I don't have many. I don't know where I or my powers come from originally. ...But I do know some."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Naturally, Avril follows, glancing but once down a pathway as they pass it just to be sure that all is still and quiet.
And of course, nothing is there. No doubt either one of them would have felt or seen an intruder before it had gotten far down here -- them or any of the others waiting, preparing.
The soft glow of the Medium has faded, settled into again its particular silence. There are other Mediums, and close by. She can feel them: the Original Artificial Mediums.
...Because she bears one?
"Then it is the same." Her gaze turns sidelong, a soft smile on her lips in spite of current circumstances. "For myself, it has been since arriving on Lunar," she explains, which is not entirely true: when she has changed, however subtle the outward signs have been of such a transformation of her essential self, she has access to this power. Access and then some. But that is a matter that is difficult to explain. "I learned to control it then with the help of the guilds and libraries there. While it is not the same, it is difficult. ...For you are right, it is easy to unwittingly cause great harm with such abilities."
She remembers the man on the mountain who, while dangerous to them, did not deserve what she had nearly done to him out of reaction. After that, she had taken care, had done what she could to learn her limits. Refine her control.
It had come easily to her, as if this was not the first time she had learned such.
Lily does not know where she came from? That evokes widened eyes -- slight, not from shock but a mild surprise -- from Avril. "You may have more understanding than I," Avril answers simply, her gaze slipping away from Lily's for the moment. "I remember nothing but a name prior to my awakening early last year. Even this power, which I gather is mine by birthright, came as a surprise when it did manifest."
She... has her suspicions about the source of the power.
If she's right, nothing will be the same.
If she's right, everything changes.
But it's possible she's wrong and that she is human.
Like Lily.
"Would you tell me what you know? Perhaps... we may have a similar origin, you and I. After all, I do not know from where I come either."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily's Sea Medium does not resonate any presence, does not show itself--because it isn't here. She didn't bring it down here to this place. But she's seen Riesenlied's.
Avril confirms--and Lily wonders for a moment if they don't have more in common than she does with Gebler, setting aside the questions to listen to Avril's words instead. Since arriving on Lunar...
"I see. I did some studying in Vane, myself. ...Not that I can use their style of magic."
Maybe it wasn't the first time Avril had learned it. If there's so little that she knows...
Avril's surprise registers, and Lily nods one more time--and frowns, thoughtfully. "A name... And just last year?" she asks, thinking through what she knows of Avril to see whether she has some explanation. Unfortunately, she doesn't at first.
"Amnesia... I've seen too many cases of it lately," the witch answers. "Particularly in those with abilities like this. Still--That aside."
"We may. I'll tell you what I know--at least some--and we'll see if that resonates with you at all."
"...My father was an officer in Kislev's army. He tells me that he found me while he was out on a long-ranging mission, and brought me home. I would've been... five, or six. I don't remember myself; I don't really remember much at all about my childhood until a few years after that. My parents--especially my mother--helped me to practice my abilities, to learn how to control them. They taught me to keep them secret, because there are people out there who would want to use that power for themselves."
"I'd learn more about that later. Whenever I use my abilities, these... markings appear and glow; you may have seen them before. Lily reaches up, pulls aside her collar, the hints of some of that spectral circuitry are visible at her clavicle. "They didn't stick around until later."
"I know that I can speak the Zeboim language, and I've felt... reactions... to some things in such ruins. I've seen similar markings there, too. I don't know the link."
"But I do know that there are others who have abilities like this, even if not identical. Some who likewise don't have memories--some who are from Gebler, where it's known as Ether, and practiced freely. One who captains a ship... And then I've felt similar powers from others."
"I've felt them from the group that calls itself the Veruni. I don't know much at all about them; the rumors say they showed up out of nowhere one day, took over most of this continent. I haven't had the spare time to research them, with the Hyadean problem. But they have something that feels like this, too."
"Not everyone with these powers manifests them like sorcery, like you and I do--sometimes it looks different, is a way of fighting, or doing something. ...But mostly, it's magic."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Neither can Avril, as she stated. Still, the basic principles had proven a fruitful jumping-off point. From there, it was akin to, well, riding the proverbial bicycle again after learning as a child.
Something like that, in any case.
"Yes. Just the name 'Johnny Appleseed'," Avril states, nodding but once.
Presumedly also her own name, though she elaborates not on that point, instead adding, "It appears to be the name of an apple wine." And then also adding: "It appears it was named for a man who lived a long time ago. I feel as if the name is important, but I have not found out much else save what I have told you." Her gaze grows heavy-lidded. "Somehow or another... I must find 'Johnny Appleseed'."
It's important. It's necessary. It's something she must do.
Was it a promise...?
Amnesia. A common affliction among some, of late. "So you have noticed it also," Avril says, gazing up into Lily's golden eyes. "It appears to be as you have said. Perhaps there may be a common thread." She sighs, only to shrug a stiff, helpless shrug. "Or, perhaps it may be coincidence. I cannot say for certain."
She listens, in polite silence, as Lily explains what she knows of her own past, how she came into her own powers. Demonstrates the mark on her skin. Mentions, even, the Zeboim language.
It may be clear from Avril's expression -- as distant as someone waving farewell on a train platform, to someone they have realized may never come home again -- that none of this is ringing a bell for her. Her gaze lowers to the octagonal Medium she clutches to her chest.
"I am afraid that none of this seems akin to my own experiences. I am sorry."
Gebler, she's heard of. The Veruni, she has become familiar with.
The Veruni...
Someone was waiting for her on Elru. Someone with money, someone wiht a lot of money. Where on Elru? From what she's seen, Elru is a wasteland everywhere they've been, everywhere except...
Briefly, Avril closes her eyes.
"...I awoke in the hand of a Golem."
This is how she introduces her own story, her own tale that starts and ends with a mystery.
"According to Dean, a Golem's arm fell from the sky. When they approached it, there I was in its hand. I remember only what I have already spoken of before I awoke, and otherwise all else is gone to me. This is the reason we are traveling, to find out who I am, where I came from, and locate Johnny Appleseed. ...Save from what I have learned, that it is unwise to use these powers openly, it seems you have indeed learned more of it than I."
The pause this time is lengthy, as if something weighs on her mind.
"I am unable to read or speak the Zeboim tongue, from my experience, and neither have I witnessed the marks you bear on my own flesh. I simply will what I wish and summon it forth."
Be it ice, a cold light, or an expression of disruptive force.
"However, what I do know is this: the powers the Veruni manipulate are indeed similar to our own. What this may mean, I cannot say."
Merely suspect, to the point that the true surprise to her might be the confirmation that it was not the case.
When one has eliminated all other possibility, after all...
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Johnny Appleseed," Lily repeats, thoughtfully. "Yeah, I've heard of the wine," because of course Lily Keil has heard of most alcohols, "But never of a person by that name. Or his role in history." She nods. "I'll pass on whatever information I do find, if I find any."
Amnesia. "It might. I'm not that optimistic, though. The people I've seen with amnesia and power like this... are too different. But I could be wrong."
It is clear, though; this is not familiar to Avril. Lily didn't get her hopes up about this, so the disappointment isn't great. Nevertheless...
What Avril says is indeed a mystery.
"It's fine, there's no need to apologize. But... In the hand of a Golem," Lily answers, frowning in thought. "Not one of the Elw Golems, I assume. But still, a Golem at all--" Lily pauses, inclines her head.
"Truthfully, I'd be travelling for the same reason if I didn't have obligations I need to fulfill. To learn--to understand. But it's good that you did learn about the danger--Gebler will hunt you if they understand what you are."
"Besides, I've been looking longer than you remember, at least. But it was worth asking, if you knew."
"The Veruni..." Lily considers them for long moments. "I can't either. But I don't believe it's coincidence." She sets her jaw, looks to the distance for a few long moments, before appearing to come to a decision. "All right."
"...I'll keep my eyes open for this Johnny Appleseed of yours, and investigate the Veruni as best I'm able, when I finish with what I have to do or along the way. We're the same in enough ways. That's what I can do."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
There is a pause there.
"I do not know," Avril admits, glancing askance. "It seems that after Dean and Rebecca rescued me from the Golem's hand, it fell down and out of sight into a crevasse. Perhaps it might be able to unearth it to determine from whence it came." She doesn't need to say the 'but'. It's implied heavily enough as it stands -- it could be a serious undertaking to rescue the arm, if it's possible to rescue it at all anymore.
It's likely under tons of rock.
If it were an Elw Golem, what might that imply of Avril?
But other groups also make use of Golems.
She had learned and quickly the dangers behind her new-honed powers upon returning to Filgaia. A fortunate thing -- what had been forgotten on Lunar had to be relearned on Filgaia.
She has a price on her head.
And what had been learned on Lunar needed to be rethought upon Filgaia.
More groups may soon seek after her, should they learn of her powers.
"Gebler... I shall bear that in mind, Lily." What had been a vague threat has become sharpened at this explanation.
"Yes. It seems their land is to the south. I have not ventured there far, for fear of worsening our situation here. They are allies of the Metal Demons."
She pauses.
"Or were. I feel... after what they have heard and seen, they may reconsider that alliance soon."
Much in the same way many Metal Demons are reconsidering their alleigances.
"If you hear tell of a Johnny Appleseed," Avril starts to say, only to self-correct, "other than the wine, please do let me know. I am afraid I cannot offer much in exchange, however. Still, if something arises that sounds a match to the story you have told me, I will pass it along."
Her grip again tightens on the Medium, which pulses as if in tempo with its 'kin' below.
"However, right now..."
Her gaze falls on the altar.
And its guardian, the poor, twisted Ley Dragon.
"...There is much else to which we must attend. I..."
She would look out of place on a battlefield as she is.
Unless she were to be the one standing ordering the troops on the otherside.
Yet she is iron wrapped in silk as she gazes back at Lily now: hard, unyielding, no matter what prettiness may veil the blade beneath.
"I am prepared. Come what may."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Strange," Lily says. "But it is what it is. There are other places to look."
"They're theoretically going to act as our allies in this," Lily says, "But keep your eyes open if you deal with them. They aren't to be trifled with." This is perhaps the nicest thing Lily has ever said about Gebler. She does not continue much on it.
"...Mm, I see. I remember, I faced one of their higher-ranking officers in Adelhyde. He was... incredibly strong. Even injured, he was a powerful opponent--and I don't think we beat him so much as he chose to leave." Lily remembers, thinking of Elvis for a moment.
"Anyone with self-interest would. I don't know what would make them work with the Hyadeans in the first place, but there's no way they're interested in destroying the planet under their feet."
"Still, I will tell you if I hear anything; I can do that much for you. Don't worry about repaying me, or anything in exchange. People like us should help one another, that's all."
Lily, then looks back to the altar as well, thoughtfully.
"...Yes," Lily agrees, and regards Avril as well. There is no silk to Lily's iron, for all that she looks more the guardian here than the leader. But she recognizes strength when she sees it.
"I believe you are. ...We'll do what we can."
Lily looks to the altar, again; to where she had seen Riesenlied. "...I won't accept anything less."