2019-03-27: Declassified Secrets
- Log: Declassified Secrets
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Catenna, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: Mi'ihen Highroad
- Date: March 27, 2019
- Summary: Catenna and Ethius reveal to Jay their conversation about Matilda Whitehead from a year ago.
==============================<* Mi'ihen Highroad *>============================== Many years ago, a man named Lord Mi'ihen, commander of a mercenary group known as the Crimson Blades, was summoned by the Grand Measter to Bevelle to answer the challenge that his group was a threat to Yevon. Though his followers suspected he would be executed and begged to follow, Mi'ihen ordered them to stay behind and walked along an old path to Bevelle, without stopping to rest. Moved by the display of piety, the Grand Maester formally adopted Mi'ihen and his soldiers into Yevon as a defensive force, known now as the Crusaders. In recognition of the momentous moment, the path Mi'ihen walked now bears his name. ...except not really, because the original one was wrecked by Sin a few hundred years ago. You can still see bits of it as you pass along the Highroad, on which the Djose Temple can also be found. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8tfe_H7bzw
Logfile from DC Log opened 27032019 - 18:35:00
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<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The Mi'ihen Highroad was marked with the debris of an age long past, dotted with ruins of the old Highroad before it was destroyed by Sin.
Shortly after arriving, the Caravan Kinship had located one of these ruins off the side, and found that it made a convenient place to park the Carakin - nice, shady, out of the way, and even the Fiends did not often draw too close.
Shortly after parking, Jacqueline disappeared into her room - emerging only to leave a note before retreating into it once more. She stayed within it for the most part after the next few days, leaving only occasionally.
She has been very quiet throughout this entire time, but from the way Catenna's periodic offerings of mint tea, lemon wafers, and choices of Spiran clothing disappear into her room(with all the dishes set carefully outside after use), it is clear that she at least appreciates the thoughtfulness, even if she hasn't said so directly.
Jacqueline herself is currently still in bed, staring wordlessly up at the ceiling. This was all hitting her very hard, and the sudden teleportation to a strange new land was only making it that much more difficult to process.
And of course, feeling that way only makes her feel worse. She should be there with the others, to help them figure everything out...and instead, she's here, moping in bed. These thoughts weren't helping matters.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
The Spiran climate agrees with Catenna in a lot of ways. She slipped easily into the local style and spent some time talking with locals about useful herbs and edibles. They've already slipped into the CaraKin's diet.
Food items have found their way to Jay's door, together with the mint tea and the lemon waers. They've waited for her in her sadness, like little gems of comfort.
Now, though, there is a soft rap at the door that slices through Jay's silent, bed-bound gloom.
"Jay?" The voice is Catenna's, quiet with worry.
"Jay... everyone is very worried about you," Catenna says as she rests her hand on the door handle - but she doesn't turn it yet. Barging in on Jacqueline is her last resort here. She lowers her head, closing her eyes.
She can imagine why Jay would be upset. In a way, she is too - but then, that's why she's here, isn't it?
"Will you let us talk with you?" she asks, her voice gentle.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
They probably had to fight tooth and nail (or at least 'disapproving look and casually worded dismissal') to convince Ethius to not, like, drive it into the ocean or something. The first hours of his time on Spira, once he came to after yet another reminder that he should do a better job of watching his head, was filled with the exact same kind of mania he displayed when they first awoke on Lunar.
He appears to have stopped doing that somewhere within these last few days. (To say he's 'calmed down' may never be correct.)
Ethius has been weighing some of his clothing options. The warm environs ensure he needs to wear lighter clothing, but he is guarded about letting anyone look too closely at his Symbological tattoo arrangement - extensive and intricate as it is to be difficult to ever truly memorize other than 'there is a lot' - and also any number of face-obscuring accessories. For the time being, he's settled on keeping the traditional yellow cloth around the lower half of his face.
Once more, the strange man just... happens, as Catenna makes another attempt to see to the well-being of the leader of the caravan.
He doesn't say anything, standing not too far off from who has been acting as the leader of the Kinship in Jay's absence. He has been quietly thankful that Catenna has been on the ball in staking out and researching what they need to pass as locals.
Nonetheless...
He looks to Catenna for a short while as she has her hand on the door handle. He is likely to nod in approval of opening the door if Jay doesn't answer.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline doesn't reply immediately. There's some silence, but after a brief moment...there's some rustling, some shifting, and then, after a moment of hesitation, the soft 'click' of a lock being disengaged.
"...I-I'm sorry. Come in." Jacqueline replies, her voice quiet and weighted down.
Jacqueline's room looks much the same as it always has, decorated in the bright colors she has a noted fondness for. Now, however, that seems to clash strongly with the current mood.
She sits at the edge of her bed with enough room for one other person to sit, hunched over and with her hands clasped in front of her. She looks up at Catenna. Her eyes track toward Ethius, just briefly.
Her expression doesn't change.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Ethius being over her shoulder always makes Catenna a bit anxious, especially when he's in one of his Ethius Moods - but in this case, she's pretty sure he's on the same page as she is.
From the other side of the door comes that quiet voice. Catenna looks back at Ethius and nods, giving him a quiet look. If she could speak with her eyes, she'd be cautioning him: Don't come on too strong. She needs love right now.
She eases the door open. She's slow about it.
It's not often that Catenna intrudes on Jay's privacy, but the room's familiar enough. So is the expression on Jay's face.
Catenna opens her mouth for a second, then presses her lips together, bowing her head. She can't get a word out just yet. Instead, she moves forward, stepping to one side of the bed, lowering herself to a seat behind the alchemist - and she reaches out to slide her arms around Jay's shoulders to draw her into a quiet, sympathetic hug.
"Jay," she says, her voice low, and though she tends to veil many of her feelings away, the dull ache underlying her tone can just be glimpsed. "I'm so sorry. It isn't your fault."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The strange man keeps his gaze level and forward. He is familiar enough with the inner workings of the CaraKin vehicle to know when people are coming or going. He allows Catenna to take the lead, seeming to heed the language in her eyes. (For all the 'taking' he does with his eyes, at least they appear to 'listen' sometimes!!)
He passes through shortly after Catenna does, and makes no motion to intrude upon the moment as she reassures their mutual boss. Instead, he just closes the door behind him. They might not even hear it close - his touch when it comes to minimizing noise from doors is more than a little eerie.
Save for those few doors with squeaky hinges that he has insisted not be fixed, because... reasons.
He does not intrude any further than he already has, standing vigil with his hands behind his back.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline doesn't say a word as Catenna and Ethius move in, even as the door shuts soundlessly.
She doesn't move as Catenna approaches her, takes a seat nearby, and offers her a quiet hug. She sinks a little, sitting there wordlessly for a brief moment. And then, eventually, she shakes her head quietly.
"I-I...I just feel as if...there must've been something. Something I...could've done, or said, so that she didn't...didn't feel like she needed to join with them to...to make a difference." She replies quietly. A hand subsconsciously moves to toward her side, closing around a certain spot. This was the sight of one of the injuries Matilda had inflicted upon her in their fight, long since healed now but still stinging emotionally.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Bringing one hand up to the back ot Jacqueline's head, Catenna gives the alchemist a quiet pat there, as if to try and soothe her a little.
"I know," she murmurs. "But it wasn't your fault. It wasn't at all. The only one Matilda is answerable to is herself... and you cannot be responsible for her actions."
The sight of Jacqueline's hand migrating ike that leaves Catenna pursing her lips in quiet consternation. She draws back, lowering her eyes to her lap and clasping her hands. Her shoulders rise and then settle as she breathes a heavy little sigh, as if trying to shed some burden. Normally the Moon Shaman is fairly reserved about her concerns.
This one's bothering her. With a glance up at Ethius, she clears her throat a little.
"Ethius and I owe you an apology," she admits. "We should have talked to you before now about our fears that something like this might happen."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius, were he not knowingly invited in by Catenna, could almost be seen as not even being there with how quiet his presence is - and yet, as Catenna looks to him and names him, he lowers his head in... that's a nod.
"It had been suspected that Matilda was compromised, Miss Jay," Ethius states plainly. 'For some time.' "Her close relationship with one of the Veruni had always been cause for alarm, following Miss Catenna's experience and lecture," he says as he brings a hand to his forehead. Of the entire CaraKin, it oft appeared that Ethius was the one most captivated by what Catenna had to say about them. "Even after the individual in question made their true allegiances known."
It's not the first time someone has betrayed the merchant group. The scars from Kaguya's decisive declaration of her intentions may not have fully healed themselves, for the plight of their personal circumstances.
"After deliberation with Miss Catenna, I believed it better to keep as close watch as possible... but it appears the timing and nature of her decision - of which I must profess I have had to learn second-hand due to circumstances beyond my control - were outside the scope of our observations."
Matilda has always been a resourceful sort, hiding razor-sharp intellect underneath an understated character. He supposes it should not have been a surprise that she might have given any of them the slip.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline wordlessly accepts the patting, but doesn't respond right away to Catenna's assertion that she wasn't at fault. The guilt still seems to be weighing down on her. She doesn't respond as Catenna offers an apology, and instead looks up at Ethius as he begins to explain.
That he believed Matilda had been compromised for some time, and that he and Catenna had suspected something like this might happen for some time.
Jacqueline's expression sinks, and she draws in on herself a little more. This isn't the first time, but the situation with Kaguya was different - Kaguya had approached her directly beforehand, had told her that she would be leaving them. That one stung less, but this one...it took her completely by surprise.
"...H-how long?" She asks, quietly. "How long did you know...?"
She doesn't know if it makes her feel better or worse that the timing of this took them by surprise, as well.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna closes her eyes for a moment as Ethius, as expected, drops his observations with all the love and care of a blunt sledgehammer blow to Jay's delicate soul. Maybe she should've done this alone.
"To tell the truth," she says quietly as she folds her hands delicately, one atop the other, "we didn't know... we feared. And the fact that her choice was this Vinsfeld person was surprising. My fear was that Matilda would choose her love and sympathy for Kaguya over Filgaia, feeling that the Guardians were helpless to save someone she felt so strongly about, and that in the process she would be used by those Veruni less open than Kaguya was...."
She looks up towards Ethius a moment, but reading his face is like trying to rea a rock. Instead she ooks back to Jay, turning a little to better face her.
"We discussed it once," she admits, eyes dipping to her lap as her cheeks darken with a small blush. "Almost a year ago. I did not want to do anything then because Matilda was a friend."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Catenna will spy at least one small movement from Ethius as she looks to him - that the positioning of his gaze has averted somewhat between her last look at him and now. Evasive. As though something about what Catenna mentions might be troubling him on a level he cannot fully hide.
Then he speaks, still averting eye contact.
"Is Rhadamanthus Vinsfeld one of the Veruni...?" ...Is he confusing one of the most famous figures of the first half of the 490s, the leader of the Slayheim Liberation Army against what has historically been considered a less than well-received King, highly publicized until the incident that turned the nation into a land of salt back in 494 PC?!
Even professing he only knows of the last three years of his life, he speaks as though he has no idea who that person is. It is absolute nonsense.
"...My apologies. I was thinking out loud." Ethius remarks as he lowers the hand from his forehead and returns that level gaze, but that is one historical gaffe he might not be able to walk away from unscathed.
"...Nonetheless, I did honor Miss Catenna's wishes as regards her. If I am to remember," and these words of his should probably never be trusted again after that HISTORICAL GAFFE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS, "she believed Miss Matilda to be misinformed and manipulated, and did not wish the worst of her."
There is a quiet beat. The man's tone of voice is no softer, no more considerate, just the same borderline emotionless, practiced dialogue that sounds like he's reading off a script of things to say as an automatic response to any number of situations.
"...I was inclined to agree with the initial assessment."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline listens quietly as Catenna offers a little more elaboration. It seems to help, at least a little. A year ago...
Jacqueline considers this, though her eyes drift toward Ethius as he briefly considers that Vinsfeld might be Veruni. Her response to this is evident in the quizzical expression that appears briefly on her face, disappearing just as soon as her eyes find the floor again.
"I-I don't think...I don't think Matilda would let herself be used like that." Jacqueline comments, quietly. "I-if she did go with them...it would be because she felt it was the best way to go."
And that's part of why it hurt so much. That Matilda had chosen Odessa over them, and that she must've been considering it for a while...and yet, she hadn't noticed anything.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"...I don't think he is Veruni, no," Catenna says, her voice quieting. "There was talk of him in Elesius while I was there on my way to Ignas... he was the commander of the Slayheim Liberation Army after the disaster there." The look she gives Ethius is slightly confused, but not as much as Jay's is.
Catenna is the wrong person to catch the supergaffe. Catenna lived in a yurt for most of her life. Catenna thinks urban people politics are trash.
Jay's comment is met with a quiet frown and a lowering of her eyes. "That's often the problem with people who are being used," she says quietly. "They make the choice that being used is, in their worlds, best for them. It's a choice made from pessimism. I think... that Matilda has always questioned the Guardians, and the fact that we have so often worked to help them, when it appears that the road is so long. And when it appears that the Guardians cannot help Kaguya."
She reaches out to lay a slender hand on the back of one of Jay's. "...Jay," she murmurs, smiling sadly. "You have... you have always done your best to be kind. And I know how it hurts to lose one of your kin."
Catenna's explained her origins before. Explained the kin she's left behind.
"Sometimes you can do what you feel is right and others will still think you're wrong," she explains. "We can hope that Matilda will see in time that this Rhadamanthus is no different than any other conqueror in city-dweller history. Until then... we are all here for you."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"...I see," Ethius remarks to the correction nonchalantly. He does not seem to ask for further details on the matter, as Catenna moves to reassure Jay about the event and what it reflects about her very character. He has not taken a single step towards either of them as two of the closest of friends share that moment of camaraderie in the aftermath of a crisis and a situation that neither of them would have predicted coming to pass.
He does not seem to see it fit to speak any sort of reassurance, nor correction, nor addundum, or much of anything. The man goes (even more) motionless, allowing the moment to pass in blessed peace. For his character, this may be the kindest he is able to be within so many uncertainties.
...
As he recalls telling Catenna around the time of the Seven Sages incident as regards the well-being of Lydia, it isn't his place to say some of the things he did.
Perhaps he believes it is not his place to intrude upon them.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods quietly as Catenna corrects Ethius, and listens as she continues. A choice made from pessimism...was that the case? She doesn't say anything in response, but when Catenna lays her hand on one of her own Jacqueline looks up, meeting her eyes.
She doesn't say anything just yet, but it's clear that Catenna's words have had an effect. Indeed, Catenna has explained her origins before...therefore, Jacqueline knows the full weight behind those words.
And so, quietly, after just a bit more consideration...Jacqueline nods once, quietly.
"I...I hope so too." She says. "...Thank you, Catenna."
She hesitates for a moment.
"I guess...the only thing we can do is..." She pauses, looking up at the ceiling as she trys to gather her thoughts. "...Keep reaching out to her. And...try to do what we can to limit the damage they can do."
Jacqueline, perhaps surprisingly, manages a smile - a slight one, and there's a hint of wryness to it, but it's there.
"Though...I don't know how much we can do from here." She admits.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Leaving her hand where it is for a moment, Catenna curls her fingers to give Jay a small, encouraging squeeze.
When the alchemist looks up, the Shaman meets that gaze. Her pale grey eyes are clear and kind - but there's a simple sadness behind them. As much as she might have felt something like this was coming, the real feelings are hard to hide: She'd come to like Matilda, too, even if she'd expected her to stray somehow.
It hurts. She can't make it not hurt.
"Thank you for being a kind soul," Catenna answers, dipping her chin with a small, reserved smile. Her hand slides back, folding once more with her opposite.
It seems to help. She straightens slightly as Jay begins to speak of the future. Things that they could do, not that they should've done.
"Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus is, ultimately, a human being," she explains quietly. "The Zortroa and the Baskar have seen many such turns in politics before. Always the powerful fight with each other over who has the right to rule. But ultimately, one of them falls, and the other continues, and Filgaia remains on the course it has been on since the Day of Collapse. I do not think, at least, that Odessa is as existentially dangerous as Mother. I know it seems to be small comfort... but Filgaia being there when we return is, at least, something.
"Until then... we can help the victims of Obsession as much as we can. And search for another Elw artifact that can send us home."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius quietly contemplates Catenna's words as she further describes the character of this Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus. The whole thing seems to be a matter of politics, then? He trusts Catenna would have told him, in retrospect, if she recognized something was off in that way.
...And yet... what little he got to see, what little he heard before something hit his head, something begged further curiosity. Mother commanded one of the very fiercest armies in Filgaia's history. Was there a reason the region of Elesius was left unchecked on its own, prior to the armies of olive and black descending upon it? Was it at all, prior? The reports of the ferocity of the monsters within the region might have been problematic for the Photosphere. It might be worth inquiring with those who might have been in the know.
Something seems off in a way he can't put a finger on. It is another curiosity. Another complication.
Nonetheless...
"Miss Catenna has done remarkable work as regards doing research of local cultural customs. Manners of dress, cuisine..." The strange man, even in his praise of Catenna's leadership in Jay's funk, does seem sort of... abrupt, even moment-ruining, his hands now behind his back as he speaks that same way he always does.
"I will keep close watch much along the same lines. It would not do to have another Glenwood incident." A Glenwood incident that continues to be unresolved, much to his chagrin.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
That sadness...Jacqueline takes it in. Catenna is hurting, too. She does not acknowledge it directly, but she keeps it in mind - and, she echoes Catenna's gesture with one of her own, holding onto Catenna's hand just a bit longer to let her know that she's there for her, too.
She listens to Catenna's explanation - about how Vinsfeld is, ultimately, human - and in that regard, Filgaia will still remain.
She nods, then, as Catenna voices what they can do now. Her attention briefly goes over to Ethius.
"Ah, I noticed...I saw the clothing she set out." She said, looking back in Catenna's direction. "I've put a few outfits together from them. I am...unused to clothing that light, but I guess in this weather heavy clothing would be too suffocating..."
Ethius mentions the Glenwood incident and Jacqueline frowns, briefly. That was...an unpleasant memory. She shakes her head, then.
"I think...I'll get to work on some flyers. We'll need to make some money anyway, and it'll help ensure that the people of Spira know we're here to help." She says. And, of course, to let the other new arrivals know they were here, too.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
For just a moment, something passes between the two that goes beyond words - just a ittle connection forged in a shared sense of loss. Catenna curls her fingers and slides them into the spaces between Jay's to share that ittle connection, before it passes and she bows her head once more.
Kin sometimes fight kin, but at least some are still here for the Kinship.
"Thank you, Ethius," she murmurs, brushing back a curl.
"The climate here is quite coastal and warm. You would be wise to dress as if expecting a day at the beach," she muses. Catenna certainly has. "If you need help deciding what would suit you, I would be happy to help you. And... it would seem, from what little I can tell, that there are no statues of Althena here. It may be that she is not known here, somehow."
When Jay makes a decision, Catenna nods slowly and gravely, her smile returning. "I will help as best I can. I think I should be able to perform openly here as a dancer, if indeed the Church's grip does not extend here. With luck, the dance lessons Jean has taught me will be helpful."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I do not recall seeing any trade goods in the markets I could identify as being from Meribus nor Glenwood," Ethius follows up Catenna's informational discourse about the climate and the lack of statues of Althena. "Indeed, Miss Catenna, I would go so far as to claim that there exists no contact between them."
He is absolutely certain they are on Lunar, given the celestial bodies visible in the sky from where they are. There is no obvious trace of any cultural overlap between these locales. And yet...
VAGUE FLASHBACK OF WHEN THEY FIRST ARRIVED WHICH IS A VAGUE CONVERSATIONAL POINT
"Don't... don't talk with anyone," Ethius tries to say, that stoicism of his having faded once again to raw panic. Exactly like what happened in Meribia.
Behind his back, someone manages to have a coherent conversation with one of the merchants about a delicious fruit.
Minutes later, someone asks for directions and gets a disbelieving remark, followed by clarification in which there is a reciporicated sentiment about something other than disbelief over a name existing.
He was just as dumbfounded as when it turned out Jay and a guard at Meribia were capable of understanding one another.
NOW, IN A TIME WHERE ETHIUS IS LESS DEMANDING ABOUT--
"I may suggest we instead apprentice under local carpenters and stoneworkers--"
OKAY NEVERMIND HE IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO BE AS DEMANDING IT SOUNDS LIKE
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"A day at the beach...I was always the one to hide under a parasol with a book, watching the others splash about..." Jacqueline laments. "...I'll adjust, though! I might ask you sometime."
The mention of a lack of Goddess Statues gets a frown out of her - and indeed, Ethius elaborates that there does not appear to be any contact between the two at all. ...So there's no way to contact the people they met in the Lunarian mainland. That's a shame, but...it is what it is. Hopefully there's some manner of long-distance communication on Spira itself, at least.
Catenna offers her own suggestion of how she can help, and Jacqueline nods.
"If you're sure about it, Catenna, that would be a big help." Jacqueline replies, and then pauses for a moment.
"And, um...I'd like to thank you, for...looking after everyone. It...makes my mind feel more at ease, knowing you were there for them." Jacqueline says, her voice earnest.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Ethius," Catenna says with a frown, "I do not know the first thing about the construction industry."
The Moon Shaman smiles back at Jay. "Our camp often settled next to a river," she explains. "The River Sonatal in our homeland. I spent a lot of time swimming and lingering by the water, or traveling up and down the river when we moved with the seasons - sometimes all the way to the ocean sea. Being by the water is just... natural to me, I suppose."
When Jay thanks her, Catenna blushes slightly and dips her eyes, her smile growing more modest. "They are easy to care for," she admits.
"They love you very much."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Catenna doesn't know anything about the construction industry, she says, and Ethius stops mid-suggestion to blink once and stare. He got a bit jumpy the last time Jay started to set up a presence, and once more he returns to being that nearly-motionless statue of staring and occasional arm movements.
...
A hand goes to his forehead, again, while Catenna waxes nostalgic. Surely, at this time of need, as Jay might yet make the emotional rebound, there might be something he can say to encourage her, to reassure her.
"...I will concede, Miss Catenna," Ethius... concedes? "You took initiative immediately as regards our need to be able to blend in with the locals." This man doesn't even fit in with his locals. The arm goes away from his face, and there is yet something else that seems so rare as to be precious even for something so mundane among living people.
He visibly exhales. His breathing can be so controlled, at times, that he's able to hide even something like that. His eyes close.
"I must echo Miss Jay's sentiment... I suppose on these matters, I will allow you more latitude." ...As if it were his say. (As if he didn't internalize how Catenna tends to regard it when he tries to be controlling about what everyone's doing...)
He looks over to Jay, whose heartfelt gratitude for her dear friend Catenna has started to shine through her doldrums. Perhaps, he thinks, there is little he needs to do to see to her well-being.
Jay has been allowed to be herself, through everything so far. That's something of a comforting thought, in the face of so many things that could have dissuaded the caravan leader and changed her irrevocably.
...What more can he say? He sees no need, but it is at least one less pressing matter.
Compared to a pile of matters at least two dozen high.
DC: You switch forms to Great Owl Saarda-Shanta! DC: Catenna switches forms to Great Owl Saarda-Shanta! DC: You switch forms to Moon Shaman Catenna! DC: Catenna switches forms to Moon Shaman Catenna!